AICR Singapore Best Receptionist Competition 2022

National Level

To qualify for the competition, the nominee must:

1. Be a confirmed¹ full-time employee of the hotel, performing the job functions of a hotel receptionist²;
2. Be either a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident between 18 and 35 years old;
3. Be nominated by the General Manager, seconded by a member of the Association of Rooms Division Executives, Singapore (ARDE) working at the same hotel or by the FOM/RDM if the hotel does not have an ARDE member;
4. Be able to perform, proficiently, tasks related to the following:
   • Reservations
   • Reception, guest information and services
   • Guest departure, Cashiering and Front Office accounting
   • Business centre services
   • Telephone and related services
5. Have knowledge of the following:
   • Cost, profit and revenue (including basic revenue management)
   • Staffing level and structure
   • Sales and promotion
   • Current Trends in the Hotel Industry
6. Be available to attend a full day workshop cum Competition Briefing organised by the SBRC Organising Committee on 30 August 2021.
7. Each hotel may only nominate ONE candidate for this competition.
8. Should the nominee withdraw from the competition, request for refund of the competition administration fee will not be entertained if the nominee has attended the Competition Briefing and/or the workshops on 30 August 2021.
9. Last minute replacement of the nominee due to acceptable unforeseen circumstances (e.g., the nominee resigns from hotel) can be accommodated before the commencement of Preliminary Round of the Competition. No replacement will be accepted then after.
10. By joining this competition, nominees are deemed to agree and consent to the use of all comments and photographs provided for current and all future promotions, marketing and publicity events organised by ARDE Singapore.

National Level - Judging Criteria

PRELIMINARY ROUND
Written Assessment: 10 marks (30 minutes)
This assessment comprises 20 multiple-choice questions on the duties and responsibilities of hotel receptionists as well as situational problem-solving and decision-making.

Candidates will take the Written Assessment on 6 September 2021. The assessment may be conducted on-site, or on-line, depending on prevailing safe management guidelines. More information will be provided closer to the date of the assessment.

Interview (conducted on-line): 90 marks (15 minutes)

• Self-Introduction and Introduction of Hotel: 10 marks (max 2 minutes)
  The candidate will introduce himself/herself and the hotel he/she works at. Candidate should use this opportunity to create a powerful first impression; he/she should aim to make the best impression on the Judging Panel.
• Comments on Video Clip: 30 marks (max 5 minutes)
  Prior to presenting himself/herself to the Judging Panel, the candidate will view a video clip featuring a hotel front desk staff handling a guest situation.
  The candidate will be given time to compose his/her comments on the hotel front desk staff’s problem solving and guest relations skills as shown in the video.
  The candidate will present his/her comments to the Judging Panel during the interview.
• General Question: 10 marks (max 3 minutes)
  One general question related to the local and/or global hospitality industry will be
  asked for the candidate.
• Presentation on Hotel Trend(s): 20 marks (max 5 minutes)
  The candidate will be given ample time prior to the competition to prepare a presentation based on his/her selected hotel trend or trends. The candidate will make his/her presentation to the Judging Panel during the interview.
• Overall Impression of the Candidate: 20 marks
  Throughout the interview, the Judging Panel will be assessing the Candidate’s personal grooming, personal presentation and self-confidence as well as the suitability of the candidate to represent Singapore to compete at the International Level.
• FINAL ROUND
  The Final Round will mirror closely the competition format used at the
  International Level.

International Level

1. The winner at the National Level will represent Singapore at the International level.
2. The candidate must be working with the hotel that nominated him/her for the competition at the national level at the time of the international competition.
3. In the event that the winner cannot represent Singapore due to unforeseen circumstance, the first runner-up at the National Level will replace his/her participation at the International level.
4. Final decision on the eligibility of candidate is at the discretion of the Executive Organising Committee.

International Level - Judging Criteria

SECTION 1
Introduction/Elevated Pitch: Not Graded (1.5 minutes)
This is a self-introduction recorded video of 1.5 minutes (maximum), and will be
used for WBRC Marketing / Social Media posts. Candidates are encouraged to
include the following points:
¡ Greeting & What is your name (in your local language)?
¡ What AICR section do you represent? (all other questions to be answered
in English)
¡ What hotel do you represent?
¡ What is the AICR and why is it important to join the association?
¡ Tell us more about your current progress in the competition. How did you
learn about it? What happened when you won in your country?
¡ What will you take away from the competition? Will you stay part of the AICR
family?
¡ What is so special about working in the industry as a receptionist?
SECTION 2
Back Office Tasks: 50 marks (Up to 120 minutes)
Candidate will be asked to perform 5 Back-Office Tasks.
¡ Example 1: Answer to a guest request for a room reservation.
¡ Example 2: Reply to a complaint.
¡ Example 3: Reconcile a daily cashier report.
These tasks will be completed using the appropriate feature of the online
platform.
Recorded Role Play: 50 marks (maximum 15 minutes)
This is the main part of the competition. The role play is based on a “typical shift
at the reception, when one never knows what to expect next”!
Candidates will be confronted with a live role play with two role-players involved.
¡ Each candidate will be given a schedule to log into Zoom.
¡ The candidate will be assigned to a Breakout Room where they will be met
by the role-players.
¡ The candidate will be asked to interact by providing the most appropriate
answer to each situation.

Competency Level

Skills and knowledge related to

1. Reservation and yield management basics
2. Reception, Guest information and services
3. Guest departure, Cashiering and front office accounting
4. Business centre services
5. Telephone and related services
6. Cost, profit and revenue knowledge
7. Staffing level and structure
8. Promotional Ideas

A written assessment of your nominee performance will be made available for all participants.