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The following blog was written by Dan Childers.  A current Corporate Management Trainee, Dan discusses how building relationship helped him acheive his goal of working for Hyatt. 

Today’s society has created a social climate that is all about the individual. Many people feel that young adults are only concerned with what others can do for them. This may not be true, but that is the perception that previous generations have about my generation – Generation Y. Throughout my college experience I found that the most beneficial thing I could do was the exact opposite of that stereotype – build relationships. Whether it was faculty, students, or industry professionals, it was the relationships that I built that helped open doors for me, and most certainly opened my door to Hyatt.

When I was a sophomore, at Temple University, I saw many of the upper-classmen accepting internships and Corporate Management Training positions with Hyatt. I contemplated how I could find myself in the same scenario. I needed an internship to graduate, but I wanted to jump-start my career at the same time. My resume was strong, but was filled with many of the same experiences that other students had. What could I do to maximize my chances of standing out to the Hyatt recruiters?

I started small. There were two Hyatt Ambassadors on my campus, Justin Wusinich and Michelle Blash. They were fellow students that had great experiences with Hyatt, and were both planning to become Corporate Management Trainees. These students knew how to get noticed, so I started to build my relationship with them. I quickly found that they both knew a great deal of information about Hyatt and the entire recruiting process. Justin and Michelle knew which student organizations to get involved with and what conferences to attend. Building that relationship with the Hyatt Campus Ambassadors was the first step to launching my career with Hyatt.

My experiences with the Ambassadors allowed me to interact with the Hyatt recruiters several times before they came to Temple’s campus. Again, it was clear that building a relationship was necessary to stand out amongst the hundreds of other students that were all vying for the same opportunity I was. In February 2011, I attended the NSMH National Conference, in Atlanta, for the sole purpose of meeting the Hyatt recruiters. When Ronisha conducted interviews on Temple’s campus the following week, my interview felt more like a conversation than it did an interview.

Building those relationships allowed me the opportunity to intern at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, experience Chicago for a summer, and ultimately led to my current position as a Catering/Convention Services CMT at the iconic Hyatt Regency Atlanta. Could I have kept to myself and showed up to the interview randomly? Sure. Would I have been granted the same amazing opportunities? Possibly, but it would have been much harder to make a lasting impression. The strength of any relationship is determined by the effort put into it. Get out, get exposed, meet people, be authentic, and give others a reason to remember you. Building those relationships will cost you absolutely nothing. However, it will reward you exponentially.