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Desk Receptionist.
I am a new desk receptionist in my dorm hall this year. I am a sophomore but this is my first year working for housing. I have quite a few shit shifts, 4-6 am... I know :( but I was just wondering how to stay alive during those and how to also be a cool person during the day. I also really want to engage with my residents and be a friendly, likable person. The people on the staff of the dorm I was in last year really impacted my first year and made me want to work the job that I am working so I was just wondering how I can impact my residents' college experience as well.
I already am going to make cool door decs for them to hang on their door. I also have all of their room numbers and I'm going to write them notes when I know they are in class or out of the room, it'll be random, so each resident won't know when they'll get one and it'll be anonymous, so some will say, you're doing great today, put a smile on your face, don't sweat the small stuff. So, if you can think of cute ideas like those, lay them on me because I really want my staff to like and respect me and look back on their freshmen year and say "that one staff member was really great.."
Any help and suggestions are appreciated. Thanks so much!
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I have a daughter who has worked up to being asst. manager at a coffee shop. It's all about how positive and friendly she is. She even asked management to call her no matter what time to fill in on shifts in other locations when someone went ill at last minute. So she earned her reputation.
You seem to already be a positive person. So do what ever little things you think are going beyond the scope of your role like the notes on doors. If there is any real amount of traffic of people during those hours, you might keep a stash of cookies, regular and for diabetics with you so you can offer "something sweet for a sweet person". Since you like the idea of positive thoughts to leave for a person, why not have a deck of such cards sitting out on a tray where you sit at your reception area. Make a sign, pull a card, or invite a person to come draw a card as they come near you. I worked at a gift shop that had such a set of cards sitting out and repeat customers were amazed at how they seemed to pull the same card every time or it was just what they needed to hear. People will take a couple moments of their time when there is a snack and a card to draw and actually begin to look forward to this.
But best of all is to always have a smile on your face. Memorize the names of as many people as you can using silly things to jog your memory so you can greet them all by name. For example for Tina your might say, I remember it S Tina cus she's the teeniest person I know. Something the rhymes with their name, or a feature of theirs...what ever works, If you are great and get to know all the names with ease, have a note pad where you can write something they share about theirselves such as they miss their pet cat that the parents are taking care of while they are in school. Jot down on pad, owns a cat, cats names, cat lover. So you have something personal to ask about when you see them. This is what the daughter does with all her repeat customers. You may not need to make written notes at first. One thing that makes a great impression at first meeting is when someone remembers your name correctly next time you see them, and the other is the care enough to remember some detail about them. I have a feeling thats already part of how you are so it'll be a cinch. Have fun and enjoy.
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What I love most about the residence hall staff is each of their personalities! So definitely be yourself! You sound like a really nice person, I can infer that you'll be a great residence assistant. The nice decorations are always noted. Something to consider for your residents to really get to know you is to every once in a while ask how they are doing. My freshmen year I had the best ra's that knew me by name and were very personal, my sophomore year I couldn't even remember who I had because she was practically a ghost. Just have fun with your job and the residents will naturally like you and be able to tell from your good vibes :-). Be open to listening and helping anyone as best you can, but I'm sure you already know that! As for staying alive with those awful hours, try to squeeze in a nap before, if you like chocolate, or coffee (anything with caffeine) make yourself a little snack, and I don't know the rules but at my college they are allowed to listen to music or being a laptop, so maybe you can play something like Netflix or radio.com to keep you awake. Hope this helps! Good luck!
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I like the idea of sending notes of encouragement though I do not like the idea of them being anonymous. There are too many stalker is the world today and anonymous notes tend to give that impression no matter how well meaning they are.
I will assume the 4 to 6 am shift is both as a door guard to keep unauthorized people out and to act as a fire watch during those hours. To stay awake you could I would also assume use this time to do homework and write the notes you are thinking of. Since this is a freshman dorm you may want listen for people crying so you can go to them and offer comfort and advice during the day. Something you can also put in your notes to them.
Some things you might want to do is to hold a dorm meeting. The agenda for the first meeting would be to go over the dorm rules, I know not very exciting though it needs to be done so everyone is on the same page. Once that is done you can discuss different activities you can do as a group say on weekends and some weeknights say a Wednesday.
This is a group of young people away from home for the first time probably. Not all will have dates each weekend. Give them reason to stay at the dorm and out of trouble rather than in town doing things that maybe they should not be doing. If it is not a coed dorm you could have pajama parties, makeup parties, movie nights and so on.
I'm sure you can think of other things to do. Most importantly I think you need to convey confidence to them that you are there to help them get through the first year of college. If you can do this then I think you will have accomplished your goals.
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