The Great Adventures of
Christof Pignet
INTRODUCTION
The following paragraphs give you a brief overview of my professional career up to date.
I'm proud of my accomplishments and I look forward to upcoming challenges in the future.
"You live, you learn!"
Una storia importante
I was born on April 8th, 1981 in Villach, Austria and I spent the most part of my youth in Arnoldstein, a little village at the border to Italy and Slovenia. That's where I went to kindergarten, elementary and high school and that's were I used to play a lot of soccer. You know, back in 'the old days'. In 1996 we moved to Poeckau, a tiny village right next to Arnoldstein and here lives my family until this very day. We have a beautiful house and a garden, one cat and I also have a younger brother who I like to tease a little every once in a while and who's probably gonna beat me up for this 'ranking' the next time I meet him.
I have once again decided to leave home and return to the United States to pursue a career in the hospitality industry, currently one of Washington D.C.'s best hotels, the Hay Adams. How did it get that far?
Scroll down and see what happend from 1981 until now to get the answer!
EXPERIENCE
THE HAY ADAMS HOTEL (October 2004 - present)
800 16th Street, NW, Washington D.C. 20006, USA
Front Office Manager (April 2008 - present)
- responsible for all Front Office staff & operations
Assistant Front Office Manager (April 2006 - March 2008)
- representing the Front Office Manager during his absence
- supervision and training of 21 union employees (incl. Concierge)
- mentoring Management Trainee Programm in all aspects
- conducting monthly meetings & performance review
- completion and monitoring of weekly payroll and supplies order
- assisting FOM in Budgeting, Forecasting, P&L and Recruitment
- ensuring highest quality according to LHW, AAA & Mobil standards
- dealing with a very demanding high profile cliental and Top-VIPs
Rooms Division Management Trainee (October 2004 - March 2006)
- representing the Manager on Duty, Head Concierge & Director of Housekeeping during their absence
- assisting Management in related duties (staffing, scheduline, valet parking, payroll, etc.)
- supervision and training of 36 employees in the Housekeeping Department
- successful completition of several projects to improve hotel operations
- generating upsell of 25.542 USD from Feb. to June '05 at the Front Desk
INTERCONTINENTAL KOELN (December 2003 - September 2004)
Pipinstrasse 1, 50667 Cologne, Germany
Front Office Clerk
- representing Shiftleader & Night Auditor during their absence
- creation & implementation of training program at Front Office
http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/ic/1/en/hotel/colha
HOTEL SEESCHLOESSCHEN (July 2003 - September 2003)
Strandallee 141, 23669 Timmendorfer Strand, Germany
Front Desk Agent
- representing Shiftleader during their absence
- reorganization of Front Office & Concierge Department
http://www.seeschloesschen.de/en/home/
HOTEL ALMHOF SCHNEIDER (December 2002 - April 2003)
6764 Lech am Arlberg, Austria
Chef de Rang
- representing Maitre d' during his absence
- ensuring smooth operations in room service, main dining room and terrace
GOIGINGERKASERNE - Military Service (June 2000 - March 2001)
Loibacherstrasse 13, 9150 Bleiburg, Austria
Sous Chef
- assisting Executive Chef in all related duties
- preparation of daily meals and special orders for 250 soldiers of all ranks
INTERNSHIPS
RESTAURANT "LE CANARD" (July 1999 - August 1999)
Hamburg, Germany
Commis de Rang
SEEHOTEL STEINER (July 1998 - August 1998)
Seeboden, Austria
Commis de Rang
HOTEL BAUMGARTNERHOF (July 1997 - August 1997)
Faak am See, Austria
Commis de Rang
HOTEL BAUMGARTNERHOF (June 1996 - August 1996)
Faak am See, Austria
Commis de Cuisine
EDUCATION
NOVA (Northern Virginia Community College)
(January 2002 - May 2002)
Annandale, VA
"Introduction to Marketing"
College for Tourism and Hotel Management
(September 1995 - May 2000)
Warmbad Villach, Austria
Major: Hotel Management
Degree: Diploma (Equivalent of United States BA)
ACTIVITIES
Mystery guest for bars and restaurants
(February 2004 - September 2004)
Cologne, Germany
Mystery guest (bars and restaurants) for NDS (News Data Service L.L.C.)
Guest speaker at different colleges
(April 2003 - present)
Villach, Austria
Subjects: "Living & Working in the USA"m "One year abroad", "Future Networking"
Participant of the EF Au Pair Program
(August 2001 - August 2002)
McLean/VA, USA
The main purpose of this endeavor was to become fluent in English and learn more about the American Way of Life. While living with a host family for one year I was able to not only improve my command of the English language but also my communication skills.