Expectation of summer job in Greece

Arriving in a new country and working abroad for the first time in a Greek hotel might be stressful and challenging. Adapting to the new environment might take some time. At JOB TRUST we want to prepare our candidates for the challenges that they might encounter in order to improve their experience and make sure they will enjoy their Greek summer.

Accommodation:

Hotel staff lives in shared rooms with 2-3 other colleagues and their room will be sharing a bathroom. The rooms will include basic needs (bed, wardrobe, tables, chairs). The rooms will not have TVs or AC. Each hotel staff is responsible to keep their room clean. There is no housekeeping service for hotel staff rooms and bathrooms. Bedlinens and towels will be changed for you. Think of them as basic dorm rooms: you spend time in them only for sleeping whereas your majority of time will be spent working at the hotel and enjoying summer in Greece and all it has to offer.

Food:

All hotels have a staff restaurant where the hotel staff will enjoy their three daily meals provided by the hotel. The staff restaurant is different from the guest restaurant. All people will use the staff restaurant (jobtrust staff and local staff).  The menu follows the local Greek cuisine heavy in vegetables, pasta, healthy options, and lower in meat. This is the kind of food Greek mothers have in their family menu and is common for Greek staff. If you follow a more carnivore diet due to your local cuisine please try to remember the context and embrace the Greek culture and cuisine.

Work:

All JOB TRUST staff are considered full-time hotel staff members and will be treated equally to the other full-time employees. This means the same amount of work and similar requirements from supervisors. No special circumstances will be given to Erasmus internship students or students in general. This is a great opportunity to get real-life experience working at a hotel and decide if this is the career path you want to follow. The working hours are 8-9h per day for 5-6 days per week and depend on the level of hotel occupancy. Thus, there might be months with heavier workflow and months with less work. As a rule of thumb, July and August are considered high summer season in Greece and the working hours might be longer as well as more working days. Summer temperatures in Greece can easily get to 40degrees and above. Thus, keep this in mind when choosing your work position and be prepared for hard work in the Greek summer sun.  As you are being paid per working day, your salary will increase in the months when you are required to work more days.

Free time

It is easy to adapt to the exciting Greek summer culture and nightlife. All hotel staff finishes summer with a new network of friends, with improved English skills due to the daily work and some even start understanding and speaking basic Greek. During summer, there is no shortage of nightclubs and bars that are working every night of the week until morning. We encourage our participants to enjoy their summer free time as they see fit and immerse themselves in the Greek summer culture. However, it is unprofessional and not acceptable to arrive at work drunk or late due to heavy partying the night before. Such behavior will almost always result in contract termination.                

We hope you will enjoy your Greek summer at our partner hotels and will view this work experience as a stepping stone in your career.