RESUME

MARIA SOCORRO BUHAIN FERNANDES

PROFESSIONAL AND ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

COMPUTER PROFICIENCY

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

The Emirates Towers is part of Jumeirah International, one of the most prestigious award-winning hotel and leisure organizations in the world. The Emirates Towers comprise a luxurious hotel, a commercial (office) tower with an exclusive connecting two storey shopping complex - The Boulevard. After only six months from it's opening in April 2000, the hotel achieved the "World's Leading Business Hotel" award in the 7th Annual World Travel Awards held in Montego Bay, Jamaica. To date the number of awards the hotel has won is 16, the most recent being as Best New Business Hotel in Dubai at the Business Traveller Awards in London, England, in September 2002. The property was also recently certified as ISO 9001:2000 compliant by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance. The Emirates Towers Hotel is also a member of the Leading Hotels of the World.
I joined this company as part of the opening team together with my boss at the Meridien Dubai, the Deputy General Manager, who would be General Manager of the entire Emirates Towers complex. Apart from taking care of all routine secretarial and office administration duties and dealing with the General Manager's correspondence, I am also responsible for coordinating matters with the Corporate Team of Jumeirah International as well as the Executive Committee of the Emirates Towers. I manage the General Manager's diary, ensuring that his appointments are all in order and kept. I also set up the standard operating procedures of the Executive Office as part of ISO. Other duties include compiling and analyzing relevant data related to office procedures to produce ad hoc reports, organizing meetings and cocktail parties, organizing travel arrangements for the General Manager and his family, providing hotel tours to clients and managing the display showcases at the hotel.

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Le Meridien Dubai, November 1993 - September 1999
(formerly Forte Grand Dubai/Dubai International Hotel)
P O Box 10001, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Committed to service excellence, the hotel is the first hotel in the Middle East to have achieved the ISO 9002 certification in November 1996, and has won major local and international awards such as the Dubai Quality Award (1997), Best Airport Hotel in the Middle East (1995-1997), Hotel of the Year 1997, and also achieved the ISO 14001 certification in March 1999. Situated across the Dubai International Airport, the hotel is perennially busy. With 384 rooms and suites, banquet facilities for up to 3000 persons, 16 food and beverage outlets, the hotel is one of the leading 5 star hotels in the UAE.
Food and Beverage Secretary - December 1995 to September 1999
I covered for the Food and Beverage Secretary in December 1995 and was officially promoted to the position in January 1996. Directly reporting to the Deputy General Manager, my work involved providing administrative and secretarial assistance to the DGM, 2 Food and Beverage Managers, the entire food and beverage department of 16 restaurants, bars and lounges including the kitchen and stewarding departments. I managed the Deputy General Manager's diary and correspondence, drafting and editing as required, maintained an efficient filing system, liaised with clients and dealt with guest complaints. I coordinated activities with the various departments under the Deputy General Manager's responsibility, which apart from the Food and Beverage Team, included Public Relations, the Health Club and Security. I was also responsible for preparing monthly and weekly reports of guest satisfaction ratings for all food and beverage outlets, attendance sheets, and statistical reports as and when required. I also designed and prepared seasonal and promotional restaurant and bar menus, signage, posters and flyers.

Moving up from the food and beverage service side, I was promoted to this position to update and maintain the hotel's entire mailing database. In December 1995 I also covered for the Food and Beverage Secretary.

Officially promoted to F&B Cashier of the Chinese restaurant (Long Yin), I monitored all guests' bills using the Micros and POS machines and prepared sales revenue reports, acted as Hostess by welcoming guests at the door and seating them at their table, maintained guest history cards and prepared flower arrangements for the restaurant.

Gained working experience at the Brasserie, a 24hour restaurant/coffee shop with a minimum turnover of 200 covers per shift, as well as the Jules Bar and Banquet departments.

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Forte Grand Abu Dhabi (now the Abu Dhabi Grand), July 1993 - November 1993
Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Street, P O Box 45505, Abu Dhabi, UAE

The only hotel in the capital with a revolving restaurant, it is an elegant property situated right in the heart of the capital with 187 rooms and suites and extensive food and beverage outlets.

I was part of the core group of staff to open the hotel in July 1993. I was assigned at the Piano Lounge, an elegant bar and lounge with nightly entertainment and a seating capacity of 80-120 persons. I monitored guests' bills and prepared sales revenue reports and assisted the barman behind the bar.

McDonald's Philippines (McGeorge Food Industries), 17 October 1987 - 21 March 1993

Assigned at various branches in the city
I joined McDonald's Aurora Boulevard branch in Quezon City in October 1987 as part of the pre-opening Crew to be able to support myself through college. In April 1989 I was promoted to Crew Chief. A year and a half later, in August 1991, I was promoted to Swing Manager and in September 1992 was transferred to SM Megamall branch in Mandaluyong City, where I was promoted to Second Assistant Manager in November 1992 and subsequently was transferred to McDonald's Julia Vargas in January 1993. My responsibilities as a Manager included control of labor, waste, yields and cash on shift, manage shifts with a maximum of 40 staff per shift while ensuring excellent standards are maintained at all times in order to produce high quality products, assist in training Swing Managers and Management Trainees, supervise training of crew/crew chiefs/crew trainers as well as maintain training records and files, verify crew performance using Station Observation Checklists and communicate feedback to the crew and management team, issue disciplinary action and commendation letters as and when necessary, handle building and equipment maintenance i.e, calibration, maintenance and trouble-shooting of coffee/softdrinks/ shake/sundae machines, deal with customer complaints, complete daily, weekly and monthly inventories, complete statistical and variance reports, give input on crew performance reviews, maintain store safety awareness and safety records, execute and maintain crew incentives, calendar activities and market promotions, responsible for safe contents and ensure proper security and verification procedures when handling deposits, supervise deliveries of raw products, supervise preparation and positioning of people, equipment and products for the shift.

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