When you have worked in hospitality for more than a decade, your interview is not only about proving your ability but also about showing your depth of understanding. You are no longer simply applying for a job; you are offering your leadership, insight, and emotional intelligence to help a team and property thrive.

At this stage, interviewers look for confidence wrapped in humility, authority blended with warmth, and a mindset that balances service and strategy. The AIDA and STAR frameworks help you express these traits with structure, clarity, and elegance.

🌼 Understanding AIDA for Experienced Hoteliers

AIDA helps you craft thoughtful and persuasive answers that show both your reasoning and personality.

• Attention: Begin with a calm introduction or statement that shows your experience and focus.
• Interest: Add details that demonstrate your involvement in meaningful projects.
• Desire: Reveal your motivation and emotional connection to the work.
• Action: Conclude with what you have achieved or plan to contribute.

This method ensures that every answer has rhythm and purpose. It makes your response sound like a natural conversation between professionals, not a script.

🌿 Understanding STAR at Leadership Level

The STAR method is how you prove what you have accomplished. Use it to tell stories that reflect accountability, team influence, and results.

• Situation: Present a short and relevant background.
• Task: Clarify your specific role or responsibility.
• Action: Explain what decisions or strategies you implemented.
• Result: Share the measurable or emotional outcome and what it taught you.

Senior hoteliers use STAR not only to describe results but also to show judgment, empathy, and foresight.

🌼 Question 1: Tell me about yourself

(Ceritakan tentang dirimu)

At this level, this question is an invitation to summarize your journey and leadership philosophy. Speak about your progression, values, and how you have transformed teams or guest experiences.

Explanation:
Use AIDA to balance structure and feeling. Capture attention with your years of service and scope of experience. Build interest by describing how your career evolved across departments or properties. Create desire by revealing what drives you. End with an action statement connecting your goals with the hotel’s vision.

STAR Example:
Situation: “I began my hospitality career over twelve years ago, starting at the front desk and later moving into guest relations and operations.”
Task: “My focus has always been to strengthen the guest journey and build cohesive teams.”
Action: “In my previous role, I redesigned our guest feedback process, improving response time and communication between departments.”
Result: “Guest satisfaction scores increased, and the team culture became more collaborative. It reminded me that leadership is about serving both guests and colleagues with equal care.”

Sample Conversation Lines:
“I’ve grown through multiple departments, each shaping how I view service and leadership.”
“I see my role now as helping others deliver memorable experiences.”
“My motivation comes from watching both guests and teams flourish.”

🌼 Question 2: Why do you want to work with our property or brand

(Mengapa Anda ingin bekerja di properti atau brand kami)

Interviewers want to feel that your choice is intentional. They are looking for alignment between your philosophy and the brand’s identity.

Explanation:
Use AIDA to express genuine connection. Begin with attention by recognizing their achievements. Build interest by connecting your leadership style to their values. Express desire by sharing your vision of contribution. End with an action statement of how your experience fits their future goals.

STAR Example:
Situation: “I’ve followed your brand’s development for years and admire its commitment to timeless service.”
Task: “I wanted to join a property that values both innovation and human connection.”
Action: “My experience managing diverse teams across departments gives me confidence to uphold and strengthen your service culture.”
Result: “I believe my leadership style will help continue your legacy of excellence while nurturing a motivated, guest focused team.”

Sample Conversation Lines:
“I see your property as a place where tradition and innovation meet.”
“I’m inspired by your commitment to authentic service.”
“I want to bring my experience to help your brand continue growing gracefully.”

🌼 Question 3: Describe a challenging situation and how you handled it

(Ceritakan situasi sulit dan bagaimana Anda menanganinya)

For seasoned professionals, this question measures leadership maturity. The focus is not only the outcome but also how you led people through the challenge.

Explanation:
Use STAR to narrate a story of calm leadership and empathy. Show your composure, communication, and analytical thinking. Through AIDA, start with context, maintain interest with decisive action, and close with reflection on the lessons learned.

STAR Example:
Situation: “During peak season, a major system error disrupted guest check ins.”
Task: “As Duty Manager, I had to maintain guest satisfaction while coordinating multiple teams to resolve the issue.”
Action: “I quickly divided the front office into manual check in zones, communicated directly with guests, and provided refreshments while IT worked on recovery.”
Result: “Operations returned to normal within two hours, and several guests commended the professionalism of the staff. That experience reaffirmed the value of clear communication under pressure.”

Sample Conversation Lines:
“Calm leadership turns chaos into coordination.”
“I focus on being the steady voice when things feel uncertain.”
“True service shows its strength when comfort is challenged.”

🌼 Question 4: What is your greatest strength

(Apa kelebihan terbesar Anda)

At a senior level, your strength should reflect maturity, influence, and the ability to inspire others.

Explanation:
Use AIDA to move beyond skills. Start with attention by naming your key quality. Build interest through an example that shows depth. Create desire by revealing how that trait benefits your team and guests. Close with an action statement showing continuous application.

STAR Example:
Situation: “Over the years, I’ve realized my greatest strength is emotional intelligence.”
Task: “As a leader, understanding people’s motivations is essential to harmony and performance.”
Action: “I practice active listening, hold regular one on one sessions, and make recognition part of our daily routine.”
Result: “This approach has strengthened team trust, reduced turnover, and created a consistent guest experience.”

Sample Conversation Lines:
“I lead through understanding, not authority.”
“My calmness helps others find focus.”
“Empathy creates both loyalty and excellence.”

🌼 Question 5: What is your greatest weakness

(Apa kelemahan terbesar Anda)

At this level, self awareness matters more than flawlessness. Interviewers want to see your discipline and humility.

Explanation:
Use AIDA to demonstrate awareness and control. Acknowledge your weakness directly. Build interest by explaining how it affected your work. Create desire by sharing what you learned. End with an action showing how you manage it better now.

STAR Example:
Situation: “Earlier in my career, I had the habit of trying to handle too many things personally.”
Task: “It came from wanting everything to be perfect, but it wasn’t sustainable.”
Action: “I learned to delegate more effectively and trust my senior supervisors.”
Result: “My team became more confident and ownership levels improved. I now see leadership as building others’ capacity, not doing everything myself.”

Sample Conversation Lines:
“I’ve learned that letting go can strengthen a team.”
“Perfection is not control, it’s consistency.”
“Delegation allows everyone to shine.”

🌼 Question 6: Why should we hire you

(Kenapa kami harus memilih Anda)

For experienced professionals, this is the moment to bring everything together, expertise, emotional awareness, and vision.

Explanation:
Use AIDA to summarize your value calmly and confidently. Start with a statement of experience. Build interest through your track record. Express desire by showing how your goals align with theirs. End with an action that shows you are ready to make an impact.

STAR Example:
Situation: “With over ten years of hospitality experience, I’ve worked in front office, concierge, and operations management.”
Task: “My mission has always been to elevate both guest experience and team morale.”
Action: “I bring strategy, empathy, and consistency to every role.”
Result: “I believe my leadership presence and operational insight will contribute directly to your property’s continued excellence.”

Sample Conversation Lines:
“I combine operational discipline with emotional warmth.”
“My goal is to help your team deliver the kind of service guests remember for years.”
“I believe leadership in hospitality means guiding hearts as much as managing systems.”

🌺 Closing

For a professional with long experience, the interview is your platform to reflect calm authority. When you answer through AIDA and STAR, you show both clarity and humanity. Use your stories not to impress but to inspire confidence.

Every example you share should reveal balance, between performance and empathy, between vision and humility. Hospitality leadership is not about knowing everything but about making everyone feel seen and valued.