The personalities of spa professionals

“What I look for in an RMT is different from what I look for in an esthetician. They’re skilled trades and there’s a particular type of person who becomes, for example, an RMT,” says Kim Assar, the spa operations manager at eforea spa at Hilton Toronto/Markham Suites Conference Center. This 5,000-square-foot spa is the first eforea brand spa in Canada and the fourteenth in the world.

What does it take to work in a spa like this? We spoke with Assar about some of the characteristics she looks for when hiring someone new.

Concierge

“Anyone with customer service experience can come in and be the front line. This will be an area of high turnover because it’s often a part time job for people. However, the concierge position is the most likely to move into management and to succeed in management. You pick concierge that you can groom. That shows a level of excitement and spirit and motivation. Sometimes they come to you with a hospitality background, but that’s just an extra perk on top of the enthusiasm and the excitement we want to see.”

Registered Massage Therapist (RMT)

“Their demeanor is typically very calm. They care very much about people which is standard in the industry, but in a serene way. You want to go into a massage and it needs to be a relaxing experience. They have a different personality, in general, because you can’t have a loud and rambunctious person giving you a therapeutic or relaxing experience.”

Esthetician

“An esthetician also cares a lot about the guest but they have to be motivated, go-getters and have a bubbly personality. They also have to be strong retailers. That’s where you’re going to drive your sales is through the estheticians so they have to be self motivating. They should be very driven but still compassionate because they need to build a rapport. They have to be incredibly personable. If they’re doing a manicure or pedicure, they’re talking with the guest, but during a massage that doesn’t happen as often.”

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