cook

dishwasher

interpreter

host/hostess

service assistant

Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Almost 7 years employed here; many compromises and concessions made to accommodate workplace expectations, emergency needs, understaffing, seasonal chaos, and even acceptance of eyebrow raising annual layoff procedures that involve no income guarantees for several months. Every year. 

This still resulted in no-job security despite numerous faux-friendly  assurances and insistence over the years that seniority with consistent enough performance + reliability would be awarded. Met in kind with flexibility even, when possible! Untrue. 

Better pay and less short-term physical toll than working a convenience store or amazon warehouse; but I’d  strongly recommend only sticking around as long as necessary. You could get a similar pay-range job w/ no benefits for over a year onwards at other much more casual environments elsewhere. Ones with less unrealistic  expectations and more schedule flexibility.

A $14-$17 hourly pay is not at all commensurate with the sharply escalating workload responsibilities that will include doing tasks originally intended for other departments. Worrying amount of normalized customer belligerence stemming from frustration about poorly made administrative decisions from out-of-touch privileged higher-ups. 

Poorly made as in— the last face-to-face working class service job these people had with realistic problems, IF ANY, was probably as a teenager fresh out of a financially-stable household; benefiting from an economy and bygone systems that haven’t existed now for over 35 years.

People should be aware Ticketing Department  agents are given absolutely NO impact on foundation-wide decisions made and are often VERY negatively impacted by them. Funny enough, it’s also not uncommon for them to be deliberately instructed/“advised” not to openly discuss that fact anywhere but amongst themselves.

 Don’t even bother with them if you don’t have a car to drive; they will make it a personal issue. Reliable transportation such as a city bus schedule will not cut it.

The foundation reiterates that it is a family focused place and this is true- for paying guests, not for employees. Employees in the historic area are expected to work pretty much every holiday and weekend including Thanksgiving and Christmas because unlike many major museums, Colonial Williamsburg is open 365 days a year (well, for everyone but the people in the admin offices that is.) 

The time off is not wonderful, and even with a recent bump in pto benefits supervision often pressures staff to not use their benefit time (employees are given plenty of sick time, but using it can even cause an employee to be penalized so it's essentially a for show benefit only) and many supervisors in certain departments prioritize their own vacation time over their employees (even when the employee requested the time off first) so employees often have to change their plans to accommodate this, which is unrealistic. The historic area is severely understaffed which puts pressure on coworker teams when someone does use benefit time. Days off are not consistent and if you have a spouse or family don't expect to have weekends off unless you work in an admin office. "Front line staff" very rarely have this schedule and will often have to use benefit time to take a weekend day off for any type of family function. 

A typical day at work consists of answering hundreds of phone calls, answering questions guest have about the Williamsburg area, and making lodging dining and ticket reservations.

So far I've learned more about selling techniques, and have strengthened my multitasking skills by learning how to operates 3 systems at once.

Management as well as the foundation itself is very organized.

All of us here in the call center have become somewhat of a large family. We all share a mutual respect for each other and even get together outside of work sometimes.

The hardest part of my job would be the rare occasion when one of our three reservations systems crash. We have hundreds of calls each day and if our hotel, dining, or ticket reservation system crashes it causes chaos and dysfunction in the office.

The most enjoyable part of my job is knowing after you hang up with a guest that you've helped them plan not just a vacation, but an experience. The only thing greater than that is getting calls or emails from past guests that you've assisted and hearing them tell you how much they enjoyed their stay and thank you for all of your help

Colonial Williamsburg is a non-profit organization that makes history it's focus of appeal to its guests. I've been fortunate enough to work at Colonial Williamsburg's Traditions restaurant for a few years now. Usually working the breakfast and dinner shifts I aide in providing service to about 250 guests between the two shifts. I've learned a great deal about how to service a variety of different guests at all times. I've also learned to acclimate myself to the changing tide of business both slow and busy. Management could use work on properly staffing at different times but all in all the collection of management and their ideas for progression aren't bad. I pride myself on being a person that can make my co-workers if only for a second during a bad stretch feel good about where they are. The hardest part of my job is the travel to and from work because of the distance at which I live. I really enjoy being able to encounter guests and co-workers from all walks of life. I work with people from Lithuania, Mexico, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania, and Jamacia to name a few.

One of the things that make Colonial Williamsburg a great place to work is the pride of each employee regardless of their role.  Each worker from the newest to the directors and vice presidents all perform with the visitor's happiness in mind.  

My role as a Night Audit Supervisor is to ensure that the billing for conferences, groups, and individuals is correct.  I also have to make sure that the cashiering done by the restaurants and hotels is correct and taxed as according to state and local regulations.  I also pride myself on listening to the issues that arise with the guests and help resolve any disputes or unpleasantness.  

I have learned that it is impossible to satisfy every guest all the time but I also believe that most people are open and can understand when their wishes cannot be fulfilled.  I love the interaction with the visitors to my hotels; everyone has a story to tell and I love finding ways to enrich their experiences.

The Job it self was wonderful.Come in get the bank out of the office count the bank even though I counted it the night before making sure its balance is still 500.00 dollars.Check the count(people we are expecting for dinner) with Servers and ask if we are hosting parties tonight?If so how man?.If they all are  B.E.O accounts  or payment at conclusion. I go to my cash cage(its called) I sit fill out my paper work My deposit slip for that night my paper work, check tape for register,tape check tape dispenser and refill pen bowl and staplers(both) Servers and mines. I greet each and every person in the kitchen. then i prepare to be given the checks s the customer come in to be rung out,validated that the information used for credit cards and rooms are correct by calling the Operator of the establishment the customer is residing.

What is the best part of working at the company?
I loved working in the historic area and seeing all the visiting people.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Learning new computer programs for guests

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It was wonderful interacting with guests but they can be demanding. It was a relaxed environment unless a guest was upset, and then we just deal with the problem. The culture of the company is proud. Employees love the town but the pay is very low. All staff were always warm and friendly. It was a wonderful place to work.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Come in at 9, open all programs and get ready for the day. Guests come and sit in front and ask questions, get tickets printer or inquire about amenities. This goes on throughout the day.

What is the best part of working at the company?
My coworkers. You work with same people everyday and become like a family.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The state of the kitchens. It is Colonial Williamsburg so everything is really old but not colonial old, just old and kind of run down.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Everyone is kind of like family and willing to help each other out. There is the usual gossip that happens between front line and back of house but other than that everyone is down to earth including the managers.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Busy with prep work and setting things up for the day ahead and prepping for the next day. Sometimes I even work through my by break but only by choice so I don't get behind or to catch up. The managers are always making sure we take our breaks.

Don’t bother applying for other positions within the foundation once you are working there. Your boss will find out and chastise you for trying to better your situation.  Work is often performed under conditions without heat in winter or ac in summer (this is indoors). The pay is low and there are no opportunities to advance your pay through performance evaluations, they don’t have them. Worst of all, you have to wait one year before you are eligible for benefits. That means no sick time, no vacation, no healthcare for *one year*.  Maybe it’s different if you’re an executive, if not, this is average for hourly employees. Some of these things listed feel like they violate basic human rights. I’ve been working a long time in many different professional positions, I’ve never encountered any of these poor working conditions before. It’s very disappointing because I love the place as a visitor, not so much as an employee.  

The management is the worst I’ve ever experienced. They lie and cheat their employees. Brown nosers get the favoritism returned. 
They DO NOT promote from within so whatever you’re hired for be happy because you won’t move anywhere else no matter how hard you work or good you are at your job. 
Front line employees are barely included in anything from seminars, free flu shots, benefit fairs, further education opportunities, research time or even parties. Morale is the lowest I’ve ever seen anywhere yet customer satisfaction is well over 90%. 
No raises even though you still get evaluated and very low staffing make it near impossible to get a break long enough to even use the bathroom. Lunch breaks-forget about it. The labor board would have a field day with CWF.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Cook 8 salaries reported	$21.24 per hour
Dishwasher 8 salaries reported	$19.22 per hour
Interpreter 4 salaries reported	$17.69 per hour
Host/hostess 6 salaries reported	$18.52 per hour
Service assistant 4 salaries reported	$19.11 per hour

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