Internship spotlight: Willa Zhou, PUBLIC Hotel

Willa Zhou is a sophomore in the BS Hotel and Tourism Management at the Jonathan M. Tisch Center of Hospitality. She tells us about her current internship and her future ambitions in this post. 

Where are you interning and what is your job title?

I am currently a Finance & Accounting Intern at PUBLIC, an Ian Schrager Hotel in New York City. Prior to that, I was working as a Front Office Intern for two months.

What projects have you been working on so far?

I work on several different projects for the Finance & Accounting Department, including completing Expedia reconciliations, solving guest billing disputes, inputting accounts payable and accounts receivable data on Excel, filing checks, and any other miscellaneous tasks that the team needs help with. During my time at the Front Office Department, I updated prior incident logs, checked out and billed guests on OPERA, ran the house to help expedite check out times, delivered amenities to rooms, and managed the guest lounge.

What do you enjoy most about your internship so far?

My favorite thing about interning at PUBLIC is being able to constantly immerse myself in learning new things. During my time here, I have been able to familiarize myself with crucial hospitality softwares such as OPERA Hospitality Cloud Services and M3 Hotel Accounting. Bumping into celebrities staying at the hotel and touring PUBLIC’s beautifully designed rooms and co-working social spaces is also a huge plus!

What do you hope to take away from your internship?

I hope to develop valuable analytical and interpersonal skills, gain a deeper understanding of the financial side of the hotel business, and cultivate strong relationships with hospitality industry professionals at PUBLIC.

What are your future plans?

I am the Vice President of Hospitality Business Society (the Tisch Center’s undergraduate student club), and for the remainder of my time at NYU, I want to continue organizing hotel tours, roundtable lectures with industry guest speakers, and student networking events. Upon graduation, I hope to pursue hotel and real estate development or hospitality consulting, so I would love to gain further experience in these fields through internship opportunities to see which is the right career path for me.