Ok, so I’m Irvin. Born and raised in Brooklyn. Pretty much been doing doorman for four years now. I feel like now, due to the technology that we have, it is much much easier. We're just scanning people's packages for the clients in the building. Just having that organization for when FedEx, UPS comes in, post office, you know, we're able to organize all the packages in order. We have a package room and new technologies. We have Building Links, so Building Links does the job. It makes our job easier by organizing and putting things in alphabetical order and stuff like that. So, we have that program that makes it easier for pretty much, you know, making the building secure, making everyone feel comfortable as they come in, and making them feel at home because they do live here. And so, you have to have your customer service up to par. You know, talking and how to deal with people or any issues they have. You’re making them feel comfortable. So, yeah, just like that. Just many more responsibilities to take care of.
Well, I started off with a different company, and this building actually kept me, hired me, personally under contract because of my customer service—of just giving respect to all the clients in the building and the building owners. My customer service is really high, and if they need a hand with anything, I’m always available to help them out. It's mainly about your respect, your personality, and how you interact with people. So, I feel like you have to give people— anybody that you're working with—you've got to give them that form of respect and have respect for yourself. And just have an open mind.
A typical day for me could be a move-in day. Someone could be moving in or moving out, and we have to prepare the elevator, prepare for any stuff moving in or out and add padding. Dressers, bed sets, you know. Check the emails to see if any clients from the building have a maintenance request, like a toilet that could be clogged or a leak or fixing a light, and they need assistance. Also, if the clients have any visitors that are coming in, like family or friends, they could send us an email knowing that this client is a friend or family that's coming in or they have a delivery that we need to approve. Also, you know, we deal with the mailman or the mail lady. The client has a specific package that they want us to secure and hold for them. We could put that in the notes and hold it. And keeping the building clean and making everyone feel welcome every time from a long day of work, from the 8-hour shift, or they may be out traveling and making sure the building is clean and relaxed, so once they come in, they feel at ease and able to just say, “Alright, I'm home.” Pretty much, yeah.
Yeah, me personally, I wish I was off on weekends. I just don’t like working on the weekend. So, workload-wise, the weekend is much easier because, you know, you don't have to take out the trash. Usually, we do that on weekdays. Just trying to find work to do, to keep busy, whereas on the weekend, everybody’s out, and it’s hard finding work that you need to do on the weekend. The weekend is much easier, but only because I don’t like working.
It’s a Monday or a Tuesday, or Thursday also because that’s when all the recycling goes out. Cans, papers, regular trash. Today’s a big day because everything goes out in the building.
I would say during the afternoon, like mid-shift, I guess. From 3–6. That's where everything goes out, and the recycling goes out. And also, two people usually work from 9 to 5. So, they start to throw things out, and they'll be a little busy. Also, you have to be considerate of, you know, any special orders they have from the dry cleaners or even the kids. Just trying to have that connection with everyone in the building—remembering names, having the names of the kids or newborns and stuff like that, because that plays a big role in a doorman. You know, that gives you a plus, you know, to the client's eyes, that you're paying attention to specific details that they tell you.
I look forward to making sure our tasks for the day are complete. I’ve been successful in making sure the building stays clean, taking out the recycling, and just welcoming anyone who comes into the building and making sure they feel at home. That’s the ultimate goal. Once I come into work, I know this is what I need to do to make everyone happy.
The end of my shift. Because there’s nothing left to do, everything is done.
Um, it does come in waves. Like, there could be more garbage than usual, for instance. Also, due to the fact that it was the 4th of July weekend, a lot of people traveled, so the building kinda had less to do. Unlike any non-holidays, when everyone is still in the building, there's not much traveling and everything like that, so people stay home. So, there is much more trash and recycling. But it plays a big part in holidays, for a doorman or a maintenance person, and it just varies due to the fact that you know, a lot of people travel when it's a holiday, right? Versus when everybody stays in when it's not a big holiday.
Mm-hmm, good question. Yeah, so you could probably say Christmas and Thanksgiving. It can get busy because I guess that's where everyone stays together and wants to be together. But for the 4th of July, when everyone travels out and takes flights, the building becomes much quieter during those times. Or even during the summer, people like to travel and they don’t really wanna stay in as much compared to a winter where everyone, you know, doesn't really travel as much and they stay in. It's more trash, and people order more food.
No, it doesn't feel overwhelming. Definitely not. It's just the workload can get extra. You have to put more work into your workload to make sure you're able to do your normal load of work correctly. It definitely can get busy, but at the end of the day, I feel like it’s just continuing my normal job.
Yeah. So, during the day, um, between probably 11 and 4, or 11-2, the traffic can get busy from food deliveries, you know, Uber Eats or Postmates, anything that's like, you know, from food that's coming in for clients who are upstairs, working from home. And packages like FedEx, UPS, and Amazon deliveries. So, you know, we have a system called Building Link where we scan each package and put them in a system for all the clients in the building. Also, if a client has a big delivery for their unit, we need to guide them upstairs and assist them in entering the client's apartment unit. So, you could say between, you know, 11 and 2, it can get really busy.
I feel like probably just welcoming the clients because I feel like because you don't know their state of mind. What they've been dealing with throughout the day. So, you just got to kind of feel them out a little bit and their energy and just give them that respect of customer service. Personality goes a long way in giving them that comfortability of coming in and making them feel at ease. So, yeah, just welcoming the clients and making sure to be dealing with different, energy levels or states of mind. Yeah, that's something that's really off the top of my head.
This is just my opinion; I feel like we have to focus more on the client that comes in. This is where they live. This is their home. This is what they call their home. So, anywhere you go, you want, if you have your own place, you wanna be comfortable and at ease when everybody comes in. So, I feel like, as a doorman, I have to be attentive to them before packages, make them feel welcome, and even ask them questions about how their day went and how was work, just to have a conversation so they could feel welcome from a long day. If they want to explain their day to me or anything like that. So, you know, because I have had clients come in and tell me, “Oh, your smile makes my day feel better.” You know what I'm saying? It's because they could come home after a rough day, and just by smiling and welcoming them back home, that could make their day much easier. So, I feel like, you know what, being attentive to their issues. I feel like they come first. Before any packages or anything else.
With that, it can vary. A client could also let the doormen know that they have a special visitor or family coming in. Also, Building Link also gives us that, you know, that extra hand of putting it in the system so you can know to let this person in and know this person has access to the keys upstairs and to my apartment, to my unit. So, Building Link automatically puts it in the system and puts it for that tenant. If you’re in the system, you just let the dormant know your name, and he will give you the keys so you can just go right upstairs. It’s very seamless. Also, for pets. You have to be attentive to clients; that’s the main responsibility of the doorman. Customer service has to be up to par. You have to be a people person to be a doorman. You have to interact with them because, at the end of the day, if you’re not attentive, the client sees that. You're not helpful, you're not pleasant, you're not as attentive to the job. So, they kind of feel uneasy at times, just like, “All right, you're too stern or too direct.” So, you have to have some type of personality, some sense of humor, and some type of ability to help them. That's the major point: customer service.
I wouldn’t say stress. It can get a little overwhelming, just like you said. Due to the traffic, you know. If you have a client waiting for a package and someone else comes in, or FedEx comes in, too. So, it's just like, okay, who to be attentive with. So, you just have to find a balance and make sure you handle any tasks and be responsible. It can get overwhelming around that traffic time, like if a client is waiting for a package and someone else comes in to have to make a delivery, so I could probably say that. Like, alright, just be attentive to the client first, so it's just observing what this person needs at the time or the moment the person needs a package. Who's here first? Also, the client is waiting for the package, and someone else comes in. So, it all goes from, you know, your customer service on how to talk to people and, you know, being polite and just being respectful in a way, that's a matter of just having respect for everyone once they come in.
Probably, on a Sunday, you’ll see fewer tenants or clients because they're probably out and about or at home, and they are just ordering food from outside, Uber Eats and stuff like that. So, you pretty much don’t see anybody as much, and deliveries don’t really happen on Sundays, so I’d probably say that on Sundays, it’s less busy and tends to clients less. And what’s the average? I’d say on a Sunday or Monday because everybody goes out or starts their work week. So, you don’t see them as much.
Probably a lot, probably right in the middle. When somebody is coming in, or they’re running late, or they need a day off. So, we interact with each other all the time, you know, we have a group chat with the doormen, and we just created a team to make sure we’re all comfortable if we need to discuss any issues in the building or someone just needs that time off, we’re always trying to help each other out.
On average? I mean, it depends on the season. As I said, during the summer, everyone travels more, so they spend less time in the building than they do in the fall or winter when everyone is home. So, you see a lot of traffic, you see a building that’s full because everybody wants to stay in. And like I said, you see a difference between Christmas and 4th of July weekend. The building could be quiet, but for Thanksgiving and Christmas, you can see everyone is home and with their families. It depends on the season and holidays.
Well, every day. Every day. That’s the number one responsibility we have as a doorman. Have discussions and provide and give that top customer service each and every day to the clients, no matter what stage they’re at when you talk with them.
Um, entering. Entering.
I’d say it affected us by just coming in. Because we were labeled as essential workers, so we had to, you know, deal with the face mask and all the training, and coming into work. We weren’t able to actually just stay home and work from home. So that kind of did, I guess you can say, affect us a lot because we had to travel and come to work, and everyone didn’t really feel like we we had to. But as doormen, we took on the responsibility for the clients, for the trash, for the recycling, and for the packages coming in. I feel like that was probably the biggest challenge during the pandemic. Just dealing with that virus and being able to be attentive to the clients. But nothing really changed, like managing how everything operated, I guess.
Yes, yes, yes, less. There was not too much talking; the gym was less busy. The gym was also, like, they only allowed one person for three hours, and the next client could just schedule to come in, but they did not allow having a full connection. Everyone had to take turns and share times for what times they wanted to work out.
Yeah, you can say that. You can say closer to them. Yeah, closer because everyone was much more concerned with COVID, so the clients were attentive also to the doormen, giving us much more conversation, more interaction, and stuff like that.
