Chief Beer Officer sought by Global Hotel Chain

For a number of years a trend in management circles has been to advocate the creation of a Chief something Officer for each new trend or problem in corporate America. I think companies started the trend with the creation of CEO or Chief Executive Officer which, according to Wikipedia, is the highest ranking executive position in a corporation. Usually the President or Chairman of the Board holds the title of Chairman and CEO or President and CEO. The one with the and CEO in the title is the real power in the company. Close behind is the Chief Operating Officer, or COO, who is the person responsible for day to day operations and usually ranks as the number two person in the company. If the Chairman of the Board is also the CEO, then the President usually has COO included in his or her title. In recent years we have also seen the proliferation of new positions such as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief Legal Officer (CLO), Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), etc. All of these are high level executive positions that are below the President and above the Vice Presidents.

Now the hotel chain, Four Points by Sheraton, has created the position of chief beer officer and, with four days to go until the January 12, 2007 deadline for submitting applications, almost 6,000 people in over 30 countries have applied for this job. Unlike the CEOs, COOs, CFOs, etc. positions cited above, the newly created position of cbo is not a high level corporate executive position. Instead, it is a part-time promotional gimmick position with no salary, traditional benefits or other financial compensation. This is not to say that the position is without perks. Among other things, the chief beer officer will represent Four Points by Sheraton Corporation at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, the Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany and various other beer festivals and events around the world with all expenses being picked up by the company. The cbo will also receive additional compensation in the form of Starwood Preferred Guest Points which can be used for free stays at Starwood hotels and resorts (Four Points is a part of the Starwood hotel group).

To apply for the job, simply click here or go to the link below and complete the simple, three page application. The first page just asks for your name, address and telephone number along five optional questions about your beer drinking habits. The second page is an easy, eleven question, multiple choice quiz designed to test your beer knowledge. Actually it doesn't test your beer knowledge so much as your ability to identify the obvious answer from the three choices given. One of the questions is reproduced at the right – as you can see, it is very difficult to fail this test. The final page asks that you write a 150 word piece about anything else that you wish to tell about yourself. Despite the brevity of this third page, it is probably the key to getting the job as they are looking for someone with good communication and promotional skills and a well written piece could move your application to the top of the growing stack of applications.

While this is a promotional gimmick first and foremost, the company is serious about creating the position and, sometime before Groundhog Day, a lucky beer aficionado will become the world's first Chief Beer Officer of a global corporation in the hospitality industry.

I have already applied for the job but, given the number of applicants, I haven't yet begun work on my resignation letter for my present job. I am also still trying to figure out how I can support my family with Starwood Preferred Guest Points.