Detailed oriented people who enjoy helping others to relax and have a great time should consider jobs available in hospitality. The fun, fast paced hospitality industry features jobs in posh resorts, luxury cruise ships, popular theme parks, distinctive tour companies and upscale restaurants. All of these venues need professionally trained, attentive staff and managers at all levels to make their customers’ experiences both memorable and repeatable. Here are a few examples of jobs within the hospitality industry.
Resort Hotel Guest Services Manager
When people decide to go on vacation, one of the first things that they do is to check around for lodging in their chosen destination area. These travelers are likely to talk to reservations staff members who directly report to hotel guest services managers. Guest services managers are responsible for hiring customer focused employees as well as providing adequate training opportunities for their professional development. Customer complaints are also addressed by guest services managers who are front line players when it comes to promoting the brands of the resort hotels for which they work. Other business functions performed by guest services managers include marketing to maintain high room occupancy rates, optimizing budgets to promote guest satisfaction and creating plans that enhance the customer experience and align with the hotel’s strategic goals. A hospitality worker who qualifies to be a guest services manager generally has at least an undergraduate degree in business, management or hospitality management as well as two years of experience in various guest services positions.
Housekeeper
Some of the hardest working staff members within the hospitality industry are resort hotel housekeepers. Those are the people with the sunny dispositions who also make every hotel fixture shine. Housekeepers clean windows, wash showers and tubs, refill toiletries, dust furniture and replace linens. High energy, personal integrity, knowledge of general cleaning concepts and physical fitness are the main skills needed to be successful in this position. Housekeeping positions have low barriers to entry as most jobs do not have education or formal training requirements.
Restaurant Manager
Fine dining is the backbone of the hospitality industry, and there are many people who contribute to the success of restaurants across the country. Restaurant managers are usually responsible for the business operations of dining facilities. They work with food and beverage distributors to gain the best prices on products to maximize restaurant profits. Helping the restaurant to meet and exceed customer expectations is also a part of their job so they have to ensure that their cost cutting initiatives do not impact the quality of the restaurant’s offerings. Sometimes customers repeatedly visit certain restaurants because of the ambiance, and waiters and hosts are often the primary people who are responsible for repeat restaurant business. It is the job of restaurant managers to hire, train and motivate these important workers to provide customers with the best possible experience. While supervisory experience is usually necessary for this job, a degree is often not required.
Executive Meeting Manager
Not all hospitality functions are designed for the entertainment of leisure travelers and conference coordination for business travelers are popular niche categories within the hospitality industry, according to the International Institute of Event Management. These professionals can work within resort hotels or as third party consultants to identify facilities for business meetings, fulfill conference multimedia requirements, coordinate the acquisition of appropriate signage for events and cater refreshments for meeting participants. There are nearly a million things that could go wrong when companies host large and important conferences, and the skills of a cool headed and knowledgeable event planner can be the recipe for success. Candidates for executive meeting management jobs usually have an undergraduate degree and at least two years of experience coordinating meetings in corporate settings.
Conclusion
The hospitality industry can provide a variety of rewarding career opportunities around the world for people who have the right skills and training. Also, the hiring managers for jobs available in hospitality sometimes prefer great attitudes over formal education.