Are you looking for a career in the hospitality industry? Have you considered working in a hotel? The hospitality industry is rapidly growing and there are plenty of opportunities for job seekers. Hotels offer unique positions with competitive salaries and benefits, making them a great place to work. With so many different types of jobs available in hotels, it can be hard to know where to start.
Hotels are an important part of the travel and tourism industry. Many hotels need staff to fill a variety of roles, such as hotel receptionists, chefs, housekeepers, and janitors. No matter your skills or experience level, there's likely a hotel job that's perfect for you.
If you're interested in joining the hotel industry or just curious about the job opportunities it offers, this article is for you. We will be looking at 18 different types of hotel jobs that are available right now - many of which can be pursued in 2023 - and providing some information on each role.
Hospitality Job Types and Career Paths
The hospitality industry is one in which a wide variety of jobs exist, so it is important to understand that multiple career paths can take you there. Thanks to recent events throughout the world, this service-based economy has had to make many changes and adaptations over the past few years. Part of these changes involve scaling down some operations, but there are also vacancies in several sectors. We can help you get started on the right path to success.
What are the Different Hotel Jobs?
Broadly speaking, we can divide most hotel jobs into two primary categories. You can go for a hotel management role or go down the path of being a hotel staff member. Each one comes with roles and responsibilities that are integral to the smooth functioning of the business. Which one you choose may depend on your interests and natural skills. However, it is also true that you can develop the different talents you might need in order to get the job you want. We’ll take a look at several roles from both sides of this equation.
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1. Top Management Jobs in the Hospitality Industry
Management within a hotel involves overseeing many daily operations that help ensure all the guests meet their needs. You would be responsible for supervising specific processes or teams of people. Some top management positions for which you can apply to include shift supervisor, manager of front-of-house operations, or assistant hotel manager. It is important to remember that even in an assistant role, you may need to work your way up with some training and years of experience first. Many hotels prefer to do in-house hiring from employees with proven track records.
2. Food & Beverage Service Jobs
Food & Beverage is a big part of what encourages repeat patrons at any hotel, and you can break it down into service or kitchen roles. One of the more obvious jobs from the service side will be that of the waitstaff. In this role, you would be responsible for bringing drinks or dishes to patrons upon placing their order or hearing their request. If you’re looking for a higher role in management here, you may become an F&B Activities Manager. You would monitor the progress of the kitchen staff in meeting any goals upper management would like. The hotel may also task you with creating weekly or monthly plans for meals.
We have created a dedicated page for food & beverage boutique hotel jobs for you.
3. Food & Beverage Production (Kitchen) Jobs
The staff members dealing with meals need a great deal of assistance from the kitchen in order to coordinate their efforts effectively. Food production itself involves any job in which you might cook ingredients, but you can also find employment as a dishwasher, general kitchen cleaner, or part of the kitchen staff. While this would include the chef, some hotels also task the head cook to monitor or supervise all other back-of-house kitchen employees.
4. Front Office / Reservation Department Jobs
The front office has direct contact with clients and guests. One of the main positions in this category is that of the reservation department. An agent in this department is an entry-level employee, but the job still comes with some big responsibilities. Make sure reservations are correct to avoid lost business and frustrated guests, so the agent here must be able to handle new requests, edit current reservations, and answer any communications or concerns from incoming guests. Comfort with both phone and email communication is key here. You could also apply to be a manager of this department. Typically, a hotel will want a few years of customer service experience for their ideal candidate.
Don’t miss our opportunities for front desk jobs.
5. Housekeeping Jobs
Entry-level housekeepers are responsible for keeping both the common areas and individual rooms clean and orderly. In most cases, a hotel will assign a team of housekeepers on rotations to ensure that someone can clean each room at least once daily. The general housekeeper may be the position with the most openings here, but you can also apply to be a director or manager of housekeeping. A director in this role is someone who can train new staff, maintain the best practices for standards, work well with maintenance crews, deal with performance reviews, and more. The manager acts as an assistant to the director, and you may create and monitor staff schedules, supervise a shift of workers, and report any concerns to the director.
Find your future room division job on our job board.
6. Human Resources and Training Jobs in the Hospitality Industry
Not all hotels or similar businesses have a dedicated human resources department. However, if the location serves a large enough staff roster, there’s a good chance it will need someone to fill this role. Being able to exhibit both empathy and sympathy is an important part of this job. However, a good HR employee must also have a thorough understanding of the various hospitality industry laws. One of the key factors in this job is knowing when and how to protect the company itself. Because hotels are all about people, emotions can come into play anytime, making the need for a sympathetic ear vital.
7. Sales & Marketing Jobs in the Hospitality Industry
Sales and Marketing are closely related departments, but the roles within each are not the same. For sales, employees will need to understand how to expound on the usefulness and benefits of their specific hotel or chain. In doing so, they can cater to the interests of individual guests, corporate firms, or leisure getaways that deal with large influxes of clients at once. There are also management positions within this role that would deal with selling amenities or properties throughout the region. Marketing may use some input from Sales in order to create things like targeted ads for specific parties. Using different social media avenues, they would also keep the hotel’s name in the public consciousness. Creativity, storytelling, and good writing skills are all excellent traits to have here.
8. Engineering Jobs in the Hospitality and Leisure Industry
Some engineering jobs you could go for are on the maintenance team, working your way up to the hotel’s Head of Maintenance eventually. In these roles, a big part of your duties will be to fix the furniture and fixtures within the building itself. Getting the most longevity out of these parts of the building helps ensure that the company gets the highest return on its investment. While mechanical skills are a must, being friendly is also a good quality to have when you need to help frustrated guests.
9. Information Technology Jobs in the Hospitality Industry
IT is a growing department in almost every industry and has become vital to hotels. Thanks to good IT support, these businesses can streamline constant communication between all tiers of management and a revolving door of guests. The internet can help the hotel market its benefits to potential customers, and guests appreciate having a working connection while in residence. A manager in this field might be responsible for looking at the whole IT infrastructure that a particular business uses. Once done, they ensure that the technology aligns with the company’s long-term business plan and best practices. Other jobs could include basic hardware and software support, including learning specific systems and how they work for internal use.
10. Cruise Line Jobs
A cruise ship hosts a somewhat different form of hospitality, but it is an adjacent sector of the industry that will have many of the same roles as your standard hotel. Many cruise lines offer a luxurious experience for passengers, meaning that skilled kitchen staff, cleaners, and hosts are all necessary positions to fill. Additionally, the ship needs to be in top condition to ensure both safety and comfort, making maintenance workers a vital part of this industry. Should you prefer the open seas, you can still bring hospitality to guests on the ship.
11. Hotel Manager
One of the top positions is that of managing an entire building. While most businesses would prefer that you have direct experience in hospitality management for some years prior, you may be able to leverage similar past positions for this role. In doing so, you would be responsible for overseeing the entire staff, mostly having contact with assistant managers across sectors such as maintenance, reception, the kitchen area, and outlets.
12. Jobs in the Travel Sector
Many hotels need dedicated travel personnel to keep parts of the business running. You may wish to be a travel agent for a particular chain, using your expertise to bring in new clients who want some help navigating a city for the first time. If the business requires an agent for internal use, you may coordinate the travel of other employees as necessary. You can also be a reservations consultant.
13. Casino Jobs
The casino industry is adjacent to the hospitality sector, but includes many of the same features. Some hotels will come with their own casinos on-site as well. If so, you may be interested in work as a security consultant inside the room, a dealer, a chef, a banquet server, or a wagering clerk.
14. Options in the Entertainment Sector
Part of the modern hotel experience is to provide many entertainment options for guests. In some ways, the casino is one part of this. However, many jobs in this area aren’t immediately apparent as entertainment positions. You could apply to become a lifeguard at a resort hotel, an attendant for the beachside area, or a seasonal worker who changes entertainment options depending on the time of year. There are even opportunities to entertain small children of adult guests as well.
15. Career in the Events Management
A big part of the revenue for many hotels is in planning and executing major events for corporations. If this interests you, you can apply to be part of the event staff. Here, you would help the event coordinator or manager work out a plan that brings the vision of the guests to life. This might include booking or decorating particular halls, gathering supplies, interfacing with reservations to make sure everything is in order once guests arrive, or working in sales to bring the idea of hosting events to the attention of the clients.
16. Maintenance Supervisor
The supervisor for the maintenance staff would be responsible for creating the daily or weekly rosters that keep the schedules moving. Such a supervisor would also get reports on any technical issues with any of the equipment or fixtures inside guest rooms and common areas.
17. Spa Manager
A spa manager needs to ensure that this area of the hotel has the proper number of staff members it needs. Additionally, you would use your managerial experience to train new staff in conduct and best safety practices. The hotel may expect you to maintain the budget for the spa area, or you may need to work to sell the idea of a luxurious spa experience to bring in more clients.
18. Night Auditor
Night auditors act as counterparts to the regular daytime shift. They will work with the front desk to ensure that all evening operations for the hotel are going smoothly. Part of this work may include being a main point of contact for guests, helping them with the process of booking or checking out, and making sure all the finances from the shift earlier that day match up correctly.
Skill Requirements
Among hospitality tourism skills, soft skills are more than technical skills. It is a service industry, and professionals frequently interact with clients and customers. As well as dealing with vendors, some roles require contracting for supply or transportation.
Furthermore, a hospitality employee should possess communication, problem-solving, and a positive attitude to succeed in his career journey.
Working in hospitality requires excellent interpersonal skills, and developing your customer service skills can make you stand out. Analytical, reasoning, and exceptional communication skills are among the critical skills for success in these roles.
Find out more about what are the 5 different sectors of the hospitality industry.
Hospitality Career Paths for Top Jobs
The key to a top job in this industry is to start in a particular sector that interests you. Whether it's front-of-house or back-of-house, choose a path that aligns with your current skills or those that you wish to develop. With time and dedication, you can work your way up to a management position within that field. This experience will also allow you to later transition into different departments. With a variety of hospitality jobs to choose from, this list is just a small sample of some of the most desirable positions available.
Further reading might include exploring hotel management and the top 6 benefits of being a hotel manager.