What if I told you that a career in hospitality could lead to you traveling the world? If you consider yourself to be adaptable and hardworking, and genuinely enjoy helping others, then you could be a winning smile—and a certification or two—away from a career in hospitality.
At its root, the hospitality industry is and will always be about quality customer service with a smile. It’s a diverse field that includes hotel and resort staff, tour management, cruise ships, dining and more. Careers in the front office, food and beverage, housekeeping, maintenance and security, plus several others, include career pathways that, when built with certifications, can lead to good pay and exciting opportunities to travel as part of the job.
These career pathways are just some of the options in the hospitality field.
- Housekeeping, especially for large hotels and resorts, is much more than just cleaning rooms. It also requires planning, scheduling and logistics, like managing cleaning supplies and laundry. Certifications on this career path include certified guestroom attendant, certified hospitality supervisor and certified hospitality housekeeping executive.
- Food and beverage service is often a key part of the customer’s experience, so great service and meeting expectations are key. You may start as a certified restaurant server on your way to being a certified food and beverage executive.
- Working the front desk can go way beyond just reservations to finding meal and entertainment options for guests. Starting as a certified front desk representative and working toward becoming a certified rooms division Executive can be an engaging, entertaining career path.
- Starting in maintenance within hospitality can be as simple as painting rooms, but it may also mean entering the industry with other certifications in fields like HVACR, plumbing, carpentry and more. Still, you can start as a certified maintenance employee and acquire more responsibility until you earn a hospitality facilities executive certification.
- Security operations are vitally important to the hospitality industry, as they keep guests, their possessions and the facilities themselves safe. Becoming a certified lodging security director can mean starting as a certified lodging security officer, then a certified lodging security supervisor.
There are a lot of career options in the hospitality industry. See the diagram below and visit the American Hotel and Lodging Education Institute website to learn more.
You can also learn about the hospitality industry on GoodProspects. Our hospitality career snapshot and this man’s experience, plus our hospitality and food service group, can help you see opportunities in the field and find one that works for you.
