Working in hotels is both sociable and varied, so you’re sure never to get bored.
Love looking after people and making sure they are happy? Working in a hotel or guest house can offer you a great sense of satisfaction. It’s also a career that offers variety, as anything can happen, and a great social life, as you will be working with a team, you’ll feel part of a big family.
Yes, the hours will likely be long, as most hotels are open all year round, which means working weekends, bank holidays and during the early hours.
But it’s a fun industry to work in, which will give you great transferable skills that can take you around the world. It’s also a growth industry. With holidays in the UK becoming more popular than ever, there are even more opportunities to work in the places where people stay. There are more than 628,800 rooms for rent, in hotels and guest houses across the UK.
‘More than four million families come on holiday at one of our parks, resorts or hotels every year and we aim to give our guests an exceptional experience,’ says a spokesperson from Bourne Leisure, one of the country’s largest providers of holidays and holiday home ownership.
‘Our success over the years has been driven by the enterprise, experience and exuberance of our team members. They play a critical role in delivering an outstanding guest experience.’
Roles within these establishments are plentiful and varied. You could be investigating why the guests in room11 didn’t receive their newspaper in the morning, arranging Champagne and flowers for your honeymooning guests, or devising promotions to attract new customers. Positions range from Receptionists and Porters to roles in the kitchen, sales, managerial, finance and human resources.
Various characteristics are required for working in a hotel. These range from many soft skills such as organisation, communicating or working in a team, to more technical competences, including revenue management, accounting and facilities management.
Also, probably the most important requirement is that you are able to take care of people. It takes empathy and commitment to put another person’s needs and desires ahead of your own, while keeping a smile on your face.
Customers come to hotels for various reasons, but in short, they want an enjoyable experience. They are paying money to have a nice time, so will want hotel employees and representatives to provide them with due care and attention, so they leave with happy memories.
Working your way up
If you eventually want to manage a hotel or guest house, you can either work your way up from a junior-level role, or complete a qualification in hotel and hospitality management. Once you achieve your goal, you’ll be in charge of running the place, which entails general maintenance and housekeeping, managing the budgets and dealing with customer complaints.
Depending on the size of the premises, a Hotel Manager might be purely office- based as they focus on one particular area of the business, or deal directly with customers for most of the day. Entry-level roles may only pay minimum wage, but in some hotels, living expenses, such as meals and accommodation, are provided.
If you’re wondering about salaries, Managers can expect to earn anything between £16,000 and £100,000 or, in some cases, even more.
Larger hotel chains usually offer their employees internal training programmes or support to take on external study, such as NVQs or hotel and catering training. Most crucial of all, however, is on-the-job experience: Managers need familiarity with every aspect of the trade.
