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Careers in the Hotel Industry
A hotel is a complex operation. It includes places for people to sleep, eat and shop. There are often recreational facilities and areas for public gatherings. In fact, a hotel often can be considered as a small city within its own walls and grounds. Because of its complexity, it is not possible to speak about a single career in the hotel industry. There is instead a wide variety of different careers.
The top people in the hotel industry are managers. The majority of them hold management positions in individual hotels, but some work in executive offices of the hotel chains. The principal function of management is to coordinate all different activities that take place in a hotel. The managerial personnel must therefore have a broad range of experience in various departments of a hotel. Today several universities offer courses in hotel management. The trend in recent years has been to select management trainees from the graduates of these courses. As their practical knowledge increases, they move up the ladder of promotion to front-desk positions, and then on to assistant manager, night manager and finally general manager. On the way, however, they may have worked as food and beverage purchasing agents, cashiers, inspectors in the housekeeping department and many other positions that contribute to their overall knowledge. If they are employed by a chain, they may be shifted not only from department to department, but also from hotel to hotel during the course of their careers.
The executive staff of a hotel includes many people with special skills, experience or professional training. The promotion staff, for example, must know not only the hotel field, but also advertising and public-relations techniques. The head housekeeper runs a complex organization with many employees, not just a single household. She needs to know the intricacies of purchasing on a large scale, as well as how to make beds and clean carpets properly. The members of the engineering and maintenance staffs need education and experience in their specialties. Chefs and cooks, even though they are out of sight of the public, are important to the success of a hotel. Good cooking is a skill that requires natural aptitude. Many people consider cooking to be an art. Many of the best cooks in the world come from Europe, particularly from France and Switzerland. In those countries people who wish to become chefs often begin to work as apprentices at an early age. They are trained by an experienced chef in all aspects of kitchen work, cooking and restaurant management. A head chef must be an expert not only in cooking itself, but also in planning, purchasing and supervising other kitchen personnel. The normal route of advancement in the kitchen is from cook to specialty chef, then to head chef and, finally, to executive chef.
Most of the remaining workers in the hotel world can be classified as skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled. The carpenters and upholsterers in maintenance, the plumbers and electricians in engineering and the gardeners in the grounds department are among the workers usually classified as skilled. They all require special aptitudes combined with special training. Semi-skilled workers include waiters and chambermaids, who must have training for their particular duties. Examples of unskilled workers are the helpers and dishwashers in the kitchen or the laborers who perform such chores as loading and unloading shipments of suppliers and equipment.
The largest number of hotel employees fall into the semi-skilled and unskilled categories. But they need training in the procedures of the particular hotel for which they work. The customs of the guests, and therefore the kind of service they expect, may be completely different from those of the area where the hotel is located.
Another phenomenon of the hotel industry is that it creates employment for a number of people who cannot be considered typical hotel personnel. This is especially true for resort hotels with recreational facilities. Cocktail lounges and night clubs, for example, employ entertainers and musicians. Outdoor recreational facilities make use of the skills of people with a background in sports, such as golf, tennis, skiing and swimming.
In this age of international travel language ability is also a definite aid in hotel work. Most hotels in resort areas and large cities now serve guests from many countries. Any employee who meets and talks to customers in such a hotel has an advantage if he or she can communicate in the guests’ language or in one of the international languages such as English or French.
The economic benefits in hotel work can be very substantial. The top people in management, people like managers in large hotels, staff in the chain headquarters, executive housekeepers, food and beverage managers receive good salaries. Many hotel employees receive additional income from tips or gratuities.
The financial condition of a hotel is often discussed in terms of its occupancy rate, i. e. the percentage of rooms or beds occupied during a given period. The higher the percentage over a long period, the more successful the hotel is. The staff of a hotel can do a great deal to assure a high occupancy rate, not only through their efficiency in their jobs, but also through their manner of serving guests. The hotel business is a service industry, and one of the services that it sells is a pleasant atmosphere. The employees of a hotel create that atmosphere.