A career in the hospitality industry can be an incredibly
rewarding experience. Not only will a hospitality job provide outgoing people
with an excellent chance to broaden their horizons through the people that they
meet, there are always opportunities for growth and advancement within every
niche of the industry, whether you choose a hotel job, a restaurant job, or any
one of the other dozens of possibilities available. The key to a long and
satisfying career within the industry is careful selection of the company that
you choose to work for. Businesses that cater to providing services to people
out to get away from the grind can have a wide range of employee satisfaction.
It is very possible to find the right fit for your career conditions through a
simple research process.
Pinpoint Your Perfect Employer: The Research Process
There are several areas in which a job seeker can look for
information that determines whether or not a specific company is right for
them. Dave Fischer, who has worked in management positions in several
restaurants and now runs a consulting firm which caters to resort jobs,
suggests the following list of criteria when looking for the right hospitality
job:
- Are
there possibilities of advancement within the company?
- Determine
how the company advances their employees. Is seniority or work ethic and
skill the deciding factor?
- Does
the company have a good record when it comes to employee retention?
- What
kind of benefits does the company offer to long-term, full time employees?
- Does
the pay scale reflect industry standards?
"I have found the companies that can offer examples of
employee advancement, that reward their long-term employees with
better-than-competitive benefits and pay scales, and that base promotions on
ethics and understanding rather than on seniority have the most satisfied
employees," says Fischer. "These employees tend to make the business
their career."
Conducting Research: Where to Look
There are several places that prospective employees can look
when seeking the answers to their questions. Each option offers varying degrees
of reliability and quality of information, but taken as a whole they will
provide a job seeker with a good idea of the big picture as far as
company/employee relations.
Word of Mouth
The first step in any process, including searching for that
perfect foodservice job or other hospitality job, is to work your contacts.
Most people within the hospitality industry will have contacts in various
places of employment; make sure to check with your friends and acquaintances to
see how they and their co-workers are treated at the company you are interested
in.
Public Records
Another great place to find information on companies are
public records. This includes resources such as the Internet and other forms of
media as well as local records from Better Business Bureaus and Compensation
Boards. These sources will let job seekers know what type of customer service
the company provides, and how busy the company is. Most hospitality job holders
will tell you that the busier the company, the better the job.
Interviews
"A lot of potential employees seem to forget that their
interview is just a much a tool for their use as it is for the employer,"
says Darren Parsons, owner of Ric's Mediterranean Grill. "The interview is
probably the best spot for a potential worker to find out all that they want to
know about the company and their spot in it, both for the present and the
future. What's more, hiring managers are more likely to hire someone who has an
interest in the operations and history of the company. It works both
ways." Make sure that you are prepared not only with the answers to
questions during your foodservice interview or your hotel interview, but also
with some good questions of your own!
Good Research Will Lead to a Great Job
The old adage "the more you put in, the more you will
get out" seems to hold just as true for finding a job within the
hospitality industry as it does everywhere else. Job seekers who take the time
to do a good background check on their potential places of work are not only
likely to be happy at their positions, they are also more likely to be hired.
From the start of the search right through to the interview questions,
gathering information is vital to a long and happy career.