For a while now, I’ve been trying to figure out what I want to do for a living. I was never one of those kids who had a ready answer when adults asked what they wanted to be when they grew up. I guess I just always hoped I’d find something I loved later on. But I feel like I need to get a move on now, so that I can take the right classes and get set up for my career.
Lately, I’ve been very interested in the hospitality industry. I think it would be cool to work in the world of hotels, restaurants, and nightclubs. But I’m not so sure whether I’d want to deal directly with guests, or do something more behind the scenes. Experts, can you give me a bit of an overview of different career options within the hospitality industry?
The hospitality industry is a big part of our economy. Travel and tourism bookings hit $1.6 trillion worldwide in 2017. In the United States, the hospitality industry employs millions — and it adds a new job every 2.5 seconds. That means a lot of opportunities for you to make a splash, no matter where you decide your talents lie.
Perhaps you’d like to work for a hotel. You could become a hotel manager, which would involve taking responsibility for just about anything that involves the hotel. You’d have to balance its budget, buy its supplies, hire and pay employees, and make sure that all of the necessary tasks are done. Of course, being a manager is only one way to get involved at a hotel, and might not be your first position with a given hospitality company. There are many other important hotel jobs and you may also want to consider working as a clerk or in another role.
The hospitality industry is also generally understood to include the restaurant business. Working in a restaurant would give you the chance to decide whether you would prefer to focus on the financial management of an organization or would rather take a more direct role in creating food or working with guests. You could be a manager, a chef, a member of the wait staff, or more.
The hospitality industry also includes gaming. The gambling business is a sprawling industry: you could do anything from dealing cards to working on code for the latest casino gambling machines and gambling apps. Apps and digital games are the future of gaming, but there will always be room for dedicated customer service professionals, smart business managers, and trustworthy dealers.
The hospitality industry doesn’t rely on just the folks who work in hotels and restaurants. There are also organizations that help those businesses keep their doors open and their guests satisfied. Among the most important considerations for any hospitality business is their supply chain. You can’t run a restaurant without flatware or a hotel without bed sheets, if course, which is why hospitality supply experts like the ones at VEGA Direct play such an important role in the hospitality industry. Working as a supplier, you would offer hotel and restaurant owners complete solutions to their supply chain needs, balancing your own books in order to offer your business customers affordable rates on essential hospitality supplies like plates, napkins, and glasses. Even if you don’t end up on the supply side of things, you’ll certainly want to work with reliable hospitality supply companies in order to succeed.
So which of these many opportunities is right for you? Well, that’s for you to decide. In order to find the best spot for your passions and talents, we recommend you take courses relevant to the hospitality industry and speak to the professors behind those courses. You should also reach out to people who currently work in roles that you might want to consider for yourself. Ask them for their insights and advice. You may even be able to job-shadow them. Armed with this sort of background knowledge, you can make a more informed decision about your own future.
