Essential Skills and Planning your Career in the Hospitality Industry

We are well aware that the hospitality industry is one of the biggest employers in India and around the world. We can all agree that competition is tough and to be extremely successful, you need to do things differently and be unique, passionate and innovate at the same time. This, I believe is alot of work. With proper planning and focus you can, however, achieve your dreams and a successful career is few years away.

In this post, I will share few important and useful factors that can help you build an amazing career in the hospitality industry.

So, let us begin .................

Career Planning is all about creating a long-term goal for your career, and then thinking about how you’ll achieve it.

However, before you can know what you want to do in the long term, you need to reflect on your current situation.

 What are you good at? 

Where do you need to improve? 

What opportunities are available? And, Are there factors beyond your control that could have an impact on your goals?

To begin the process of introspecting, we can work on our 

SWOT Analysis 

By using this tool, you can gain a better understanding of where you are now, and you can think about where you want to go.

SWOT Analysis as the name suggest mentions the Strengths and Weakness of an organization, and identifies the Opportunities and Threats that it faces.

Just as it is important for hospitality organizations, it’s also useful when you apply it to your own situation. 

By knowing your strengths, you can focus your efforts on the things that you’re good at. And, by understanding your weaknesses, you know what to avoid, what to improve, and where you need to get help.

Taken together, your strengths and opportunities help you identify potential long-term career goals. 

Your weaknesses, and the threats you face, are the things that need to be managed, mitigated or planned for, to ensure that your goals remain achievable.

To conduct a Personal SWOT Analysis, you ask yourself a series of questions about your current situation and then work on answering them.

STRENGTHS

When thinking about your strengths, don’t limit yourself to your professional skills. Explore all of your experiences, and the opportunities that you’ve had to grow and develop. This includes your education, aptitudes, personality factors, and interests. 

Ask yourself the following questions:

•What are you really good at?

•What skills do others recognize in you, and what do you get rewarded for?

•What do you do better than most people you work with?

•What are you most proud of?

•What experiences, resources or connections do you have access to that others don’t?

Remember to ask your friends and colleagues to list your strengths as well. 

We often downplay our own abilities and capabilities, so this is a great way to get more ideas. When you learn where others think you excel, it can be a real boost to your self-esteem!

WEAKNESSES

Here, you have to mention the things that you’re not so good at, or the areas where you can improve your performance.

 When you list your weaknesses, you can reduce or manage them, so that they don’t stop you achieving your goals.

We all have our weaknesses and it is also said that "to err is human", so make a list of weaknesses.

The trick is to recognize them and manage them appropriately. Also, don’t be too self-critical. If you’re fair and forgiving about other people’s weaknesses, make sure you forgive your own, too.

To complete the Weaknesses section of your Personal SWOT Analysis, use the following questions as a guide:

•What skills do you struggle to master?

•What do you do only because you have to, in order to satisfy job requirements?

•Are there one or two aspects of your personality that hold you back?

•What do other people most often identify as your weakness?

•Where are you vulnerable?

•Where do you lack experience, resources or connections, where others have them?

OPPORTUNITIES

Now that you’ve reflected on your strengths and weaknesses, you need to focus on understanding the opportunities that are open to you. 

Ask yourself:

•In what ways can you take advantage of your strengths?

•What opportunities are open to people who do these things well?

•What would you love to do that you’re good at?

•How can you minimize your weaknesses?

•Where do you see the most potential growth for yourself: within your current company, in a different organization, in another industry, or in a separate career entirely?

•What trends are having an impact on your current career, or on the one that you’re thinking about pursuing?

THREATS

Finally, reflect on the things that could derail your success. 

Although threats often can’t be directly controlled, they can be planned for. 

That’s why it’s so important to identify as many of them as possible. 

It is possible that thinking about threats will cause you worry and stress. However, you will likely experience more anxiety if you don’t consider them, especially when they start becoming more significant.

Remember, a threat loses much of its impact when it’s managed and prepared for. 

Ask yourself the following questions to uncover potential threats:

•Are there any general threats that you need to think about?

•If you don’t address your weaknesses, what problems could they cause?

•What setbacks might you face?

•What obstacles have other people overcome when they’re trying to get to where you want to go?

Now, I would like to mention skills and traits required to make your hospitality career, a successful one. The points mentioned here may pave your way for your future in the hospitality industry.

1. Plan before you Act

The hospitality industry is extremely demanding and people seldom take time to plan their career effectively.

They say “Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail”

There’s also a saying ‘Do what you love and love what you do’. Plan your steps on an annual, semi-annual, qualrterly and monthly basis, so that you can keep loving what you do.

Be sure you plan your hospitality career effectively by:

Identifying the career roadmap

Setting up a short-term as well as long-term goals

Getting Career Advice from time to time

Prioritising things

Taking small steps at a time

2. Build your Soft skills

While hard work, education and training ensure that you get the work-related skills quickly, it’s the soft skills that would matter in the longer run.

So, in order to have an amazing career in hospitality sector -

You must be a visionary

You must be decisive

You should be a people person

You must believe and practice teamwork.

A great hotelier is much more than a dedicated team member.

So, you should ensure that one becomes the hospitality professional by inculcating skills mentioned above which will eventually give you a clear competitive advantage over others.

3. Start Networking Effectively

In the modern era, social media is pretty much part of our lives.

We are using and getting benefit from 

social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram etc.

However, with more networking opportunities available, sometimes we tend to take lightly and do not use networking effectively.

So, in order to stay ahead of the competition, give yourself the networking advantage. Networking will not only help you get acquainted with the influential people in the Hospitality industry but will also set you on course to become an influential leader of the future.

It’s time to start meeting and networking with people. You will find lots of benefits in networking. Using the network for your hospitality job search is one of the benefits. 

Social media platform like LinkedIn does give a lot of options to network for the purpose of career advancement and learning.

4. Work on your Interpersonal skills

Interpersonal skills are skills that allow you to interact with and work well with others. Even if you aren't in a position that requires you to work directly with customers, you still probably need to work with colleagues and managers, making interpersonal skills important. 

These skills enable you to build relationships, communicate effectively and handle situations in an appropriate manner. Interpersonal skills that employers look for include motivation, flexibility and empathy.

5. Problem-solving skills makes you more competent

Problem-solving skills refer to the ability to manage challenging situations at work productively and positively. This is especially important for employees who work in a large organization or as part of a team, but they are often considered essential skills for nearly all occupations. Common problem-solving skills to include on your resume are communication, decision making and research skills.

6. Strong work ethic is hallmark of a true professional

A strong work ethic is another excellent skill to highlight when applying for jobs. Employers want employees who they can trust to perform their duties and meet deadlines without having to micro-manage them. 

Loyalty, Trust and Commitment are not mere words nut values that every employer is keen to identify in you and appreciates when one shows these qualities.

Having a great work ethic ensures you can complete your tasks and manage your work effectively even when no one is regularly checking your progress.

7. Learning/adaptability skills will take you places

Learning skills are skills that enable you to learn new things and adapt to new situations within the workplace. This is especially important given the ever-changing workplace and the need for employers to stay competitive by implementing new initiatives. 

Having good learning and adaptability skills can set you apart from other candidates and show employers your willingness to learn and change when necessary. Examples of learning skills include collaboration, communication and critical thinking.

So, these 7 skills are important for your future growth and career plan as you move ahead in your career. You can further explore more points in the link mentioned below and come up with your queries in the comment section below.

https://www.soegjobs.com/build-amazing-career-hospitality-industry/

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/resumes-cover-letters/skills-employers-look-for

Tips for an Amazing Career in the Hospitality industry | SOEGJOBS

Top 11 Skills Employers Look for in Candidates | Indeed.com