Top 5 Skills for a Successful Career in a Hotelier Industry

Having served in the hospitality industry for quite a while now, I have played many roles (juggling is the right word I suppose) right from the onset of my career some 15 years back.

Young folks, freshly inducted into the industry often ask me for advice for a successful career, all I had for them was a general advice: ‘To put into practice the lessons in college.’ Clearly, they haven’t understood my advice, because they keep asking me again and again.

So, looking back into my career, I was able to figure out some critical skills that helped other managers and me for that matter, to have a smooth sailing in our careers. Here are the five skills I think that a fresher has to be keen to build a successful career in the Hospitality industry:

Language Skills: Great communication is an essential skill in the hotelier industry or any industry for that matter. You don’t have to master every language in your country but make sure that you cover at least 3 or 4 major languages, and, of course, English is the most important of one.

Customer Service skills: As a staff in the hotelier industry, giving a pleasant experience for the customer is a dictum. So work on your Customer service skills that help you leave a good impression serving them well. It will come in handy even if you reach the General Manager position

Conflict Solving skills: Hardly a day goes by without conflict arising from nowhere. Conflicts come in the shape of Customer complaints, Irate customer behavior, Co-worker conflicts etc. So obviously employers are interested in people who are adept in resolving these disputes without breaking a sweat.

Cultural Awareness: Your understanding of different cultures, beliefs, customs play a huge role in maintaining good relations with our customers and colleagues. There are many ways for the maintenance of a healthy relationship out of which Cultural bonding takes the cake. Openness to different cultures would certainly help you when you go for work beyond our border. Isn’t it easy for us to relate to people who show an unweavering interest towards our culture?

Teamwork: Teamwork has to be the most underrated yet the essential universal skill in any industry. With so many departments working in parallel, the hotel industry is all about teamwork. So learn to play your part as an active team member and also never miss an opportunity to develop your leadership skills.