We asked 9 people who built amazing careers in hospitality this question.
What they said are things you should be talking about when recruiting – even if you don’t work for the hottest lifestyle brand.
Let’s dive in…
You can start from anywhere.
“I actually recruited one of my team members one Saturday at a Target store,” Jeff Kulek said.
“You might think, ‘Why would a luxury hotel hire somebody from a Target store?’ – but it’s really not about a place where someone has worked. It’s more about who they are as a person, their attitude, their sense of welcoming, their zest for living.”
Every day is different.
“When I wake up in the morning, I generally don’t know what my day is going to be like,” Liz Uber said. “But it’s fun!”
It’s engaging.
“I thrive on the pressure,” said Kris Leszczynski as he recalled being part of winning teams on property. With no two days being the same, you’re constantly challenged to think on your feet and come up with solutions.
Further, you get to do that with your colleagues. “It’s a team sport.”
You get to help people live their dreams.
“People saved up just to come and spend a few days in Vegas with their family, and really helping them create that experience was awesome,” Dominic Longo recalled about his time at the Bellagio.
You get to make people happy.
Terry Haney thought he wanted to go into horticulture and open a nursery. But after getting a job as a waiter he realized he liked to serve. “I like to make people happy, and think that’s hospitality.”
All personality types are welcome.
“We also don’t look for just really outgoing people,” Jamie Holmes said. “You need all types of people. You need the engineers to be detail-oriented and the chefs need to have a passion, but they don’t have to go out and talk to every customer. But we tell them that our expectation is to be world-class in whatever they do.”
You can learn from great leaders.
That takes many different forms through your career in hospitality.
In the words of Philippe Zrihen: “What you remember 25 years into your career aren’t the long speeches or someone telling you how to run your day-to-day responsibilities – it’s just the little tidbits of guidance and then getting out of the way.”
You have the opportunity to change lives.
“Hospitality is about people from different walks of life coming together as a team to create something special and to change people’s lives, both on the employee side and guest side,” said Michael Hraba.
The future is bright.
“The things that we went through during the pandemic are going to make the greatest generation of hoteliers our industry has ever seen,” said Brian Fry.
