If you like making other people happy, perhaps a life in the hospitality industry is for you! The high turnover rate is a good indicator of that it’s easy to get into a position that can get you started in this career. Like in retail, this can lead to a lot encounters with bad management and work can be stressful with low staffing.
I’ve had some hospitality experience as the following:
Hospitality is another natural fit for me. I have a desire to serve people, and that’s what you do here.
Regional and Major Airline Comparisons
- Generally, major airlines pay more.
- Flight benefits are vastly better on major airlines. Some regional airlines only get you benefits on their airline, but you may get discounts for the major airlines they serve.
- Especially in smaller, regional airports, work schedules may not be convenient. See my time as a cross-utilized agent for more information.
- As a member of the flight crew on a major airline, you’ll most likely be working fewer flights daily since flights can be much longer. The longest flight I had on a regional was just about 3 hours, whereas major airlines go internationally or cross-country.
Luggage Attendant / Bellman
Full disclosure: I’ve done a revamp of my navigation on my site to be simpler. I have reduced the number of site pages down quite a bit, but I have kept up my Bellman page. This is because that page, for some reason, gets tons of organic traffic. You can visit the page for a more in-depth look at being a bellman or see a small recap below.
What I did
Luggage Attendant: Stored and retrieved bags for the bellmen. Cleaned up the backrooms.
Bellman: Tons of interaction with guests while storing and retrieving their bags. When working the area where guests arrived, you are the first representative the guest sees. This is definitely a job if you are an extrovert.
Positive Takeaways
- I didn’t have to spend a lot of time as a luggage attendant, but that was partially because of luck. Promotion to bellman was seniority based, and I just happen to get in at the right time.
- I got to work at one of the premier hotels on the Las Vegas Strip.
- Got to work with a handful of celebrities and VIPs.
Negative Takeaways
- Ultimately, the big negative was the union. I understand that for many, unions are great, but they are not for me.
- Tips were pretty variable in the short term, so you have to learn to not get demotivated by short tips if you’re motivation is money.
- Many coworkers had very bad days when they got very little tips and they weren’t afraid to show it!
Final Words on Being a Bellman
Authenticity pays!
Banquet Houseman
When you attend a conference at a hotel, those tables, chairs, stages, and everything else don’t just set up themselves! That’s where the Banquet Houseperson appears.
It’s not the most glamorous or profitable job, but it is rewarding work. If you want to work in banquet and want to make money, then aim for the banquet servers. From my experience, they automatically get tips, but the housepersons only get tips of the clients specifically tip them. In my 6 months, I only received one tip.
Positive Takeaways
- The work wasn’t mentally hard, but it is somewhat physical.
- For someone who is a little OCD, it’s a good job because they want things to look as perfect as possible. This was doubly so for weddings!
- Company provided work uniforms.
Negative Takeaways
- Hours are going to be wonky. I was getting my 40 hours per week, but they were all over the place. Many days, I was called in the day I worked. I believe this was just failure on management’s part to schedule because clients didn’t just pop in out of nowhere.
- As stated earlier, tips were hard to come by.
- The culture in the department wasn’t a good fit for me. Many of my coworkers tried to do as little as possible.
- Just as I was being asked if I would be interested in a Lead position, COVID happened š
Final Words on Being a Banquet Houseman
It was a pretty standard entry level job. There was opportunity to cross train as a bartender to fill in for special events. That events could run up to $300 in tips alone in one short shift! Other benefits offered through the company were pretty good too. Remember, look at the entire package for a job, not just the duties and the wage!
Maintenance Supervisor
Have you ever held a job that you were grossly underqualified for? Well, that’s what happened when I was a maintenance supervisor for a hotel! I only got the job because I knew someone, and I was 100% honest that I didn’t meet the qualifications. That’s the last time I do that because I didn’t like having a job that I didn’t know how to do.
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More on Working in the Hospitality Industry
It’s a lot of work and dealing with upset customers, but don’t worry, not every customer is upset!
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