TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

Everyone knows this role as HR Director. You are a real “one-man band” with multiple skills.

Your responsibilities cover all human relations in the company. In concrete terms, you supervise social relations, i.e., dialogue with company partners (trade unions, works councils, staff representatives, etc.), administration and personnel management, training, internal communication, etc.

You report directly to the General Manager and it is you who proposes a human resources management policy and defines the procedures for its implementation.

In this way, you analyse the human needs of the company, and instruct recruitment officers to select candidates who can strengthen the workforce.

You also organise the career management of the company’s employees, their professional development, their progress through the hierarchy.

Finally, these services ensure the administrative monitoring of employees (leave, contracts, payroll, illness, etc.)

Dust on a piece of furniture, a burnt-out lightbulb… nothing escapes your expert housekeeping eye. Having an excellent housekeeper is indispensable in good establishments – someone who manages with friendliness, but firmness on the room floors.

You watch over the comfort and well-being of the hotel’s clients. You are not only responsible for room cleanliness, but also for their comfort and harmony. As such, you do not hesitate to arrange flowers in a vase, replace a pillow, correct the folds of a curtain, etc.

When the management undertakes renovations, you are also called on for your sense of organisation and your taste for decoration.

Laundry workers, valets and maids – you direct, coordinate and supervise the staff in charge of cleaning and maintenance.

Like a perfectly organised orchestra conductor, you divide the tasks, taking into account arrivals and departures, planning schedules and staff. You then inspect their work to make sure everything is perfect for the customer.

You manage inventories of equipment and linen in service, the supply of hygiene products and maintenance, and you report works to be done on the rooms.

As a preferred contact for clients in the event of complaints or special requests, you may also be entrusted with the training and recruitment of floor staff..

An eternal sense of service, but also unshakable friendliness, including with irritable clients, and sufficient resistance to face days that are often very “physical” – these are the qualities you must demonstrate, day after day.

You welcome each client from behind your desk or on the telephone. You know all hotel services inside out. But that’s not all. In luxury or prestigious hotels, reception staff is extensive. Each person occupies a well-defined position, under the responsibility of a head of reception.

In small establishments, you are versatile. In addition to your reception and information function, you carry out administrative tasks: reservations, registration of arrivals and departures, involving ever more digitisation. You may also need to coordinate the work of the floor staff and laundry.

When there is no cashier, it is you who prepares the bill of each customer and takes the payment.

You supervise everything from A to Z for the soirées or events that you organise for others.

Conventions, annual meetings, symposiums, inaugurations… All occasions that can create an unforgettable experience!

According to the specifications defined with your client, you make a proposal compatible with their budget.

In constant liaison with the client, you alternate meetings of preparation, follow-up, back-planning and validation for each stage: room choice and organisation, menu selection, management of technical installation, coordination of external service providers (florists, DJ, orchestra, etc.).

As the director’s right hand, the manager is in command during the time slot that is entrusted to him/her. You’re completely versatile – you’re everywhere, in theatres and backstage, so that the well-oiled mechanics of your “profit centre”, organised in the American style, keep running without a hitch.

Your typical day revolves around three activities: facilitate-manage-sell. Every day, we must motivate the staff, train new recruits, ensure their integration, detect future team leaders, and thus ensure internal promotion, which is particularly important in fast food.

You do not hesitate to get involved if need be: to give a helping hand to the cooks, to open an additional till in case of customer influx, to add seats, etc.

You are also responsible for managing the restaurant: controlling production, keeping track of stocks, doing accounting, supervising use of time. You also ensure the quality of reception and service, in compliance with the standards laid down by the parent company.

You must be as comfortable with customers as you are with your team. You can settle any disputes, speak with customers to get their opinions and suggestions, and maintain a friendly atmosphere..

You are the big boss of reception. You generally leave reception tasks to your receptionists and devote yourself to administrative and commercial tasks: booking schedules, relations with travel agencies and booking centres, reception secretariat, audit, etc. You also organise special operations, such as the arrival of a group for a congress. You work closely with reservations to fill the hotel: it is up to you to know how to sell to the “big customers” (agencies, tour operators, etc.) the qualities of your establishment, how to anticipate a trough period, search for customers, and maintain cordial relations with your competitors to send surplus customers to each other.

As a service manager, you manage your team, plan services and participate in the recruitment of reception staff. Diplomacy is one of your biggest assets because it is often up to you to intervene in the event of dispute and to satisfy unhappy customers while not denigrating the work of the staff.

The concierge could be seen as the soul of a great hotel. It is a challenging and demanding job, and you are the first person guests encounter when walking through the doors of a luxury hotel. Welcoming, informing and advising clients, this is what keeps you busy from early in the morning to late at night.

Your main task is to stay informed about everything and to make the clients’ stay as pleasant as possible. Knowing the tastes and habits of clients allows you to provide highly personalised service. Every wish must be granted and every problem resolved.

You are the link to the internal services of the hotel (restaurant, shops, hairdresser, etc.) and with the outside (travel agencies, doctors, tourist guides, theatres, taxis, etc.). You keep abreast of everything – trendy nightclubs, gourmet restaurants, successful plays, etc. You update your address book constantly, to be able to answer any request.

In large hotels you have several people reporting to you. As you are in charge of the hall, you manage the activities of the staff who work there: baggage handlers, pages, etc.