Receptionist in a 5 star luxury hotel - where could my career lead me?

I gained good GCSE's but decided to do a Travel and Tourism BTEC because it was something I was interested in, I then we to uni and did a foundation degree in Tourism Management.

As it was a FD degree so i was finished unu when I was 20. Since then I have been doing agency/temp work and complaining about the job market. Im now 21 and I've recently got myself a job as a receptionist in 5 star luxury country hotel where it costs 300-500 per room, per night! I'm chuffed. There's quite a difference between a normal receptionist and a 5 star hotel receptionist whom is dressed to the nines etc.

I start next week- I'm already wondering how I can profess within the field and where could my career lead me after this?

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 1

imabigboynow

12

lol you're a receptionist it wont lead you to anywhere. You have a better chance of progressing if you worked in hospitality in the hotel. Youre better off finding another job if you want a career in the future.

Reply 2

daisy136

OP

6

Original post by imabigboynow

lol you're a receptionist it wont lead you to anywhere. You have a better chance of progressing if you worked in hospitality in the hotel. Youre better off finding another job if you want a career in the future.

Thank you for your reply, but I did some research myself after posting this.I can become head of reception or booking manager and then progress onto full hotel management.

If I was to stay within the receptionist kind of role, I could go on to be a legal secretary within a law firm (you don't have to know anything about law, just a good vocabulary and receptionist skills...most of the jobs that I've seen posted for this role require 5* exp.)
I could also go on to be PA to executive at some big firm...

Exclusive members club in London where you can earn 30k.

Emirates cabin crew and living in Dubai. Jobs like that can open doors in hospitality and in lots customer service facing roles. Everyone knows Emirates have extremely high standards.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 3

Sloaney Pony

Have you tried speaking to a free careers advisor? (I think Connexions still offer them). They will probably be well-placed to tell you about this sort of thing. There may also be sites for those who work in the industry online :smile:

Reply 4

WhatDoIWrite

13

Original post by daisy136

Thank you for your reply, but I did some research myself after posting this.I can become head of reception or booking manager and then progress onto full hotel management.

If I was to stay within the receptionist kind of role, I could go on to be a legal secretary within a law firm (you don't have to know anything about law, just a good vocabulary and receptionist skills...most of the jobs that I've seen posted for this role require 5* exp.)
I could also go on to be PA to executive at some big firm...

Exclusive members club in London where you can earn 30k.

Emirates cabin crew and living in Dubai. Jobs like that can open doors in hospitality and in lots customer service facing roles. Everyone knows Emirates have extremely high standards.

That all may be true but you've got to look at this realistically. What are your actual chances of progression. I am not trying to deter you on the contrary more power to you. I just think you are being overly optimistic. Giving yourself false hope.

Reply 5

BlackHawk

17

Original post by daisy136

As it was a FD degree so i was finished unu when I was 20. Since then I have been doing agency/temp work and complaining about the job market. Im now 21 and I've recently got myself a job as a receptionist in 5 star luxury country hotel where it costs 300-500 per room, per night! I'm chuffed. There's quite a difference between a normal receptionist and a 5 star hotel receptionist whom is dressed to the nines etc.

I start next week- I'm already wondering how I can profess within the field and where could my career lead me after this?

I have worked in hospitality management for quite some time, working my way up to National Sales Manager for a hotel group. Once upon a time, I worked a reception desk as did most hotel GMs and group directors.

Where is can lead really depends on what you would like to do. There are so many avenues you can go down in the hotel industry.

As a receptionist, the natural progression in a large hotel group would be something like...

•

Receptionist

•

Shift Leader

•

Assistant Reception Manager

•

Reception Manager

•

Assistant Revenue Manager

•

Revenue Manager

•

Assistant National Revenue Manager

•

National Revenue Manager

•

European Revenue Manager

•

Global Head of Revenue

•

Senior Director of Revenue

•

Senior Director

You may, depending on your experience and competence, be able to skip some steps in the example chain above. Also, as I said this is only one example. You could, for instance, want to become a GM or work in Sales or Operations. Each role is quite varied and the promotion chain very different.

I will say one thing though, if you intend to make a career in hospitality management and are starting at a 5* level, then do not go below a 4*.

Take advantage of any and all training that your managers offer you. Volunteer for extra duties and if, after working there awhile, you can help develop things like the check-in system, or filling system then speak up. The issue with entry-level hospitality jobs is that most people who do them do not care about the industry. They just see the job as a means to a end, not realising actually how well it can pay and how challenging it is. As per the chain I posted above, I would expect a decent candidate to be a Reception Manager within three years. Once you get up to higher levels, such as Revenue Manager you will be expected to put more years into each role as you have much more responsibility in shaping the hotels future.

Some hotel groups also have a management scheme, where they will train you within a certain number of years in each department to become an assistant GM.

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 6

SloaneRanger

18

Original post by daisy136

Thank you for your reply, but I did some research myself after posting this.I can become head of reception or booking manager and then progress onto full hotel management.

If I was to stay within the receptionist kind of role, I could go on to be a legal secretary within a law firm (you don't have to know anything about law, just a good vocabulary and receptionist skills...most of the jobs that I've seen posted for this role require 5* exp.)
I could also go on to be PA to executive at some big firm...

Exclusive members club in London where you can earn 30k.

Emirates cabin crew and living in Dubai. Jobs like that can open doors in hospitality and in lots customer service facing roles. Everyone knows Emirates have extremely high standards.

A manager in any form of industry is a gloried title.......you will learn that eventually the "key decision makers" are directors and ceos/board of executives.....anyone lower down the food chain, doesn't hold any power what so ever. There is more scope for going up being a PA, because your networking and gaining experience of the industry first hand and I doubt it would as repetitive as being a receptionist. You would just sit there being a glorified gatekeeper.

(edited 10 years ago)

Receptionist in a 5 star luxury hotel - where could my career lead me?

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you