The hospitality career field offers a variety of well paying, entry level jobs. Applying for most of these jobs often doesn’t require anything more than filling out a standardized employment application. This doesn’t mean a well written resume can’t help your next job search.

Standardized job applications don’t always give you the opportunity to elaborate on the skills and credentials you’d like, whereas with a resume you have more control over the types of things you speak on. Granted, you should still take into account there is certain information you should always include in a resume.

Additionally, some employers allow you to submit a resume in place of an application. After 2 to 3 pages of checkboxes, cross referencing employment dates, addresses and contact information, hand writing answers as neatly as possible in the tiny spaces provided and proof reading your work, filling out employment applications is a long, tedious job. And then what do you do if you find a typo? You can’t go back and erase it, unless you’re using a pencil (which as an aside, is a big no no).

Having a resume prepared to submit in place of an application can shave hours off your job search, not to mention the stress and headache required to hand write your entire work history for every job you apply.

Even if you must still fill out the application, usually the application will ask for information already prepared in your resume. If you have a resume on hand, you have an employment cheat sheet ready to go. You just have to copy the info over, no having to guess or cross reference dates, addresses or past employer contact info.

With the time you save, you can better research the companies you’re applying with, which will better your chances for winning the job. Employers like to know you have a genuine interest in their company. It leaves a great impression on a hiring manager when you’re able to quote how long the hotel company you’re applying with has been in business, or how many properties they have worldwide, their company motto, or information on the particular hotel property at which you’re applying or the specific job in which you’re interested.

Additionally, sometimes when researching a company you find that they may not be a good fit for you. It’s better to find these things out before you apply for and accept a job, otherwise 6 weeks later you may find yourself on the job search again. Better informed job seekers make better employment decisions.

Having a resume may not only save you time when applying for a job, it could save you time in actually landing a job. Including a resume along with your application is a great show of professionalism. This will help you stand out from other applicants and help your application to be reviewed before the rest. Taking that extra step of writing a well formatted resume can help you communicate that you take your employment, likewise, the job you’d perform at their hotel seriously.

How to include your resume?

When submitting your job application in person, attach the resume to the application with a paper clip so the two don’t get separated. If you’re applying online however, you may not have an opportunity to accompany your application along with your resume.  Don’t get discouraged, we’ll still get a chance to use it.

If it has been 3-5 days since you submitted the job application and you haven’t heard back, it’s ok to follow up to see if your application is still under review. Email is a great way to do this. Attach your resume along with that email, letting the employer know you’re still interested in the job and providing the hiring manager additional information about you to help them with their decision.

Whether or not you’ve already had an opportunity to submit your resume, always bring a backup copy with you to the job interview. Human resource departments are flooded daily with tidal waves of paperwork. It’s possible your resume or job application could’ve gotten misplaced. Bringing in a backup copy of your resume shows your preparedness and that you’re accommodating, two attributes required for a strong hospitality employee.

But what if you don’t have much work related experience?

Lastly, let’s talk about work experience.  When applying for an entry level position in most career fields, previous work experience may not apply. This is less often the case when applying for hospitality jobs. What’s most important to hotel management is their employees’ ability to provide exceptional guest service.

Guest service or customer service is a requirement of most every job, no matter what career field you’re coming from. If you’re previous jobs required any interaction with customers, make sure to feature that. That’s an applicable job skill that’s going to help you in a hospitality career search.

Whether you already knew it or not, you probably have more than enough work experience and credentials to write a well rounded hospitality resume. Between the time it can save you and the edge it can give you in a hotel job search, there’s really no excuse not to invest the time to prepare a resume when pursuing an entry level or hourly job in the hotel, hospitality or service industry.

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