Dynamic, challenging, exciting – these are just a few words you could use to describe the hospitality industry.
Hospitality has always performed well in Australia due to its diverse and ever-changing nature. If you have a passion for people and creating enjoyable experiences for others, then a job in the hospitality industry might be right for you.
In this article, we’ll give you a glimpse into the hospitality industry and provide some easy steps you can take to find your need restaurant role, café position or hotel job.
What is the hospitality industry?
Australian hospitality is made up of all organisations that specialise in providing comfort, entertainment, tourism and other enjoyable services. It’s a broad category that comprises a wide range of establishments, including but not limited to:
- Hotels
- Motels
- Resorts
- Cruise ships
- Restaurants
- Bars and pubs
- Theme parks
What businesses in the hospitality industry have in common is the emphasis on customer experience and that the majority of their revenue stems more from services (like food preparation, table waiting, concierge, room service, and more) than products sold.
Often, a positive customer experience is the primary service that a hospitality business provides. A hotel, for example, aims to ensure that its guests feel welcome and relaxed while a restaurant or a pub has to serve great-tasting meals in a good atmosphere to stand out from their competitors.
How big is the Australian hospitality industry?
Hospitality is a vital industry for Australia. Not only does it attract local and international tourists, but it also generates $94 billion in spending a year and contributes $34 billion to the Australian economy – making this industry the country’s largest services export earner, providing around half a million jobs.
If you’re planning to get into hospitality, the average hospitality salary in Australia is $70,008 per year or $35.90 per hour. Entry-level positions start at $54,853 per year, while more experienced workers make up to $105,472 per year.
Hospitality workers are now in huge demand as the industry rapidly picks up its pace after the massive impact of the recent pandemic. So, pursuing a job in hospitality can kickstart your career trajectory in an exciting way.
5 steps to get into the hospitality industry
Are you considering a career in the hospitality industry? Regardless of your background, working in hospitality can be immensely rewarding in so many ways; not to mention it looks great on your resume.
To get started, here are 5 tips that can help you get ahead in hospitality:
1. Find your niche specialisation and master it
The hospitality and tourism industry is very broad, with many different subsets and niche specialisations requiring their own unique skillsets. Narrowing these down to a niche interest could save you a great deal of time.
Of course, studying a degree in a specialist field, such as hotel or restaurant management, can also give you a head-start.
2. Earn essential certifications
Many states in Australia have strict laws governing the service of alcohol and the management of gambling. If you are over eighteen and you want to get a job in a bar, hotel or restaurant where alcohol is served, you will need special certifications before anyone can hire you for those specific roles.
These certificates are generally known as the Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) and Responsible Conduct of Gambling (RCG).
There are many other reputable institutions offering training courses that can help you prepare for the hospitality industry, such as:
Earning important hospitality certificates and undertaking relevant training courses may only take a few hours up to a few months of training. You may need some of these to work in particular sectors of the industry – so get them and you’ll be a more attractive candidate when job hunting.
3. Consider volunteering
If you’re currently employed and thinking about switching careers, it can make sense to volunteer at some local events where you’ll gain some insight into whether you actually enjoy this work. At the same time, you’ll make some local contacts and will gain valuable hospitality experience that you can put on your resume. It’s also an opportunity to demonstrate how you can practise your newly earned skills like management and customer service skills which are a big part of the hospitality industry.
4. Update your online job profiles and cover letter
A cover letter is really important when you are breaking into a new industry. In it, you can convey your desire to pursue a hospitality career and explain why your current skills are useful and transferable to the industry.
MPLOI’s smartphone app also allows you to create an account where you can build an online job profile to put all of the details of your career up so that when you connect with employers, they can instantly see how great you are as a candidate.
5. Be proactive with your network
Though employers in hospitality often post listings for available positions on common platforms such as job search sites, many hire proactively through connections. By networking with professionals in the hospitality industry, you can broaden the range of employment opportunities that come your way, and also improve your chances of securing the right positions.
Again, the MPLOI job app allows you to proactively reach out to hospitality brands and businesses so you can get on their radar long before they post a role. This can help open some doors and offer exciting opportunities in hospitality.
To help you get noticed by the right employer that matches your core strengths and work ethics, our intuitive and revolutionary recruitment platform, MPLOI, allows proactive job seekers like you to kickstart your career in hospitality.
What is MPLOI?
MPLOI is an interactive and innovative employment app that matches like-minded employers and potential employees based on similar values, qualities and skills through a career alignment algorithm.
With MPLOI’s modern approach to proactive recruitment, we empower job seekers and business professionals to pursue new career opportunities by simply swiping to start a conversation with a potential employer.
This recruitment platform gives you instant access to a plethora of potential employers offering the ultimate stress-free recruitment solution for hospitality job seekers like you.
Register your interest below and get notified of our upcoming launch! HERE MPLOI