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How To Write Hospitality Work Experience On Your Resume | Students & Graduates

 Your resume is not good enough. Do you know how I know?

Because mine was too when I was a student.

Here is what it actually looked like! 😱

With my Free Resume Template and my Resume Toolkit, I made it look like this:

Much better right?

Watch the video at the end of this post of me going through the process of upgrading my old resume!

Your resume’s purpose is to promote you

Does yours?

Look at your resume quickly and tell me honestly, does it really sell you? Does it show your best side and the things you can do?

If you can honestly say YES, fantastic! You don’t need to keep reading.

If you cannot, then keep reading.

Because I am going to show you one thing you can do to your resume today to make it THAT much better!

Improve your work experience

The work experience section on your resume is very, very important.

You need to communicate your experience and value to the organisation that you are applying for.

The people that look at your resume are going to ask themselves this:

Based on what this person has done before, what can they do for me today?

You need to show them that on the resume.

Show them that your previous experience is valuable for them. That you are a valuable investment.

Here’s how.

No responsibilities, value and results

Do not list your responsibilities on your resume.

Write a value impact statement focusing on the result of the work you’ve done.

And this goes out to all the waiters, waitresses, interns, front desk agents, and runners out there!

You do so much more than just serve food or check people in. You are the most essential piece of the puzzle of that business. Without you, there wouldn’t be any hospitality at all!

You need to show the results and impact of your work, to show your value as an employee.

Hospitality work experience examples

It is easy to say, write about your value and results. But it is not easy to actually do it.

I have illustrated for you the different ways you can write about your hospitality work experience on your resume, that shows your value and results of your work.

Example 1:

Instead of this:

Currently working as a hospitality head in student organisation “XYZ” at the ABC University in which hosted many guests, dignitaries and also prepared the hospitality budget for the organisation.

Say this:

Created and managed the hospitality budget for 4 quarterly events and daily operations, tracking and reporting expenses with 100% accuracy.

The first part of the original statement simply says what the headline is already saying, so there is no need to include that. The second part simply lists the things the person has done.

The whole statement does not show the scale and impact of the work done. You need to be as specific as possible.

Example 2:

Instead of this:

Welcomed guests to the front desks (Check in – Check out), handled payments. Managed complaints with a positive attitude.

Say this:

Welcomed guests with a smile, during both check-in and out, creating a positive experience, scoring 90% on OSAT. 
Resolved complaints with empathy and a customer-first mindset, maintaining a problem resolution score of 80%.

The original statement is extremely generic and basic, listing some of the responsibilities of the person. Given how much a front desk receptionist does and how much impact their role has to the hotel and the guest, it doesn’t it enough justice.

Focus on customer satisfaction scores and performance.

Example 3:

Instead of this:

Provided customer service for guests during dinner service.

Say this:

Created memorable experiences for guests by anticipating their needs and delivering above and beyond expectations.
Managed 8 tables with 20+ guests during busy summer evenings with attention to detail, leaving all guests satisfied.

It’s hard being a waitress or a waiter and it’s even harder to communicate the impact of your work on your resume.

You know that the work is tough and impactful, but how do you put it on a resume?

Similarly to the front desk, focus on customer satisfaction (add scores if you can!) and numbers of guests you serve on a busy night.

I used to run 3 tables with 6-9 people in a fine dining restaurant during dinner shift, but then I also ran 8-10 tables with 5 couples in a more casual restaurant. Show that you work well under pressure!

Be confident

Be confident in yourself. You have done more than you think and you have a lot of value to bring to your future employers.

Learning how to communicate that, is a skill on its own. And just like with any skill, practice makes perfect. Keep working on it and you will get better.

Maria

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