You might know the feeling. A promising vacancy pops up, you polish your resume, press send, and wait. Days pass. Nothing arrives in your inbox. No reply, no feedback, only silence.
I have been in hospitality recruitment for more than fifteen years. During this time, SOEG Consulting LLP has guided thousands of professionals and partnered with many hotel groups in India and abroad. The truth is simple. Most candidates who never hear back are not poor performers. They just approach the hunt in the wrong way. There are smart ways of hospitality job search.
Below, I share what I have learnt from piles of real resumes, hurried phone calls with chefs running between the hot range and the pass, and quick chats with general managers just before the morning briefing. You will find reasons applications are ignored and fixes that work in real life. I also introduce two helpers that change the game. The first is SOEGi, our own AI career tool. The second is Social Intelligence, or SI, a quality machines cannot fake.
Why Your Hospitality Job Application Might Be Ignored
| Reason | What It Means in Plain Words | Fast Remedy |
|---|---|---|
| CV not aligned | Your skills and stories do not match the vacancy | Read the description slowly, lift out three key needs, weave them into your resume |
| Generic wording | Same document for every post | Rewrite small parts each time, highlight matching duties and results |
| Untidy format | Dense blocks of text, tiny fonts | Use clear headings, white space, bullet points |
| Light hospitality exposure | Little direct hotel work on paper | Add internships, training stints, weekend banqueting gigs, |
| No follow up | You applied and moved on | Send a short polite reminder after five working days |
| Role closed or on hold | Opening filled earlier than advertised | Apply early and keep in touch with insiders |
| Ignored instructions | Wrong subject line, missing document | Follow every line of the advert exactly |
These seven traps account for most of the silence you hear.
Nine Things You Can Do Today
1. Apply with care
Target roles where you tick at least seventy per cent of the boxes. If you apply for everything, you stretch yourself thin and look unfocused.
2. Rebuild your resume for hospitality
Keep it to two pages. Use bullet points in your hospitality resume. Begin each point with an action verb such as managed, trained, lifted, improved. Add numbers wherever you can. Numbers give shape to claims.
Quick sample
• Managed daily check in for one hundred and twenty guests at a four star property in Pune.
• Trained five new front office associates on standard procedures and upselling, which lifted ancillary revenue by eight per cent within three months.
3. Let your character breathe
Hospitality lives and dies on human connection. Slip in short lines that reveal how you handle guests and teams. A genuine smile on the page is worth more than a long list of buzzwords.
4. Bring in SI, Social Intelligence
SI is the ability to read people, defuse tension, and build rapport. Hotels prize it. Prove it with a tiny story.
For instance
“An elderly guest lost his wallet at breakfast. I calmed him, arranged a temporary room charge facility, and walked him through the lost and found process. He checked out praising the team and promised to return with family.”
5. Follow up with manners
Allow five to seven days. Then write a simple note. Thank the recruiter for considering your profile and ask whether any extra detail might help the decision. Keep it under one hundred words.
6. Let SOEGi do the heavy lifting
SOEGi, the Hospitality Career Bot, scans live openings, matches them with your profile, spruces up your resume with correct keywords, and can even send concise summaries to employers. Ask SOEGi to “find guest relations roles in Goa” or “rewrite my headline for this duty manager post.” The bot returns suggestions in seconds, freeing you for real networking.
7. Add fresh skills
Short online courses boost both confidence and credibility. Browse Coursera – Hospitality Management for flexible modules or explore the IHCL Learning Centre for brand-led content. Even a weekend revenue management workshop can set you apart.
8. Polish LinkedIn and job portals
Use a clear headline such as “Duty Manager ready to elevate guest experience”. List achievements, not only duties. Switch on job alerts with keywords like hotel, resort, cruise, or quick service restaurant.
9. Network with purpose
Join groups such as Hospitality Network India. Comment thoughtfully on posts from HR managers. Attend virtual career fairs. Every meaningful interaction adds a thread to your web of SI.
A Few Closing Thoughts
Last Thursday, while sipping my morning tulsi tea, I scanned thirty-two resumes for a single F&B supervisor role. Five stood out. Not because they had five-star pedigrees, rather because they spoke to the vacancy, looked clean, and felt personal. That is the bar you must reach.
If you have already sent twenty applications without a whisper in return, do not push out twenty more copies. Pause, breathe, review, and refine. A focused application, backed by SI, assisted by SOEGi, and followed up with courtesy, beats a scattergun blast every single time.
Hotels hire people, not PDFS. Show clarity, consistency, and genuine warmth in every interaction. With a sharper method, help from technology, and conscious use of human touch, you are much closer to your next hospitality role than you think.
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