The hospitality sector thrives with numerous opportunities, ranging from entry-level roles like technical support to high-paying positions like executive chef or event manager. In the hospitality sector, you can create your career path based on your skills on the operational or corporate side.
However, for that purpose, it is integral to apply for the job, attend the interview, and attain the position. During this lengthy process, there is a chance that you might end up making mistakes due to a lack of guidance or support.
Understanding this, we have created this simple guide explaining the seven mistakes often made by entry-level hospitality job seekers. So, let’s cut the chase and dive right into the discussion.
Writing an Unprofessional Cover Letter / Or No Cover Letter at All
A cover letter can describe your understanding of the job role and how well you would fit for the position. Some of you might opt out of sharing a cover letter, which is a mistake.
Others would share a highly unprofessional cover letter with spelling, grammatical, and logical errors. It can be a grave mistake that can reduce your chances of moving forward in the hiring process for your dream job.
A lot of hospitality recruiters are doing away with cover letters completely. However, it is expected at times by recruiters that they receive cover letters for mid management and higher management roles.
Cover letters give hospitality employers to know more about you that you could not mention in the CV. Even for entry level hospitality jobseekers, it helps in showcasing relevance and motivation towards the hospitality job they are applying for.
Failing to Provide All Essential Details on the Resume
While reviewing your resume, the employer will look into your personal, professional, and contact information.
If you fail to provide these details or have a resume that doesn’t meet the industrial standards, the hiring manager won’t consider you for your position.
In addition, with Applicant Tracking Software, when you don’t provide relevant experience or skills, the chances of passing this selection stage also decrease drastically.
Inability to Complete the Online Assessments on Time (If Provided)
The employer might ask you to complete some assessments or tests to analyze your skills. If you fail to submit the same on time, you won’t be able to move forward with the hiring process.
A lot of top hospitality employers across the globe now have automated tests. Most of the entry level hospitality job seekers might need to get through this before second round of interview.
These automated assessments also test your attitude and soft skills. Thus, being on time is crucial.
Attending the Interview Unprepared
Whether it be an online or a traditional interview, you have to take the time out to prepare yourself. Here, you have to look into general questions and role-specific queries that your employer might ask.
If you don’t do so, it can be challenging for you to answer the questions flawlessly and impress your interviewer.
Always remember that failure in preparation is preparation of failure.
Failing to Sell Yourself During the Interview
You know your skills and yourself better than anyone else.
Therefore, if you fail to present yourself as a solid asset to the organization by stating what skills you can bring to the table, it can be a mistake you are making.
Maintaining an Unprofessional Social Media Account
If you didn’t know, the interviewer or the hiring team would look into your social media profiles to better understand your personality.
Therefore, having an unprofessional LinkedIn profile that might go against the organization’s work culture can be problematic.
LinkedIn is probably the most important social media account for entry level hospitality job seekers. Always Steer away from common LinkedIn mistakes like typos in profile, commenting without reading, keeping filters on etc. This is true even for other popular social media channels like Twitter, Instagram etc.
Not Following Up After the Interview
Hesitating to follow up after the completion of the interview isn’t right. You can send a thank you note to your interviewer for finding time to speak with you.
By following up, you are showing your dedication to this job role, and it can be something appreciated by the employer.
Conclusion
Here you go, some of the most common mistakes entry level job seekers from the hospitality industry make.
We have tried to keep the points simple and straight forward. If you want to know more about hospitality career, please head on to our hospitality career section and explore more about hospitality career and learning.
