The COVID-19 pandemic has led to severe losses for the hospitality industry. Here in this article, we outline a few tips to help hospitality professionals recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A lot of hospitality professionals have lost jobs, a lot have suffered from pay cuts, and a lot of the hotel industry workers have lived in uncertainty.
The uncertainty continues with half of the world under some or other lockdown measures.
However, hoteliers and hospitality professionals can’t sit with folded hands. And, most of the leaders are busy creating bailout plans and recovery plans.
Here are some of the tips to help each and every professional in the hospitality industry bounce back from the COVID-led depression.
Let’s begin with the tips now!
1. Stay afloat- Stay on the job
Yes, it’s crucial to stay in your job. Even if you have had a pay cut.
A lot of pay cuts are now being rolled back.
Governments are providing grants and loans to help you cover the financial deficit.
Lots of hospitality companies and hotels are providing training during this time. Use that to upgrade your skills.
However in case you have lost your job, please don’t panic. Read on!
2. Take up a part-time job online
Do you love writing? Do you like social media? Do you love sports?
Why not get paid for your hobbies?
There are lots of freelance jobs that you can do from the comfort of your home.
Freelance jobs can include some of the below:
- Writing for travel blogs (write a few free posts for top blogs to get a feel of it)
- Ghost content writing- use freelance websites like Fiverr, Freelancer, Upwork etc. to land a gig.
- Promote websites on social media- become a social media marketer
- Website designing got travel websites if you know a bit of coding
- E-mail marketing for travel websites
- Become a virtual travel agent
There are various other options.
Just search “Freelance hospitality jobs” on top job search engines or Google and you will see hundreds of part-time options there.
3. Spruce up your LinkedIn profile
You need to prepare for your next job already.
The travel industry is set to bounce back once the economy reopens and the Covid pandemic disappears.
You need to be ready to take up prized jobs and LinkedIn is going to be your main tool.
Be job-ready by knowing the tips and tricks of LinkedIn job search.
Do things like:
- Change your headline to make it job search-ready
- Follow your desired hospitality company’s official LinkedIn pages
- Update your profile regularly
- Collect more LinkedIn recommendations
- Connect with a few HR Managers (like their posts regularly to get visibility)
- Expand your LinkedIn network
- Seek help from your seniors and the LinkedIn community in general to forward your relevant job options.
4. Add a few skills for the uncertain future
It’s time to enhance your learning.
Time to gain some free hospitality certifications.
It’s time to take up some free online hospitality courses. It will all help once you start applying for jobs.
If you are already applying for jobs, these would help you in your interviews.
So start learning now. Make use of this time. There are a lot of Universities which have started providing paid courses free just during the COVID-led depression.
So make use of this time to get the premium courses for free.
Visit some of the top e-learning websites like Lynda, MIT Open Courseware, Edx and more to see what new skills can you add while you gear up for your next career move.
5. Don’t forget the job search websites
It’s important to keep calm and keep trying.
Don’t get disheartened. A lot of companies have already started hiring.
The travel industry has already started to show signs of recovery.
Keep visiting the popular job search websites.
There are some of the popular hospitality job websites like:
- Indeed
- Caterer Global
- Hosco
- Hospitality Online
- Naukri Gulf
- Glassdoor
- LinkedIn (of course!)
Make use of these job websites. Set up email alerts on them.
However, make sure that you don’t rely on simple click applications.
Update your resume and cover letter and ensure you have made these crisp and focused towards specific job applications. The generic resumes don’t work anymore. Show your willingness to perform by working on your resume and cover letter first.
6. Take the entrepreneurial route
There has never been a better time to think of becoming an entrepreneur.
Did you know that you can start your own food delivery business with minimum investment?
Why not start a marketing firm with like-minded marketing professionals to serve hotel companies?
A SaaS startup for hospitality and travel may help bring out the creative juices within you.
There are many more options in case you are looking to take the entrepreneurial route.
7. Take up education plus internship option
In case you are not too tight on funds, you can even think of studying abroad.
May be an MBA in hospitality or events.
An internship course abroad or a course that offers a work permit.
- The United Kingdom has started two years of post-study work permits. This means 1 year of postgraduate study can help you get a new degree and job for at least 2 years in the UK.
- Canada has immigration options along with various courses
- Australia and New Zealand are offering exciting options for work permits post-study to invite students from all across the globe.
And there are numerous other options if you wish to take further education.
8. Finally- Stay Positive
Finally, stay positive always.
Look after yourself. This phase is just a small phase of struggle in the beautiful journey called life.
Don’t let the pandemic impact you on an emotional level. You need to keep yourself ready for success once things reach normalcy again.
Brace yourself for a U-shaped recovery in case you are facing a trough in your career graph.
Exercise, do Yoga, smile, socialise online and do everything you can do to keep yourself positive and happy.
This would help you rebound in style out of the COVID-led depression.
Conclusion
Hope you found the tips useful to bounce back from the COVID-induced depression. One of our other articles discusses recovery tips for hospitality industry from pandemic induced depression. Check that article as well to understand the impact and recovery tips for the hospitality industry in general.
It is extremely important to be patient. 2023 is seeing a great recovery already for the hospitality industry. Expect things to be much better in 2024 and beyond. A good time is knocking. Patience and learning are keys to success in the post-COVID world.
