Who You Want

Researching The Company - Know Who You Want To Work For

A career in the hospitality industry can be an incredibly rewarding experience. Not only will a hospitality job provide outgoing people with an excellent chance to broaden their horizons through the people that they meet, there are always opportunities for growth and advancement within every niche of the industry, whether you choose a hotel job, a restaurant job, or any one of the other dozens of possibilities available. The key to a long and satisfying career within the industry is careful selection of the company that you choose to work for.

Businesses that cater to providing services to people out to get away from the grind can have a wide range of employee satisfaction. It is very possible to find the right fit for your career conditions through a simple research process.

Pinpoint Your Perfect Employer: The Research ProcessThere are several areas in which a job seeker can look for information that determines whether or not a specific company is right for them. Dave Fischer, who has worked in management positions in several restaurants and now runs a consulting firm which caters to resort jobs, suggests the following list of criteria when looking for the right hospitality job:

1. Are there possibilities of advancement within the company?
2. Determine how the company advances their employees. Is seniority or work ethic and skill the deciding factor?
3. Does the company have a good record when it comes to employee retention?
4. What kind of benefits does the company offer to long-term, full time employees?
5. Does the pay scale reflect industry standards?

"I have found the companies that can offer examples of employee advancement, that reward their long-term employees with better-than- competitive benefits and pay scales, and that base promotions on ethics and understanding rather than on seniority have the most satisfied employees," says Fischer. "These employees tend to make the business their career."

Conducting Research: Where To Look
There are several places that prospective employees can look when seeking the answers to their questions. Each option offers varying degrees of reliability and quality of information, but taken as a whole they will provide a job seeker with a good idea of the big picture as far as company/employee relations.

1. Word of Mouth
The first step in any process, including searching for that perfect foodservice job or other hospitality job, is to work your contacts. Most people within the hospitality industry will have contacts in various places of employment; make sure to check with your friends and acquaintances to see how they and their co-workers are treated at the company you are interested in.

2. Public Records
Another great place to find information on companies are public records. This includes resources such as the Internet and other forms of media as well as local records from Better Business Bureaus and Compensation Boards. These sources will let job seekers know what type of customer service the company provides, and how busy the company is. Most hospitality job holders will tell you that the busier the company, the better the job.

3. Interviews
A lot of potential employees seem to forget that their interview is just a much a tool for their use as it is for employer," says Darren Parsons, owner of Ric's Mediterranean Grill. "The interview is probably the best spot for a potential worker to find out all that they want to know about the company and their spot in it, both for the present and the future. What's more, hiring managers are more likely to hire someone who has an interest in the operations and history of the company. It works both ways." Make sure that you are prepared not only with the answers to questions during your foodservice interview or your hotel interview, but also with some good questions of your own!

Good Research Will Lead To A Great Job
The old adage "the more you put in, the more you will get out" seems to hold just as true for finding a job within the hospitality industry as it does everywhere else. Job seekers who take the time to do a good background check on their potential places of work are not only likely to be happy at their positions, they are also more likely to be hired. From the start of the search right through to the interview questions, gathering information is vital to a long and happy career.