Hotel Jobs Key Terms

Learn hotel jobs key terms to navigate job listings in your area
By Rose Bricker, Freelance Writer It takes a team of professionals to run a hotel. There are hospitality jobs, including front desk clerks, concierges and bellhops. Housekeepers clean the rooms, room service waits on customers and janitors maintain a hotel's polish. In the back of the hotel, or perhaps in another location entirely, accountants to bookkeepers make sure the financial end runs smoothly. Also, every hotel, no matter what its size, has a manager or team of managers.

In larger luxury hotels, there are positions in spas that range from receptionists to masseurs. There may also be restaurant positions, from cooks for a room service menu or staff to run a full-service restaurant.

Hospitality jobs, or front of the house jobs

"Front of the house" refers to any job that involves contact with customers, from reception to bell hops and restaurant servers, as well as the management involved in overseeing these positions. Many hospitality jobs aside from management require minimum education, and all hotels have these positions.
Try:  The Hilton Hotels Corporation offers many job opportunities for people who are interested in jobs in the hospitality industry. Hospitality Jobs Online has list of typical front of the house positions.

Housekeeping

Housekeeping jobs include room attendants, laundry staff and janitors. There are also jobs for housekeeping managers.
Try:  SnagAJob.com describes the typical duties and working conditions of housekeepers.

Hotel accounting

No matter the size of the hotel, you must have at least a bookkeeper and probably an accountant. Accounting staff or third party services also perform audits and help hotels keep track of their customer service and financial information.
Try:  Hospitality Accounting Services is a firm that specializes in hotel accounting, and describes its areas of expertise

Hospitality management

It takes a special kind of person to run a hotel. In addition to excellent customer service skills, managers also need to understand business and human resources management. The right candidates often have a college degree, in addition to plenty of hotel experience.
Try:  Florida International University offers a bachelor of science in hospitality management, and describes the program in detail.

Spa jobs

Larger hotels have spas staffed with estheticians, who provide manicures and pedicures, facials, seaweed wraps and the like. There are also professionals who specialize in different types of massage, and yoga and meditation instructors.
Try:  Spa & Beauty Education has an introduction to types of spa jobs.

Chef de cuisine, executive chef, sous chef

Many large luxury hotels feature excellent restaurants, headed by an accomplished chef de cuisine who is responsible for creating the menu. An executive chef runs the kitchen, and a sous-chef is the understudy.
Try:  CuisineNet has a list of kitchen positions, and where they fall on the restaurant totem pole.