Hospitality Resume Example & Guide [+ Hospitality Skills]

Hospitality jobs can be fun and rewarding, plus they often attract people who are simply great to work with. Unfortunately, not all of these jobs are like that—and you certainly want to avoid ending up working the front desk of a shady motel along the abandoned sections of US 66.

That’s why you need a hospitality resume that proves you’re a great fit for boutique hotels, luxurious restaurants, and chic bars.

This guide will show you: 

• A hospitality resume example better than 9 out of 10 others.
• How to write a resume for hospitality jobs to get more interviews.
• A list of the most desirable skills for a hospitality resume.
• How to describe your experience on a resume for hospitality jobs to fill any opening you want.

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Hospitality Resume Example

1. 20+ Hospitality Resume Examples for Various Jobs

If you need resumes for specific hospitality jobs, see the guides and samples below—you'll find resume examples for hospitality jobs in restaurants, hotels, and other establishments.

Restaurant Resume Templates

• Waitress Resume
• Waiter Resume
• Chef Resume
• Catering Resume
• Server Resume
• Barista Resume
• Line Cook Resume
• Cook Resume
• Bartender Resume
• Banquet Server Resume
• Server Resume
• Restaurant Resume
• Fine Dining Resume
• Fast Food Resume
• Barback Resume
• Resume Examples for Every Career

Housekeeping Resume

• Housekeeping Resume

Management Resume

• Hotel Manager Resume
• Hotel General Manager Resume
• Restaurant Manager Resume

Front Desk Resume

• Front Desk Receptionist Resume
• Front Desk Resume
• Hotel Front Desk Resume
• Receptionist Resume

Others

• Hostess Resume

Want to make the best resume for a hospitality job on earth? Scroll down. I’ll share piles of tips and samples to write great hospitality industry resumes that’ll help you bag the interview.

2. Use the Right Format for a Hospitality Resume

Disaster! The hiring manager just condemned your great hotel resume. Gordon Ramsay wouldn’t use it to shine his shoes with now. What happened? It wasn’t your experience or skills. Those are great. You used the wrong hospitality resume format.

Format is king in a job where tiny details add up to a great guest experience:

• Pick a respected layout like the reverse-chronological resume format.
• Use big headings, lots of white space, and the best resume fonts.
• Go for a minimalist resume template for enhanced readability.
• Save your resume for hotel jobs as a PDF.

Hospitality job resume PDFs look great everywhere and work with ATS systems. MS Word resumes can turn into an unmade bed after you send them.

Pro Tip: Scan the hospitality job description to make sure it doesn’t have a no-PDFs policy. Some companies don’t allow hospitality resume PDFs.

Want to confirm our formatting advice? Not sold on the reverse-chronological format for your guest services or front desk resume? See our guide: Resume Format: How to Choose the Best One

3. Craft a Catchy Summary or Objective for a Hospitality Resume

Congratulations! The HR manager spent half an hour reading your hospitality resume. She’s convinced you’re perfect for the job.

Now let’s come back from la-la land. The truth? She’s got a pile of resumes for hospitality as tall as the Gevora Hotel to read by checkout-time. You have seconds to impress.

The fix? Grab her attention like a nine-foot “Free Breakfast” sign. Write a resume summary or resume objective.

A resume objective shows your passion for the job. Use one if you’re a late arrival to the industry.

A resume summary proves your worthiness with experience. Write one if you’ve got ballrooms-full.

Either way, stuff it with pulse-quickening accomplishments.

Here are two examples:

How to Write a Resume Objective for an Entry-Level Hospitality Resume

Even with no experience, your resume for hotels doesn’t have to seem half-baked. A resume objective shows your passion. But—Pack it with experience.

These two hospitality resume examples explain:

Sample Objective for Hospitality Resumes

That first hotel resume sample could get you in at a Hyatt Regency. The second? Maybe Fawlty Towers.

But just a sec—Where did a newbie get that much hospitality industry resume experience? He used transferable accomplishments. I’ll show how in a minute.

Now what if you’ve already got experience?

In that case, write a resume summary.

Hospitality Resume Examples [Resume Summaries]

One of these professional hospitality resume samples fails inspection.

What’s wrong with that? Nothing, by itself. But put it in a pile of 300 others and it blends into the wallpaper.

It needs details and measurable achievements.

Way to go. The hiring manager just dropped her copy of Without Reservations in her jackfruit salad.

Pro Tip: Got stage fright? Soft-open your hospitality resume objective or resume summary. Write it last and build it from the highlights of your resume.

Making a resume with our builder is incredibly simple. Follow our step-by-step guide, use ready-made content tailored to your job and have a resume ready in minutes.

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When you’re done, our online resume builder will score your resume and our resume checker will tell you exactly how to make it better.

4. Highlight Work Experience in a Hospitality Resume

Here’s a question: Is experience important in resumes for hospitality jobs? Only as important as food and lodging.

Don’t have it? Don’t panic. I’ll show you how to use transferable achievements. But you’ve got to list them right or the hiring manager will ditch you like a bathrobe with a burn hole.

Show your last job first, with 3–5 resume bullet points that fit the job.

The next two entry-level hospitality resume examples show how.

Hospitality Resume Examples [Experience]

Compare these sample hospitality resume experience sections:

The hiring manager would need a vacancy between her ears to trash your application. Your professional front desk duties resume just proved your worth.

With a couple management achievements, that could even be a good front desk manager resume.

But evict the details, and:

Hmm. Maybe they’re hiring at the Bates Motel.

And if you have no experience at hospitality jobs? Check out the next two entry-level hospitality resume examples.

How to Write a Resume for Hospitality with no Experience

How do you break into the hospitality industry? Especially with no experience? Are you locked out for good?

Transferable accomplishments are your master key to great hotel jobs with no experience.

Have you ever:

• Volunteered at a hotel laundry?
• Waited tables?
• Tended bar?
• Managed people?
• Led a project?
• Worked a cash register?
• Worked with the public?

Any of those make great experience for a hotel resume.

See the next two entry-level hotel resume samples.

Two Entry-Level Hospitality Resume Samples [No Experience]

Which of these two front desk resume examples is more Bridal Suite than Basement Level?

No contest.

That first one could get you hired at the Marriott in Rivendell. The second? Maybe the Overlook needs help.

You must show experience in hospitality-related tasks, even if you’ve never held a job.

Pro Tip: You don’t need 5 years of experience to write a good resume for front desk jobs. Even filling in for a few front desk shifts can build your resume.

Give the hiring manager a wake-up call. Build your hospitality resume with action words. See our guide: 240 Resume Action Words & Power Words to Make Your Resume Shine

5. Put Education on a Resume for Hospitality Jobs

In a resume for the hospitality industry, education isn’t as important as experience.

But schooling is a V.I.P. pass that can get you through the door.

Start with:

• School Name and Location.
• Years in School.
• Degree.

Here’s the magic:

Add relevant accomplishments.

Hospitality Resume Examples [Education]

Maybe you’ll get hired as a bellhop at the Econo-Host in Gotham City.

But add the right details, and:

Pow. That’s Four Seasons-level.

Pro Tip: Do you need to show your GPA in a hospitality resume? If it’s recent and impressive, yes. Otherwise, save the space for Wyndham-worthy achievements.

Make your front desk or guest services resume education section shimmer like a solid gold welcome mat. See our guide: Education on a Resume: What to Include and How to Do It

6. Select the Right Hospitality Skills for Resumes

Say hello to the HR manager. Her name’s Stacy. Nice liquid desk wave. Near it sit 250+ hospitality resumes. She’d like to torch them all. Know why?

They all list the same hospitality skills. They’re almost carbon copies of each other.

Then she sees your front desk clerk resume. You’ve done something so smart, so simple, Stacy chuckles.

What was your big win? You picked exactly the right skills for a hospitality resume, then you proved them.

Just like this:

Hospitality Resume Examples [Skills]

Let's say Stacy put these skills in the job description:

Hospitality Skills: (1) Accuracy, (2) Positive Attitude, (3) Problem-Solving

You list those, plus computer skills and check-in/check-out to add a little value.

Then you prove you’ve got those skills in your hotel resume bullet points:

You’re hired.

The HR manager would trust you to staff a front desk on Mars.

List of Hospitality Skills for a Resume

Let’s kick off your interview parade with a list of hospitality resume skills.

They make great resume keywords too.

Add more from hospitality jobs online.

Hospitality jobs pay $15.97/hr on average. To make more, you need to prove you've got high-income skills. One more thing: you need interpersonal skills to get hired, but you can’t say, “I have interpersonal skills.” Maddening? That’s why achievements matter in resumes for hospitality.

7. Add Extra Sections to a Resume for Hospitality Jobs

Freeze. Think your hospitality resume is unique? Think again. Hiring managers hate cookie-cutter resumes. You need to prove you’ve got all the amenities.

Make them say, “Wow. This is not just some schlub.” To do that, list awards, trainings, physical activity, certifications—anything that shows real magic.

Put them in “other” sections in your hospitality resume.

Each one should dazzle like the Grand Budapest Hotel.

Hospitality Resume Examples [Other Sections]

That right example will fast-track you to the top floor.

Need a few hospitality resume builders? The AHLA offers certifications and even a hospitality jobs search engine. Dale Carnegie courses only take an hour.

Pro Tip: Experience and education often look like walls of text to hiring managers. The more headings you include, the more eye-time your resume for hotel jobs will get.

Not sure how to furnish your resume for hospitality industry jobs? See our guide: +20 Best Examples of Hobbies & Interests To Put on a Resume

8. Write a Matching Hospitality Cover Letter

Do you need to send a cover letter with your hospitality resume? Yes. About 45% of hiring managers toss no-cover-letter resumes.

So, write a hospitality cover letter for front desk hotel jobs. But here’s the thing: Make it short. Make it personal. Make an offer.

• Start with the hiring manager’s name. That’ll catch her eye like a stack of 20s on the lobby carpet. 
• Prove you know her needs. (She put them in the job offer.) 
• Show you’re the solution. That means sharing your best accomplishment.

This short example hospitality cover letter nails it:

Always end a cover letter with an offer. Try, "I'd enjoy the opportunity to share how I earned ten letters of praise from guests."

Pro Tip: Should you follow up on a hospitality resume and cover letter in 3 days or a week? Umm... both? As long as you don’t overdo it, each follow-up is one more chance to land the interview.

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

Create my cover letter now

See more cover letter templates and start writing.

Want your hotel front desk cover letter to sizzle like a fresh-grilled ribeye? See our guide: Cover Letter for a Job Application That Works

9. List Contact Info on a Resume for Hospitality Jobs

You’re goofing it.

You know contact info means:

• Full Name
• Updated Phone Number
• Professional Email Address

Like so:

You even know "professional email address" means no ILoveGoatYoga2382349023@yahoo.com.

So what’s missing? A LinkedIn address. These days, 87% of recruiters use LinkedIn when they hire.

It lets them see your back-of-house before they interview you.

Pro Tip: Your LinkedIn profile is as crucial as a comfy lobby. Make sure it’s in working order with our guide to optimize your LinkedIn profile.

Need more help to make a hospitality resume worthy of the Beverly Hills Hotel? See our guide: How to Make a Resume for a Job of Your Dreams: Writing Guide (30+ Examples)

Key Takeaway

Here’s a quick recap of how to write a hospitality resume:

• Sell your best stuff first. A hospitality resume objective or resume summary will grab the hiring manager’s attention.
• Read the job description. Stitch your bullet points to the job ad like a hotel logo to a stolen bathrobe.
• Add other sections that prove you’re great to work with. On a hotel resume, that means commendations, certifications, and professional associations.
• Write a hospitality cover letter. Convince the hiring manager you fit her needs.

Do you have questions on how to write a great resume for hospitality jobs? Not sure how to describe your skills or achievements? Give us a shout in the comments! We’d be happy to reply.

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Sources

• https://www.bls.gov/iag/tgs/iag70.htm