Hotel Manager

Obviously, as the name implies, a diploma in hospitality management can get you a position as a hotel manager. Of course, this is kind of the top of the food chain so you probably won’t waltz into this position immediately. You’ll need to put in a few years of hard work in other tourism management positions first but your hotel management diploma will get you started on the right track.

As a hotel manager, you’ll have a lot of responsibilities. You’ll probably spend a lot less time with customers and a lot more time meeting with the heads of various departments; you’ll definitely need good leadership skills and the ability to delegate and problem solve on the fly. You’ll be rewarded for your hard work with a salary that is probably in the six figures. If you work for a chain of hotels, you’ll get the opportunity to travel all over the world to learn about tourism and hospitality management in other countries.

Front Desk Clerk

When you’re first starting out, there’s a good chance you’ll start with something like a front desk clerk position. In this role, you will be responsible for greeting customers and checking them in and out. You’re often the first face customers see. You won’t be earning a six-figure salary but you’ll probably enjoy a lot of other perks. Hotel employees often get free or heavily discounted rates for other hotels in the world. Since travel is a hotel’s bread and butter, hotels often expect their staff to be seasoned travelers well-versed in tourism and hospitality management.

Meeting and Event/Convention Planner

As a meeting and convention planner, your job is to schedule the big events, to figure out a budget, make sure there are enough staff and resources and so on. You can do this job in a hotel but you can also do it for a convention centre, an event planning company or even an educational institution. You can do this job in-house or freelance. It’s a great opportunity to meet inspiring people and to be an integral part of some pretty cool events. It’s definitely a great job for those who get bored easily. No two days are the same.

Flickr User: Tony Purkal

Restaurant Manager

A diploma in hotel management doesn’t just prepare you for a position in a hotel; it prepares you for any position where you need to handle people and resources. As a restaurant manager, you might work for a hotel’s restaurant but you can also work for pretty much any type of restaurant. Your duties will be  vary from more business oriented ones, such as creating a budget, to front of house duties, such as giving your staff feedback, to housekeeping duties like checking stock levels and ordering supplies.

You could also work as a manager for a fast food restaurant. While this may not immediately seem appealing, keep in mind that most fast food chains are multi-billion dollar companies with branches all over the world. There is a lot of room for advancement and for new opportunities.

Accommodation Manager

When you hear the word accommodation, you probably think hotels, but there are so many other types of accommodations with a host of opportunities. With a diploma in hospitality management, you might work as an accommodation manager in a hostel, a hospital, a retirement community or a school. In this position, you would plan the availability of accommodation for students, patients or delegates. You would ensure that staff were properly trained and that operations were running smoothly.

These five jobs are just a small sampling of what you can do with a diploma in hotel management. A diploma in hotel management teaches you ways to ensure customers get the best experience possible, so it will help you in any customer service oriented job. It will help you in any position where you need to be comfortable making big decisions, problem solving and stepping into a leadership role. In short, a diploma in hotel management will open doors to exciting jobs all over the world.

Photo credit: Banff springs Hotel Bow Valley Grille via photopin