Alan Stutts | Professor | Author

Choosing the Best Keywords for Hospitality Job Searching

Your primary tool for searching job boards is keywords. Keywords are words or phrases you enter into the board’s search engine. Some boards help you narrow your search by specifying an industry, a location, salary range, and other common criteria so that your keyword search eliminates listings that are not of interest to you.
Use the same keywords that you used to make your resume scannable. Include general industry words and job titles in your search, too. Some keywords to try include:

Hospitality
Hotel
Lodging
Catering
Restaurant
Food service
Banquet
Convention
Front desk
Seasonal
Resort
Cruise line
Manager
Management
Assistant manager
Chef
Housekeeper
Concierge

Most job board search engines let you type in multiple keywords with only a space between each word. If you type a phrase that you want to be searched for s a phrase, enclose it in parentheses. Be sure to read the board’s hints for keyword searching to learn any special rules for entering keywords.

Try combinations of your keywords words or phrases until the listing results are predominately jobs you want to apply for. Use this winning combination on all of the boards you visit.

About Hospitality Companies First Hand

Do not discount the power of information about the hospitality industry and specific organizations that you can get from friends and relatives. Ask all of your companions if they or someone they know has worked in the hospitality field and get their ideas of the companies they worked for. If you already work in hospitality field, ask your workers where else they have worked or what they know about other hotels or hospitality related organizations. They have former friends who still work at these organizations who may be willing to talk with you.