Matching a Career to Your Interest, Skills, and Ability
Now that you have spent time learning about yourself, you need to spend some time learning about the realities of a hospitality career. This phase of your research is not about specific companies, but about the industry or occupation in general. The information you want includes:
Characteristics of individuals working in this field
Values held by individuals in this field
Skills required at entry into this occupation
Knowledge areas / educational requirements
Duties & responsibilities
Working conditions (hours of work, environment, physical demands, level of stress, etc.)
Salary range / compensation
Advancement & promotion
Future outlook
Related occupations
On the Web, you can use O’NET Online (http://online.onetcenter.org/) to find descriptive information about specific occupations, either by entering the occupations title or by entering a list of your skills that are then matched to relevant occupations. You can also enter an O’NET SOC number for an occupation if you know it. In the illustration below you see the detailed report on the occupation “Lodging Managers.”
Wages and employment outlook for each occupation is available on a state-by-state basis. The state information also includes links to a video, and a list of credentials or certificates related to the occupation.
You can get a customized report compares wages and occupational trends between occupations and amongst various cities at America’s CareerInfoNet (http://www.acinet.org/acinet/). Select the section “What it Takes” and then under “Wages and Trends” select customized report.
All of the data in the world cannot tell you all you want to know about a career in hospitality. You also need to talk with people who do the job you want to do. Informational interviewing and job shadowing are two ways to see a job from the inside. In an information interview, you find a person who currently has the position you seek and spend an hour or so asking them questions. A job shadow involved spending a day or two following someone around as they do their job.
