Episode 1: Careers in hospitality explained

the hospitality industry is a thriving place for graduates in this podcast graduates in hospitality with hilton we gathered together graduates and alumni from across the region to share their experiences and advice all to help you get ready for your graduate career and to decide if hospitality is right for you in episode one imogen laura and toby are at the double tree by hilton amsterdam central they welcome you to the wonderful world of hospitality and share the exciting opportunities and experiences available to you so let's get started what do you guys see as something special within hospitality in that me i think that that like the world of hospitality it's so big so you can get many things so i mean if you are looking for like a more luxury thing that it's very special i don't know for like a honeymoon or something like that you you get that but then if you're like more low cost and you you just want to visit a city but you don't have the money to spend like on the luxury thing you also get another type of hotel so then it it's a very big world like if it's for business then we also have hotels for business if it's for leisure then for that and if you're looking for something that's a little bit more luxury then you can do it in the hotel so if you're looking for something that's a little bit more luxury then you can do it in the hotel So if you're looking for something that's a little bit more luxury then you can do it in the hotel the stay great yeah yeah i think it's very big actually now now i'm thinking about it it's a completely overwhelming industry but when it does work so beautiful that the logistics are just amazing right i mean so many individuals doing their thing and then in the end it comes down to every single guest just having a great experience yeah so obviously we all know it hospitality is super fast-paced it's dynamic and i think maybe it's similar for you guys but what i really feel is that i love the adrenaline rush that comes with it so obviously with that there is a lot of ups so then when you're in the downtime what are the kind of other support that you get throughout going with that i think hilton itself is very understanding of the downtimes right and values you taking the time to reach charge be it through traveling be it through um your own personal hobbies that you can when back in in the job also again work with that adrenaline rush i think there's many benefits for ir and things that hilton gives to you when you join them so for example there's the community that toby has talked about and there's not only that but in our program for example they they provide you with a body and a mentor and a sponsor which is just people that you can reach out to when you're having difficulties so sometimes i mean well we're new into this there's many things we don't understand or we don't know how to handle so just having these people that you can go to and talk to them and just open yourself about your full vulnerable times and they're there to help you well in my in my case there was a time where i was like just very overwhelmed and i was just what is going on i don't understand anything and i talked to well the sponsor they gave me and she was just very very nice very understanding she gave me great advice and and that was something that i i was very happy to have that because without it i well i would have been overwhelmed longer so that was just great and and not only the people they give you around you to help you but also they they provide you with the tools to help you with the things that they want you to do and they provide you with the tools to help you with the things that they want you to do and they provide you with the tools to help you with the things that they want you to do and they provide you with the tools to help you with the things that they want you to do and they provide you with the tools to help you with the things that they want you to do and they provide you with the tools to help you with the things that they want you to do and they provide you with the tools to help you with the things that they want you to do and they provide you with the tools to help you with the things that they want you to do and they provide you with the tools to help you with the things that they want you to do and they provide you with the tools to help you with the things that they want you to do and they provide you with the tools to help you with the being everywhere so uh how have you guys used it throughout your time so far well for me here in beautiful amsterdam i actually spent the last two days um here and explored the city you know because i knew i was coming here for the podcast anyway so might as well use some team member rates and that's just the beauty of it right i've been in rome i've been in berlin i've been to riga and i think one or two more cities actually ever since joining hilton because with the team memory you know i saw i have two or three days off if there is a flight or if there's a train yeah just book it i love that and just enjoy seeing a new culture a new city it it gives you a perspective you know culturally but also what i love personally is exploring the other hotel you know because you see your hotel you see your operations but you see how others do it you get inspiration from that as well so it is a win-win situation right for for hilton because it gives the the perspectives and inspiration but for the team members as well because it makes them or gives them the opportunity to explore and then experience new things but that's also very nice that you get to go to very beautiful like restaurants and bars and places and at a discounted rate so when i think back to my time in elevator for example i i remember sitting there in the in the interview and being like okay do i really know what i'm going into do i really know and now i look back and i'm a completely different person i my confidence has developed so much i usually wouldn't put myself in situations potentially opening myself for criticism you know really putting myself out there but with it i've really developed this openness and when my team members give me feedback i really perceive it as a gift because at the end of the day you're just developing yourself you're just getting better each day so for me that has really been a complete journey throughout this short period of 18 months that you're on the elevator but you come out a completely different person so obviously being midway your journeys how do you feel about this or have you experienced it so far for me personally what was i think the biggest impact is that i not only was open for criticism but also open for new experiences much more than it was before right the the confidence in trying out new things in getting out of your comfort zone in just messaging someone you don't know and asking them for a coffee which i before always thought i needed a reason for you know and in no you can just send an email and be like hey i'll be in town do you have time for a coffee i would love to meet you yeah and those things are something that i wouldn't have done before and now i feel much more confident in for me so far in these months that i've been in the program i feel like a completely different person so if i talk to myself from back there i would be like wow so much improvement already because i feel like all this exposure and all these projects and all this learning and all these different teams every time has really given me like a lot of courage and i feel really empowered now like before i was more like oh let's go into this new thing i'm not sure how it's gonna go and i'm a little nervous and i mean now i'm still nervous but i'm like well i've been doing it all this time so let's just go for it and i feel like really yeah just empowered and i love that and i also feel like i have gained lots of like soft skills that are very useful for life so for example on well time management because there's many things going on and then there's just not enough hours in the day so you have to really like get into it and that's something that's gonna that i'm gonna use forever and also like saying no because sometimes well i mean you just want to do everything and you just want to please everyone and be helpful for everyone but there's a point where you have to like learn this skill and that's something that's very important for me and i feel like that's something that's very important and that's something that i feel like it's great that at this young age and with just a couple of months of work experience here at hilton i have already gained these life skills that i think are very valuable thank you for listening to graduates in hospitality with hilton if you enjoyed the conversation we have more episodes for you you can also learn about graduate careers at hilton via the link in the episode description Thank you.