The perfect job is a balance between exercising the skills you’re good at and stretching your capabilities with challenging work. Too few challenges and you quickly become bored. Too many, and you can burn out.
When your current role is no longer in that sweet spot, it’s time to switch things up. How can you stay in the industry you love, but find a more fulfilling way to spend your days? The answer can be to move up to the next level or to make a lateral move into a different department.
How Will You Know It’s Time for a Career Move?
So you’re feeling a little…twitchy. Here’s how you can tell if it’s just a passing notion, or if it’s a sign that a change should be on the horizon.
You Don’t Feel Challenged At Work
After a couple of years in the same role, you may start to feel that your days have become a bit too routine. When you find yourself thinking, “I could do this job in my sleep,” it’s definitely time to look for a role that’s a bit more challenging.
This could mean a promotion, or it could just mean a change in your daily duties. For example, maybe you love the guest interactions you get as a hotel front desk agent, but your day-to-day has become monotonous.
You see that the concierge gets to act as the guest’s liaison to the city-at-large. Keeping up with the best restaurants and bars, maintaining personal relationships with service providers, knowing how to get last-minute event tickets—now that sounds fun! Sometimes all you need is a change of daily responsibilities to get the spring back in your step.
You Want to Contribute More
Excited about the idea of managing a team or department? Maybe you’re ready to make a bigger contribution to your work. Managerial and supervisory roles give you a chance to support both the guests and your team. You may be able to dig deeper into the challenges of the company and come up with strategic solutions, rather than serving individual guests and customers.
You See a Role That Needs to Be Filled
If you’re in a “boots on the ground” position, you may have a view of your business that your managers don’t see. If you spot a role that needs to be filled, why shouldn’t it go to you? Schedule a meeting with your supervisors to tell them where you see a gap. Even if they don’t put you in that role right away, you will have planted the seed for a possible future promotion.
Don’t Just Think About It. Take Action!
Just thinking about a career change probably won’t help much. You have to take action.
If you’re entering the hospitality field for the first time, you’re in luck. Hospitality is an amazing industry for “tryouts.” There are part-time, entry-level positions in restaurants, hotels, event venues, and so many more businesses. You can step into the world of hospitality without quitting your job and without an expensive degree. Then, when you decide it’s for you, you can go full-time and pursue some continuing education.
If you’re looking for a promotion or department change within hospitality, you have to make your wishes known. Ask to meet with your supervisor and let them know you’re ready for more responsibility. As a valued part of the team, a good boss will want to help you grow. If they’re reluctant, ask where they think you need to improve in order to be eligible for the next step. Maybe you can take a class or shadow someone to fill a skills gap.
Even if you don’t know exactly what move would be best, you should still communicate your desire for more responsibility to your supervisors. You never know what conversations they’ve been having behind closed doors. Maybe there’s a project or role that would be perfect for you!
Keep the Timing in Mind
The height of the tourist season is probably not the best time to talk about a promotion or department change. Keep your supervisor’s workload in mind when you broach the topic of the next steps for your career. If you approach them when they’re overworked and stressed, they won’t have the time or mental energy to give your proposal the consideration it deserves.