Guest Service Specialist skills for your resume and career

Critical thinking, empathy, and problem-solving are the three most important soft skills an employee can possess. In developing these skills, many other soft skills are automatically embedded; active listening, emotional intelligence, and collaboration, for instance, are all aspects of the umbrella of "soft skills." Having employees who possess other soft skills associated with strong customer service (friendliness, positive thinking, and language skills, for instance) are not effective if these larger overall skills are not present.

As a hiring manager in high-end hotels and country clubs, I paid little attention to most technical skills. If an applicant possesses the soft skills outlined above, I was typically certain that training could provide the necessary technical skills. Therefore, I always advise students to "work on purpose" during internships and other work experiences in order to not only learn hard skills but also develop the soft skills listed above.

I would say the top skills that students should try to enhance and are being requested from our corporate partners are:
-Creativity and innovation
-Project management skills
-Technological skills
-Communication
-Critical Thinking

FIU students can learn more about these areas by taking courses through a platform called 'LinkedIn Learning.' LinkedIn Learning is an online learning platform that enables FIU faculty, staff, and students to discover and develop skills through an online library of high-quality expert-led videos. It is free for all students and they can login and register through their FIU accounts. I do, however, encourage graduates if they can to pursue taking online courses/certifications. There are many free and paid resources available online.

The skills that employers are looking for will be to have team members who can offer excellence in experiential hospitality. The ideas behind running operating systems, managing events, creating food and space that wows the guest who so desires to partake of this amazing industry will require employees who are amazingly flexible and passionately hospitable.

Operating a large hotel is like managing a small city. All the technical skills from accounting and finance to personal management and facilities are needed. The key will be finding the team as conventions are soon booked back into these large hotels.