Hospitality Careers, written by GMs, F&B directors, and the operators who actually run the room.
Résumé examples, interview guides, salary benchmarks, and career-path maps for hotel operators, restaurant leaders, event planners, tourism managers, and every guest-facing hospitality role — authored by people who have actually run the property.
Hospitality hiring runs on properties, brands, and a résumé that lists the flag you've operated (Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG), the room count and RevPAR you owned, and the events or covers you've turned. Marqee's hospitality coverage is authored by Emma Fitzgerald (ex-Marriott, Hilton, Four Seasons GM), Fatou Diallo (ex-Union Square Hospitality, Danny Meyer restaurant operations), and Camille Beaumont (ex-MGM Resorts, Wynn, Live Nation event operations). Every guide is written to what a corporate hospitality talent team, F&B director, or event-operations SVP actually screens for — not what a job board thinks they should.
What the hospitality careers vertical actually covers
Hospitality Careers at Marqee spans hotel general managers, front-office and rooms-division leaders, executive housekeepers, F&B directors, restaurant chefs and managers, catering and banquet operators, event planners, meeting-and-convention leaders, tourism managers, and cruise-line and resort operators. Twelve SOC codes covered, line-level through property-general-manager.
Every résumé example lists the branded PMS systems (Opera, Sabre, Micros, Toast) and the ADR/RevPAR/covers-per-shift metrics a hospitality recruiter reads. Every interview guide lists the guest-recovery, service-recovery, and shift-management scenarios loops actually run. Every salary guide lists the real US band by market, tips-and-service-charge structure, and the property-versus-corporate switch that changes total comp.
The hospitality careers landscape, honestly
Three things every candidate in this vertical should understand before writing the résumé, running the interview loop, or asking for the number. Written by the same operators who author the role-by-role guides below.
How hospitality hiring actually screens
Branded hospitality hiring reads a résumé for property, flag, and metric. A luxury GM search screens for prior work at a Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, Rosewood, Aman, or comparable — because the guest-service standard and forbes-star operating rhythm are not portable from a select-service brand without a story. Full-service GM searches read for ADR, RevPAR, GOP margin, and RevPAR index versus competitive set. Restaurant hiring reads a résumé for concept (fine-dining, casual, QSR), covers per shift, average check, cost of goods percentage, and labor percentage. Marqee's hospitality résumés state property size (keys, F&B outlets, meeting-square-feet), volume (annual revenue, covers), and the operating results (guest scores, employee-engagement scores) up front. For event and catering roles, the résumé reads for event count, guest count, and repeat-client percentage.
Restaurants, hotels, and the corporate-versus-property track
Restaurant hiring is a floor-and-line game. GMs and executive chefs get hired on P&L ownership, menu development, and the ability to hire and retain a line under industry-average turnover. Corporate F&B, culinary, and beverage roles are hired on portfolio impact — the ability to systematize a concept across multiple locations. Hotel operators face the same fork: property GMs are hired on operating results and RevPAR index; corporate operators (regional director, VP of operations) are hired on multi-property portfolio math. Cruise-line and resort operators hire on property-in-motion experience — the ability to run a 4,000-key floating city with a fixed labor pool and no ability to add heads mid-voyage.
What breaks a candidate in this vertical
Three failure modes recur. First: a résumé that lists 'exceeded guest expectations' without a Forbes-star number, an AAA-diamond rating, a TripAdvisor score, a guest-satisfaction (GSS) percentile, or a Medallia number. Every hospitality operator screens for the score behind the claim. Second: an interview answer to a service-recovery question that does not describe the recovery within the guest's stay. Recovery after departure is table stakes; recovery in real time is what separates a manager from a supervisor. Third: a compensation ask that ignores the housing, per diem, meals, and share-of-service-charge structure. Property-based roles frequently include employer-provided housing or per-diem; corporate roles include none of that; ignoring the difference muddies the negotiation.
The market for hospitality talent right now
US lodging demand has recovered from the pandemic trough with domestic leisure leading and corporate transient still catching up. RevPAR growth has moderated but stayed positive across most branded segments, and select-service and upper-midscale operators are absorbing the strongest occupancy gains. Luxury and lifestyle brands remain the hiring segment with the most severe operations-leader shortage, particularly on properties that opened during or since 2022. Restaurants have moved through a labor-tight period into a more balanced one, but experienced sous-chef and executive-chef supply remains tight in most metros, and unionization activity in food-service is meaningfully higher than it was five years ago. Events, meetings, and conventions are near or above 2019 activity in most tier-one cities. Marqee's hospitality guides reflect these live conditions in the salary bands and negotiation coaching, and specialize the coaching to property, brand, and segment.
Resume examples
20 guidesRole-specific resume examples with the responsibilities, tools, ATS keywords, and salary range that pass a screen.
Hotel General Manager
Hotel Manager
Front Office Manager
Executive Housekeeper
Director of Sales & Marketing
Food & Beverage Director
Executive Chef
Restaurant Manager
Sous Chef
Pastry Chef
Sommelier
Banquet Manager
Catering Manager
Event Planner
Meeting Planner
Wedding Planner
Concierge
Tourism Director
Travel Agent
Guest Services Manager
Cover letter examples
12 guidesCover letters written to the exact hire this vertical actually screens for — not template mad-libs.
Hotel General Manager
Hotel Manager
Food & Beverage Director
Executive Chef
Restaurant Manager
Sous Chef
Event Planner
Wedding Planner
Front Office Manager
Catering Manager
Tourism Director
Travel Agent
Interview questions
10 guidesQuestion banks and framework answers built to the loops this vertical actually runs.
Hotel General Manager
Food & Beverage Director
Executive Chef
Restaurant Manager
Event Planner
Front Office Manager
Executive Housekeeper
Concierge
Tourism Director
Banquet Manager
Salary guides
10 guidesRealistic US ranges by role, level, and market — with the levers a recruiter can actually move.
Hotel General Manager
Hotel Manager
Food & Beverage Director
Executive Chef
Restaurant Manager
Sous Chef
Event Planner
Wedding Planner
Front Office Manager
Concierge
How-to-become guides
10 guidesEntry-path guides — degrees, licenses, portfolios, and the first-role playbook by occupation.
How to Become a Hotel General Manager
How to Become a Restaurant Manager
How to Become an Executive Chef
How to Become a Sous Chef
How to Become an Event Planner
How to Become a Wedding Planner
How to Become a Food & Beverage Director
How to Become a Sommelier
How to Become a Concierge
How to Become a Tourism Director
Compare adjacent roles
2 guidesHead-to-head breakdowns of two roles this vertical hires side by side — day-to-day, comp, and where the interview loops diverge.
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