In previous episodes, we followed a new Housekeeping Manager stepping straight out of hotel school into the real workplace. He gains experience, sets up his procedures, fine-tunes his systems, works closely with his team, and after 1.5 to 2 years of daily effort — inspections, challenges, failures, and retries — his department becomes a well-oiled, systematic, and highly effective cleaning operation.
Then one day, a new property opens in your city and you realise that a great career opportunity is right in front of you. New hotel openings are always exciting — they are a fresh start for everyone involved. You learn a great deal from the opening procedures, you work alongside experienced mentors, you are exposed to new standards and systems, and it is almost always an opportunity to negotiate a better salary.
Some people will be tempted to make the move, while others will stick with what they know — why risk it, they might say. Everyone has different priorities and ambitions, and each person must make their own judgement call. This episode is by no means a "what to do" guide.
I am simply mapping out the career sequence of someone moving from hotel school to the workplace, and through the changes and challenges that will inevitably come along the way. How you handle each one is entirely up to you — but it helps to have a clear picture of what to expect from someone who has actually been there: job transitions, setbacks, and the advantages and disadvantages that come with each decision. There is no right or wrong decision.
One important point, however — if you change jobs every six months to a year, your CV will not be taken seriously. In my opinion, you need to stay in a position for at least 3 to 4 years before moving on, if you decide to do so. Why? Because it is during this period that you actually gain real experience. You have learned the procedures and the ropes, and now you are genuinely serving the company — and yourself — by putting that knowledge to work.
Of course, career progression does not come only from new hotel openings — established properties offer equally valuable opportunities. If you decide to move to an existing hotel, you need to be well prepared. It will be a new environment, but one where people and teams have been working for years, with their own established procedures and ways of doing things. You will be welcomed and trained, but after that, it is up to you to swim.
For both cases — new openings and established properties — you must arrive extremely well prepared and have ready-made solutions up your sleeve, because it will take time before you learn all the ropes. In my experience, allow a minimum of 1.5 years, during which you split your focus: 75% on operations — learning how things are done — and only then begin building your systems and administration layer on top.
You can accelerate this process significantly by selecting any of the Housekeeping Management tools available in the product directory below.
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