The hospitality industry is, quite literally, big business. To stay ahead, managers and hiring professionals need to be sure that they are finding and hiring the right team members. Hospitality is quite unlike any other industry when it comes to discovering the perfect candidate - so what are the essential characteristics of the ideal hospitality candidate?

The ideal hospitality candidate has different characteristics than might be expected for, say, an office job. While they will often vary from workplace to workplace, there are one or two proficiencies and attributes that should be of particular interest to hospitality employers.

Professionals  in the hospitality and casino industry often find themselves up against time constraints. This means that it can be difficult to spend a lot of time trawling through application forms and CVs, especially if you are unsure what it is that you should be looking out for. To help you in the right direction, here are a few characteristics that you want to see demonstrated in the perfect candidate:

Commitment

Many businesses in the hospitality industry have struggled with a high turnover rate at one time or another. Commitment to work often results in an increased likelihood that an applicant will stay working with you when things get tough. It's also really important for customer satisfaction - applicants who display commitment in their applications are more likely to be devoted to ensuring high levels of happiness in customers.

Teamwork

This one might seem fairly obvious, but the ideal hospitality candidate will be team focussed and committed to playing their part in a team. If they display a sense of value towards others in their team, either in applications or interviews, by paying homage to their successes as well as their own, they are likely to have this attribute

Organisational skills

Hospitality team members have a lot of different tasks to stay on top of, so being organised is especially important. Not only do they need to be able to juggle a multitude of different tasks, at higher levels they will need to be able to manage and oversee a bunch of different employees too. They must be able to display a proficiency in switching between different tasks and maintaining a focus.

Flexibility

Employees within the hospitality sector will often have to work unsociable and long hours, often at very short notice. The ideal candidate will display genuine flexibility - just remember that saying that they are willing to be flexible at short notice isn’t always enough, they should be able to give examples of their flexibility in past scenarios.

Interpersonal skills

Finally, and perhaps the most important characteristic, is fantastic interpersonal skills. Employees in hospitality businesses are often quite literally the face of the company. Therefore, they must have a spectacular ability to communicate with absolutely anybody; customers, other employees, management, clients etc. This includes written and verbal communication, as well as a willingness to be contactable.