Is the job of hotel management difficult? Is it possible to switch jobs from a budget hotel to a mid- to high-end hotel?

I am Li Yin, I am 33 years old.

I have worked in brand hotels under Starwood, Wyndham, Hilton, Wanda, and Langham Place.

In 8 years, I started as a waiter and became a food and beverage manager.

Then why did I transform from a well-known international hotel catering manager?

Please listen to me tell my career story -

With enthusiasm, I embarked on the eight-year road of hotel upgrades

In 2008, I graduated from college , majoring in hotel management.

It was very enviable to work in an international brand hotel at that time. With the Beijing Olympics taking place, the domestic hotel industry is booming.

Especially in Dongguan and Shenzhen, many well-known hotels entered the market. At that time, their consumption levels were relatively high and their requirements for selecting talents were also very high.

These well-known hotels have requirements for service staff’s spoken English and academic qualifications, and some even set hard targets for height.

My first job was at Sheraton. In just six months, I was promoted, which was a great encouragement to me.

At that time, star-rated hotels were high-end places, and the customers I came into contact with were all middle- and high-end people.

Many customers are company CEOs, the proportion of foreign guests is also high, and the tips given are relatively generous.

In addition to the high income in this industry, hotels also provide accommodation and meals, and even shuttle buses, laundry services, etc. The conditions are very favorable.

I have worked hard for the industry I love.

Later I moved to Wyndham Grand Hotel to prepare for the opening of the hotel.

At that time, it was required to open on January 9th, but the hard decoration had just been completed on January 1st.

I led a team of 28 people to move the sofa myself in the rain and complete all the soft furnishings in just five days.

On January 5, the hotel catering department successfully launched its trial operation and officially opened on January 9.

Later, I went to work at Wanda Group.

At that time, Wanda Nanchang Amusement Park opened, and the group attached great importance to it and selected 1-2 staff members from each hotel to carry out the opening reception.

Each staff member is connected to a Wanda leader and acts as a personal butler. Among the guests we receive, Mr. President is also included.

I feel a little nervous and excited, but also very proud.

From preparation, rehearsal to reception,

Whether it is the distance between cups, the angle of serving food, or the tone of voice to say hello...

We take care of all the details. Practice over and over again to do your best. Even serving tea, we practiced it no less than five times.

This made me realize that the more rigorous something is, the more hard work and repeated practice it requires.

In the past eight years, the hotel industry has made me grow a lot.

The training mechanism was also very complete at that time. We had to learn catering management, inventory management, etc. The level training from foreman, manager to supervisor was very clear.

I led the team to operate the restaurant, and the performance improved significantly. I also trained 3 restaurant managers.

In the process of managing the restaurant, I came into contact with guests from all walks of life and became friends with many of them.

Foreign brands are blooming everywhere, and competition in the hotel industry is becoming increasingly fierce

Eight years later, I still love the hotel industry, but the market environment has changed a lot.

Just like people used to think that flying was a "luxury", but now it has become the norm, and the consumption experience in star-rated hotels is the same.

In terms of external reasons -

First, in recent years, foreign brand hotels have sprouted everywhere.

The rise of more and more Airbnb and homestays has given consumers more diversified choices, resulting in a significant decline in the competitiveness of hotels.

The operation of hotels focuses on assets and properties, and costs are high. All dishes, wine, and daily necessities require a large amount of inventory, and the operating costs can be imagined.

With the replacement of business tax with value-added tax, suppliers and hotels have to pay more taxes, and costs are increasing year by year.

Second, consumer attitudes have also changed. The new generation of consumers like more novel and diverse experiences and are not so loyal to hotel brands.

For example, in 2008, buffets in many star hotels sold for more than 300 yuan per person, but now they can only sell for more than 100 yuan.

For hotels, it is becoming increasingly difficult to make money as they must not only attract guests with good catering quality but also satisfy their pursuit of cost-effectiveness.

To cope with these changes in the general environment and consumption habits while maintaining quality, hotels can only cut costs from labor.

Many restaurants with 200 seats used to have a service staff of 30 people, but now they have only a dozen people.

For internal hotels, they are also facing the problem of brain drain.

Nowadays, there are more employment opportunities in society and the rise of the self-media industry has made young people unwilling to engage in traditional industries, especially the service industry. From selecting people to being selected, hotels sometimes have to find temporary workers to replace them.

For me personally, I also encountered several obstacles in the hotel industry.

First of all, it is difficult to recruit people, which has a direct impact on middle-level hotel managers. Because the turnover of new people is high, I have been repeatedly training new people in middle management positions.

The grassroots waiters have no long-term development plan in the hotel, which leads to the management having to do basic work all the time and having no time or opportunity to improve themselves.

I struggled for a while, thinking I would get a promotion.

During a reception team meeting, I saw the catering director personally leading the employees from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m. for several days.

The event is over and I have insomnia. I thought it would be easier to be at the top, but in the role of director, I saw what I would look like in 3 or 5 years.

The promotion opportunity I had been waiting for was also given to an acquaintance of mine by the new foreign general manager.

In addition to difficulty in promotion, I also encountered unreasonable customers.

I met a customer who came to the buffet and insisted on taking it away. We patiently explained the rules to him, but we still received complaints.

Everyone from the waiter, duty manager to the general manager of the catering department spent a lot of time and energy on this matter, but in the end we not only apologized to the guest, but also gave him a consumption voucher.

I felt very bad at the time. Although the service industry emphasizes "customer first", I felt that I was not respected.

We treat our guests as friends, but some guests are on the opposite side of us, which breaks my heart.

Determined to transform and take the initiative to choose the insurance industry

Changes in the general environment and my own development have prompted me to consider changing careers.

I came to an Internet company and started from scratch, trying to build a hotel online mall and learning how to play the Internet.

In the past six months, I led the team to develop business and pulled the performance of the South China region from second to last in the country to second.

But the intensity of the Internet industry made it difficult for me to resist. On the night of New Year’s Eve, a bug appeared in our program. I was eating dumplings and immediately put down my bowl to deal with the problem.

The Internet industry leaves me with no time for myself, my physical strength cannot keep up, I cannot see future development, and I feel insecure.

I have tried traditional industries and Internet industries, but I still have not found the ideal job situation.

The job I want is one where I can continue to learn and grow, where my efforts are directly proportional to my gains, and I won’t receive unfair workplace treatment. I hope that my income will not be lower than before, but I can better balance family and work.

I still hope to stay in the service industry because I like to communicate with others face to face.

After leaving the Internet industry, I returned to Shenzhen from Guangzhou and suddenly realized why not try the insurance industry?

My family had the experience of claiming for critical illness insurance in 2010, and they were quite satisfied with the insurance. However, they were worried that I would not have relevant experience and would suffer hardship, so they were not very supportive at first.

My family and I discussed this matter formally and set a one-year deadline for myself. If my income cannot catch up with the past, I will give up and return to the hotel industry.

In fact, why choose the insurance industry? I also thought about it carefully.

The insurance industry and the hotel industry have many similarities.

My past experience in handling customer complaints has given me good listening skills, which is important for an insurance marketer.

My professional social etiquette and communication methods make it easy for me to gain the trust of customers. My strong sense of service will also give insurance customers a better experience.

So many years of management experience in hotels gave me the courage and confidence to try the insurance industry. I took the initiative to contact Shenzhen AIA.

After officially entering the insurance industry, there are a few things that have given me particularly profound feelings.

For myself, when I first joined the hotel, the hotel’s professional and systematic training helped me grow a lot. The same is true at AIA. AIA's training is front-loaded. The new employee training not only helped me quickly gain a deep understanding of insurance products and services, but also gave me a clear career planning path.

AIA’s working model is more flexible, allowing you to adjust your work pace and manage your own time. All performance and promotion systems are also more open and transparent.

I have led large and small teams in hotels, whether it is managing teams or training new people. I have also gained a lot of experience, which makes me more comfortable cultivating teams now.

From the perspective of interpersonal communication, after I came to AIA, I have established stronger connections with customers.

I used to serve many guests in the hotel catering department, but after the meal or the event, our relationship faded.

But now, from the moment I sign the policy, I have been involved in many important moments in my customers’ lives and provided lifelong services, which makes me feel more self-worth and mission.

I also prefer the current working atmosphere. The sharing culture allows everyone to communicate equally and learn from each other.

Hotels focus on building brands, and AIA does the same. Every marketer is also building his own brand.

Although I have only been at AIA for one year, I have grown a lot. I have learned to accept negation, become more tolerant, and have a more positive attitude towards work and life.

Compared with the previous state where I was confused and unable to see the future in the hotel industry, I have clear short-term and long-term plans for the future. I hope to become a director within 5 years and meet the M-Club standard.

The launch of the AIA Heritage System gives me the opportunity to truly fulfill my lifelong commitment to customer service as long as I meet the standards. My life is full of positive energy. I once thought that I would work in the industry that I loved for the rest of my life, but after stepping out of the field that I was familiar with, I realized that I could have a broader life stage and a brighter future!