Hospitality careers can be quite varied. They usually fall into two main categories: food service and hotel/resort work.

Food Service

Most food service hospitality jobs can be found at restaurants. Waiting tables, bartending, and bussing are all mainstay food and beverage jobs that don't generally require a secondary school education. The food and beverage jobs within the food industry that are typically more lucrative are management positions. There are a number of 2- and 4-year colleges that offer degrees in restaurant management and/or hospitality.

Catering is also a popular food service hospitality profession. There are quite a few catering schools that provide culinary and food industry training to would-be caterers. Many successful caterers start out by working at large catering firms. Once they learn the business inside and out, and gain experience catering to both large and small parties, they form their own catering companies and become their own bosses.

Hospitality Careers

Hotels and resorts provide the other main source of hospitality careers. Again, most of the lucrative jobs in hotels are management related. Those with management degrees in hospitality can work their way up to general management positions, or ultimately manage a chain of hotels or resorts. Another perk of working in the hotel industry is that many jobs in this field are located in exotic tourist destinations.

Hospitality careers on cruise lines also lie in the hotel/resort category. Cruise lines need tons of workers to meet the demands of their guests, including those with hospitality training in both food service and accommodation.

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