A hotel needs a new General Manager. A restaurant needs a Restaurant Manager. A holiday park needs a Head of F&B. On paper, it sounds fairly straightforward: advertise the role, find some candidates, arrange interviews and appoint someone. In reality, hospitality recruitment is rarely that simple. At TTW, a lot happens between a client asking for help and a candidate walking through the door on their first day.
It starts with a conversation and a visit to hospitalityrecruiters.co.uk
Before we start searching, we want to understand the business.
Whenever possible, we meet our clients on site. We want to see the operation, understand the guest experience, meet the people and get a feel for the culture.
A job description tells us what someone needs to do. Spending time in the business tells us what it’s actually like to work there.
That’s important because when we start approaching candidates, we need to be able to talk about the opportunity honestly and enthusiastically.
Understanding the hospitality role beyond the job description
Next, we look beyond the job description.
What are the current challenges? What does the business need from this person? What needs to change? And what would success look like six or twelve months down the line?
Sometimes the person a client initially thinks they need isn’t necessarily the person they actually need.
That’s where we can challenge the brief and help shape the role around the reality of the business.
Testing the South West hospitality job market
Before promising a shortlist, we assess whether the market can deliver it.
Is the salary competitive? Are suitable candidates available locally? Is the experience required realistic for the package? Do we need to look further afield or headhunt?
Our knowledge of the South West hospitality market plays a big part here. We know the businesses, the people and what candidates are looking for.
How our hospitality recruitment search really works
This isn’t simply a case of posting a vacancy and waiting for applications.
We search our network and database, use LinkedIn and other platforms, market map, approach potential candidates directly and use industry contacts, referrals and recommendations.
At management level especially, some of the strongest candidates aren’t actively looking for a new job.
They need to be found, approached and given a reason to have a conversation.
Selling the opportunity to hospitality candidates
This is where understanding the client really matters.
We can tell candidates about the property, team, culture, guest experience, challenges and opportunities. Most importantly, we can answer the question a job advert can’t:
What’s it really like to work there?
Finding the right hospitality candidate match
Before a CV reaches a client, we want to understand the person behind it.
What have they achieved? What motivates them? Why are they considering a move? What matters to them in their next role?
Recruitment has to work both ways. We’re assessing whether the candidate is right for the business, but also whether the business is right for the candidate.
Our aim isn’t to send ten or twenty CVs. It’s to present a small number of people we genuinely believe could succeed in the role – with context around why them, why this role and why now.
Interviews, offers and onboarding support
Once the shortlist is agreed, we arrange interviews, prepare candidates, gather feedback and keep communication moving.
If an offer is made, we manage negotiations, references, notice periods, start dates and any counteroffers.
The period between accepting a role and starting can be critical, so we stay close to candidates throughout their notice period too.
And then they start…
The candidate walks through the door on their first day, but our involvement doesn’t simply stop there.
We check in with both sides. Is the candidate settling in? Is the client happy? Has the role lived up to expectations?
Because a successful hospitality placement isn’t simply someone accepting a job.
It’s someone becoming a successful part of the team.
From the outside, recruitment can look like:
Vacancy → CVs → Interview → Appointment
Behind the scenes, there’s a lot more to it.
That’s what happens between “Can you help us recruit?” and “They start on Monday.”
At TTW, we believe the difference is in everything that happens in between.
We take the time to understand the business, find the right people and make the right match.
That’s what good hospitality recruitment should look like. Discuss your hiring needs with our team →
