The hospitality industry offers exciting opportunities for career growth. However, like many other sectors, women in hospitality often face unique challenges when it comes to advocating for themselves in the workplace.

These practical strategies and empowering tips help women thrive and advance in their careers within the hospitality industry.

1. Build a Strong Professional Network:

Networking is a powerful tool that can open doors to new opportunities and provide essential support.

Attend industry events, join online forums, and connect with colleagues on platforms like LinkedIn to expand your network. Having strong champions for you throughout your career can open doors and new opportunities, and help you gain new skills to advance in your career.

They can also help you by reviewing your resume, preparing for interviews, or offering advice on how to appropriately handle various situations.

2. Develop and Showcase Your Skills:

In a competitive industry like hospitality, showcasing your skills is crucial for career advancement.

Take the initiative to continuously develop your skills through training, workshops, and online courses. If your work offers career development programs or employee resource groups, participate in them to show you’re interested in growing both professionally and personally.

Make sure to let your manager know what you are doing to grow as well, including any certifications you’re working on gaining, or what groups you are participating in. This will help you if/when you ask for a promotion, you can refer to all of the ways you are working to become a stronger asset for the company.

3. Clearly Define Your Goals:

Knowing what you want from your career is essential for effective self-advocacy. Take the time to clearly define your short-term and long-term goals and talk about them with your manager.

Create a plan for how you are going to reach those goals and when, and build in any feedback or support your team or manager needs to provide.

Have regular check-ins with your manager to track your progress.

4. Advocate for Equal Opportunities:

Promoting gender equality in the workplace is not only a moral imperative but also a key factor in fostering a supportive environment for women in hospitality.

If creating an equal and diverse work environment is something you’re passionate about, work with your HR or leadership teams to establish some employee advocacy programs, or even just employee events that highlight and educate others about creating and supporting equality.

6. Negotiate Effectively:

Negotiating can feel stressful, or downright terrifying, but it is so necessary to get what you’re worth.

A good motto to have is, the answer will always be “no” if you don’t ask! Even if the company denies your negotiation, there is a 99.99% chance that they won’t rescind your offer just for asking for a higher salary, and if they do, would you really want to work for them?

Don’t forget, you can also negotiate your paid time off and other benefits if they can’t offer a higher salary.

Women working in hospitality have the power to shape their own careers by actively advocating for themselves in the workplace.

By building a strong professional network, developing and showcasing their skills, defining clear goals, seeking mentorship, advocating for equal opportunities, negotiating effectively, and embracing continuous learning, women can overcome challenges and thrive in the dynamic and rewarding world of hospitality.

Empowering women in the workplace is not just an individual effort; it’s a collective journey towards creating a more inclusive and diverse industry.