How to get a hospitality job in Scottsdale

Start with a killer golf destination like Scottsdale. One with winters that are sunny, dry and mild. Talk your way into the nearest entry-level hospitality job - at a resort, hotel, golf packager, golf course, etc and work your way up. The good news is that things change so fast in this business and people move around so much that one day you can be grinding away on the front lines and the next be promoted to a management position. Oh, and it helps if you are young and unattached, the hours can be murder, especially during high season. You can decide later to focus on a particular aspect of hospitality like selling golf packages for a golf and lodging wholesaler or working in the resort/hotel business and climbing your way up the food chain. Most importantly, try to live at least somewhere near your job, first so that the freeway death march doesn't burn you out and second to get to know your destination like the back of your hand. A couple of good resources I have found are: Hoteljobs.com and ihirehospitality.com.

It really helps to live in Scottsdale 

I reside in Scottsdale and have lived here over 20 years, I consider myself very fortunate as a lot of people in this industry are forced to commute because it is so expensive to live here, especially for those just starting out in hospitality. I feel for these people because generally they are underpaid and overworked, once they finally get to their jobs. Thankfully I do not have to slave away in a dark little cube in New York, Texas or Florida selling Scottsdale, leading callers to believe that I am actually located there and (with apologies to our foreign friends) I speak fluent English.  I live about a short Par 5 away from Kierland Commons which if you are not familiar with it, is located in the heart of North Scottsdale at Scottsdale Rd and Greenway-Hayden Loop and features 27 holes of championship golf, a resort hotel (The Westin Kierland) and some really cool shops and restaurants. 

Very boring stuff but it gives me credibility for what I write about Scottsdale

The following is more about establishing credibility more than a tip so bear with me: When I first came to Scottsdale in 1986 I made a presentation to the President of Ask Mr. Foster Travel, (a Carlson Company which we know now as Carlson Wagonlit Travel) he didn't know me from Adam but was sold on my idea to promote golf tours to country club members with the Club Pro or a popular member promoting the trip.  We would then put the trip together with a wholesaler specializing in destinations like Scotland, Ireland, Hawaii, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia and special events like The Masters and Ryder Cup. For inbound golf business I proposed a program to use the Carlson name and their national presence to secure deeply discounted rates from the hotels and resorts in Scottsdale, organizing a wholesale department that then utilized their agencies located in just about every city in the US to bring golfers and families to Scottsdale/Phoenix. I did this for four happy years with them until they decided to relocate their entire operation to Minneapolis in order to fill Carlson Towers, a mega office project. If you have been to Minneapolis in January you can probably imagine why I declined to leave the desert.

A large part of my compensation package was to go along on these trips as a tour conductor, working along side the wholesaler, taking care of the details and making sure that the customer had a blast and a "seamless" experience. I was fortunate to accompany groups to a lot of interesting places like BC Canada, Mexico, Portugal, Scotland, Hawaii, New Zealand, Spain, Ireland and Germany and met a lot of nice people along the way.

To make a long story short, in the years since that time I have held these Hospitality Industry positions, all based in Scottsdale: Director of Tour and Travel for John Jacobs Golf, Sales Manager, Resort Suites of Scottsdale, VP and General Manager of Troon Golf Vacations and Hospitality Tee Times. Director of Sales for Wyndham and Hilton Hotels, Director of Marketing for Travel Golf Media. In short, I am qualified to pass along insider tips to you, the potential Scottsdale visitor. I am a believer in using local expertise and despite what you may have heard to the contrary, it doesn't cost you any more. I want to tell you who the players are and my experience and reputation qualifies me as someone you can trust when it comes to suggesting a third party to plan your Scottsdale Golf Vacation. Throughout these pages I will do exactly that.