Head waiter/head waitress to hotel concierge
A head waiter/head waitress already meets 46% of what the hotel concierge role asks for. The move turns on 3 required skills not yet in the profile.
50.4/ 100
1 How much of what a hotel concierge is expected to do is already part of a head waiter/head waitress’s work. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs, because moving into a speciality is not the same problem as moving out of one. 2 Every skill the hotel concierge role is recorded as needing, required and optional together. What these numbers mean.
Why this move works
A hotel concierge role treats 6 of its required skills as things a head waiter/head waitress already does. You would walk in with these on day one.
- assist clients with special needs
- greet guests
- handle customer complaints
- identify customer's needs
- maintain customer service
- maintain relationship with customers
What stands in the way is 3 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.
Table 2 · What you already bring
Of the 7 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A hotel concierge role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a head waiter/head waitress background worth leading with.
- already held process reservations information skills
- already held assist clients with special needs communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held greet guests assisting and caring
- already held handle customer complaints communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held maintain customer service communication, collaboration and creativity
- already held maintain relationship with customers communication, collaboration and creativity
All 7 carried skills, including the 6 the hotel concierge role treats as required.
Table 3 · What you may need to learn
The 16 missing skills fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered in the order worth working in. Areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the optional ones. Nothing here is a verdict on you: it is a list of what this particular job asks for that your current one does not.
- still to learn assist at check-in required
- still to learn provide tourism related information required
- still to learn comply with food safety and hygiene required
- optional, not held detect drug abuse optional
- optional, not held ensure the privacy of guests optional
- optional, not held handle personal identifiable information optional
- optional, not held distribute local information materials optional
- optional, not held implement sales strategies optional
- optional, not held take room service orders optional
- optional, not held implement marketing strategies optional
- optional, not held assess cleanliness of areas optional
- optional, not held maintain incident reporting records optional
- optional, not held maintain reception area optional
- optional, not held deliver correspondence optional
- optional, not held handover the service area optional
- optional, not held property management software optional
Table 4 · Where to start
The 3 entries a hotel concierge role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.
- 01 assist at check-in practise this
- 02 provide tourism related information practise this
- 03 comply with food safety and hygiene practise this
Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.
Appendix · The rest of the record
All 7 skills that carry over
- already held assist clients with special needs skill
- already held greet guests skill
- already held handle customer complaints skill
- already held identify customer's needs skill
- already held maintain customer service skill
- already held maintain relationship with customers skill
- already held process reservations skill
13 supplementary skills, helpful but not required
- optional, not held maintain reception area optional
- optional, not held distribute local information materials optional
- optional, not held handover the service area optional
- optional, not held implement sales strategies optional
- optional, not held property management software optional
- optional, not held take room service orders optional
- optional, not held assess cleanliness of areas optional
- optional, not held deliver correspondence optional
- optional, not held detect drug abuse optional
- optional, not held ensure the privacy of guests optional
- optional, not held handle personal identifiable information optional
- optional, not held implement marketing strategies optional
- optional, not held maintain incident reporting records optional
38 held skills the hotel concierge role does not ask for
- not needed by the target role advise guests on menus for special events skill
- not needed by the target role apply foreign languages in hospitality skill
- not needed by the target role assist VIP guests skill
- not needed by the target role attend to detail regarding food and beverages skill
- not needed by the target role brief staff on daily menu skill
- not needed by the target role check dining room cleanliness skill
- not needed by the target role check prices on the menu skill
- not needed by the target role coach employees skill
- not needed by the target role control of expenses skill
- not needed by the target role educate customers on coffee varieties skill
- not needed by the target role educate customers on tea varieties skill
- not needed by the target role ensure maintenance of kitchen equipment skill
- not needed by the target role execute opening and closing procedures skill
- not needed by the target role food waste monitoring systems knowledge
- not needed by the target role handle surveillance equipment skill
- not needed by the target role inspect table settings skill
- not needed by the target role manage health and safety standards skill
- not needed by the target role manage restaurant service skill
- not needed by the target role manage stock rotation skill
- not needed by the target role maximise sales revenues skill
- not needed by the target role measure customer feedback skill
- not needed by the target role monitor billing procedures skill
- not needed by the target role monitor check-out point skill
- not needed by the target role monitor customer service skill
- not needed by the target role monitor stock level skill
- not needed by the target role monitor work for special events skill
- not needed by the target role plan menus skill
- not needed by the target role plan shifts of employees skill
- not needed by the target role prepare tableware skill
- not needed by the target role process payments skill
- not needed by the target role quality assurance methodologies knowledge
- not needed by the target role recruit employees skill
- not needed by the target role sparkling wines knowledge
- not needed by the target role store kitchen supplies skill
- not needed by the target role supervise food quality skill
- not needed by the target role supervise the work of staff on different shifts skill
- not needed by the target role train employees skill
- not needed by the target role use resource-efficient technologies in hospitality skill
1 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice
Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.
- optional, not held property management software optional
Common questions about this move
Can a head waiter/head waitress become a hotel concierge?
Yes, and it is a moderate move. A head waiter/head waitress already covers 46% of what a hotel concierge is expected to do: 7 skills carry over, 6 of which the hotel concierge role treats as required.
What skills does a head waiter/head waitress need to become a hotel concierge?
3 required skills are missing, plus 13 optional ones. They fall into 6 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, led by assisting and caring. The single most important is assist at check-in.
How hard is the move from head waiter/head waitress to hotel concierge?
Its learning distance is 50.4 out of 100, which is the moderate band. That accounts for both how much is missing and how specialised those skills are.
How this record was compiled
Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.