So we are in a recession and the news just seems to get bleaker and bleaker by the day. As we all know, on Friday (3/6/09), the U.S. Labor Department released jobless figures showing the unemployment rate is 8.1 percent for February which is the highest it has been in 25 years. Last month alone, 651,000 Americans lost their jobs.

The recession isn’t leaving any industry out as it is hitting home pretty hard here in Steamboat Springs. Most of the hotels we work with have cut staff, implemented mandatory unpaid time off and/or salary decreases. Locals are tightening up a bit - not frequenting our local restaurants as much, holding off on renewing their health club memberships, staying away from Starbucks…and quite a few are looking for work elsewhere.

Our team of recruiters has been busy helping job seekers re-access their current situations, job skills, talents, passions and encouraging them to take advantage of the free time they have to explore new careers within the resort industry. Even with our current economic situation, it is estimated that by the year 2020, more than half of all employed people in the world will be involved directly or indirectly with the tourism industry.

Jobs will return…..now is a GREAT time to obtain that Hospitality degree or additional certification that you have been thinking about the last few years.

If you are seeking a degree in the Hospitality industry, below are a few options to consider:

• The Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management requires a minimum of 120 units for graduation. This interdisciplinary program prepares students for careers in the hospitality industry and includes basic core courses and an area of concentration.
• The concentration in Commercial Recreation and Resort Management prepares graduates to be entrepreneurs, managers, planners, and program supervisors in the commercial recreation, travel tourism, and resort management career areas.
• The concentration in Hotel Management prepares students to manage and operate hotels, motels, and other lodging business.
• The concentration in Restaurant and Institutional Foodservice Management prepares students for management positions in various branches of the food service industry.

For more information about making career changes in the resort industry come to our Job Search workshop in Steamboat Springs, Colorado on Thursday, April 2nd where we will have some fun, interactive worksheets and information about tapping into your strengths, passions and what the next step may be to help you move into a new resort career.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, March 7th, 2009 at 7:03 pm and is filed under Job Seekers, Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.