Acceptable Work Experiences

A Hospitality Management & Tourism major’s industry work experience should be varied. The best work experience will involve different jobs with increasing responsibility. Students working in one company are encouraged to work in more than one job to fulfill the 1,000-hour experience requirement unless their level of responsibility increases within the one department.

Below are examples of work experiences that qualify as acceptable and those which do not qualify as acceptable. This list is not exhaustive, and merely serves as an example of acceptable work. If there is any question as to whether a position meets the work experience requirement, please contact Kimberly Handt for clarification before accepting the position.

Acceptable Work Experiences

Work experiences that qualify as acceptable:

  • management trainee
  • front office position
  • night auditor
  • bell person
  • private club management
  • restaurant service (i.e. wait staff / server)
  • host / hostess
  • bartender, beverage waiter/waitress
  • cook 
  • steward
  • banquet captain
  • catering / banquet sales
  • convention and event planning
  • management for hotels, associations, corporations, weddings, etc.
  • apartment manager (or similar)
  • dormitory manager or leasing consultant
  • theme park ride attendant
Not Acceptable Work Experiences

Work experiences that do not qualify as acceptable:

  • lifeguard, pool manager
  • accounting work (outside the hospitality industry)
  • construction work
  • landscape architecture work
  • position in retail grocery store
  • retail store clerk
  • entertainer
  • administrative / secretarial work
  • ice cream / smoothie shop (may count up to 200 hours)
  • sub-sandwich shop (may count up to 200 hours)
  • position in fraternity / sorority house (may count up to 200 hours)