New career in digitalisation: Who is venturing forward?
Berlin, Germany - 22 August 2021 - Sascha Haiss learned in European hotels, did his MBA and was an outstanding employee of one of the best hotels in Germany, the Brenners in Baden-Baden. He was acclaimed as "Receptionist of the Year". Nevertheless, he left the operative hotel industry shortly after this career crowning achievement - he changed sides and today ploughs the industry as Customer Success Manager for the tech start-up Happyhotel.
Digitalisation is unstoppable and offers many new career opportunities - especially in the hospitality industry. Accelerated by the Corona pandemic, many top talents are turning their backs on the previously beloved gastronomy and hotel industry and switching to online marketing, web development or cloud computing. At the Berlin Digital Career Institute, one of Germany's leading online universities for forward-looking IT professionals, several former "gastros" are studying.
In a webinar on 26 August at 5 pm, students and teachers will explain the challenges of web development, a key discipline in internet business. Free participation is still possible: https://bit.ly/hospitality-to-webdev-webinar
Career changers are welcome. According to the digital association Bitkom, around 80,000 IT jobs are currently unfilled. The professional conditions are attractive, especially for shift-ridden "Castros": pleasant office hours often "on remote", flexible work and project arrangements for "digital nerds" and much higher salaries than the average in the hospitality industry. The entry hurdles are manageable: The DCI study programme is financed by the employment agency - often with continued payment of ALG1 - and the curriculum is tightly structured in about one year of intensive study, but with video learning and live coding from 9 to 16:15h every working day, it is truly not too demanding. However, a good command of English is indispensable, as the study programme is conducted purely in English. In addition, language courses are approved by the employment agency where necessary.
In-depth technical knowledge is not necessary. A general interest in IT topics and a good knowledge of computer and web use are sufficient. In addition, prospective students are prepared for what the intensive study programme will demand in preliminary interviews and a preparatory course. The prospects are favourable: although the DCI cannot promise a job guarantee, it strives to place its graduates with productive talent development.
Sascha Haiss is by no means ready to make the switch to IT: "Every day, I and my team deal with exciting hotels and hoteliers and have the opportunity to experience many different economic and strategic aspects of the hotel industry. In the critical situation the hotel industry is in, it is a very fulfilling feeling to be able to help many hotelier families or companies with our expertise," he sums it up. And he continues: "Joining Happyhotel in Customer Success & Onboarding was an opportunity for me not only to bring the service demands of the hotel industry into IT, but also to be able to proactively address many requirements or concerns with my own understanding. This not only helps the hoteliers, but also ensures the effectiveness of our software. I have taken the opportunity here to bring performance requirements and empathy from the hotel industry to IT."
Nicola Hofmann is a seasoned hotelier. She ran the conference hotel Kurt in Stegaurach near Bamberg for years, but gave it up with a heavy heart. Today, she is a successful IT ambassador at WeFrame, the "Apple of the conference hotel industry". The challenge in a completely new professional environment was more appealing than a salaried position in the hotel industry. Free time management, well-planned customer visits to top conference hotels and pleasant follow-up work in the home office make up for the sales pressure in the performance-based total salary. "On the one hand, we have the future-oriented WeFrame with digitalisation and its placement on the market - on the other hand, the hotel. Combining both with my experience is fun every day. Above all, I know the demands and concerns in the hotel industry very well," she summarises.
Her colleague Andreas Zebisch - also a former top manager in the hotel industry - is in charge of the Austrian market. Today, he feels comfortable in this future market with reliable perspectives. The decisive factor for the change was the "opportunity to be an active and not a passive part of digitalisation".
However, the change to IT demands a willingness to think in new, unconventional ways. Especially in start-ups, things can sometimes get "wild" in terms of division of labour (new German: agility) and process design. But this did not scare Andreas Zebisch: he misses "nothing" about his former hotel career.
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