Hotel and service jobs: who belongs front of house, and who belongs behind it

Hotels, restaurants and service businesses are the biggest employers in the tourist provinces, and the field people leave fastest. Mostly not because the work is hard, but because they were placed on the wrong side: the person who belongs out front sent to count stock, the person who belongs in the kitchen sent to greet guests.

Front of house, back of house, or shift lead

Among the five work styles, service work splits cleanly.

• Front of house (reception, serving, concierge, shop floor): the connector, who reads people and is not drained by meeting strangers all day, and the creator, who likes making every table or room an experience.
• Back of house (kitchen, housekeeping, stock, purchasing, branch accounts): the builder, who is at ease when everything is in its place and on time.
• Shift lead and branch manager: the commander, who decides on the floor, with enough connector in them to hold a team whose faces change often.

Elements and service

Fire gives energy to work that performs and welcomes. Earth gives steadiness to back-of-house work and looking after people. Water adapts to every kind of guest and suits work where you listen before you speak. Check your supporting elements in careers by element: with Fire among them, the front will feed you; with Earth, the back is not as dull as others say.

Place matters more than you think

Service work is tied to location more than any other field. Open the places map before moving to Phuket or Samui. Postings in provinces that support you carry the supportive place badge, and people who move to a supportive place tend to last beyond one season.

For owners of small restaurants and hotels

Team fit has "restaurant" and "hotel" templates with seats for front of house, kitchen, cashier, purchasing and owner. Open the team overview and see who is sitting on the wrong side. Swapping front and back often fixes staff turnover without hiring, and the this week for the team email says which week to give whom the heavy shifts.

Search hotel and service jobs that fit your element.