What to Put First on a Hospitality CV

A strong hospitality CV does not start with a long personal statement. It starts by helping a hotel, resort, restaurant, or events manager see where you can be rostered: front office, housekeeping, food and beverage, kitchen, activities, spa, maintenance support, or reservations.

That matters because hospitality work in Fiji is busy and practical. Tourism supports well over 100,000 jobs directly and indirectly, according to recent industry and government reporting, and employers keep talking about labour pressure in hotels, kitchens, and guest-facing teams. Your CV has to show that you understand service standards, not just that you want work.

For Hospitality Jobs in Fiji, put your name, mobile number, email, and town at the top. If you are willing to relocate to Nadi, Denarau, the Mamanucas, the Yasawas, Suva, or another island property, say that in one short line. Do not make the manager guess whether transport, staff housing, or boat transfers would be a problem.

The line under your contact details should be a role headline, not a vague objective. Weak: Hardworking person looking for any job. Better: Housekeeping attendant with 2 years resort experience, confident with villa turn-down, linen control, and guest requests. That one sentence tells the reader where to place you.

If your strongest experience is recent hospitality work, put work history first. List employer, location, job title, dates, and three to five bullets. Lead with the duty closest to the job ad: room turns, guest check-in, POS, banquet setup, food prep, bar service, reservation calls, cash handling, or complaint recovery.

Use numbers where you honestly can. Weak: Helped in restaurant. Better: Served breakfast and dinner shifts for up to 80 guests, processed POS orders, reset tables, and supported banquet setup for weekend events. Numbers are not bragging when they explain the pace of the job.

Hotels care about reliability because one missed shift affects guests and the rest of the team. Add evidence: rotating rosters, public holidays, early starts, split shifts, late finishes, or live-on island rosters. Better CV lines sound like this: Completed 24-days-on island roster, followed grooming standards, and handed over guest requests to the next shift.

Hygiene and safety should appear early for food, beverage, kitchen, housekeeping, and spa roles. Current hotel ads often ask for food handling knowledge, hygiene, grooming, and the ability to follow local food safety rules. If you have a Food Handlers certificate, first aid, OHS induction, barista training, or internal hotel training, put it in a Skills and Certificates section near the top.

If you are applying for Chef Jobs in Fiji or kitchen assistant roles, be specific about the station and standard. Weak: Cooked food. Better: Prepared breakfast mise en place, handled cold larder items, followed FIFO stock rotation, cleaned workstations, and supported Chef de Partie during buffet service. Kitchen managers read those details quickly.

If you are applying for Hotel Jobs in Fiji at a larger resort, mention systems and outlets. PMS or reservation systems, POS, radios, inventory sheets, linen counts, mini-bar checks, room-service coordination, and banquet event orders all help. If you do not know a system name, describe the task plainly rather than inventing software experience.

Education can come after experience unless the ad asks for a qualification first. Include Form 6 or Form 7 if relevant, hospitality certificates, FNU or other recognised training, short cookery courses, customer service training, and language ability. Put English, iTaukei, Hindi, Rotuman, French, Japanese, or Mandarin only if you can use it at work.

For new workers, move training and practical attachments higher. A school leaver or recent graduate can lead with hospitality attachment, church catering, family business experience, volunteer events, or sports team support. Weak: No work experience. Better: Assisted with school prize-giving catering for 150 guests, set tables, served drinks, cleared plates, and followed supervisor instructions.

Keep photos and documents under control. Some hotel ads may ask for a passport-size photo, qualification copies, references, or evidence of experience. If the ad asks, follow it. If it does not, do not overload the first email with every certificate you own. Your CV should say Available on request for extra documents, then provide them when asked.

Referees matter in hospitality because managers often want to confirm attendance, attitude, and guest handling. Ask a supervisor, executive housekeeper, head chef, restaurant manager, senior receptionist, or HR officer before listing them. Include name, title, company, phone, and email. Do not surprise a referee with a call they were not expecting.

Common mistakes are easy to fix. Do not put five unrelated old jobs before your hotel work. Do not say flexible if you can only work one shift pattern. Do not copy a luxury-hotel tone if your experience is casual dining. Do not hide island roster limits until the interview. Honest limits are easier to plan around than late withdrawals.

A good order for most hospitality CVs is contact details, role headline, key skills and certificates, recent hospitality work, other work, education, and referees. If the ad is for a chef, food handler, dive assistant, spa therapist, or driver, put the licence or certificate high enough that it cannot be missed.

Before you send, compare your first half page with the job ad. If the ad repeats guest service, hygiene, rotating roster, and teamwork, those words should appear in your own true examples. Then search FijiCareers for Hospitality Jobs in Fiji, open the employer link, and submit the exact documents the employer asks for.