Workforce WindsorEssex is excited to welcome you to our Promising Sectors blog series. This series features people who are working in the promising sectors in Windsor-Essex. The blog updates will give you an insider perspective on what working in the sectors look like, as local professionals share their career journey, their insight and advice.
The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Workforce WindsorEssex.
This blog update is brought to you by Andrea Bondy, the Rooms Division Manager/Assistant to the General Manager at the Holiday Inn & Suites – Ambassador Bridge. Read on to discover how she decided that she wanted to work in the Tourism and Hospitality sector!
At 18, I was graduating high school, with absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life. Originally I wanted to be a nurse. My best friend’s mom was a nurse, and she was awesome…but after I had a chance to speak with her – and she told me how many hours she worked, day and night, and shared about all of the emergency care that she was responsible for, etc.- I lost interest pretty fast.
My guidance counselor was pushing me to go to University, but it was such a huge expense when I really didn’t know what I wanted to learn or what I wanted to do for the next 50 to 60 years. She told me to write down what I liked to do, what I was good at, and search for some “career” ideas. Then I was supposed to get back to her.
Here was my list:
I like to travel.
I like my weekends off.
I wanted to be a boss, with my own office – with my name on the desk.
And, I was quite shy, so I wanted to work alone, with not too many people.
I wanted to make a lot of money.
I didn’t want to be in school forever, or pay a lot of money for my education.
Through this process I was able to find Hotel and Restaurant Management, which was offered as a 2 year course at Algonquin College in Ottawa. I reasoned with myself that I would learn some basic accounting and cooking skills, so if I didn’t like the course itself, at least I would learn how to cook and do my banking!
25 years later, I am still in the Hospitality business, and I still love it. This career has allowed me to overcome my shyness, to travel the world (at a wonderfully discounted rate), and meet a lot of interesting people. I have worked in areas such as Accounting, Housekeeping, Sales, Conference and Event Planning, and I am now the Rooms Division Manager/Assistant to the General Manager at the Holiday Inn & Suites – Ambassador Bridge.
The Hospitality Business allows you to experience amazing places and people, and you never have the same day twice. It is fast paced and you need a lot of energy. If you can think on your feet, compromise, have the ability to learn quickly, and are able to allow yourself to sometimes make mistakes you can learn from, then this may be the career for you!
– Andrea