How to craft a compelling hotel animator resume
The staff at hotels and resorts (or even on a cruise ship) can make or break a vacation. They require a specific set of skills that help guarantee a great experience for guests. That’s why hospitality roles can be difficult to fill with the right candidates!
A key role in hospitality? Animators! An animator at a hotel, resort, or on a cruise ship is responsible for coordinating entertainment and activities for guests. This includes anything from sporting activities, performances, and other social activities.
Some jobs may refer to animators as activity coordinators or recreation managers.
Animators work closely with hotel management, staff, and guests to deliver programming based on guests and their interests. Depending on the location, programming can happen weekly, daily, or even hourly.
If you have your eye on an animator role, this guide is full of tips to help you write a top-tier animator resume.
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1. Start your hotel animator resume with a strong summary
A resume needs to stand out to a hiring manager in as little as 6 seconds. Typically, the first thing they’ll read is your summary. So it’s important to have one that really sells them on you as a new animator on their team.
Here is an example of a strong summary for an experienced hotel animator
A passionate and dynamic animator with over 5 years of experience in activity programming in resorts and hotels. Excels in building robust activity programs for a wide range of demographics. Skilled in delivering superior customer experience, working with cross-functional teams, and working independently.
2. Make your hotel animator resume shine with a great experience section
A big part of the animator’s work experience is coordinating activities. Having interest and skills related to the programs offered makes it easier for you to deliver high-quality activities.
Depending on the type of role or even the type of resort, the type of experience you need can vary. Some animators primarily focus on sports, and others focus on entertainment.
For instance, having experience working with children could be a great call out for an animator role that focuses on children’s activities. A sports programming animator role could be a great fit for someone who has experience playing hockey and soccer.
3. Add an effective interests section to your hotel animator resume
While enjoying the activities isn’t necessarily a requirement to be an animator, it’s likely going to make you more passionate about the role.
Even if you’ve never engaged in an activity professionally, there is still room to highlight these interests and skills in your resume. Feel free to include these experiences within you interests and hobbies section.
Some examples of hobbies and interests you might include are
- Photography
- Running
- Swimming
- Arts & Craft / DIY projects
- Children’s entertainment
Before submitting your resume, carefully review the job description and examples of current programming. This way, you can get a good sense of the type of animator that the employer is looking for. It also helps you tailor your experience to the role.
3. Make your hotel animator skills section stand out
As an animator, half your role requires working closely with guests to leave them with a positive experience. The other half of your role requires coordinating with other team members to make sure you’re curating a seamless experience for your guests. This can include anyone from hotel managers and concierges to instructors.
Customer service and teamwork skills are incredibly important for roles in hospitality, like animators. These fall into the category of soft skills. Soft skills are skills that you’re often born with. They’re harder to teach, which is why they’re valuable to include on a resume.
For example, it’s easy to teach someone how to coordinate schedules or use new software. However, learning service and teamwork skills can take much longer. The right personal skills are something that hiring managers will look for when it comes to customer-facing roles.
Here are some soft skills for animators that you can use to make your resume’s skills section stand out
- Customer service
- Teamwork
- Time management
- Interpersonal skills
- Attention to detail
- Verbal communication
- Problem-solving kills
It’s also helpful to highlight times when your soft skills made a tangible impact in your previous roles.
Here are some good examples of communicating specific soft skills within role descriptions
- Provided excellent customers service to maintain a consistent rating of 90%+ in customer satisfaction
- Optimized scheduling to improve activity attendance by 20%
- Supported cross-functional teams with delivering a seamless customer experience
Even if you have limited experience as an animator, soft skills are a great way to demonstrate your potential impact. Hiring managers are often more likely to take a chance on a candidate with the right soft skills compared to someone with only the right experience.
4. Include any additional languages you speak
Animator roles are common in cities or locations that frequently see a large number of tourists. Since the customer base includes people from all around the world, proficiency in an additional language (or two) is a huge asset on your resume.
Two of the top languages when it comes to hospitality include Mandarin and Spanish. However, any other languages can also help bolster your resume.
If you don’t speak any other languages, that’s okay too! You can also take the opportunity to highlight your communication skills.
Here’s a simple example of how you can spotlight this within your experience
- Provided exceptional customer experience through successful verbal communication with international guests
To help get you started, check out these Kickresume animator resume templates. By adapting one of these templates to your own skills and your next role, you’ll be landing your dream role in no time!
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