Meet Sophie, a valued member of the Thrive team at Creative Access. Since joining in April 2024, she has played a key role in supporting our community and creative employers, assisting with the running and delivery of a range of programmes, mentoring programmes and employer training sessions. Making the career switch from hospitality to DE&I, Sophie brings years of dynamic experience and a unique skill set that enriches our work. In this Creative Access spotlight blog, she reflects on her career switch, the insights she’s gained along the way and her advice for prospective candidates.
I felt connected to this role as soon as I read the job description. I could tell that running our mentoring programmes would require a lot of empathy, resourcefulness and interpersonal skills, which I gained from years of working in hospitality and interacting with peers, junior staff and guests. On the other hand, helping to deliver and plan our employer training requires in-depth knowledge of diversity and inclusion practices, as well as an ability to contextualise the lived experiences of others within social structures and handle their stories sensitively. I had completed my MA in sociology the year before and was keeping an eye out for a role that would integrate my research experience on race, gender and culture with my passion for working with people. When I read about the Thrive traineeship on the Creative Access website, I couldn’t believe how perfectly it fit my criteria. I knew I wanted to do it – I just had to hope I fit their criteria too (and luckily, I did).
Until I saw this role, I’d been struggling to find an employer who would take me on as an entry-level employee with my work experience. I worked in hospitality for 9 years, starting part-time at 18 years old alongside my undergraduate degree. I loved so many things about restaurant life: seeing my friends every day, making strangers happy by finding an act of service or piece of knowledge to really elevate their visit, and working with other staff of all ages and backgrounds. I especially loved teaching my junior peers how to assert themselves and take charge of guests’ experiences – and celebrating with them as they became more confident! The problem was that when I became ready for a career change, all the entry-level jobs I looked at required a minimum amount of prior experience in an admin-based role. It was frustrating – I knew I could learn those elements quickly but couldn’t seem to get my foot in the door.
Administrative skills can be taught, so prospective employers would be wise not to underestimate candidates with hospitality experience!
Transferable skills
Over the years I became trusted with handling bookings, responding to reservation enquiries and helping to coordinate private events. For these efforts I was offered a management role and finally had the means to illustrate my communication and interpersonal skills in a tangible way. More importantly, I had emerged from all those years of service equipped with the capability to connect with a vast range of people, including managers, chefs, guests, stakeholders, students and artists.
Administrative skills can be taught, so prospective employers would be wise not to underestimate candidates with hospitality experience! Restaurants are dynamic environments where every little detail and interaction needs to be dealt with calmly and creatively, so hospitality workers often become quick problem-solvers, highly resilient and judicious as a result – all skills which are valuable to creative industries and translate perfectly well to digital or remote work.
It’s tempting to pick out teamwork as a key skill from hospitality – which it is! – but you shine as an individual too and that’s what will make you a memorable candidate.
How to position your hospitality experience
If you’re reading this, currently working in hospitality and wondering how to sell your transferable skillset for a creative role, I’d recommend drawing on an aspect of service that you’re really good at. Give an example of something YOU took the initiative to improve about your workplace, for guests and/or staff. It’s tempting to pick out teamwork as a key skill from hospitality – which it is! – but you shine as an individual too and that’s what will make you a memorable candidate.
If you’re wondering what it’s like once you do transition into a creative role, mine was made easier by the support of my wonderful line managers and team members. But truthfully, some habits were hard to pick up in those first weeks. Waking up early when I was accustomed to late shifts, navigating Microsoft Outlook… even just learning how to manage the sheer amount of digital clutter that comes with administrative work. It was funny because I felt equipped to approach the blue-sky thinking and client relationships that went hand in hand with my new role but still needed to ask lots of questions before diarising calendar events. Luckily, the benefit of working at Creative Access is that you’re surrounded by people who champion career development, and they’ve all been adamant that sometimes the best way to learn is to make mistakes and carry on.
I’m so happy to have graduated from thrive trainee to thrive assistant and proud of the small, significant habits I established to arrive at this stage of my development. And I’m especially proud that working so hard in restaurants with such great colleagues over the years has only ever enhanced my willingness to take on challenges and try new things – all with my own unique style!
