Undergraduate Hotel Administration careers
The Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration provides the comprehensive preparation you need to explore careers within the hospitality industry, find the best career path for your passions and launch your career in the largest, most exciting industry in the world.
What can I do with a degree in hotel administration?
A degree in hotel administration from the Nolan School opens doors and forms connections in a myriad of industries. Nolan School graduates flourish as restauranteurs, consultants, real estate analysts and investment bankers, to name a few.
Hospitality careers
The traditional province of hospitality management, these careers include jobs at resorts or restaurants, within resort corporate offices or in project consulting.
Real estate careers
Focusing on the acquisition and management of property, real estate careers include real estate agent, portfolio manager or analyst.
Finance careers
Job titles in financial services include global capital markets analysts, business underwriters and investment associates.
Technology careers
At the Nolan School, our technology-focused graduates find promising careers as financial analysts, vendor managers or software engineers.
Consulting careers
Hotelies working as consultants have careers using their expertise to help companies, organizations and/or individuals troubleshoot by offering their opinions, advice and recommendations.
Career outcomes
When you graduate with a bachelor’s degree from the Nolan School you’re one of the most employable new prospects on the job market. Our graduates are sought by employers in many industries, in a huge range of organizations.
91% received offers
within four months of graduation
$86,034
Average base salary (Class of 2025)
$10,218
Average combined bonus (Class of 2025)
Our alumni
Our Hotelie alumni carve their own niche in a wide range of industry segments across the world. Take a look at how they continue to shape the industry and push its boundaries.
The skills you attain at SHA [Nolan School] are transferable to any industry. I developed an action plan on skills I wanted to gain from SHA [Nolan School], leveraged those skills during interviews, and secured the opportunity to intern at Google. And, it all happened because the school planned a career immersion trip to SF!
Jenniviv Bansah ’22
“[The Nolan School] helped me build a connection between what matters most — the spirit of hospitality and taking care of fellow team members — and how I could make a difference by pursuing my strengths in understanding complex problems through data. Every year I come back to recruit that mix of passion and analytical rigor and am constantly impressed.”
Jess Petitt ’05
SVP of Strategy, Insights & Full Service Brands at Hilton
The [Nolan] School of Hotel Administration…allowed me to explore all different facets of hospitality and embrace…a diversity of career experiences. I have interests in real estate, hotel operations, consulting, airlines…[the] career management team always help(ed) me find opportunities that…fit my background and allow(ed) me to try new industries…I’m able to showcase how hospitality is the essence of any type of business.
Caleb Trieu ’23
Resources and guidance
The Nolan School provides you with access to experienced industry leaders and programs designed to catapult you into the working world.
Annual career fairs
Once a semester, Career Development holds a Real Estate and Hospitality Career Fair to help you learn more about different organizations, career pathways and employment opportunities.
On-campus recruiting
We host company presentations and showcases, giving you opportunities to connect with potential employers and discover a variety of hospitality organizations. Hospitality organizations often recruit directly at the Nolan School. You can find additional opportunities through Cornell Career Services (CCS) and Cornell’s online recruiting platform, Handshake.
Internship and summer job assistance
As a Nolan School student, you have many opportunities to pursue fulfilling internship opportunities. Handshake can also be used to search available summer job listings, as well as the university’s Internship Funding Options through Career Services.
Big Red Threads hosted by Hilton
Dressing professionally is a necessary part of networking and interviewing. To help you meet the occasion, Big Red Threads Hosted by Hilton is a professional clothing closet that provides Nolan School students with work apparel free of charge (including alterations). This wardrobe is dedicated to helping our students put their best foot forward and is sponsored by Hilton.
Practice credit requirement
As part of the Nolan School curriculum, you must complete 800 hours of paid or unpaid work in the hospitality/service industry. Unlike the other items listed on this page, this is a required part of your curriculum; however, note that you can fulfill some or all of this requirement with internships, summer jobs, or experiential learning opportunities such as Hotel Ezra Cornell (HEC).
Firsthand
Firsthand provides “insider” views of companies to Cornell students performing career research so that they can find their best next step, including premier employer profiles, rankings and reviews, field of study/occupational insights and guides, and career preparedness training and materials.
Hcareers
The Nolan School’s partnership with Hcareers allows you access to more than 25,000 active job postings daily. Employers posting on the site include Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Highgate, Hilton, Real Hospitality Group, Drury Hotels and countless other industry leaders.
Networking opportunities
Alumni directory
Nolan School alumni are influential and devoted to their fellow Hotelies. Use our online directory to find alumni who can help you locate potential opportunities in their organizations, provide informational interviews and referrals, and offer industry advice and tips.
Job opportunity events
The Nolan School offers company presentation information sessions the evening before a company’s on-campus interviews. Putting you in direct touch with company recruiters, these events are a great way to learn firsthand about an organization, their available positions and why they love Nolan School students. A few of the past participating organizations include: Hilton, Marriott, Four Seasons, Pebblebrook, Jones Lang LaSalle, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo.
Career management events
Our expert Career Management staff hold valuable events to help you with your professional future, including question-and-answer sessions with industry representatives, one-on-one resume/cover letter development and review, virtual mock interviews with industry representatives, and orientations and information sessions to learn more about Career Management programs and services.
Career treks
These career-focused journeys, offered to first- and second-year students in the SC Johnson College, afford a great opportunity to explore careers in hospitality and build connections with firms. Held during the winter break and led by the Career Management team, these “insider experiences” let you visit employers and alumni on-site to learn about roles, responsibilities and company cultures to better inform your own career development.
Past undergraduate career treks include:
Real estate career trek to Washington, D.C., and Bethesda, MD
Hospitality career trek to New York City
Data analytics career trek to San Francisco
Connect with career management
As a Nolan School student, you have a wealth of career guidance and assistance through two powerful, complementary career management offices. The Nolan School’s career experts offer industry-focused resources and connections, while the professionals at Cornell Career Services can tap into the broader opportunities of the vast university network.
Nolan School Career Management
180 Statler Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853
Phone: 607.255.5182
Email: careers@business.cornell.edu
Cornell Career Services
103 Barnes Hall Ithaca, NY 14853
Phone: 607.255.5296
Email: career@cornell.edu
A career in hotel administration starts with a degree
If one of the illustrious careers possible with a degree in hotel administration piques your interest, apply to the Nolan School today to begin your journey in the hospitality industry.