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How a hotel operations manager moved into IT as a data analyst with a 50% pay rise.
Eight years in hospitality, no tech degree and 60 applications with one interview. Skillfi helped pick the right IT role, build the skills and portfolio for it and turn hotel experience into a strength. It's how our Career Accelerator works: a clear target, real proof, offers on the table.
Ready for a change, but invisible to tech recruiters.
After eight years running hotel operations, our client wanted a career with better pay, regular hours and room to grow. IT looked like the answer, but with a hospitality background and no tech degree, it felt out of reach.
They had taken three online courses in different directions, from web development to cybersecurity, without finishing any. Their resume read like a hotel manager's, and 60 applications to IT jobs had produced a single interview. They didn't know which role to aim for or how to prove they could do it.
I was learning a bit of everything and applying for anything. Nobody was calling me back.
Data Analyst, client
Pick one role, build proof, and make the past an advantage.
Instead of more courses, we built a focused plan around one target role and a story employers could believe. Daily study and practice were sped up with skills from our Claude workshops.
Data analyst, in travel and hospitality
A strengths and market assessment showed the client already worked with occupancy, pricing and staffing numbers every day, making data analysis the fastest, best-paid path in.
A 16-week plan, not another course
Excel, SQL, Power BI and Python basics, in a set order with weekly goals, mentor check-ins and practice on real business questions.
A portfolio built on hotel data
Three projects on hotel pricing, guest reviews and staffing costs, plus a rebuilt resume and LinkedIn that told one clear story: an operator who now speaks data.
5 months, step by step
From hotel operations to a signed offer in IT. Here's how the program unfolded.
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Week 1–21 target role
Career assessment
Strengths, interests, salary goals and local demand compared across five IT roles to choose one target.
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Week 3–103 core tools
Core skills
Excel, SQL and Power BI learned in order, with weekly mentor reviews and exercises based on real business problems.
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Week 8–143 projects
Portfolio projects
Three projects built on hotel and travel data, each with a dashboard and a short written summary of the findings.
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Week 13–15New profile
Resume & LinkedIn
Hospitality experience rewritten in data language, with projects front and centre and a new LinkedIn headline.
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Week 15–199 interviews
Targeted search
38 tailored applications to travel and hospitality tech companies, plus referral outreach and six mock interviews.
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Week 20$78K offer
Offers & negotiation
Two offers compared with a coach, and the salary negotiated up before signing with a travel tech company.
Four steps from non-IT to hired
The same path we use with every career switcher, shaped around their background and target role.
One clear target
- Strengths assessment
- Market & salary check
- Role that fits your past
Only what the job needs
- Ordered learning plan
- Weekly mentor reviews
- Practice on real problems
Evidence employers trust
- Industry-specific projects
- Rewritten resume
- Rebuilt LinkedIn
Interviews to offer
- Targeted applications
- Mock interviews
- Salary negotiation
Five months after starting
Applications that led to an interview
Fewer applications, far better aimed, with a portfolio to back them up.
I didn't have to throw away eight years of hotel experience. Skillfi showed me how to turn it into my biggest advantage, and now I'm doing work I love, with weekends off.
Data Analyst, clientWant to move into IT, but don't know where to start?
Our Career Accelerator will help you choose the right IT role for your background, build the skills and portfolio to prove it and land the offer. Want to work faster with AI along the way? Add a hands-on Claude workshop.
- A clear target IT role
- A focused skills plan with a mentor
- A portfolio, resume & LinkedIn
- Interview prep & offer negotiation
30 minutes. No obligation.
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