If you only recruit when a vacancy is open, you start from zero every time. A simple pool of people who already know your hotel helps you fill peaks, seasons and last-minute gaps faster. Read how to keep that pool practical.
12 October 2026
In hotels, vacancies often appear faster than you want: someone resigns, a season starts, or a colleague is off sick. If you then fall back on an empty inbox, every week of open shifts costs money and pressure on the permanent team. People who applied before, made a strong impression or already worked with you know your house. Staying in touch costs little; recruiting again costs much more.
Not everyone who ever applied belongs there. Keep the pool small and usable. Think of:
• Strong candidates you did not hire, because another person fitted slightly better or the role was not open then.
• People whose timing did not work, but who remain open for later.
• Seasonal or temporary staff who did good work and want to return.
• Former employees who left on good terms, if their experience still fits.
Note per person the department, availability (evenings, weekends, season) and languages. Without those tags the list stays a pile of names.
The moment to add someone to the pool is right after the interview or at the end of a temporary contract. Ask whether you may stay in touch, note how (email or phone) and what they prefer: full-time, part-time or peaks only. Also write briefly why you found them suitable: calm at reception, fast in housekeeping, or strong at breakfast. That helps you call the right person later without rereading the whole file.
Ask permission to keep the data and respect the retention rules that apply in your country. A pool is not an open-ended database.
Keeping people warm does not mean weekly emails. For most hotels a short, honest rhythm is enough:
• After the interview or contract: one message that you will keep them in mind for suitable roles.
• Every few months: a brief check whether they are still available and whether their preferences still hold.
• Before the season or a known peak: a concrete question whether they can work in that period.
Keep the tone human and specific. A generic newsletter about every vacancy feels like spam; a message about a reception role in your hotel in November does not.
Use the pool as the first step for short or seasonal roles, for absence cover and for roles you previously found hard to fill. Filter by department, availability and languages, and call or email a small number of people who truly fit. Do not promise a job you cannot give. Be clear on period, hours, shifts and start date. Those who cannot or will not may stay in the pool for another moment; those who can move on to a short interview or trial shift under your normal process.
• Keeping everyone: a list that is too large and untagged is useless.
• Never making contact: then the pool is cold when you need it.
• Only messaging in acute need: fewer people then respond positively.
• No permission or no end date: that clashes with privacy rules and with trust.
• Leaving the pool beside the ATS: if only one person knows the folder, the knowledge disappears with illness or turnover.
• Do you have a short list of suitable people with department, availability and languages?
• After an interview or temporary contract, do you ask whether you may stay in touch?
• Is there a fixed rhythm for a brief check, for example each quarter?
• Do you tap the pool first for season, peak or absence before recruiting widely?
• Do more than one person know where the pool lives and how to approach someone?
• Have you agreed how long you keep the data?
AXXAZ Hospitality supplies reliable hospitality staff to hotels across Europe. If you have a peak or season your pool is too small for, we find people who fit your team based on a clear staffing brief (role, period, hours, shifts, languages and start date). Get in touch if you have a role to fill.
Keep a small, tagged candidate pool of people you already know, ask permission, check periodically whether they are available and approach them first for short or seasonal roles before recruiting from scratch again.