Business Women Scotland Hospitality and Tourism Awards 2018: Top Tips for Applying
Business Women Scotland recently launched the second annual Women in Hospitality and Tourism awards and is encouraging businesses across Scotland to nominate women within their organisation that make a real difference.
In this guest blog, Lynne Kennedy, Managing Editor of Business Women Scotland magazine, explains how the awards came about.
Lynne created the awards in 2017 when she saw a gap in the awards calendar:
‘Recognising outstanding women and sharing their inspirational stories is vital to help grow the economy. The Women in Hospitality and Tourism awards are a chance to shine a spotlight on this vibrant and growing industry.
Winning an award not only gives you an opportunity to be recognised by your peers but also within the wider business community. The chance for one overall winner to be awarded a HIT scholarship means that entering the awards could be the first step in investing in your career as well.
Think about what winning an award could do for your business and your team!’
Lynne offers top tips on how to best to present your application and be in with a chance to make it on to the shortlist:
- Read the criteria carefully
The criteria are there for a reason so make sure that your nominee fits it before you start all the effort of filling in the application form.
- Assume that the judges do not know your business
I’ve read quite a few applications where the person writing assumed that the judges know the business by name. While we have an eclectic group of judges, they might not have come across your business before so even just a paragraph on what you do would make a massive difference to setting the scene.
- Don’t be afraid to apply for more than one category
We have 11 categories which span a wide range of businesses and fields. You may find that you can apply for Hotelier of the Year AND Best Place for Women to Work. Just make sure that you tailor your application to the category criteria.
- Too much information is always better than too little
The judges would rather have 5 pages of solid information on your business to make a decision on rather than a 2 paragraph synopsis. Add in percentages, growth figures, customer feedback. All of this adds colour to your application and gives the judges real reasons to pick you as a shortlister or winner.
- Give yourself enough time
If the closing date is Friday 16th March (newly extended!) @ 5pm (which it is!), don’t start your application the night before as you won’t do your business or your nominee justice. Start the application now to give yourself time to really think about what you want to say.
- Don’t be afraid to nominate yourself
Lynne concludes: “Sometimes, as the owner of a business you can find it easier to talk about your organisation or your staff rather than yourself. Try to take the embarrassment away and write about yourself impartially. Or if you struggle with that, ask a colleague or friend to help your get the ball rolling on why you should be a nominee. Winning an award is wonderful opportunity to be recognised for all your hard work so don’t let modesty get in the way!”
Enter the awards by clicking here and downloading the application form with details on how to apply – the closing date for entries has been extended until Friday 16 March 2018.
Wishing everyone the best of luck with their award entries.
