COVID-19 struck early in 2020, and by March it had crippled the hospitality industry. The US Travel Association reports that travel spending declined 42 percent in 2020 and resulted in the loss of millions of jobs. By the end of the year, more than 110,000 restaurants across the country were shuttered long-term or had closed permanently. Hotels, convention centers, and airlines found themselves without customers.

But with vaccines now widely available, there are signs that the industry is rebounding. The nation’s biggest airlines are planning to offer as many seats this July as they did in pre-pandemic July 2019, as customers, desperate to resume traveling, take to the skies. New hotels are opening and many of the surviving restaurants are reporting pre-pandemic sales.

What has the pandemic meant to those just entering the hospitality field? In this video essay, video producer and narrator Bill Politis speaks to three recent BU School of Hospitality Administration graduates. They talk about how the pandemic has shaped their job hunting strategies, influenced the decisions they’ve made, and how they’ve fared looking for work. They also talk about what’s next for them as they embark on careers in an industry still in recovery. Take a look.

Watch the video here