Purpose – This paper aims to develop and test a conceptual model that investigates the effect of psychological capital on job, career and life satisfaction, mediated by work engagement, drawing from the conservation of resources theory and the motivational process of the job demands-resources model. Design/methodology/approach – Based on data gathered from frontline employees in the international five- and four-star chain hotels with a time lag of two weeks in three waves in Romania, the relationships in the conceptual model were gauged through structural equation modeling. Self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience were treated as the indicators of psychological capital. Findings – The results suggest that optimism appears to be the best indicator of psychological capital, followed by resilience, self-efficacy and hope. Employees with high psychological capital are engaged in their work at elevated levels. Employees high in psychological capital are more satisfied with their job, career and life. The results reported in this study further suggest that psychological capital boosts work engagement that in turn leads to job, career and life satisfaction. Practical implications – The presence of rigorous selective staffing enables management to select a pool of employees high in psychological capital and work engagement. Inviting applicants to fill out an online questionnaire to identify their knowledge and skills and then using specific experiential exercises or short case studies to understand their tactics for handling service encounters can serve this purpose. Management can utilize the psychological capital questionnaire during and after the selection process. The availability of a resourceful work environment where there are training, empowerment, rewards and career opportunities is likely to stimulate employees’ positive emotions that in turn relate to psychological capital. Originality/value – Very little is known about psychological capital in the hospitality management literature. Therefore, this paper fills in this void by linking psychological capital to employees’ job, career and life satisfaction through work engagement.