Career Planning for Hospitality Students

During the global economic downturn it was predicted that India and China would not be affected as much and hospitality industry in particular would undergo minor changes. Besides this Khanna, 2008 outlined that lack of infrastructure in India would not be sufficient enough to sustain growth of hospitality industry. However the argument can be ruled out as a number of private organization both national and international are investing into Indian hospitality sector. This can be said as Carlson group of hotels are planning to open 50 new properties by the end of year 2012 across India. Many More hotel groups like Fairmont etc are entering fresh in India. It was predicted that the growth in Indian tourism would be around 8. 8% till 2013 which is closely related to hotel industry. The jobs in hospitality were also available during the period of time and are still growing. Moreover the number of hospitality graduates is still very low as compared to the demand of the industry. Hence hospitality as a career is still considered as a fair option in order to grow and make life out of it. Graduate labor market As outlined by Harvey (2001, cited by Nabi, 2000) graduates should posses certain attributes and skills in order to help them find a job and have sustainable growth in it. This would further help them build a career in the industry. However Graduate employability for the industry is still addressed by a question mark. Freed, 2010 states that hotel industry requires flexible graduates, moreover students who are willing to work with variable odd shifts with an initial entry level low salary. Though the availability of jobs is high but still the question arises that weather a hotel management should stay with the industry itself or invade other possible dimensions as well. Besides hotel industry many multinational companies offer fixed working hours and five days a week unlike hotels. Moreover hotels have long working hours as well. On top of all this Maslow (1943, cited in Green 2000) states that a person opts for a job that satisfies his/or basic or physiological needs. The wide options available in other sectors without even specializing and the existence of the concept of equal opportunity make them a more attractive option. To add upon a hotel job is India is considered as a blue color job. A fresh hotel graduate in India or anywhere else is required to have a specialization in his/her area of interest. They are also required to have a considerable work experience with internships etc by the time they graduate as well. Hotel industry also requires high grooming standards and punctuality as well which not much of a requirement. Fresh hospitality graduates are offered three options for employment in the hotel industry. †¢ Operational trainee programs in different areas like housekeeping, kitchen and service †¢ Management trainee programs which are further extended to finance, sales and marketing etc. †¢ Entry level employment as Associate, commis or executive. †¢ Certain hotel organization also offers a corporate trainee program. Management trainee programs are offered usually to fewer students comparatively. These are the students with untreated talent which can nurture in order to produce future managers. It further involves students into finances of an operation as well. On the other hand an operational trainee program is offered to the students who are not yet ready for the management positions. Further it prepares them of core operational competencies. Moreover cooperate trainee program is the highest which is offered to students with rare competencies. An organization believes them to be the future leaders of the organization. The hotel industry in India requires a number future leaders and operational employees. Human resource plays a vital role in management of these services (Jauhari, 2006). It is important from a student perspective who is seeking employment to know what is exactly expected from them by the employers. Harrera (2003) outlines 99 competencies which are required for manager’s ethical behavior. Moreover Harvey (1997, cited in Jenner, 2000) outlines 20 core competencies which are required by employers. Jauhari (2006) states that hospitality organizations seek talented graduates to recruit for their trainee programs. These programs can be considered as investments from the employer’s point of view for their employees. Nabi, 2003 outlines that hotel organizations are looking for fresh employees with not only intellectual skills but also people management skills as well. Initially to begin with one can always be confused to join the industry because of a number of factors though the odds and positives seem have a balance. Questions like how are global travel trends going to be in the future? Weather an economic meltdown affects the hotel industry or not? Certain questions were addressed during our internship which was not being arranged internationally due to the global economic downturn. Other questions like aiming for a management trainee program or a regular job was also in my mind. Moreover Drucker, 199 states that one must review and introspect their goals as per the change in situations and circumstances. This is supposed to happen as personal life and work life goes through a lot of changes as well. As per Aggarwal, 2006 the decrease of workers in industrial and manual jobs will increase the opportunities to abstract from of thought. This includes people with analytical and problem solving skills, moreover possessing the capacity for innovation. The literate population of India has gone up by 6. percent since 2001. As per the NHDC report the travel and tourism industry in India is accounted with a 6% growth in GDP and 30. 5 million jobs. In terms of travel India stands 9th in the index of relative cost of access which is ticket taxes and airport charge to international air transport services. Tourism is said to be the one of the largest net earners of foreign e xchange for the country which was contributing at 11. 747 million in 2008 with a 9. 5% growth year after year. Besides this the demand in terms of skill labor is very high in the hospitality sector with a shortage of manpower. The table underneath shows the cities and the projected demand in terms of manpower by the year 2013/14. Ministry of tourism has 21 hotel management and catering institutes which are responsible to meet the growth in the industry. Career options There have been a number of campus placement interviews and other options available as well. I have participated is a very few as I look for a position in Sales and marketing with a little scope of compromise. These have been Carlson and J. W. Marriot both for sales and marketing. Most of the hotel organizations don’t seem to offer a position for sales and marketing. Major options available are housekeeping, kitchen, Food and beverage service and front office as these are the areas which require more manpower than compared to sales division. Other areas that I am still looking at are procurement which has the same problem as sales. During my internships in various departments I have realized that I have less inclination for other operational options available. As I look forward to choose an organization and stick to it for a long period of time I cannot use any other job as a stepping stone for my area of interest. Competencies required for the Position: We are made aware of the organizations that come in for interview or we go visit at. These presentations talk about the skills and competencies that are required for the job position they offer. They outline flexibility in terms of shifts, working elsewhere rather than your hometown, culture etc. as I mentioned earlier organizations offering sales were less but during my vocational job I found out certain competencies required for a sales executive. Later during an interaction with Parivah Rustogi, director sales for J. W. Marriot I found out they are looking for outgoing personalities who are not exactly too study oriented. Taj Groups of Hotels Taj group of hotel is one of the largest hotel chains in India which is run by Indian hotel company ltd (IHCL). Taj hotels resorts and palaces were awarded the â€Å"Gallup Great Workplace 2010’ title complimenting the work environment they have created for their employees. This further included a lot many parameters like retention, training etc. (tajhotels. com) Employee engagement There are a number of factors which are responsible for employee engagement. Taj group of hotels conduct departmental briefings. They are further categorizing into mornings and evening. They discuss agenda of the day, current status and other things related to the employees. This helps boost the moral and motivate them for better work. The organization conducts a lot of analysis for employee engagement. These are factors responsible for their absenteeism etc. further there are exit interviews, retention issues, feedback analysis etc to keep a check upon the factors affecting motivation of their employees. Moreover there are a lot loyalty and reward programs which are known as STARS. These are responsible for staff motivation and improving performance. Here the employee is not rewarded through cash but points which are gained through positive acts at work. These points can be redeemed as other benefits later. Further they also concentrate upon training and development which helps an individual to build upon his skills and progress in his career. CV Analysis In order to write an appropriate CV one need to know herself/himself. The word itself Curriculum Vitae refers to â€Å"the course of life† (Jenner, 200). It helps an employer know about the professional life, performance and objective of a particular employee. It’s not just about our self but also how we fit into the organization in contrast to its policies and procedures and our strength and weaknesses. After undergoing through †¢ The cover letter was missing from my CV. A cover letter is very important in order to demonstrate past experiences. Moreover makes it convenient for the employer to retrieve information about the objective, work experience etc at a glance. †¢ Most of the information listed in terms of the contact details and certifications so far weren’t quite relevant for the employer. There was less information provided in regards to the job position that I wish to seek. There weren’t any certificates or much appreciation letters which could demonstrate my communication skills, being innovative, problem solving etc. moreover there wasn’t anything listing my achievement so far. †¢ It only mentioned the places where in I did my internships. There was no mentioning of the area I have tra ined in and how does it makes a difference with other students. So we can say that there wasn’t any kind of supporting information or document that would have interest my employer for the job position I wish to seek. Competencies Demonstrated and Implementations of Them in Job Selection Processes It is very important to know one being a fresh graduate while preparing for interviews and selection processes. In order to achieve this I undertook certain tests to find out what exactly my career goals are and the skills which are required survive in the work environment today. There was assessment center simulation which would help us rate our self on parameters upon which the employers would hire us. I did the Jung Typology test (appendix 2) which helped me figure out that I am an extrovert person. An extrovert is the one with an outgoing personality. I have also mentioned before this has helped me in my job ventures in sales and have gradually helped me develop my interest in sales division. This makes it easy for me to communicate with people and help me find leads. This further helps me identify customer problems and solve them. It also states that my feelings are moderate and less sensitive to others at times. I don’t spend much time judging how people are though I am an emotional person. Further I took a communication test to find out about my communication skills as they play a vital role (appendix 4). This also involves listening skills which requires proper understanding of what one’s saying. I found out that I can fairly interpret what other people are trying to communicate in terms of words and body language. I can empathize with other person feelings for a better understanding. I can perhaps alter my behavior accordingly to the other person comfort level of his/her understanding. The johari window (Jenner, 2000) helped me find out what others feel about me and how much does it intersect with my opinion (Appendix 10). This helped me find a blind spot. There has been a gap between my perception about myself and what others perceive of me. My peer felt that I am an outgoing person as well, one who would socialize with people and make new friends. They perceived me a little over confident with my work most of the times which has also been the feedback by my professors as well. Though I am a sociologist but yet I keep my secrets from the world keeping a wide margin in my personal space. Though I know much about myself in terms of my skills but yet there is a lot which can be discovered by new experiences. I try and take up new challenges to find out what I really like and what I would really want to take up as a career. This includes my part time job as a commis and sales at times besides my internship. This further helps me identify my strength and weaknesses. Moreover my interactions with my mentor further help me plan how my career path should be considering the test that I took for my ideal job (appendix 6). Moreover I took the Myers test to find to more insights about me (appendix 3). My interest lies in what is unknown, I think a little before my actions. I consider theories and how they relate in practical life.