BEING SELECTIVE ON ELECTIVES IN TODAY’S HOSPITALITY JOB OFFERINGS!

Competence and confidence the two of the many list of essentials required in the field of hospitality has also been facing a slight twist and elements of change since the last few months. In recent times my observations and experiences have a lot to say about the thought processes and mind sets of certain aspiring to be futuristic hoteliers. It has always been a challenge to get the right person for the right job at the right time and place when it comes to building the teams and filling in the gaps which arise and appear almost at all times in last few years.

From fresher’s to slightly experienced and even the higher ups have been looking for something good and being able to meet up self-expectations, growth plans, increments, promotions and beyond. The very fact that the industry has just picked up in the last few months have seen a huge rise in new appointments, new recruits and positions available for almost every single department in the hotels from top to bottom. 

If I look back around a year and a half, the scene was very un-expected and unavoidable which left a big number of candidates in a lot of confusion and unsurety on what next? a lot of counselling, mentoring and lifestyle coaching, career guidance picked up and I even came across experienced profiles asking shall I switch my industry? Will there be any luck of things opening sometime in the near future? The level of bewilderment rose to great heights and many gave up for the survival fact and some thought of self-driven ventures too. The fact of the matter remains that we have all lived through the challenging times and have evolved as better individuals, brands, hotel chains, restaurant business, airline companies and more.

A few of my thoughts and experiences are shared below and I am sure many of you will somewhere resonate with a few facts.

1. The Connective Social Media: while most people don’t even remember the passwords to their social media accounts very easily, their presence on them is widely visible and has been for the fact that I myself have received hundreds of messages asking for job references, referrals on whom to connect with? queries like which department shall I apply for? What salary and benefits shall one look forward to? Is brand A better, competitive or less adviced to join than brand B? having been stood in a little contributing support towards our industry I did get a chance to counsel and advice a number of people on the above and more, and I must share that we should maintain connects not only when we have tough times in life, or not having any other options, or needing help from each other in challenging phases of our careers. The need to keep the connect is important.

2.MAKE YOUR RIGHT MOVE: while a lot of today’s young generation gets carried away with peer suggestions, online visibilities, ratings and surveys, a dream profile and a dream start up job with a particular brand or hotel, we also need to look at the realistic approach factors. I came across candidates who said they wanted to have their jobs within 4-5 km of their residence, since they read somewhere that saving energy is maximising quality at work. Another example which comes to mind is that I wanted to join a particular hotel, all went well, got selected, joined and within 2 weeks left the place of work since there was nothing much to learn and therefore wish to quit. After a little interaction and understanding the views of such candidates a few inferences which came to mind we are we not in a position to adjust in new environments? Or is there something like a fast forward mode which needs to be activated upon starting a new job.

3.BEING INSIGHTFULL & NOT IGNORANT: Due to the online mode of education system in recent times the student fraternity across the globe have been a little under experience when it comes to the real true face and expectations by the practical industry on the whole. Theory and online practicals have indeed been a way of instruction and learning for a while now, keeping that in mind candidates need a little time to be a part of conversations, guidance, special career planning seminars etc which can play a role in shaping minds and bridging the gap between demand and supply. If a candidate during internship is being asked to cut and chop/slice onions, bags full of them which is the case since our times, instead of complaining about it and making a fuss at work one should take it up as a challenge and task to enhance your cutting skills and more. Every task we do or come across has something to teach us, be it polishing of glasses, cleaning tasks in house-keeping, carrying out store pickups, setting up banquet venues and requirements or for the fact of simply filing papers at the back office.

4. AFFIRMATIVE APPROACH TO ADVANCEMENT: A pre-set mind, pre-conceived notions and hearing a few unpleasant experiences doesn’t make work places unsuitable or cutting them off your lists. No human being is perfect and hence we need to be able to accept the law of nature which says acceptance, affirmations and being adjustable. Interactions via offline sessions/seminars/ career guidance meets with graduating hospitality students offered a lot of new world thoughts and queries which came up checking on working conditions, people’s behaviour and comfort zone expectations upon joining a new place of work. A few instances and experiences also showed me lack of affirmative thoughts being instilled upon carrying out even a short term internship exposure which was meant to be a value added approach beyond online classes to get first-hand experience and practice which is being offered by almost all hotels in the city and country at the moment. In spite of being mentored by academic team members, guides, the human resource department teams at hotels giving up too soon has been the observation which is not really advisable. One has to get used to new environments, people, situations and work cannot be defined to that extent where a fresher does mis-en-place for a week and starts working on the live range cooking up guest orders. A steady phase of understanding nuances and building confidence side by side will all make it happen.

5. SKY IS THE LIMIT TO ACHIEVEMENTS & PERFORMANCE: well-phrased, written and endorsed! The fact of the matter remains whether we are ready to even take a few steps to reach out where we wish to. While most candidates choose to pursue hotel management to become chefs, has now become a shift in thoughts and today we come across aspirants who say we wish to do something different, want to be a self-made entrepreneur, guess I can be a good sales and marketing professional, some of the passionate ones wish to be celebrity chefs, a good name in the industry, would like to get into event management, have in mind to start my own restaurant chain, aspire to be an in-flight manager with a leading airline company, see myself working on a well-known cruise traveling around the world making big money! With time things change, and guess some of we the seasoned ones are well-tempered and accustomed to managing change with our enriched experiences and realistic lifestyles. In conversation and interactions with leading teams from human resources, training managers, learning and development specialists across India gave me nourishing feedback too on the same and while some focussed candidates who join in for internships or start their careers with reputed brands and hotels are able to meet up expectations and keep up their spirit of learning, experiencing and work on themselves as well to in-still a sense of discipline, dedication, consistency, performance and feedback strategy plans, multi- departmental skills development approach and more.

6. ALTERATIONS & REVIVAL PLANS MAY WORK:

Not everyone is born with a golden spoon, all five fingers aren’t the same size, Rome was not built in a day, patience is the key, persistence pays! At times we see, hear and say a lot of things without actually reading in between the words, thoughts and statements. Our industry is not a bed of roses for all, it is a two-way approach which always works. We cannot be selecting a job because the brand offers six or eight off days in a month or has limited work load or will be a general shift from nine am to six pm. Making a choice with the right homework being done in advance can help one to be more sustainable. Operation departments like kitchen, bakery, restaurants, banquets, house-keeping, front office cannot be time bound all the time, there are times when we have to stay back and adjust to situations, meet up the guest expectations, offer our one hundred percent and more at work to maximise revenue and maintain guests with us for long. The competitive world today which has loads of competition cannot be taken so lightly and hence joining a place of work and living it day by day, working up the ladder, having a need to accept challenges and to be able to get recognised as well should be on the to do check list of aspiring future hoteliers. Giving up too fast, not giving yourself a second chance, not being open to getting the right guidance, thinking one sided only, concluding things by just facing a few tough days is not the solution.

On a Concluding Note: a passion to achieve, a keen interest and liking to do something, utilising your own inner skills, talent and capabilities not only help us to evolve much better on a personal level but also on a professional level. In times to come, we will witness a lot of development and positive steps being coming to real in our industry on a global platform. My little advice to all would be to not deviate yourself from your selection choice, do not change your mind every day on selecting a department, choice of subject for a specialization, attend certain lectures, practical and theory sessions etc. being open, receptive, willing to take part in self-development, speaking your mind out, connecting with experienced resource people is the need of the hour. Let us all take a vow that comes what may we shall not give up on our dreams and achieve the very best from the electives on our selection list.

Dr. Kaviraj Khialani.

Celebrity Master Chef.

Author- Academician- Advisor to the Hospitality Industry and Education Sector on National Level.