De
motivating factors while choosing right career option for hotel management
graduates.
Taking decision of their own career is the most
important thing in a student's life. It is found that even graduates from recognized educational
institutions in India face major gaps, resulting in them being unprepared for
their careers.
It becomes difficult for a
hotel management student to choose one department and stick to it till he/she
retires. While doing a survey of hotel management students, a very surprising
finding is noticed that students face peer pressure, teachers, mentor, parents
pressure, parents who are under peer pressure (they are more worried about the
neighbor's child). Most of the students do not get the guidance they need from home
because their parents did not get similar opportunities. Rather than putting
our ambitions on their shoulders, parents must always understand that every
child is born with his/her own talent and interest.
However, Students
self-efficacy and occupational aspiration should be the most important factor to
influence the students career decision,
followed by tradition and cultural value, career guidance, support from
parents and external consultation.
When a student join hotel management, in most of
cases student and their parents have least idea about the course. Students
actually understand the industry when they undergo training of 6 weeks in second
year of their curriculum. This is the time when a student realizes if hotel
management is fit for them or not. But at the same time it?s too late for them
to quit too. Then in the last year, they face many de motivational factors in
choosing the right career option for themselves.
Hospitality
is very different from other Industries as far as its education is concerned as
it has training in its curriculum. An internship is a form of experimental
learning that integrates knowledge and theory learned in the classroom with
practical application. It helps students to gain valuable applied experience
and make connections in professional fields and give them opportunity to
understand and live a Hotel life, and also to choose an area of Interest for
them. At the same time training does not show the true picture to the students
as too much work assigned to trainees, makes the students de motivated . Hoteliers
must understand that students as trainees are not substitute labors and must
provide a platform to learn skills on supervision of a staff.
When
students join a hotel management Institute, majorly they want to choose Food
production as their career option but it changes when they join the Industry.
There has been seen many cases, where students change and make up their mind
during the training in Hotels and choose a relevant area for them, and of
course develop a passion toward it. It has been noted that majority of students
keep Front office, Sales and Marketing and Food and Beverage Service as their
right Choice due to Salary, lively environment and growth.
It is
very surprising to know, that there can be few people in the life of a student
who can be de-motivating ie. Parents, Academicians and Role Models. This is
possible in the cases where parents have a very little idea about Hospitality, and
so it is very important to educate them as soon as a student starts his/her
career in hospitality. It is very
important for academicians and Hoteliers to understand that some ones objective
should not be changed rather should be helped in achieving the same. If a
student wants to choose Front Office as their career option, he should be
trained rather than de motivating him/her to choose any other department.
Interviews are considered to be the most
de-motivating in choosing the right career option as the feeling of rejection
makes them think about biasness of the basis of gender or looks. There have
been many cases where a front office student is offered a job in housekeeping
department, and a food production person is offered job in sales and marketing
or front office. Here the passion of a student fails.
It has
been find out that perception of female students is altogether different from
male students. On an average girls want a future where there is work Life
Balance, keeping salary as not the major point,
they need a secured and stable job with general timings, they would like
to grow in the same field for long. At the same point and time they will never
change their area of interest (passion). Whereas boys generally keep a
secondary area of interest and as they want to grow with handsome salary. They
want to see themselves at a good level in the early stages of their career and
to be an Entrepreneur later. Each and every student has to be dealt in a
different way, keeping in priority their own wishes, their demand from career
and passion.
There is no place where a child cannot be
motivated, changed, learnt. The only change, we must do is to understand them
and work on them.
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