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International
Studies
Dear Sir,
I am currently in my final year of my degree in Bachelor of Science,
with a specialisation in catering science and hotel management.
I
would like to continue my studies in the hospitality industry by
doing a post graduation in the subject. But I would like to do these
studies internationally from either Australia and London from the
Cordon Bleu and the IHMES respectively.
I
would like to know if it is mandatory to take the GRE and the TOEFL
examinations that have become standard for studies abroad. I would
also like to know if there is an Indian office of the institutes
mentioned above.
Sachin
Kapoor.
By E-mail
Dear
Sachin,
We had published details about IHMES few months ago which had all
the details regarding the courses offered, the fees structure and
the admission procedure. If you are interested in knowing more about
the institute please get in touch with the Agrawal Overseas Education
Service. The address is 233, Don-Fab Estate, Pokhran road no 1,
Upwan, Thane - 400 606. Mumbai. Their telephone numbers are (022)
534 1785, 1795, 1344, 542 8902/03/04. You can also email them at
bon@bom2.vsnl.net.in or check their website www.aoesindia.com.
Coming to information on Cordon Bleu you can contact their Mumbai
representative, Sarosh Daruwalla, at 414 8576, 412 0204.
Dear Sir,
I am a graduating student of a higher secondary board (HSC) in May
this year. After my graduation, I intend to pursue a career in the
hospitality industry by doing a hotel management course.
In the issue dated January 15, of your publication, your interview
with Akshay Kulkarni of the International Institute of Management
and Technology (IIMT), created a positive influence on me. I would
therefore appreciate it if you could give me the address of the
IIMT.
Sharat Vasta
sharat707@usa.net
Sharat
Akshay Kulkarni of IIMT address is; assistant dean, operations,
IIMT, 336, Udyog Vihar 4, Gurgaon 122 001. Tel: 639 7288/9 Fax:
639 7784. Email: akshay—kulkarni@yahoo.com
Inclined
Towards Pub Services
Dear Sir,
I am a second year student of a diploma course in hotel management
from a private catering institute. I am not very confident about
getting recruited in a good property owing to the standard of education
being offered. This is mainly because the institute has been recently
opened.
I have an inclination towards pub services and would like to take
up a career in pub management and service as I feel that is a new
area of specialisation and would be more profitable in the long
run.
Please advice on how I should approach this subject as I have no
information on how to go about it.
Thank you,
Akash Agarwal
By E-mail
Akash,
I would advice you to first finish your diploma course, and if,
by the end of it you still are willing to pursue a career in the
pub industry, then the following information will apply to you.
Find a good pub or disco in your vicinity and take up a job there.
Take whatever post they give you, because though you are trained
in hotel management, pub/bar management is an entirely new ball
game. Also, if you have the time, read as many books on the subject
as possible. Topics to read on should be the various kinds of alcohol,
cocktail and mocktail preparations, bar equipment and management
among other areas. Later on, you can come to the STIR institute
in Mumbai, where you can receive training in the preparation of
cocktails and mocktails, menus, bar designs, tricks of the trade
and everything else that will make you a complete bar man and manager.
If interested, please contact me at stir@vsnl.com or stirindia@yahoo.com
By Shatbhi Basu
(The author is founder and partner of STIR Academy of Bartending,
as well as the director of Creative Consultants. She is one of India’s
most respected bar experts)
Upgrading
Management Skills
Dear Sir,
I am a three-year diploma holder in hotel management from a reputed
institute in West Bengal. I have around four year’s of work
experience in food and beverage (F&B) production. I have been
recently promoted as ‘sous chef’ at a reputed holiday
resort, probably the oldest resort in Shantiniketan, West Bengal.
The
new responsibility being assigned to me, involves a lot of paper
work, which I am not very comfortable with. I would like to overcome
this situation and have decided to upgrade my management skills
through a suitable correspondence course.
I
have no information on the correspondence courses available in this
regard. I would be grateful if you can provide appropriate guidance
on how should I go about choosing a course.
Thanking
you in anticipation.
Yours faithfully,
Biplab Bhandari
By Mail, West Bengal
Biplab,
Congratulations to you on your promotion and wishing you all the
luck for your success in the future.
Your decision on upgrading your management skills is very appropriate
and I am happy that you have developed a desire to move ahead in
life. As far as correspondence courses in hospitality are concerned,
I think taking up distance education courses from the Educational
Institute of the American Hotel and Motel Association (EI-AH&MA)
is a good idea.
The certification is recognised worldwide and will definitely add
weight to your CV and will also equip you with all the management
skills necessary to grow in this industry.
If you have access to the Internet, please check out their website
which is www.ei-ahma.org. You will find all the details on the various
courses offered and the content. If getting Net access is a problem,
then please get in touch with K V Simon, regional vice-president,
EI-AH&MA. His address is; Educational Institute of AH&MA,
Shop No 7, Ground Floor, Leela Apartments, Yari Road, Versova P
O, Mumbai- 400 061. His telephone number is 636 1868, 634 3728,
Fax: 624 1339, 204 2873. You can also mail him at eiahmain@bom5.vsnl.net.in.
Again wishing you all the best for your future.
Worried
And Depressed
Respected
Sir,
I have finished my BSC Degree in Hotel and Catering Management in
the year 2000. Presently, I am working with Hotel President, a three-star
property in Chennai, as a room service order taker for the past
four months.
My parents do not like the present profile held by me in the industry
and they are insisting on me to get into the kitchen department.
Their opinion on the other sections of the industry is not very
good as they feel that any novice can handle service aspects in
the hotel and that they have spent two lakh on my education so that
I pursue a career in the kitchen. They say, kitchen is the only
place where there is good future in terms of growth, salary and
chances of going abroad as well.
Now
the problem is that, owing to my health problems, I am not very
comfortable working in the kitchen section. This is basically because
few years back I had to undergo a major appendix operation and since
then, every time I am exposed to excessive heat, blood starts oozing
out from my nose.
I
am very much worried and depressed as I am unable to decide what
to do next. Should I continue my job with the present three-star
property or shift to a five-star hotel. I would be grateful if you
could guide me in the right direction. Looking forward to your reply.
K Satish
By post
Dear
Satish,
Read your letter and found that your are in a very depressing situation.
Firstly, I think with the problems you have mentioned in your letter,
joining a kitchen would not be advisable as it will only have adverse
effects on your health. If your parents are aware of the problems
you are facing, then it is completely unfair on their part to force
you into joining the kitchen department.
Secondly, there is no doubt that growth opportunities in the kitchen
department are good, but only for people who have been successful
in proving their mettle. One just cannot force oneself into doing
something which he/she is not comfortable with. But thinking that
the other departments in the hotel are not worth joining is wrong.
Hospitality
industry or, as a matter of fact, every other industry functions
successfully only because of the efficient and effective functioning
of various other departments in the organisation. As far as your
present work is concerned, try getting a good hold on the related
service aspects (your workplace can provide) and, most important
of all, the valuable work experience. Gradually shifting to an other
department would be ideal as working as a room order taker is not
appropriate with your kind of qualification.
If you do not want to work in the main core areas try HRD, materials
management, computers, F&B controls or something related to
the hotel industry. To make your job easier, jot down points in
favour and against your job profile. You can also do the same to
identify your areas of interest, as in which department would you
like to make a career.
Once
you are done with it, send in your resume to the HR managers in
the other properties in the city, clearly mentioning the department
you would like to work for and also why you are the right person
for the job. The exercise will help you focus on a particular area
and master the same. This should be good enough for you to identify
the right path. Wish you the very best.
To
Gain Further Knowledge
Dear
Sir,
My son is in third year of the diploma course in hotel management
and has appeared for his examinations in March 2001.
In
order to gain further knowledge and confidence, he wants to pursue
further studies and wishes to do a post graduation course (degree)
in hotel management. Please provide me with the names of the institutes
offering degree course in hotel management. This will help me in
pursuing the matter directly, in order to fulfil his ambition.
Early response shall be highly appreciated. Thanking you in anticipation.
Yours
faithfully,
F A Khan
By post
Dear
F A Khan,
As a parent, we appreciate your feelings for your son toward assisting
him in fulfilling his ambition. Before going into the details of
the institutes offering degree courses, we would like to put forth
some points you and your son should consider.
Firstly, if you have been reading our publication regularly, we
would suggest you to go through the roundtable held by us wherein
HR and training managers, eminent consultants, principles and few
ex and present students participated.
The roundtable discussed most of the aspects related to Indian hospitality
education and clearly states what the students need to consider
in terms of degree/diploma, further studies, importance of work
experience and various other aspects.
In brief, the conclusion derived was after completing the diploma
course, planning to pursue further studies immediately is not at
all advisable. Instead, the candidates should get into the industry,
get on-the-job experience, take up the opportunity to understand
the industry more closely and a few years of work experience should
be good enough to know the industry, actual operations and other
related practical aspects of the industry.
Now, coming to your query on names of institutes offering post graduation
courses in hotel management, the IHMs under the National Council
(21 institutes in the country) offer PG courses which are equivalent
to degree courses offered by any other institute in the country.
The Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development (OCLD) in New Delhi
also offers specialised post graduation programmes in kitchen, front
office and housekeeping, and guest relations. But getting admission
in OCLD is difficult and your son needs to possess extra-ordinary
skills to be selected for a course.
There are various distance education courses offered by institutes
like EI-AH&MA, IGNOU and a few others which your son can opt
for. But, before that, we would suggest you should seriously discuss
this matter with your son and decide on the priority whether he
should take up a PG course or get into the industry and get valuable
work experience and then opt for further studies, if necessary.
We hope this helps. Wishing your son all the luck.
On
Tourism As A Career
Respected
Sir,
You have not yet answered my query which was on tourism as a career.
I am very anxious to join a course in tourism. I would appreciate
if you could provide me with the names of the institutes offering
courses in tourism. Also, please provide me with some details on
job opportunities available in this industry, in India and abroad.
I hope you will answer my query as early as possible.
R Santosh,
Coimbatore
By E-mail
Dear
Santosh,
It took us some time because we had to source out information on
aspects you wanted details on.Firstly, you will have to make sure
as to which area of tourism you would like to make career in. Tourism
is a very vast sector and opportunities here would include getting
recruited with the airlines, travel agents, tour operators, hotels
(to some extent), event management companies and so on.
Another area would be getting employed with some organisation as
a corporate travel manager handling travel operations of the company.
But all this will come only after you have decided on your area
of interest.
Coming to institutes offering courses in tourism. Mumbai University’s
Garware Institute offers a post graduate diploma in travel and tourism
management in Mumbai. Considering your geographical location, something
close to that would be Kerala Institute of Tourism & Travel
Studies (KITTS) in Trivandrum now Thiruvananthapuram, (e-mail to
V Rajeevan, director KITTS at vrajeev@mailexcite.com).
Institutes offering correspondence course in tourism include Indira
Gandhi Open University (IGNOU), Madurai Kamaraj University. The
Institute of Hotel, Cargo and Tourism Management (IHCTM) also offers
IATA/UFTAA courses (www.radiobhuvan.com).
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