Could you introduce yourself?
I am Dr R.Sangeetha, Head Of the Department (HOD) in the hospitality and tourism department, at Bharath University. I have been working for the past 22 years in this industry. I did my M.SC and BSc in Food Science and Nutrition from Madras University. Then I completed my MPhil in Resource Management from Mother Teresa Women’s University. Recently, I completed my Doctorate in Hospitality Management. And my thesis topic was environmental sustainability practices to be adopted in star category hotels in Chennai. I have guided many MPhil research scholars and guided many Postgraduate students in completing their projects successfully. I was also associated with Kellogg’s company as a nutritionist.
Can you tell me about your college?
Bharath Institute of Science and Technology (BIST) started with Sri Lakshmi Ammal Educational Trust as the first self-financing Engineering College in Tamil Nadu in 1984 by Dr S. Jagathrakshakan. Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research (BIHER) is providing multi-stream, multi-cultural and high-quality education to nearly 10000 students from all around the world. It is functioning in a sprawling area of 603 acres of land with 1.3 crore sq. ft buildings located in six campuses both in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, equipped with the state of the art infrastructure facilities. The teaching faculty members are well-qualified and have vast experience in research to teach and supervise various UG and PG programmes.
Along with the medical stream, we have engineering, physiotherapy, nursing stream as well as law. We have all the management departments and all the arts and science streams. The hospitality industry is a growing industry and has undergone a rapid change during the pandemic. There have been a lot of changes that we have been making. So, this is a multistream university with many courses. We introduced the Hotel Management course in 2011 and we have 3 major programs. We have B.Sc. Hospitality and Tourism, Diploma in Hospitality and Tourism. Students who have completed 10th class can do this course and take up a job in the hotel industry. Then we have MBA in Tourism and Hospitality Management that is open for any graduates.
What are the changes you see in your industry, especially during the covid time?
During this pandemic, hospitality and the tourism industry has undergone major changes. Inbound and outbound tourism was severely affected. As you know, the hospitality industry is closely associated with the tourism and airline industry. Both were badly affected because the number of people coming to our country reduced to a great extent and many hotels were closed. During the pandemic, the hospitality industry's protocols changed drastically. For example, the number of people attending the function itself was limited. Some major changes were in terms of sanitization and hygiene, the protocol for RTPCR tests and in the housekeeping department. Everything has to be sanitized and a lot of new processes was introduced. Some other changes are contactless check-in and check out was implemented. They don’t have to stand in a queue or wait to get registration done in hotels with this system. That is one major change, new norms were introduced.
Other changes are when the guest comes; they used to give welcome drink now it’s more of a health drink. They are given complimentary sanitisers. Sanitization has become very crucial. In the restaurants the number of people at each table is limited, the food production side, the menu is restricted, more health-related menus are being introduced. Strict restrictions are followed in terms of wearing gloves, masks and temperature checks were made mandatory.
Can you talk about the hiring landscape and average salary range?
Starting salary has increased compared to 6-8 years back. Starting salary is around Rs.18,000/month. And if you are a graduate or MBA, they hire you as Management Trainee. Then the starting salary is Rs.25,000- Rs.27,000/month and on the job training will be given. They will be put in a 3 months-probation period where they will be trained in all the different departments.
Especially, if you take hotel industry it's divided into 4 major departments. Food production, where different cuisines are prepared. Nowadays people are very much health conscious and just like in hospitals diets are prepared based on customer choice.
The second department is Food and beverage services, where the restaurant is taken care of. Banquet halls where parties and marriages happen. Another area is the bar, where you need to know about different beverages and mixing techniques. The bar is a commercial part of the hotel industry and international guests are catered to, so they expect things according to their culture and standard. Different bartending techniques and different presentation skills are taught to get a job in this area.
Then another major department is the front office where you check in and check out the customers. The front office uses different software’s and students have to be equipped for that and know about current affairs and latest trends.
Housekeeping has taken great importance because of the pandemic. No matter how big the hotel is or how big the name is people are not going to come if it’s not clean and sanitized properly. So, housekeeping plays a major role and it’s important for the safety of the guests. The procedure for cleaning the room, maintenance of the equipment, sanitization of different equipment, the guest amenities and the complementary services to be included as per the guest needs for example family with children will have different needs, old people will have different needs. So, housekeeping has to cater to all these.
How do you prepare the students to attend interviews and assist them in job placements?
The main agenda in these 3 courses is to groom them and prepare them for the job in a professional manner. Just like any other professional course, we are giving them the training to be prepared for the job. Each course is practical oriented, we give them on the job training in every department. We have industry visits. In each course, we have industrial exposure training we call it IET. It’s a 6-month training program where the students will be in the hotel. And students will be put in each department for one month where he/she will be trained and will be given a certificate. So, the course will be completed only when the student has this IET certificate. It's an internship that they have to complete in a diploma or degree program.
We have grooming classes; we have certification programs that they can select and do side by side with their course. And we have English speaking classes, airline ticketing, basic computer classes, French and German language etc. These are apart from the regular curriculum and the students can pick and do these certifications.
What advice would you give to freshers looking for a job?
Fresher has to be multitasking. They should concentrate on multiple streams; they should not concentrate on one particular department. For example, you cannot stick to only the front office department, they have to be aware of housekeeping, F&B, you have to learn costing, menu planning, marketing etc. You cannot stick to only one task, if you want to grow you have to be a jack of all trades, you have to learn everything. Computer and communication skill is very important.
Can you give some suggestions for graduates who have got a job?
We advise the graduates to groom themselves to become professionals, develop technical, interpersonal and communication skills. We tell them initially it takes time for them to adjust to the job. They should not quit immediately as the job might be taxing, they should learn to adapt to the place. They should stick to the job and in 3 months they have to learn as much as possible as they will be on probation. And we suggest they change to different departments so they can learn about the industry as a whole. They will have better rapport and understanding with other departments this way. They have to work in all departments so they can groom themselves better and are always aware of the latest techniques and software. They will be aware of what competitors are doing, what is the latest trend etc. and that will help them to perform better.
Where can the freshers look for jobs?
Actually, we have our own hotels; most of them are placed in them. And apart from hotels, you can get a job in breweries, where they produce alcohol or beer production. Also, you can get a job in airlines as ground staff if you do those certification courses. Or you can get a job on the cruise line. For cruise line food production is important and there is a demand for chefs to prepare different kinds of cuisine. For housekeeping the scope is wide, you can get a job in hospitals, institutions etc.
The industry is vast; you can get jobs in institutional catering, hospital catering, airline and railway catering etc. Nowadays in IT sector as well. They don’t have time for meal preparation; they order food, so catering for the corporate sector is huge. And with cloud kitchen, the potential is huge. They can start their own business through cloud kitchen in a small way. Entrepreneurship is also another major field students take up.
Does your curriculum cover entrepreneurship as well?
We have a curriculum that covers entrepreneurship. It covers, how to start a small business, how to do financial management, how to get loans etc. All these are covered in MBA as well as in our B.Sc course. We call it ESB Entrepreneurship and small business, so this will help you to start your own business. We teach students about various case studies. We have guest lectures from various professional entrepreneurs.
A decade back the aim was only to complete the course and get good marks. But nowadays things have changed, employers look for more than just scores. What other skill sets do you think is required now?
Nowadays a lot of online courses are available which one can do if they feel they are weak in any particular area. I feel you have to develop your interpersonal skill and communication skill which is very important now. Technical skill is anyways important and is main for any job. These 3 are mandatory.
We train so that by their second year in the course itself they should be ready for their job. Our course is designed in the way that whatever the industry wants, we cater to that. We groom the students accordingly. What the industry looks for in freshers is good communication skills, good technical skills, those who are confident, good decision-making skills, leadership skills and technical knowledge. Other skills are foreign language or how many languages they know and some even ask if they can drive.
Final thoughts to students who are graduating.
They have to keep an open mind and they have a whole world of opportunity in this industry. They have to have passion and dedication. Freshers cannot jump from one job to another. You have to have some loyalty; you have to understand people as you are in the hospitality industry. Your interpersonal skills are important. You have to learn the trades of the particular job. Each job has its own traits you have to learn that first. You have to understand the core of the industry and work hard. Basic knowledge is needed you cannot say academics are not important. You have to have a Diploma or B.Sc. at least. You have to understand all the subjects and how they will help you in the job. You have to decide on which department you want to take up and sharpen your skills in that area.