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Hotel Management

IKON

Chef Floyd Cardoz from Goa is one of the most popular Chefs in Mumbai as well as in New York. He opened a restaurant in Mumbai named Bombay Canteen and now he is back in New York with a restaurant called Paowalla.

In 2006, Chef Cardoz published One Spice, Two Spice: American Food, Indian Flavors and his second cookbook, Flavorwalla: Big Flavor. Bold Spices. A New Way to Cook the Foods You Love, was just released .

In January 2007, Chef Cardoz received the first-ever “Humanitarian of the Year” Award from Food TV and Share our Strength in honour of his continued commitment to community engagement.

In the summer of 2012, Chef Cardoz won Season Three of Bravo’s Top Chef Masters. With this accolade, he donated his winnings of $110,000 to the Young Scientist Cancer Research Fund at New York’s Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, which supports young researchers trying to make a difference in cancer research.

 

What is the job all about?
Tourism has spurred the growth of the Hotel Industry in India, and in Goa in particular. Today in Goa we have a whole range of hotels – right from 7 Star deluxe e.g. Taj Exotica to 2 and 3 Star Hotels. These hotels have thrown open a wide range of job opportunities. Primarily the main jobs are Chef, Food and Beverage Manager, House-Keeping Executive, Front Office Manager ,and Sales & Marketing .

 

Briefly their responsibilities are:
Chef: This person is in charge of all things related to the kitchen, which usually includes menu creation; management of kitchen staff; ordering and purchasing of inventory; and plating design. Related jobs for junior to the Chef are: The Sous-Chef de Cuisine (2nd in command in the kitchen), the Chef de Partie (line cook).

Food & Beverage Manager: Responsible for all food and beverage outlets in the hotel.

House Keeping Executive: He / she is responsible for cleaning and furnishings of the Hotel rooms. Housekeeping includes, activities such as changing the room linen on a daily basis. It also includes the function of decorating the Front Office with fresh flowers, etc.

Front Office Manager: He / she deals with clients who want to spend a few days at the Hotel .These staff welcomes the guests to the Hotel, look after booking and organizing reservations, check-in and check-out, organizing porter service, issuing keys and other security arrangements, and settling the accounts.

Sales & Marketing: The training for these jobs is when training is given for Front Office staff –However Big Hotels recruit MBA’s from the management Institutes or from higher learning institutes such as at the Oberoi / Taj / ITC etc

 

Can you go for it?
For those who wish to make a career in this Industry, there is a need for dedication and hard work. You must be a ‘people person’ with good PR/communication skills. You must definitely be a team player, as lot of the activity in the hotel is a team effort. Working late hours and on Public Holidays and festivals is a given thing.

You could choose any one of the above specialties, depending on your personal interests and abilities. Naturally, as you go higher up in the management cadre, all the functions Heads would report to you – so your awareness of the roles is important.

 

Is there a future in this field?
India is booming at the moment and, as result, people have money to spend on Holidays / travel / staying in Hotels, etc. So the Hotel Industry is here to stay for a long time. So there is a future, provided you remain focused and work hard.Also, there are many opportunities abroad and in Airlines and Cruise Liners.

 

Where to Begin?

In Goa
After 10 + 2 (any stream), Entrance Test for IHM.

IHM – The Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition at Alto Porvorim, (http://www.ihmctan.edu/details) is one of the leading Hotel Training Institutes in the country.

You can get a placement in Goa for the three-year program (B.Sc. degree). If you did not perform very well, then you could get a seat in one of the other IHM colleges all over the country.

Goa also has a host of Hotel Training Institutes, run both by Government and Private Institutions. The Fr. Agnel Catering Institute in Verna, IAM, Ann Training Institute at Porvorim, Cidade de Goa (Chef training), Victor Exotica, etc.

 

Outside Goa
Taj Group of Hotels conducts a Graduate Management Training Programme (2 years) at New Delhi. http://www.tajhotels.com/About-Taj/Careers/training-opportunities.html

Taj Group of Hotels also conducts a three year B.Voc degree program for students who have passed the Xll std.This program is in collaboration with Tata Institute of Social Sciences(SVE)
Those who do well are offered Job opportunities in the Taj Group itself.
For further details go to http://www.careerpolice.com/golden-threshold-program/

Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development – Oberoi School of Hotel Management (http://www.oberoi-is.org/) offers the following courses:
Three-year Hotel Operations and Management Training Program
Three-year Senior Kitchen Training Program
Two-year House Keeping Executive Training Program
MBA Institutes (IIM’s) for Sales & Marketing, HR & Finance Positions

 

Employment Avenues
The scope in Goa / India / Abroad and on Ships& Airlines is very good. The better your qualifications and experience, the better your chances to grow well in this field. You could also opt for a teaching assignment if you do your Masters / Ph.D in this field.

 

Money
As is usually the case, the starting salaries in this field are not so attractive – but as you gain experience and confidence, then there are huge salary gains. So you could start with around Rs. 5,000/- p.m. (But there are also good tips offered especially during the tourist season and food is free) But later on, this figure could easily rise to Rs. 25,000/- plus other benefits. In this area you can easily diversify and work for Airlines, either as Air Steward or in the Air Kitchens. Also, the Middle East is constantly looking out for experienced people in the Hotel industry and there is a tremendous scope and salary advancement potential here.

Besides salaries, you can also earn a fairly good amount, by way of Tips and Bonuses.

 

Please do not be satisfied with just acquiring a Degree/Diploma – try and enhance your CV by doing online learning programs (with a certificate) of programs relevant to your choice of career. Your chances of employment will be much better than just a plain degree/diploma.

Please check this website under other details for places you can learn online. Also try and develop your confidence by doing a public speaking training program with people like Toast Masters International.

For government jobs: please check : http://www.employment-newspaper.com/