Towards a perfect career

Given the abundance of available career options and choices today, many entrants to the corporate world look for some guidance. Allan D'Souza suggests some dos and don'ts to newbies looking to plot a perfect career graph

The first step is always the most difficult, and often the most important one. Therefore, freshers prefer to take more time preparing for it and perhaps rightly so. This becomes more necessary given the plethora of options today, especially in the hospitality industry.

Here are a few pointers for graduating hospitality student to get it right the first time:

Differentiate between a career and a job

A career is a series of jobs that one holds over a period of time. Thus, it is vital that each step is planned and thought-out before it is executed. Sometimes it becomes necessary to sacrifice in the short-term for the sake of the bigger picture.

Use your college time wisely

The prospective employer would like to know how good you have been in whatever you were doing in the recent past. Look for avenues and opportunities that exist in your institute to invest and display your talent and skills.

Have written goals and targets

What is written is tangible, verifiable and therefore makes one accountable. Account for each day's progression towards your ultimate goal. Set priorities and remind yourself of them every day. Don't just drift from one job to another, every step should be part of the plan.

Get into the habit of learning

Students are entitled to the luxury of learning on a semester-to-semester basis. What gets tested in one semester is assumed learnt in the next and therefore not tested. In the real world every bit of skill and every piece of knowledge that you possess is on call every single day. Therefore, in addition to utilising what you know, learning on a day-to-day basis is mandatory. There is no need to take a break from your career to learn - distance learning is now a good option.

Higher studies v/s gaining work experience

A classic hospitality graduation question. Hospitality students often expect supervisory and managerial positions immediately after graduation. However, unless you are a pro at the job yourself, being able to lead a team becomes rather difficult. Work experience provides real life insights into business - something that education can't. A short period of work experience followed by post-graduation studies results in the student being able to understand and extract more out of the post-graduate programme.

Determine skill sets required for the job you desire

Skill sets required for the food production department are very different from those required by front of the house areas. Entry level positions in food production demand good technical skills, whereas front of the house areas necessitate good interpersonal skills in addition to basic technical skills.

Make mistakes early in your career

You are entitled to make mistakes, but you are allowed to make a particular mistake once only. A transition from food production to a front of the house area may not be that easy four years into your career so think clearly before determining the department of your choice. Speak to people already in the business as to what exactly it takes to be successful in that particular sphere and then decide whether you are willing to pay the price.

Use industrial training to determine your strengths, weaknesses

Your experiences of a particular hotel department are restricted to what you see, hear and do while in college. That's the impression of the department that you carry with you. It is not uncommon for students to like or dislike a subject in college because of the faculty teaching it. However, the reality of the department in the hotel might be quite different. So use your training experience to determine which department is best for you in terms of your personality, your goals and your chosen career path. Ask as many questions as you can.

Choose your department, not let it happen by default

If you choose to make your career in food production, it should be because production is your forte. You should be passionate about types of raw materials, cuisines, cooking methods, culinary heritage, presentation and making people happy through the medium of food. Remember you will have to deal with this area for the rest of your life. Don't choose food production because your communication skills are not as good as you would like them to be. Instead, if you enjoy meeting people and would prefer a front of the house area, a better course of action would be to improve your communication skills.

Steward in a five-star hotel or management trainee in a quick service restaurant?

The answer to this question depends entirely on your goals. If superior food and beverage technical skills are what you consider important for your career, a position as a steward in a five-star hotel will be beneficial. A management-training programme in a quick service restaurant (QSR) will have limited F&B technical input; the emphasis will be on running a profitable business.

Handling finances, staff, schedules, suppliers and customers will be the skills you will learn in a management training programme in a QSR. Also remember that working in a QSR makes your career that much more niche and therefore moving into an F&B area in a hotel later in your career becomes that much more difficult.

Take a job because it fits into your plan, not because it was offered to you

A career is rather like a game of chess; all your moves should be oriented towards being successful at the higher, if not so visible level. It is important that even if no one understands what you are up to, you are clear on what you would like to achieve. Every job should be a step in the learning curve of your career.

Major league or minor league?

Whatever your career goals, it makes more sense to start your career in a larger organisation and move to a smaller organisation if and when you want to. Starting your career in a large organisation widens your perspective, exposes you to processes, equipment and clientele that you might not encounter in a smaller organisation. A transition the other way round is that much more difficult. If your career goal is to start off something on your own, learn at someone else's expense. Remember, well begun is half done.

You (and no one else) are responsible for your career

Everyone talks about a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis, but at a personal level very few individuals actually perform this exercise. Experts today to concentrate on our strengths and not think about our weaknesses. Think about the things that you do well, things that satisfy you and construct your career around these.

Network

Your batchmates in different hospitality organisations around the globe can provide you with vital information. Keep in touch with them.

Ask for advice, but be selective

Listen to as many points of view as possible. Alternative opinions will offer you options that you hadn't thought of.

Be patient

Young hospitality professionals are prone to leave jobs for a five hundred-rupee hike in salary. Money is obviously important, but at this stage of your career learning and exposure are worth their weight in gold.

If asked to put a time frame to the amount of time a hospitality graduate should devote at his first job, I would say a minimum of two years. Give yourself time to do something for the organisation and give it time to do something for you.

Wait for the perfect break

Once you have decided on the area of your career and you receive a reasonable job offer, just do it! In life, there is no such thing as the perfect break and waiting for it results in self doubt that dents your morale. Conversely getting on with it results in having a daily schedule, meeting new people, a bank balance (however small) and family satisfaction. Get into a virtuous cycle as quickly as possible and stay in it.

Moving on

Ideally speaking, you should move on from one organisation to another only when all the learning that the organisation can offer you at a certain level is over. Practically speaking, it makes sense to leave only after you reach a level higher than when you joined the organisation. Putting in time and energy at a certain position and not obtaining its consequent benefit doesn't make career sense.

Keep an open mind

Spread your net as wide as possible. Take off your blinkers and keep an open mind. Front of the house skills are transferable over a wide range of service industries.

Remember confusion is universal

For most people the transition from college life to a workplace scenario is one of the biggest leaps that they will take in life. Questions abound and doubts creep in. But if the foundation of your career is solid and sensible, success is inevitable.

The author is assistant professor (hotel operations) at Bharati Vidyapeeth's IHMCT, Pune