A Concise Career Guide to Hotel Management after 10+2

Career in Hotel Management can be very rewarding. If you do not want to go for engineering then Hotel Management is a great career option.

In this article we look at how you can start a career in hotel management right after 10+2.

So read this article in order to get complete picture.

When Should You Start?

Although you can start a career anytime you like but it is better to start early, especially a career like hotel management.

The best time to start a career in hotel management is right after 10+2.

Whether you are from science stream, commerce stream or arts stream anyone can go for degree courses in hotel management.

However we have seen that students from science and commerce streams do not go for hotel management, only students from arts stream go for it.

Why is it so?

Well that is another story but to put it simply it is very unlikely that a student who wants to be an engineer will go for hotel management.

So to cut the whole story short start right after 10+2.

Is Hotel Management for You?

This is a tough question but it is better that you find an answer before you think of starting a career in hotel management.

There will be various roles in the job that you may have to perform.

You may have to work in food and beverage industry or in hospitality sector. You will be given roles like sales and marketing, accounting, front office operation, housekeeping etc.

The roles given to you will depend upon your qualification, expertise and experience.

If you find you can’t see yourself as a cook or a waiter then do not go for hotel management.

So decide first and make your mind.

Personal Attributes and Necessary Skills

You must have certain attributes in your personality if you are going for a job in hospitality sector.

Jobs in hospitality sector require you to acquire certain traits in your personality.

• Fairly good communication skills. Even if you don’t have a developed speaking skill you must try hard to develop it at least.
• You must have decent listening skills and patience to bear an irritating customer.
• You also have to get used to criticism because customers are going to complain and at times you will get scolding from your boss.
• You have to work with a team and have a good interpersonal relationship with them.
• There is a lot of hard work and you have to ready to work odd hours.

Market for Hotel Management Graduates

When you see current scenario then things are not that bad. There is a huge market for hotel management graduates.

India is one of the lucrative destinations when it comes to travel and business.

India’s hotel industry is growing rapidly and it is estimated that India will be in the list of top 5 countries where people would like to travel and do business.

But there is a huge shortage of hotels and trained staff to handle this growth.

Government is also giving incentives to hotel chains to build new hotels all over the country.

Hence there is a huge need of hotel management grads to fulfill this gap.

Job Prospects for Hotel Management Graduates

After reading previous article it is quite sure that job prospects are quite good. If hotel industry is going to expand and get bigger then job prospects will also increase.

Right now according to a rough estimate over 3 million to 4 million people are working for hotel, catering and other jobs related to it.

However in coming years this number is going to grow and increase 3 folds.

So, big hotel chains will need new employees. They would prefer to hire trained employees over untrained employees.

Hotel chains are more likely to hire hotel management graduates over unskilled labor.

Hence job prospects are really great.

How Much Does it Cost You?

Hotel industry is booming and the job prospect is really great so you might be thinking why I don’t join a college to get a degree in hotel management.

But a degree in hotel management is going to cost you some serious money.

Usually the amount will depend upon the college you are applying for.

For example, Christ College in Bangalore could charge around Rs 48,000 per semester for a four years long BHM course.

However for same course IHM college in Chennai could charge around Rs 37,500/- per semester.

If you can’t afford paying Rs 300,000/- to Rs 400,000/- for a four year degree course then you can join diploma courses offered by same institutes.

Different Hotel Management Courses

We need to talk more about various hotel management courses.

Hotel management is not monolith. They have dozens of courses that can be three years or four years long.

Although the Hotel Management is a vast subject and it can include courses from areas like management, marketing, accountancy etc but here we will talk about most ubiquitous courses.

1. Bachelor in Hotel Management (BHM)
2. Bachelor in Arts in Hotel Management
3. Bachelor in Science in Hotel Management
4. BA (Hons) in Hotel Management
5. BBA (Bachelor in Business Administration) in Hotel Management
6. MBA in Hotel Management
7. Master of Science in Hotel Management
8. Diploma in Hotel Management
9. Post Graduate Diploma in Hotel Management
10. Certificate Courses in Hotel and Catering Management

Eligibility Criteria and Admission

Let us first talk about eligibility criteria and then admission.

Eligibility Criteria

• For Certificate Courses: Certificate courses are only 6 months long so 12^th pass students can join them.
• For Diploma Courses: For diploma courses students must pass 12^th with at least 40% marks and English as a compulsory subject.
• For Degree Courses: For undergraduate or degree courses students must have completed 12^th with 50% marks and English as a compulsory subject.
• For Post Graduate Courses : Graduate with 45% from a recognized university.

Admission

To get admission in a college you have to appear in an entrance exam.

Entrance exams are conducted by individual colleges or it can be a common entrance test. Exams are conducted in the month of April.

Students are allotted seats according to the merit list.

Some of the Best Institutions for Hotel Management

In case you are interested in knowing some of the best hotel management institutes in the country then do read this paragraph.

Here is the list of best hotel management colleges in India.

• Institute of Hotel Management, New Delhi 
• Delhi Institute of Hotel Management,  New Delhi 
• Institute of Hotel Management, Chennai
• Institute of Hotel Management, Bangalore
• Garden City College, Bangalore
• Institute of Hotel Management,  Kolkata 
• Institute of Hotel Management, Bhopal
• Institute of Hotel Management, Gandhinagar
• Institute of Hotel Management,  Lucknow
• Institute of Hotel Management, Bhubaneswar
• Institute of Hotel Management, Guwahati
• Institute of Hotel Management, Goa
• Institute of Hotel Management,  Jodhpur
• Institute of Hotel Management, Gurdaspur 
• Institute of Hotel Management, Gangtok 
• Institute of Hotel Management, Catering & Applied Nutrition,  Dehradun

Realistic Job Profiles for Hotel Management Grads

You would like to know what you are going to do once you have completed your education and entered the job market.

Here are some of the roles that you may find yourself in.

Hotel Manager:

Hotel Managers are responsible for efficient and proper functioning of the hotel and all operations related to it.

They will supervise the food quality, aesthetics, and ambience of the hotel room.

He or she will overlook, plan and organize services related to catering.

You will take care of dining operations at a much lower level.

Restaurant Managers

Restaurant Manager’s job is not necessarily for a big hotel chain.

Here you will be responsible for procurement and supply of products that goes into running a restaurant.

Chefs

Chefs are needed in big hotels as well as small restaurant. Chef career will depend upon how big of a restaurant you are working with.

All your culinary skills will be put to test here.

Here you will look at the finer details like arrangements in the restaurant. Things like table, linen, flowers, cutlery etc will be arranged by you.

Floor Supervisors

Floor supervisors will overlook all the maids and linen of a hotel room.

Here you will deal with accounting and marketing operations. CA or chartered accountants are preferred for accounting jobs and marketers for marketing jobs.

There are other job profiles like engineering department, IT department, forecasting department etc. They are all related to Hotel Management.

How Much Salary to Except?

Again the salary would depend upon your job profile.

If you are going for a managerial post then salary is higher. But if you are looking for lower profile jobs then salary is not that very much.

On an average a manager with an experience of 2 to 3 years after graduation can earn up to Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 per month.

If you are steward then you starting salary could be Rs 7000 to Rs 8000.

However if you work hard then you can move up the ladder.

Best Companies to Work With

Here are some of the best companies to work with.

1. Oberoi Group of Hotels
2. ITC Group of Hotels
3. Taj Group of Hotels
4. K Raheja Group of Hotels
5. Jaypee Group of Hotels
6. Le Meridien Group of Hotels
7. Mansingh Group of Hotels
8. Holiday Inn Group of Hotels
9. Welcome Heritage Group of Hotels
10. Ambassador Group of Hotels

These are some of the best companies to work with.

Pros and Cons of Hotel Management Job

Let us see some advantages and disadvantages of Hotel Management jobs.

Pros

Even if you are not engineering or a medical graduate you still have an opportunity to be something in your life with a degree in hotel management.

Secondly the sector is growing and there is a lot of job opportunity.

Cons

Hotel management jobs are really tough and you may have to work for long hours. Moreover remuneration is also very low in the beginning.

So this is all you need to about the career in hotel management.