Hotel Management Career Options: Job Opportunities, Courses, Salary

Hotel Management is the most demanding sector as per the current trend. One of the significant outcomes of globalization is the tremendous growth in the hotel management industry. Most of the students are willing to pursue hotel management due to its high demand, career opportunities and the field importance. Hence, this opens a number of career options after completion of the hotel management programme. With India being one of the most popular travel destinations with lots of tourist attractions, the government too is encouraging and investing in the development of the hospitality and travel sector.

This Story also Contains

1. What is Hotel Management?
2. Eligibility to pursue a career in hotel management
3. UG Courses for Hotel Management
4. Career after Doing Hotel Management

The hotel industry is a crucial part of the hospitality industry. Students who complete their degrees from top hotel management colleges in India have huge opportunities to grab in this sector. Admission to these colleges is granted on the basis of a national-level entrance exam, NCHM JEE which is conducted once in a year by the National Testing Agency. Apart from its glamour, a career in hotel management has become lucrative and exciting, attracting more and more students to opt for it. Let us know the peek opportunities as what to do after hotel management.

Also read- 10 Essentials of a Good Hotel Management College

What is Hotel Management?

Hotel management is the system that involves the management of all things related to the hotel businesses. Students are taught every aspect related to hotel management during their due course. In the designation of a hotel manager, the candidate will be responsible for overseeing and having a strong knowledge of finance, planning, service and organization. While the team of managers also work along with the candidate, as hotel manager the aspirants are required to lead the team also rather than following. As a field of study it involves learning the management techniques that cover all aspects of managing a hotel business including hotel administration, marketing, accounts, housekeeping, maintenance, food management, catering, and beverage management.
Five-Star hotels require and recruit the trained staff for the following departments:

• Food and Beverage (F&B)
• Housekeeping
• Recreation
• Accounting
• Marketing
• Financial Management
• Computer Applications
• Engineering
• Maintenance
• Security
• Fire Fighting
• Public Relations

Eligibility to pursue a career in hotel management

• Students who have successfully completed their 10+2 are eligible to pursue a degree, diploma, or a certificate course in the field.

• If the candidate have completed their graduation, then they are eligible for the post graduate programme in hotel management.

UG Courses for Hotel Management

There are a number of hotel management courses after class 12 offered by many institutions. Most of the colleges conduct their own hotel management entrance exams. However, most of the admissions to the popular IHM’s and other top colleges is granted on the basis of scores obtained in the NCHM JEE. It is vital that you make an informed decision before taking up a specialization course in hospitality management.

Aspiring candidates need to choose the suitable course that inculcates in its curriculum the maximum hours on hands-on-training, teaches more about the entrepreneurship skills, marketing techniques and financial management required for a smooth career. Many future managers embark on internships to gain more experience, working at different hotels of varying ranges, reputations and locations. This is also a great way to complement the hotel management degree. To learn in detail about the undergraduate courses in hotel management refer to- Hotel Management: UG Courses one can study.

Also read- Best Hospitality Management Courses That Give You edge

Hotel Management: Job Profiles

There are numerous positions in hotel management that offer diverse roles and opportunities. The hospitality and hotel management industry is in constant need of manpower with all time demand. As a hotel management graduate who is skilled, trained and confident, candidates never find any dearth of opportunities. There are so many departments that contribute to different aspects of running a hotel. This also includes recreation, public relations, security, and computer applications besides the above-mentioned mainstream specializations.

Having a hotel management degree helps the aspirants to get a lucrative entry position in food and beverage service, accounts, restaurant service, executive housekeeping, marketing, or other departments within an hotel. As the travel and tourism industry continues to grow at a faster speed with an unmatched pace, there is a continuous increase in demand in the industry for hotel management professionals. Thus, completing a hotel management course gives a career opportunity that’s vast, stable and exciting for bright future. Listed below are some of the careers in hotel management industry.

• Hotel Manager

• Restaurant Manager

• Hotel Director

• Event Coordinator

• Resort Manager

• Event Manager

• Executive Chef

• Housekeeping Manager

• Chief Sommelier

To get detailed information about the jobs after hotel management, candidates may refer - Hotel Management: Types of Job Profiles

Career after Doing Hotel Management

The hotel management business offers a wide range of career opportunities. Therefore, the hotel management sector is a large pool for variety of roles. Another advantage of choosing a career after hotel management is that there is plenty of room for advancement in the field of specialization. When an aspirant choose hotel management as a career line, they can access career opportunities in different types and sizes of the hotels. Most large hotels prefer to promote their existing employees over hiring new ones. It is often also encouraged to take up positions outside of the existing field of specialization to help you broaden your expertise.

Career Prospects:

• Club Management
• Hotels and Restaurants
• Hospital Administration and Catering
• Airline Catering and Cabin Services
• Cruise Ship Hotel Management
• Guest Houses
• Forest Lodges
• Hotel & Catering Institutes
• Catering departments- shipping companies, banks, armed forces, and railways
• Hotel & Tourism Associations

Let us learn about the most common career options after hotel management programme in detail.

1. Hotel Manager

Hotel managers play an important role in running hotels, motels and other lodgings. This involves handling staff, interacting with guests, managing the finances of the property, and much more. The managerial roles could be supervised in conferences, bars, casinos, travel agencies, entertainment venues, etc. They are supposed to create budget and room rates , hire, train and interview new staff along with helping guests in solving any type of issues they find on. A person working as a Hotel Manager in India typically earns around Rs. 46,700 per month. The salaries may range anywhere from Rs. 21,500 (lowest) to Rs. 74,300 (highest).

2. Sales Manager

These are the professionals who need to have years of experience and help hotels in making the money. They work with senior sales managers planning for sales promotion. Possessing complete knowledge of each and every service offered by the hotel is very important for making a successful sale. Work experience is an important factor to succeed in the occupation of hotel management, hence an internship is highly desired by the candidates. Employers hire skill based for the position of hotel sales managers who are decisive, flexible, motivated, creative, and reliable. As there is a potential pressure to generate sales, hotel sales managers must be able to handle the stress appropriately.

3. Restaurant Manager

If you are a foodaholic and you have a perfect nose and aura for a sophisticated dining experience, then you can bring your hotel management degree to use here. This proves an interesting position for the candidates. You can manage an outlet of a renowned chain with years of experience and have a basic start by looking for some smaller independent outlets. The responsibilities include recruiting and hiring restaurant staff, training, restaurant marketing strategies, adjudging food quality, developing menus as well as greeting and serving restaurant guests.

4. Food and Beverage Manager

Food and beverage service managers need to supervise the day-to-day operations of dining arrangements and bars. They order supplies, create schedules, ensure customer satisfaction, and need to train new employees. Additionally, food and beverage service managers handle some human resource and administration duties like employee records, payroll, and customer complaints. The professionals need to also work at fast food chains, upscale restaurants, or cafeterias. The job requires long hours, and many pubs, bars, and hotels are the busiest places on weekends. They must also have the ability to solve problems and have customer service skills.

5. Event Manager

The hotel management degrees act as an interesting aspect for you in this case. Being an event manager there will be several doors opened for you as an event planner, party planner, conference manager, and bridal consultant. The event manager will be organizing and planning weddings, conventions, and various big meetings paying attention to even the minutest detail. For this, the candidate must have the skills of strategizing and executing.

6. Housekeeping Manager

The Housekeeping Manager is responsible for dealing with the job of ordering cleaning supplies in a timely manner. He/she has to supervise the seamstress, housekeepers, and cleaners. The housekeeping managers are responsible for preserving a standard of cleanliness throughout a hotel or other hospitality venue. There are also opportunities for management positions within these areas like housekeeping director, maintenance director, operations director, housekeeping supervisor, etc.

7. Banquet Manager

The Banquet Manager is entitled to coordinate the delivery of all food and beverages for parties, functions, events, and conferences that are held in the hotel. The banquet manager needs to work very closely with the food and beverage service manager and the catering department to ensure that food and drinks and timely snacks are presented to the guests without any delay and also good in taste.

8. If you can, open a hotel

An excellent experience for any budding hotel manager is to involve himself in a hotel opening. It can be the new site of a leading brand or a boutique independent, either way, seeing what it takes to get a hotel started gives you a true understanding of all the moving parts. Unlike taking a job at an established hotel, where you have processes in place to learn and master, at an opening hotel, you’re responsible for installing or even creating those processes.

The skills you need to have include leadership qualities such as teamwork, regular communication and taking care of the organization. However, you also need to understand and appreciate the challenges every department faces. It is important to spend time working or shadowing each part of a hotel, from finance to housekeeping. This ensures to have the awareness and experience to assist these departments when an aspirant becomes a manager.