Here’s the story:Retaining the Benefits of Hotel Education
Here’s how I see it as a young,small fish in an old,large pond…
Though this story is read in Issue #49 of the podcast,I thought it was still important to address because it something that is very applicable to me as someone “recently” out of college,even if it was five years ago. With a quick search around some social media sites you can figure out where I went to college,but for this posting I’m going to omit the school’s name. I started working at a hotel company the summer between my sophomore and junior years of college and it became apparent that the experience I was getting was helping me in school more than the education I was receiving. Everything I learned within my first two years of college,before starting to work in the industry,was very abstract and a lot of “This is how we do this”-preaching from teachers who have been out of the field for quite some time. Being able to apply the lessons in class to the real world was not what was happening,it was the reverse,I was applying my working experience to my school work to display a better understanding of concepts and the “real world” which was made to seem like a hell-ish existence by our professors.
Betsy MacDonald offers two ways to better retain the educated workforce. The first one is to give reasonable expectation about what the job entails,how quickly you’ll move through it,and what the working conditions will be like. I like that she points out this information should be offered from both colleges/universities,as well as the hotel companies themselves so that there are no surprises for a graduate who isn’t a General Manager by the age of 25. Generally speaking,the operations side of a hotel can be quite scary as a first job for someone. Maybe the long hours don’t apply to line staff,but the yelling of customers,high expectations from your own company,and the speed at which you are expected to move certainly do.
I’ve never been a fan of the “throw ‘em to the wolves” mentality for new employees/managers,but unfortunately,there is some value to learning how to fix problems on your own and “sinking or swimming.” If there was a book that had the answer to every problem that would come up within a hotel,it’d be too big to carry. There is a level of conditioning and numbness that comes after your first few years in the hotel world which school cannot teach you. Eventually,a guest threatening your life because you don’t have a king bed for them has less of an effect on you,being called a racist because you are sold out doesn’t feel as offensive after the 10th time,and working 12+ hours doesn’t seem so difficult after doing it each day. I do believe that people either have “it” or they don’t- if those things I just mentioned will make you run away crying to the back office then hotels aren’t the place for you. Thicker skin comes with time,but it’s all about the reward you feel from doing your job correctly,resulting in happy guests and happy owners/management.
The second way that Betsy recommends retaining the educated workforce is offering more competitive salaries. I have friends who make two,three,or four times more than I do. Do I blame them or myself for my career path? No. This is where the intangible’s come into play. I love what I do,and that’s worth me staying in the field that I paid to get a degree in,even if it is making less than other Law-graduates or stock traders who hate their jobs. And again,it’s about how you value what you do and what you take out of it.
The biggest challenge regarding salary of educated hotel workers is the increase in tuition costs,as Betsy points out. The higher paying hotel locations are within major cities,and so cost of living is higher. Paying rent and then the same amount in loans each month is less than pleasant. These are all things that should be thought of/considered/addressed before choosing hospitality management as a career choice. My guidance counselor suggested it to me because my grades weren’t great and the school I attended did not have SAT score requirements at the time,so it was a natural fit! It turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life;I do something I love and that I am good at,and it’s something I see a future in.
To my fellow Hotel/Hospitality degree holders,what do you think?
