Everything you need to know about Hotel Management internships

For most of us, vacations are synonymous to travelling and getting to see new places.  And with travelling becoming a new passion among youngsters, the tourism industry is growing by leaps and bounds. An integral part of tourism is hospitality. The increase in opportunities in hospitality industry made hotel management a hot career. There are many new restaurants and hotels opening up all over India and the demand of professionals is increasing too. A crucial part of hotel management courses are the internships and are given considerable weightage in the final semester exams too.

How to apply for a hotel management internship?
1. Contacting the hotel: The best way to apply for hotel management internships is by contacting the training department or HR of the hotel directly and asking if they have a vacancy for the internship. If they have a vacancy, you’ll be asked to send your CV. If your CV is shortlisted, you’ll be called for an interview.
2. Through college: The easiest way to get an internship position at a hotel is through your college. Most colleges send their students’ resumes to the hotels. After this, the students appear for an interview before a panel.

Duration:
Summer Batch: Mostly starts from June/July onwards.
Winter Batch: Mostly starts from September/October onwards.

How to prepare?
Both hands-on experience and classroom learning are important while considering a candidate for the internship. Maintaining good grades and attendance during college is one way to enhance your chances of securing an internship at a good hotel.
While preparing for the interview,  research well about the company’s senior staff and management. Learn about the company’s events, achievements, and awards. In addition to mentioning these things during the interview, you should also talk about why these things interest you and further motivate you to work for the company. When answering, talk about the things that the company does in terms of treating its guests and training its staff. Some of the frequently asked questions are:
• Why do you want to work for us?
• What do you know about the company/hotel?
• What are your career goals in the hospitality industry?
• What are your key strengths that you can bring to a role in hospitality?
• If you get this job, how long do you see yourself staying with us?
These questions are designed to test not only your problem-solving skills but also your sense of teamwork, diplomacy, and tact. Let the interviewer know that you take responsibility for your own mistakes and how to learn and grow from failed projects and poor decisions. For more sample questions and interview tips, visit here.

Two skills are considered crucial while selecting a candidate for internships. These are:
1. Customer service skills – Ability to work under pressure and ability to stay organised and focused on tasks at hand.
2. Communication skills – Command over the language (both regional and English)  and familiarity with the industry.

Why opt for a hotel management internship?
The easiest way to secure a job at the leading hotels is by interning with them. The colleges usually help students secure internships at hotels. The hotel management industry is all about treating one’s customer right and this experience can only be gained if students learn to interact properly with guests. Working in a hotel requires a lot of skills like interpersonal communication (oral & written), interacting well with diverse cultures/ groups, knowledge of community resources, researching & planning, and critical thinking that get taught in hotel management courses but you only get to implement it during the internship. A friendly personality and a desire to help genuinely is a pre-requisite for the industry.

Word of advice:
Prepare a field specific resume – The hospitality field is competitive. In your resume, emphasise the unique challenges you overcame, the times when you showed real leadership, and the times when you acted as though your personal reputation and company’s reputation were same. Hospitality managers love candidates who take total ownership over the guest experience, and who take guest comfort personally, and seriously. For more hospitality resume tips, visit here.
The customer is always right – Do everything you can to turn an upset guest’s problem into a good story that they will want to share of how you went above and beyond the call of duty to ensure their good experience. See every complaint as an opportunity to improve the way your hotel functions.

Work as a hotel management intern:
As part of the internship, students are made to work in different departments of the hotel such as front office, housekeeping, food & beverage service, and kitchen. Some of the common profiles for hotel management internships are:
Front office Manager manages the front office staff who welcome the guests and customers and allot hotel rooms to them according to their needs.
House Keeping Manager takes care of the hygiene, cleanliness, and decoration of hotel rooms. In this position, you may be in charge of hiring housekeepers and training them. You may also need to schedule workers so that there is always the right number of workers at each shift.
Food and Beverage Manager does the job of overseeing eateries and refreshment administrations to ensure quality is kept up to the mark. It also includes requesting for supplies, dealing with the expenses, and managing the kitchen.

Best hotel management internships in India:
Marriot Hotel – Marriot offers internships for six months. Generally, they consider candidates sent by the colleges. One can apply for internships for both batches.
Oberoi Hotel – Oberoi offers internships for both shorter duration (17 weeks) at a single department to longer duration (six months) internship.
Leela Hotel – Leela offers a 17-week internship to students pursuing hotel management from Institute of Hotel Management (IHM) and a 22-week internship to students from other colleges.
Taj Mahal Hotel – Taj offers four-and-a-half to six-month industrial training to students at all hotel management related departments.
Westin Hotel – Westin offers a six-month internship for the students and select applicants through college references only.

Now that you know everything about hotel management internships, launch your career by applying to these hotel management internships.

Pic courtesy: http://www.iimtindia.net