In this field, English-speaking employees are highly valued, as are people with professional qualifications.
For a country that has the value of ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ (Guest is God) embedded into its culture, it’s no surprise that the hospitality industry in India has always been a prime career option. And with the tourism boom, the service industry has only further flourished. Pallavi Smart explores different career options that this field provides.
The hospitality industry, while growing at a fast pace, is also considered labour-intensive. With a large population of young English speakers, this field with vast opportunities for growth is especially attractive.
Conventional career options
Cooking: If you like watching the popular TV show MasterChef and have a flair for cooking innovatively, this might just be the profession for you. A chef can make or break a restaurant’s image with his/her skills and is therefore a highly valued employee. There is a myth that a chef can have a good career only in big establishments. However, even regular restaurants can open the doors to greater career opportunities. While this profession largely depends on individual talent, there are several training courses available, a hotel management degree being the most popular option for students who have completed class 12.
Housekeeping: Gone are the days when housekeeping was about sweeping floors and considered an infra dig profession. Today, housekeeping is recognised as a highly developed skill for which several diploma courses are available. English-speaking employees are highly valued, as are people with professional qualifications. As hotels keep increasing, the demand for professional housekeeping is also expected to grow, with lucrative jobs available abroad.
Travel and Tourism: With India being such a vast and diverse country, the travel and tourism industry has become a very popular choice for young and ambitious people seeking employment. It basically consists of providing services for people who are away from home, on business or holiday. This very vast field includes jobs in government tourism departments, immigration and customs services, travel agencies, airlines, tour operator services, hotels and many associated service industries such as airline catering or laundry services. If communication is your forte, you can even train to become a guide or interpreter.
Unconventional career options
Kitchen Stewarding: In this age of specialisation, a cook in a restaurant focuses only on cooking, whereas a kitchen steward takes care of other work in the kitchen which include tasks such as cleaning and organising, maintaining hygiene in the kitchen, maintaining a record of accounts, and monitoring the use of machines and their maintenance. A good steward can be placed anywhere within the hotel hierarchy, depending on the hotel.
Bartending: Another glamourous profession in the hospitality industry is bartending. A bartender serves alcoholic drinks at bars, pubs and restaurants. While in a restaurant the focus is generally on the food, a bartender should not just be a skilled mixer of drinks but also an entertainer. The Indian Institute of Bartending in Chennai and other institutes provide training in this profession.
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