Which companies should I sit for placements? Or you just came back from your industrial training and the things didn’t go as expected? Or maybe seeing your seniors working in the other segment made you curious? Why didn’t they choose hotels? Is the retail sector a really good option? What about growth? Or money? Is it really worth? And now you are all confused and don’t know what to do. Don’t worry! My dear. I have seen this trend in final year students of Hotel Management about their final career choice for quite some time and having so many options to choose from, the real choice generally comes downs to Retail giants vs Hotel warriors. But stress no more, you have come to the right place. But before we start discussing the pros and cons lets us know what else students of hotel management can opt for apart from these two. Here are 8 not so popular but equally worth options for hotel management students :-
1. Restaurant chains 2. Forest lodges 3. Cruise ships 4. Travel and tour operators 5. Club management 6 Catering division of various government and non-government organization. 7. PR/ customer management departments of various government and non-government organization. 8. Sales and marketing
ITC Gardenia, Bagalore
Now we know what else we can go for, lets us discuss our main topic. Hotel vs Retail and the first thing fresher usually ask;
1. Who pays more? How can I earn more in less time?
To be honest, as fresher you should never focus on money especially at this point of time in your career graph. Apparently retails offer competitive monetary benefits compared to hotels; the reason being as there no set standard of hiring in India. Companies find it easy to hire someone on a low or contract package rather hiring a professional who has devoted his 3-4 years of his time learning. For example, the starting package of retail MT would be around 3 lakhs p.a. {equals to Rs.20,000/ month approx} and a hotel MT would be earning around 17-18 thousand rupees. In both cases, early salaries are still not attractive but it is what they are offering. But what about 2-3 years later? In that case, things really come to the performance of the candidate or the experience his/her CV is carrying. References, number of projects and social work are some of the factors that put gravity in your resume{this applies to all the sectors}. And yes there is no saturation of growth in retails after a certain period of time. Its a common myth. Retail pay you better in the start but in end, it all comes down to you and your performance.
2. Which has better Work Life equation?
Short answer:- None
Explanation – In both of the sectors, companies will put you under some training period so that you become aware of the product and policies of the company. Retail training is a shorter period of time, normally for 3-4 months to 1-year max. Whereas the hotel training period is normally 18 months for HOT and 24 months for the MT program.
In both of the cases, this period of time will be very stressful and hectic as you will be honing your practical skills along the theoretical learning curve. After this, you might feel that you don’t have to work this hard now. But the reality is you won’t get off on season time/ weekends. There is will be no Sunday. Difficult social life. You will miss your favourite cousin’s marriage and a lot more. You will work when everyone else is celebrating and this applies to both the sectors. In the end, you just get used to it like any other job. There is no sweet escape for anyone.
3. Job Security
This part totally depends on the performance of the company/unit. In 2015 McDonald’s closed its large number of outlets in Delhi due to quality issues. In 2019 McDonald’s again closed its Delhi and nearby outlets due to franchise issues. Similarly, recent events in Sri Lanka caused Shangri La to shut down till further notice. So its all depends on the market’s demand & supply. But in comparison, it takes a lot to fully shut down a hotel than a retail outlet. Hence in short hotel provide more job security than a retail company although none of them like government jobs.
4. Which has more Growth?
Companies which are expanding their business offers better growth chances to their employees. As a hotel requires crore of investment and a long time to become fully functional retail/other similar sector offer fast track growth with similar monetary benefits. It is always better to choose a company which has expansion plans in future. But how do you know whether they have expansions plans or not? Well apparently they will show it to you during their PPTs session {placements} or you can search it online. If still you don’t have relevant data just ask them after your interview is over. TIP:- This can be a good question when the HR asks you this “Do you have any questions for us?”
5. Work Pressure
Work pressure is directly proportional to your designation and type of organization. Also if you in Sales and Marketing/similar departments where you have to complete targets then the pressure would be high. Talking about creative freedom retails follow the same procedure again and again whereas you will have some space in hotels. {kitchen and F&B}
6. Can I switch in future?
But why you want to switch? Are you not happy with your work? Or you want to do something more lively? Like raising horses in a barn?
Your reason not listed here. Then find it out yourself asap.
Most the people will say it is easy to go from a hotel job to a retail job but vice versa is not. It’s true till the fact you don’t want to switch between industries. In fact, hospitality and its related sector are based on one single thing that is CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT. If you are not liking your hotel job believe me his retail cousin is almost identical. This also applies to vice versa condition but exceptions are always there.
As a general rule, please mind switching between hotels takes time with little/no salary increment where switching between retail is just opposite to it.
So if you really want to switch then consider all the options and think out of the box because maybe you are just not made for this thing and your strength lies somewhere else.
7. Is there any chances to go to any Foreign country?
Hotel wins this part easily. There is always a high demand for Food & beverage and kitchen people from markets of Arab countries {example Qatar, Bahrain and UAE etc}, Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia etc. Also, there are no special requirements apart from working experience and basics. For other departments, these countries prefer knowledge of native culture as well as language for the hiring of a foreign candidate. Front Office person should have a neutral accent and good personality whereas housekeeping person must have a bear grip on technical knowledge. But that doesn’t mean the retail sector does not provide you such benefits but it varies from organization to organization. Note:- Please read the eligibility criteria of the company you are applying for carefully.
In a nutshell, we can agree on the fact that both of the options have their pros and cons and none of them is a complete package. But being said this, a student should first tie down his/her priorities and interest, so that he/she can decide the best for his/her interests. As for the sector are concerned both of them are not new to India. A large portion of the IHMites is already working in this sector and many of them are highly successful in their career.
