@twicearound I’m glad those individuals are doing well but I don’t see how their degree helped them. I’m sure they got where they needed to through hard work and experience.
@prof2dad My apologies. I was grouping hotel management with hospitality. You’re right. There are few degrees with hotel management.
I still have to disagree about the degree being useful. The experience is much more important.
May I ask what fields the MD moved onto after finishing up with their respective fields.
BigD124, no problem. One of them became a professional musician. Many MDs are good musicians. For example, there are many MDs playing for LongWood Orchestra, Cambridge, MA. One is now an entrepreneur. Another one is my friend’s friend, and she is doing serious writing now.
Here is some dishonesty about the college major:http://www.careerigniter.com/questions/why-choose-hospitality-management/
“Many hospitality jobs also offer flexible hours. You may be able to select from morning, afternoon, or even overnight hours.”
Not if you want to get ahead in the industry. You most likely have to be on call 24 hours a day if you want to get promoted to or once you become a first line supervisor or manager.
Furthermore, what this articles neglects to inform the reader is that the majority of hotels are bought and sold ever couple years. Meaning, you would have relocate once the new management team takes over and you’re out of a job.
We will just have to agree to disagree. I gave you several examples of people who had different experiences than what you describe–they didn’t all have to relocate, they didn’t all find it as terrible as you did, they do value their degrees. It is not as black and white as you are so defiantly arguing. It is clear this is a career path that isn’t for you. Best wishes in your future endeavors.
I don’t disagree with you. My daughter has a couple friends that are hospitality majors and I really think they would be much better off as business majors. You can get a job in Hospitality with a business degree but it’s difficult the other way around. I have a business degree (Human Resources) but my first job out of college was in a management training program for a hotel management company. I LOVED the job but the pay was low and I worked about 70 hours a week.
But I am a little surprised that you received a degree in Hospitality and at no point did you learn about Managament Companies. It can work both ways - if the Managament company that you work with buys a hotel - you could be “brought along”.
@twicearound I believe you when you say those individual didn’t have to relocate and enjoy their profession. You say
they do value their degrees." If you’re talking about the aforementioned individuals, then I can agree that THEY might value their degrees but I never seen any benefit in this industry.
After the first GM was fired and had to find work in another state, the new management company that took over my hotel conducted a through search for a replacement. Someone left one of the resumes next to me and I noticed that particular individual, who was GM at a number of other hotels, had no college degree at all.
Many people submit resumes for a position , but that doesn’t mean that they will be considered for or actually be offered a position. Your post about dishonesty with your major was not dishonest IMO. It stated you " may be able to select from morning, afternoon or even overnight hours". That is true. Nowhere does it say as a new grad you are guaranteed that flexibility. That is true in many professions. The one that comes to mind immediately is nursing. Many new grads have to take second shift jobs for quite sometime before being able to get a first shift , weekday position.
Yes but YOU are not the definitive source just as they are not. Experiences vary and that’s my point. It’s not black and white.
There are some fields where degree matters and some where just having a degree matters. It’s an innocuous degree. People change fields all the time, including those with very specialized degrees. It can be and is done.
RE: Business degree. Many great schools don’t even offer a business degree yet place well in business.
@carolinamom2boys I can assure you that particular individual was indeed considered. And why wouldn’t he be? He has decades of experience and was a GM. He was no doubt qualified.
IMO, at least the education I got was dishonest as my school didn’t inform me the most basic aspect about my major. One of my coworkers at the hotel I was working at was actually one of the teachers at my school. HE was the one who informed me that the majority of hotels are bought and sold every couple years and new managers are brought in after every sale. It sure would have been nice to know that while I was in school so I could have changed my major.
If someone is adamant about a career in hotels and wants to go to school, I would recommend an accounting degree. Becoming an accountant at a hotel would propel you above the terrible entry level jobs and this would no doubt jumpstart you in becoming a GM over a degree in hospitality.
After working a year and a half in this industry, my sister informed me she was going to interview at a hotel for a Banquet Manager position. She was a journalism major and was working on a weekly newsletter at a local college. At this position she was working normal business hours and was earning decent money-nearly twice the amount I was at the hotel. In addition to the newsletter she was in charge of scheduling the banquet functions at the college she was working for. After working in the hotel for years, my next step would an hourly supervisor and then to a management position. I couldn’t apply for a position like the one my sister did until after 10 years or so. My sister was only five years removed from school and she got an interview despite never working at a hotel in her life.
I don’t think it is fair that I paid for more dues than her but only she could interview for a far better position because of her experience.
My point is my degree was worthless to someone who had a little bit of similar work experience.
You say that the applicant had decades of experience . When he started out , experience was what was needed. Today, things are different . A degree is not a guarantee for employment . It is not the schools job to inform a student about future job opportunities and the real world situations involved in that career. It is the student’s responsibility to do their homework to find those things out before choosing a career or major.
@twicearound “There are some fields where degree matters and some where just having a degree matters. It’s an innocuous degree. People change fields all the time, including those with very specialized degrees. It can be and is done.”
Having a college degree, really any bachelor’s degree, could place you above someone who doesn’t in the sense that some believe a degree is still useful and would be more inclined to hire you.
However, you nor anyone else has given a reason why a degree specific in hospitality would be more beneficial to any other bachelor degree when you’re trying to make career in hotels.
Like I said in my last post, an accounting degree would be MUCH more beneficial.
Unsurprisingly, Hospitality Management made a list of the 10 worst college degrees to earn last year:
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/10-worst-college-degrees-to-earn-in-2015/
“You say that the applicant had decades of experience . When he started out , experience was what was needed. Today, things are different .”
How are they different today? Experience trumps all. Nobody was offered a management job at a hotel right out of school in my graduating class.
"It is not the schools job to inform a student about future job opportunities and the real world situations involved in that career. It is the student’s responsibility to do their homework to find those things out before choosing a career or major. "
No but it is their responsibility to inform the student ABOUT their chosen major. Learning about how these management companies do business is something we would need to know about even if nothing would deter us from a career in hotels. I joined knowing that I wasn’t going to be making much at first. I joined knowing that I would work nights and weekends. I joined knowing that I would deal with complaints on a continual basis. I was never informed that the management companies are changed so often in hotels.
Plus, I did do my homework. I was very skeptical about this and every other major I was considering. There was no information that I found that would have informed me of the massive turnover among management. I guarantee nobody at my school would inform you of this as well. They’re not going to bad mouth the product AKA the education the student intends on purchasing. Even when I do a search online just now I don’t many or really any articles about high turnovers among managers. I see plenty on hotel staff, which I too expected, but not among the managers themselves. Perhaps, someone else can find some but I KNOW there was nothing to that effect when I was in school some time ago.
Ok, you and Holly Johnson agree. So? You can googles lots of lists. What’s your point? Forbes did a list and it didn’t make that list. Meaningless.
http://www.forbes.com/pictures/fgek45hg/no-10-english-language-and-literature/
An accounting agree is better IF it is of interest to you, your field, your goals, etc. So you think hospitality isn’t useful and it turns out you don’t like the field. Figure out what you want to do and what you need to do to get there. It’s not one size fits all. Practical is not everyone’s goal. For some it should be and needs to be. Your opinion is not revolutionary. It’s a degree that deserves due diligence like many others. That’s really all you need to say. Just not getting why you have to win this argument?
Here’s what I take from this - always talk to people in a profession before you choose a major. That’s the route I’m recommending to my D’s.
Good advice Sportsman88. Do your own due diligence then make an educated decision.
Excellent advice @Sportsman88 .
@twicearound With that list I showed that it was more than just me who shared these sentiments. For what it’s worth, here is another list that agrees with me: http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2012/04/23/the-13-most-useless-majors-from-philosophy-to-journalism.html#slide_11
“An accounting agree is better IF it is of interest to you, your field, your goals, etc.”
If your interest and goal is to become a General Manager, then I would definitely recommend an accounting degree. Wouldn’t you prefer to work at a job for 5-10 years, even if it is a job you wouldn’t want, if it meant that you would be much closer to your career goal.
To start off as a General Manager, you are going to probably work at a small hotel where you would be the one completing payroll and other accounting functions anyways.
Can you give me reasons why a hospitality degree would be beneficial OVER another bachelor degree? There are certainly reasons that warrant hospitality over accounting if you want a career in hotels.
Like I said before, I made a very calculated decision before following through with hospitality. I get the impression you think I put little effort into my decision.
The lists are meaningless. I can post lists that don’t include it. What’s the point? You’re not an authority, you’re an example. The best advice on this thread was simple: talk to others (plural). People just need to make educated decisions that makes sense for them. No one needs to prove or disprove anything to anyone else. It’s not for you. Noted. It is for some. Deal with it.
I agree that it might be for some people. That does NOT mean the degree has a practical application over other bachelor degrees, especially the particular one I talked about at length. In reality, you’re taught nothing anyways.