doi: 10.56294/sctconf2024892

 

Category: Education, Teaching, Learning and Assessment

 

ORIGINAL

 

Implication of industrial exposure training (IET) in career outlook of hotel management students

 

Implicación de la formación industrial en las perspectivas profesionales de los estudiantes de hostelería

 

D. Gunaseelan1  *, Seby P. Mathews1   *, G. Nandhika2   *

 

1Department of Hotel Management, Jamal Mohamed College (Autonomous). Trichy, India.

2M.A. Economics, Bishop Heber College (Autonomous). Trichy, India.

 

Cite as: Gunaseelan D, Mathews SP, Nandhika G. Implication of industrial exposure training (IET) in career outlook of hotel management students. Salud, Ciencia y Tecnología - Serie de Conferencias. 2024; 3:892. https://doi.org/10.56294/sctconf2024892

 

Submitted: 05-02-2024                   Revised: 21-04-2024                   Accepted: 11-06-2024                 Published: 12-06-2024

 

Editor: Dr. William Castillo-González  

 

ABSTRACT

 

For a student of hotel management, industrial exposure training is their first real experience. During his or her IET, he or she will learn about the industry’s current trends and job requirements. It also enables students to choose a department in which they could potentially find employment. Only via internships can theory be turned into practical knowledge; therefore, IET is a crucial consideration for all hotel management students.

The main concept of this study to identify the impact of industrial exposure training in the generation of career outlook of hotel management students. This research is useful for students, colleges and hotels to understand the fruitfulness of IET in hotel management students. From the results it is very evident that IET plays a major role in the generation of career outlook of the students and through their training program they acquired required work behaviour, operational skills, interpersonal skills, and the awareness regarding the current trends in industry and most of the respondents agreed that they got clear vision regarding the industry. Finally, research concluded that IET plays vital role in developing industry related attributes in students.

 

Keywords: Industrial Exposure Training; Career Outlook; Work Behaviour; Current Trends; Operational Skills and Interpersonal Skills.

 

RESUMEN

 

Para un estudiante de hostelería, la formación de exposición industrial es su primera experiencia real. Durante su IET, conocerá las tendencias actuales de la industria y los requisitos laborales. También permite a los estudiantes elegir un departamento en el que potencialmente podrían encontrar empleo. Sólo a través de las prácticas se puede convertir la teoría en conocimiento práctico; por lo tanto, el IET es una consideración crucial para todos los estudiantes de hostelería.

El concepto principal de este estudio es identificar el impacto de la formación de exposición industrial en la generación de perspectivas de carrera de los estudiantes de hostelería. Esta investigación es útil para que los estudiantes, las facultades y los hoteles comprendan la fecundidad de la IET en los estudiantes de hostelería. De los resultados se desprende que el IET desempeña un papel importante en la generación de perspectivas profesionales de los estudiantes y que, a través de su programa de formación, adquirieron el comportamiento laboral, las habilidades operativas, las habilidades interpersonales y el conocimiento de las tendencias actuales de la industria. Por último, la investigación llegó a la conclusión de que el IET desempeña un papel vital en el desarrollo de atributos relacionados con la industria en los estudiantes.

 

Palabras clave: Formación para la Exposición Industrial; Perspectivas Profesionales; Comportamiento Laboral; Tendencias Actuales; Operational Skills and Interpersonal Skills.

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

Hospitality industry is considered as the one of the glamour and tear less industries in the world. This industry is providing growth as well as job opportunities for many people across the world. There are more than 34 catering colleges in Kerala (collegeduniya.com, 2018) across generally 20 thousand of students are graduating year but still the supply is lesser than the demand. This is only because that many people who entered into this is leaving soon after without the completion of one year.(1)

Through this research article I tried to find out the impact of IET in career outlook. Many students who choose hotel management as their career without any prior research or prior knowledge about the industry. For all hotel management students, the only first interface or exposure to the industry is outdoor catering service and industrial exposure training. This research article will be helpful.

Students: to know about the qualities, attributes, and work nature of the industry so that they can do a cross check with their skills and the required qualities in the industry.

Managers: to understand the skill gaps and training required are of freshers in the industry so that they can develop training modules for the required skill in the industry.

Colleges: to know about the perception level of students who are joining in this industry so that they can give right guidance regarding the industry work atmosphere and its nature so that they will get a right awareness regarding the industry.

This study is novel concept in hotel industry because many studies conducted regarding the same field is related to employee attrition and satisfaction. Through this project the exact outcome for students through industrial exposure training can be identified so that all hotels and catering colleges can amend their training schedule in order to increase the effectiveness of the training program through that sustainable manpower for the industry can be generated.(2)

 

Review of literature

This study is an exploratory study since enough and required material as review of literature is not available for the topic as such, but similar studies conducted in various areas include. Michael Hergert of San Diego State University, USA, did a study on “Student Opinions of The Importance of Internships in Management School”.(4) There is a strong statistical correlation between the perceived value of the internship and the student’s demographic profile, the structure of the internship, and the connection to the students’ career plans, according to a study conducted on 114 undergraduate and graduate students to identify the factors that account for the most valuable internship experience. These findings provide a basis for designing successful internship programs in business education.(3,6)

A panel of students, including Brooks, Linda, Cornelius, Allen, Greenfield, Ellen, Joseph, and Robin, performed a study with 165 respondents on the topic of “The Connection of Career-Related Work or Internship Experiences to the Career Development of College Seniors.” According to the study’s findings, internship experience whether it be alone or in combination with work experience is associated with higher levels of self-concept crystallisation but not with the amount of occupational knowledge, self-efficacy, decidedness, vocational commitment, or propensity to foreclose.(7)

Additional findings were that the perceived work or internship characteristics of task variety, feedback, and opportunities for dealing with people were significantly associated with self-concept crystallization, amount of occupational information, and self-efficacy.(8,9)

Another study conducted on the topic “Undergraduate Business Internships and Career Success: Are They Related?” by group of researchers Jack Gault, John Redington, Tammy Schlager. From the analysis of the data they arrived the results that there are significant career advantages for undergraduates with internship experience. Advantages included less time to obtain first position, increased monetary compensation, and greater overall job satisfaction.(1)

Researchers Jessica L. Hurst, Ann Thye, and Chris Leiran Wise did a study on the issue of internships as “The Key to Career Preparation, Professional Growth, and Career Progression,” and the findings were as follows: One of the finest ways for students to gain job experience, hone their professional development and career preparation abilities, and increase their marketability is through internships. In addition, internships are essential for students’ professional development and career preparation.

The results of a study by Richard N.S. Robinson, Lisa Ruhanen, and Noreen M. Breakey on the topic “Tourism and hospitality internships: influences on student career aspirations” showed that most respondents did indeed change their career aspirations after the internship, and that these changes reflected a shift within the industry rather than a shift against entering the industry. Many interviewees claimed to have changed their professional aspirations from pursuing a job in hospitality to one in tourism, while the opposite was not evident.(2)

The results of a study on the topic of internships by researchers Jessica L. Hurst, Ann Thye, and Chris Leiran Wise, titled “The Key to Career Preparation, Professional Growth, and Career Progression,” were as follows: internships are one of the best ways for students to gain work experience, hone their professional development and career preparation abilities, and increase their marketability. Internships are also crucial for students’ professional growth and career planning.

 

METHOD

 

Methods of Data Collection

Primary Data

Primary data refers to the first-hand information that an investigator himself collects from the respondents. It’s direct and original in nature. It refers to the data collected a fresh for the first time. The primary data for the project collected through, interview, observation, focus group discussion, questionnaire.

 

Secondary Data

Secondary data are those data that are already collected by someone for some purpose and are available for the present study. Some of the sources for secondary data are website, annual report, websites, publications, magazines, mass media, text books.

·     Data collection tool used in the research is Questionnaire.

·     Sampling technique used in the study is Simple random sampling.

·     Measure technique used for the analysis of data is five-point Likert scale.

·     Sample size adopted for the study is 45 respondents.

 

Objectives of the Study

·     To ascertain the industry awareness due to industrial exposure training and its effect on career outlook.

·     To identify how career outlook changes with acquisition of operational skills through industrial exposure training.

·     To understand the relationship between change in interpersonal and career outlook due to Industrial Exposure Training.

·     To evaluate the development of work behaviour in students and its impact on career outlook.

 

Data analysis

Age Category of the Respondents

 

Figure 1. Age category of the respondents

 

Figure 1 shows the age category of the respondents, out of 45 respondents 40 % belong to age category of 22-23 and 33 % are from age category below 22, rest 27 % are above 24 of age.

 

Gender of the Respondents

 

Figure 2. Gender of the respondents

 

From figure 2 it is evident that majority of the respondents are male 73,3 % and female respondents are of 26,7 %.

 

Primary Income of the Respondents

 

Figure 3. Primary income of the respondents

 

Figure 3 shows the primary income of the respondents from the figure it is clear that 40 % of the respondents are rely on employment as the source of primary income, 33,3 % are on agriculture as the primary source, 15,6 % are from other sources and 11,1 % are relay on business income as primary source of the income.

 

Work Experience of the Respondents

           

Figure 4. Work experience of the respondents

 

From figure 4 it is evident that 44 % of the respondents belong to work experience category of 10- 20 months, 47 % are from category of 0-9 months and the rest belong to category of 21-30 months.

 

Mean Score of the Objectives

 

Table 1. Impact of IET in career outlook of hotel management students

Impacts

Mean

SD

Industry awareness

3,33

0,64

Operational skills

3,69

0,69

Interpersonal and Intrapersonal

2,95

0,83

Work behaviour

2,69

0,90

 

Table 1 shows the impact of IET in career outlook of hotel management students. Four objectives where framed and it is shown here. From the table it is clear that the major impact of IET is on operational skills and less impact on work behavior.

 

Objective 1: to Ascertain the Industry Awareness Due to Industrial Exposure Training and its Effect on Career Outlook

 

Figure 5. Industrial Awareness with gender

 

Figure 5 shows the opinion by respondents on industrial awareness due to IET in gender. From the figure it is clear that out of 100 % of respondents 67 % of the male respondents are agreeing that IET helps in generating industrial awareness. 33 % of the female respondents are agreeing that IET helps in generating industrial awareness.

 

Figure 6. Industrial Awareness with age

 

Figure 6 shows the opinion by respondents on industrial awareness due to IET in age. From the figure it is clear that out of 100 % of respondents 40 % of the respondents in age category 22-23 are agreeing that IET helps in generating industrial awareness. 30 % of the respondents in age category below 22 and above 24 are agreeing that IET helps in generating industrial awareness.

 

Objective 2: to Identify How Career Outlook Changes with Acquisition of Operational Skills through Industrial Exposure Training

 

Figure 7. Operational Skills with gender

 

Figure 7 shows the opinion by respondents on operational skills due to IET in gender. From the figure it is clear that out of 100 % of respondents 90 % of the male respondents are agreeing that IET helps in generating operational skills. 7 % of the female respondents agreeing that IET helps in generating operational skills.

 

Figure 8. Operational skills with age

 

Figure 8 shows the opinion by respondents on operational skills due to IET in age. From the figure it is clear that out of 100 % of respondents 50 % of the respondents in age category are agreeing that IET helps in generating operational skills. 30 % of the respondents in age category below 22 and 20 % of the respondents in above 24 age categories are agreeing that IET helps in generating operational skills.

 

Objective 3: to understand the Relationship between Change in Interpersonal and Career Outlook due to Industrial Exposure Training

 

Figure 9. Interpersonal skills with gender

 

Figure 9 shows the opinion by respondents on intra and interpersonal skills due to IET in gender. From the figure it is clear that out of 100 % of respondents 44 % of the male respondents are agreeing that IET helps in generating intra-interpersonal skills. 56 % of the female respondents agreeing that IET helps in generating inter and interpersonal skills.

 

Figure 10. Interpersonal skills with age

 

Figure 10 shows the opinion by respondents on inter and intrapersonal skills due to IET in age. From the figure it is clear that out of 100 % of respondents 39 % of the respondents in age category 22-24 are agreeing that IET helps in generating intra- interpersonal skills. 24 % of the respondents in age category below 22 and 37 % of the respondents in above 24 age categories are agreeing that IET helps in generating intra and interpersonal skills.

 

Objective 4: to Evaluate the Development of Work Behaviour in Students and its Impact on Career Outlook

 

Figure 11. Work behaviour with gender

 

Figure 11 shows the opinion by respondents on attainment of work behaviour due to IET in gender. From the figure it is clear that out of 100 % of respondents 56 % of the male respondents are agreeing that IET helps in generating work behaviour. 44 % of the female respondents agreeing that IET helps in generating work behaviour.

 

Figure 12. Work behaviour with age

 

Figure 12 shows the opinion by respondents on work behaviour due to IET in age. From the figure it is clear that out of 100 % of respondents 53 % of the respondents in age category 22-24 are agreeing that IET helps in generating work behaviour. 10 % of the respondents in age category below 22 and 37 % of the respondents in above 24 age categories are agreeing that IET helps in generating work behaviour.

 

Findings

From the research analysis following findings are derived:

·     All respondents found industrial exposure training as a fruitful training for their future career.

·     Almost all the respondents are agreed that the industrial exposure training is very helpful for them to understand the interpersonal skills.

·     Respondents below age 22 lesser number agreed that IET helps in creating work behaviour.

·     85 % of the respondents rated that industrial exposure training facilitated in their work behaviour.

·     There is no significant change in respondent’s primary income and career outlook generate after the completion of industrial exposure training.

·     Students who have family background in hospitality have more career outlook. But students without hospitality family background are also able to generate career outlook after industrial exposure training.

·     Career outlook of respondents are same irrespective of their age during training program.

·     For males and females there is no change in career outlook due to internship.

·     Operational skills, work behaviour, interpersonal skills are contributing for the development of career outlook of the students.

·     Industrial exposure training helps every hotel management student to set their career outlook.

 

Suggestions

·     Acquisition of career outlook may be due to the efforts taken by students. It is preferable to enrich the IET with career guidance programs

·     Many IETs task oriented. This training must be learning oriented for that matter training manager has to ensure that students are getting adequate facilities for learning rather than simply doing the work.

·     It’s better to maintain the desired outcomes from each training program of hotel management students. Training manger has to ensure that interns are clear about the things is to be learned from training under each department during IET

·     It is suggested to implement examination for students regarding the standard operating procedure and its learning awarding of the certificate shall be followed by clearance of the exam only.

·     Hence hotel industry calls for flexible time. It will be better to maintain the work time duration for interns to acceptable level and also students who done in the same chain has to get weightage when it’s come to campus recruitment or normal gate recruitment.

 

CONCLUSIONS

Hospitality colleges and industry professionals have been working together to provide IET experiences that introduce students to different sectors of the hospitality industry, as well as expose students to the corporate culture and skills required by companies the student could eventually work with graduation. Today’s hospitality students pursue IETs to test the waters of an industry segment for which they are interested in working post-graduation. The main objective is students want to work with as many brands as possible to experience the culture and cultivate skills the brands value that are difficult to learn in the classroom. Developing skills in multiple hotel departments has been noted as an important consideration when evaluating prospective IET opportunities and career outlook of the students.

This research spells out the importance of industrial exposure training in development of consistent manpower and development of leadership qualities which are necessary for the students when they step into the industry. Various components of industrial exposure training is checked with career outlook and the results prove that IETs was very helpful for students to identify their future in the industry and to set gaols in their life hence career outlook is improved. Internship is the only source for the students to know about the recent trends and work patterns of the industry. Hotel is dynamic in operation frequents basis modern technologies are implementing into the operations. Such opportunities like IETs will help students to learn the change in technologies and operation in hotel industry.(5)

Implication of this research shall be useful for students to understand the development of career outlook of the hotel management students and they can use this research as the guidelines in the learning process during industrial exposure training. From this research catering colleges and hotels can understand the level of fruitfulness of industrial exposure training among the students and for any deviance from the predetermined outcome can be understood and corrections can be made accordingly.

Major limitation of this study was time. I limited my study into hotel management students in Kerala. If this research can be conducted nationally or internationally, then the outcome from industrial exposure training global wise can be identified and through using this insight one can develop consistent manpower to the industry with all the qualities and attributes. And through that hospitality industry can be uplift to no1industry with employment opportunities and job satisfaction.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES

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4. Kumar A. University of south Florida.2020. https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/m3publishing/vol3/iss2021/36/

 

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6. Scagnoli, NI. Impact of Online Education on Traditional Campus-based Education. Ideals. 2010.

 

7. Smith J.S. The impact of online learning on students’ course outcomes: Evidence from a large community and technical college system. Economic of education. 2013.

 

8. Tomei L. The Impact of Online Teaching on Faculty Load: Computing the Ideal Class Size for Online Courses. Learn tech lib. 2006.

 

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FINANCING

No financing for the article.

 

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The author declares that there is no conflict of interest in the work.

 

AUTHORSHIP CONTRIBUTION

Conceptualization: D. Gunaseelan, Seby P Mathews, G. Nandhika.

Data curation: D. Gunaseelan, Seby P Mathews, G. Nandhika.

Formal analysis: D. Gunaseelan, Seby P Mathews, G. Nandhika.

Research: D. Gunaseelan, Seby P Mathews, G. Nandhika.

Methodology: D. Gunaseelan, Seby P Mathews, G. Nandhika.

Drafting - original draft: D. Gunaseelan, Seby P Mathews, G. Nandhika.

Writing - proofreading and editing: D. Gunaseelan, Seby P Mathews, G. Nandhika.