Options with hospitality management/hotel and catering
Hospitality-related subjects offer a wide range of study options, both specialist and generalist. Whichever you choose, a degree in hospitality management gives you an in-depth understanding of the structure and operation of the industry and its related sectors. A common thread in all the related disciplines is a focus on identifying, understanding and responding to the needs of consumers, so as to provide an excellent customer experience.
You may also gain specialist practical and technical skills for operational and front-of-house competence. Business functions such as finance, human resources and marketing are also often covered, allowing you to acquire the necessary skills to develop constructive strategies to ensure profitability and success.
You also develop many other general skills sought by a range of employers. These include:
Many courses offer an industrial placement, providing the opportunity to put academic learning into practice. Practical experience is invaluable as it helps to develop transferable and subject-specific skills further, while at the same time providing examples to prove your abilities to future employers.
Employers will be just as interested in your personal qualities as in your degree subject. The hospitality industry’s strong customer focus means you must be able to demonstrate a genuine interest in providing excellent customer service. It is a social business too, so you need to be friendly, outgoing and have good networking skills.
Work experience is expected by employers in this industry, but any hospitality role or setting is likely to be viewed positively. Regular part-time jobs that you can fit alongside your studies will supply valuable evidence of your commitment to the sector as well as your attitude to work. If you have a specialist area in mind, opt for the closest matching environment you can find. For example, if you ultimately hope to work in a luxury hotel, apply to local hotels of a similar standard. It is possible to achieve responsibility relatively quickly in this sector, so you can gain experience of supervising and training new staff early on if you show a willingness and ability to learn.
Although some of the jobs listed here might not be first jobs for many graduates, they are among the many realistic possibilities with your degree, provided you can demonstrate you have the attributes employers are looking for. Bear in mind that it’s not just your degree discipline that determines your options. Remember that many graduate vacancies don't specify particular degree disciplines, so don't restrict your thinking to the jobs listed here. Look at your degree... what next? for informed advice on career planning and graduate employment, or login/register with My Prospects to find out what jobs would suit you, a helpful starting point for self-analysis.
Explore types of jobs to find out more about the above options and related jobs.
A 2012 HESA survey of 2011 graduates indicates that six months after graduation, just under 75% of graduates in hospitality-related subjects had entered employment in the UK or overseas. Of those who were in work, around 30% went into management roles within the commercial, industrial and public sectors, including hotel and restaurant management, while 15% were employed as retail, catering, waiting and bar staff. Around 14% found work as business, finance and associate professionals, which are common routes open to graduates with a management qualification. Approximately 6% were assumed to be unemployed.
Some of the large chain hotels or restaurants offer graduate management programmes, providing a fast-track to management positions as well as experience in a range of operations.
Hospitality graduates can also find work in catering, conference and events management, the entertainment and leisure sector, facilities management and food service management. Self-employment is an option with experience, business sense and a sound plan. There are also relevant roles throughout the public sector in universities, hospitals, transport and the armed forces.
The British Hospitality Association and the Institute of Hospitality provide careers information.
For more information on potential career areas open to hospitality graduates, see hospitality, tourism and sport.
Hospitality jobs include restaurant and pub management, contract catering for the private or public sector, event management, accommodation and conferencing. Areas of work in the sport and leisure industry include provision for physical activities (fitness, outdoor hobbies), entertainment (cinemas, theatres, restaurants), relaxation and cultural pursuits (museums and galleries, reading, shopping). The tourism sector covers provision for tourists, both in the UK and abroad. The travel industry is closely linked. Employers include tourist boards, tour operators and travel agents, tourist information centres and any business associated with a tourist attraction.
For further information on possibilities in other employment areas, see job sectors.
Statistics are collected every year to show what HE students do immediately after graduation. These can be a useful guide but, in reality, because the data is collected within six months of graduation, many graduates are travelling, waiting to start a course, paying off debts, getting work experience or still deciding what they want to do. For further information about some of the areas of employment commonly entered by graduates of any degree discipline, check out What Do Graduates Do? and your degree...what next?
A 2011 HESA survey of 2010 graduates indicates that six months after graduation just under 3% of hospitality graduates had gone on to full-time further study, while a further 4% were combining work and study.
Some graduates choose postgraduate study in order to specialise in a particular hospitality-related function such as hospitality management, events management or human resources (HR). Before progressing to postgraduate study, do your research and consider the benefits to employers, as well as to your own long-term career goals, of qualifications as compared with experience.
These trends show only what previous graduates in your subject did immediately upon graduating. Over the course of their career - the first few years in particular - many others will opt for some form of further study, either part time or full time. If further study interests you, start by thinking about postgraduate study in the UK and search courses and research to identify your options.
For details relating to finance and the application process, look at funding my further study.
