School Daze

Hello. And Bye.

Hello. And Bye.

I do think in today's world a degree, not necessarily in hospitality is a necessity to get on the fast track to a rewarding career in the hotel business. Many of todays hotel executives came up in a world where college was not all that important. I personally think experience is more important than classroom education because you do not experience the real life situations you will encounter and have to deal with on an everyday basis in this industry. I am currently a junior at East Carolina University studying hospitality and I am learning a great deal, but it cannot compare to the knowledge and experience I have gained working in the industry directly. I recently had a conversation with a COO of a fairly popular management company and when I told him about how I wanted to get my master's degree his exact word's were "don't waste your time or money, it's all about job performance." Every interview I have ever been on has never asked me about my GPA, but was specifically impressed with my work experience. I think that says a lot about where our industry is today.

Dear Sir, I think your survey confirms that there has been a shift (from mid nineties I believe) that qualifies the financially educated over the hotel educated. The main reasons in my opinion are: 1) the fact that hotels have become more obvious investment targets for their real estate value and not primarily for their operational profits 2) over the last two decades luxury hotel business has become more of a business and less of a prestige project for a fair number of owners, which makes a financial background for a top-job more logical Hope that makes sense :)