Why A Hospitality Management Degree?
Hospitality management is one of the hottest fields in the culinary community right now. Not only does it tie into the food aspect of the food and restaurant industry, but it also includes a strong sense of business and general management. For some culinary students, this represents the perfect combination: creative license when it comes to issues of food, and a little more structure when it comes to career logistics.
What Exactly is Hospitality Management?
Hospitality management is basically the business side of running a restaurant, hotel, or other facility. Much of the work relates to things like:
Menu development
Human resources/hiring
Managing employees
Ordering and keeping a kitchen stocked
Customer service
Keeping a facility up to code
However, depending on whether you work in a restaurant, catering facility, cruise ship, hotel, or other facility, your required skills will vary. For example, you may have to jump on the line to help with a peak period one day and spend the next sitting at your desk helping to prepare tax documents.
How Hospitality Management Degrees are Structured
Because so much of hospitality management is about business, it is often taken as an Associate, Bachelor, or even Master’s Degree course. There are shorter education options, but individuals with a higher education degree are more likely to find a job in middle management or get promotions once your career is underway. You can also switch to other fields with greater ease, should you discover that the culinary field is not for you.
Remember, though, that much of hospitality management is about people and numbers. If you want to go to culinary school to focus on food, you might be better off pursing a culinary degree.
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