What skills have you picked up for your career? Or what will you need to master next so that you can reach your goals? These questions may be hard to answer. Change is inevitable and hence, as everything continues to evolve causing rapid changes even in the work-world, employees must stay in learning mode so that their skills don’t lose currency.
Now, this raises two conditions, one wherein we have to keep up with the skills as they are changing in the here and now. The other is the challenge of preparing oneself for changing tools and technologies. However, many of us neglect to develop important soft skills when the need for hard skills is so urgent, yet, the ongoing career success depends on a healthy blend of the two.
Hence, there is a dire need for educational institutions that offer education at par with the industry requirements. Existing in the domain of hospitality management education for over three decades now, the Institute of Advanced Management (IAM) is one of the handful of institutions that firmly stands on the approach of ‘blended learning’ The kind of training IAM offers makes it’s students not only employable but also lets them sustain in the long run.
The Curriculum at Par with Industry
Right from its inception, IAM has been focusing minutely on delivering value-based education to the students, assuring that they evolve as ethically sound and proficient professionals in the future. “The idea is to foster optimum application and analysis-oriented learning rather than going for traditional theoretical one,” shares Maitreyee Chaudhuri, Founder-Director of IAM.
Aiding the institute in its aforesaid mission is its curriculum; validated by international universities and tailor-made to suit the global hospitality Industry. The management of IAM keeps a constant check on the curriculum and whenever needed, changes are incorporated considering the dynamic nature of the industry. The institute hosts a dual degree course viz. Advanced Programme in Hospitality Administration (NSDC supported) with an option of BA in Hospitality Management from the University of West London, UK. Ms. Chaudhuri pinpoints, “Our association with the University of West London, UK, has brought immense favor and perks to our students as well as the institute”. The students get the chance to undergo the third and final year of the 3-year course at the University of West London. With the post-study work visa reintroduced by the UK government, these students have a tremendous employment opportunity in the UK, once they complete their course successfully.
Along with its dual degree, IAM offers certificate courses in Bakery, Culinary skills, Bar and Beverage Management. Students aspiring to study at IAM are asked to appear for an online admission test (Common Hospitality Aptitude Test), followed by group discussion and personal interview. “As our students are the upcoming generation of the hospitality industry and would be serving the top-notch organizations, we are bound to give detailed heed to the selection procedure,” opines Ms. Chaudhuri.
The students at IAM have to go through a rigorous training process. No matter whether it is in the campus or particular hotel, they enjoy the matchless industrial exposure. The national and international organizations such as Oberoi group of hotels, Taj group of hotels, Hyatt group of hotels, Hilton, Edinburgh, Four seasons hotel, London, Sheraton hotels, Radisson Hotels and so on provides training to the IAM students.
Alongside, the talented pool of faculty members makes it a point to include ample practical sessions and engage the students using technology and real-life simulations, enabling them to think analytically and strategically instead of blindly following the rote system of learning.
Hands-on and Future Ready Learning
One of the oldest professional hospitality institutes in the country, this institute has succeeded in supplying skillful manpower. The reason behind it is the plethora of opportunities and training IAM offers. “We have incorporated entire modern-day facilities, which are considered to enhance the teaching-learning process,” states Ms. Chaudhuri.
The campuses are fully equipped with training restaurants, front office, and guest rooms, kitchens, bakery, well-stocked libraries with international titles from all over the world, computer centers, hostels and many more. Ms. Chaudhuri adds, “The Institute runs its training Commercial hotels at Kolkata attached to the campus ensuring hands-on training. In computer centers, our students are trained on ‘FIDELIO’ PMS software, which is used in all the large hotels globally.” Additionally, it is almost regularly that experts and stalwarts from different areas of the trade are invited to conduct master classes and share their wealth of knowledge with the students.
Giving students practical experience is of paramount importance at IAM as it believes that only practical skills will make students competent. ‘Learning by doing’, that is the methodology adopted by the institute and for this, students are encouraged to organize various Hospitality events round the year. One such is the food festivals where the students undertake to display their culinary skills after hours of research and practice that hones their skills. Along with the operational skills students also undertake promoting, marketing and manning the events which again help to enhance their managerial skills. These food festivals are much talked about in Kolkata and Guwahati where the gastronomic extravaganza is a major crowd puller. Apart from food fests, there are regular events that mark the college calendar that is designed to promote skills, organizing, team spirit among students.
The Institute prepares every student to rule the hospitality and tourism world along with making them capable of landing in other career fields. Ms. Chaudhuri summarizes, “From being managers of leading hotels to consultants with an international organization like Deloitte, MCS, U.K., our students are everywhere.”
Owing to the international collaborations, many of the graduates who come out from the IAM receive job openings in the UK and other parts of Europe. The students who receive education in IAM get recruited by eminent hotel chains like, Leela Palace, Bangalore, Novotel, JW Marriott, and Taj Vivanta, just to name a few. Being the futuristic and a forerunner in major developments in hospitality education, IAM is single-minded to implement a more application-oriented learning process in its curriculum in the coming days.
