Work Integrated Learning In Hospitality Industry

There are 3 parts in this report such as future professional opportunities I would like to achieve, capabilities to access the opportunities and the process to develop these capabilities. Based on my current working status, I found some future opportunities that I would like to take on like, be a master every element of my current position as Receptionist then if I have chance, I would like to go try3 another position related to hospitality industry both current and different workplace in order to enhance my future career. To meet those opportunities, I consider myself to gain some capabilities of communication skills as well as languages through the plan preparing for my career pathway. This scheme likes business plans that help me accomplish my project of having my own hospitality business.

Future professional opportunities I would like to undertake:

• Firstly, I want to spend time on staying my current position as long as I learnt everything that I need to know, once I got all knowledge about that position, I want to move up to leader ship. Back to academic institute, I have learnt a subject called “Managing People”, through this subject I have been taught to practice and manage a group people in small and large company as the responsibility to be an effective leader. But not that enough to describe the nature of a good manager‘s liability, it requires budgeting and managing finances, business operations, problem-solving and decision-making. Furthermore, those skills are gained by working and learning through working and learning from senior staff.
• Secondly, I also wish to change my position in order to gain more knowledge in hospitality industry. There for work experience is important skills to get key of future success. As I mention about run my own business, knowing all the sector of every job position in hospitality is indeed. All I need to prepare is a fully job experience relates to hospitality industry and demonstrate that my knowledge is help me to achieve my goal. There for, through my WIL in Victoria Can Tho resort, I have a chance to work in some positions such as receptionist, reservation, and housekeeping and bar and restaurant attendant. So I can determine the knowledge and skills and ability match to any job requirements.
• Finally, I assume that changing workplace enable me to acquire new knowledge and skills. Or perhaps acquire this form of work in different ways. As I believe, new place new challenge as well as new experience that you might not learn before. Since I am still a student, I permit myself to change the job frequently. The target to set to myself is knowledge more important than money. When I working as a part time worker, I will try to learn everyone from the simple tasks until I have learnt enough to this workplace, then I allow myself to change to another one which is wider and more challenge. For example, I used to work for a small coffee, because of lacked of experience, I started as a dishwasher. So the first thing I have learnt is how to finish the huge amount of dirty dishes in a certain time. Then I moved on to waitress, and I still needed to learn how to be fast in both customer services at peak hour and cleaning up in closing time.

Last task I have done is making coffee as well as handling money. After that I moved to another career as fast food store, next is a Malaysian restaurant and so on. From now I gain a lot of knowledge from different type of hospitality jobs. However, I agree that there are still more and more lessons that I need to learn.

Three capabilities I think I need to access the opportunities I want are: Let talk about my strengths first, I consider myself to be a quick-leaner, I learn fast there for I can adapt to new workplace environment very quickly and good memory all the tasks within 1 – 2 days. Furthermore, I like being busy, there for I can improve and up skills quickly, that why I’m multi-tasking. In other hands, there are some weaknesses I need to improve such as communication. That not about the language barrier, the problem is I find it difficult to make a conversation to customer, sometime we need to have a small chat to customer for creating relationship. However, I think less confident in communication is one of the reason, I’m type of introvert person, I feel uncomfortable to be surrounded by crowded or don’t like to have so many friends and found it difficult to get to know someone at first.

There are three necessary capabilities that help me are communication, organization and languages. Communication skill is a tool to build connection among businesses, every day we may have face with many different people, represent our business to them to make them interested to be a loyal member, also create a network with them, push the business getting well known and long run. Organization is one the best qualities to allow us work effectively, being organized in working can boost manager have trustful from employees, an organized person can help their teamwork well even though at the busy hours. Such as planning my day, checklist the things I need to do for a day. Moreover, organization skill improves careless person getting careful in working and living. Of course it is necessary to me, but I always forgot or unmindful about something because of organization. And I’m slowly improve it day by day from simple things like, taking note every tasks I must do for a day, also re-write all the enquiry from customers as well as always taking small notepad along with me.

Lastly, languages in a key of communication that can help me communicate better with customer, especially who has languages barrier, having more than 2 languages is a bonus in hospitality industry. In other words, languages skills enhance me to earn points with my manager and willing to give me a promotion, also the relationship can be kept longer and more valuable in both domestic and international. For example, some of the country are not able to communicate in English, they will happy if staff can speak their language, because they feel more welcome and more comfortable rather than speaking a language which they less confidence to. Recently, most of hotels and restaurants encourage staff can speak Chinese or Japanese due to high number of tourists as well as investors. Even though in my workplace, we have 7 languages service staff that can speak English, Japanese, Italian, German, Spanish, French and Vietnamese. Besides English, Im also taking Chinese course for a few months, and hopefully I able to communication fluently in next one or two years. Besides these capabilities I need to improve, I’m looking forward to learn more soft skills and hard skills during my WIL in Vietnam.

A Develop training plan for myself

Lucky that my workmates are always willing to give chances to me to develop myself. For example, from now, my main duties are receiving phone call from guest and processing check in/ check out. Sometimes, I try to have a short conversation to the guests. Moreover, every weekend I go out with some of foreign friends, we sharing some tips to improve our languages and communication skill. Being friendly and approachable to everyone, it would help me to gain confidence when communicating with people also creating positive experiences from both customer and my team. I choose self-improvement to develop my weakness. It means taking academic lessons is good but it does not enough for me to fully understand and take on. I realized that I’m a clueless and careless person, and it does negative affect to my working style. Then I start removing it in my work style and living style.

I mostly use Calendar and Notes on my phone, which is saves every task I need to do on a day and reminds the next stuff must be done at that time or future. Taking note everything whenever receiving a work from someone. Consider the positive and negative when want to decide to do something. Learning a lesson from mistakes is a good idea to me as well, I learn better when I made something wrong and see that mistake as a warning not to repeat it again. Beside that, develop languages by watching news and movie without subtitle is my first choice due to my limited listening skill.

Currently I’m working in my hometown, it means I mainly using Vietnamese to communicate with everyone. Knowing from that, I’m trying to use English as much as I can in both workplace and home. Because my English will be dissolve quickly if I don’t use them regularly. So I start using it as a hobby not a programmed language.