Unit iy careers in hospitality

1. PRE-READING TASK

1. How do people choose careers?

2. What happens if you make a wrong decision?

3. What are the major inventories in job analyses?

4. What do you know about the labor market in hospitality worldwide and in Russia?

5. What do you know about education in tourism ?

A. Choosing a career.

How do you choose a career? Many students finish school without a clear idea of what to do in life. Part of the problem is the size and the complexity of the job market itself. Seven hundred and sixty-five different occupations were listed in recent publication of the Department of Labor and this list is probably incomplete. With so many kind of work, how can you tell which will interest you? And what about the job outlook? Some of these occupations are overcrowded. In old industries there may be little need for new workers, while new and growing industries will offer good jobs now and in future. Finally, how can you make the best use of your own special talents? Those who know themselves often find the best jobs.

Your career search has to look for everything. Be systematic. Analyze your problem. Determine what information you have. Then go after the information you need. First, start with yourself. Make a list of inventory of your interests, your talents, your abilities. The interest inventory covers the major fields in which people find their careers: science, arts, social service, business, sales.

B. Analyses of Labor Market.

So, let’s have a look at what is happening in the labor market nowadays. A dramatic shift from manufacturing to services has taken place in North America and Western Europe. Today, for example, nearly two-thirds of the U.S. workforce is employed in producing and delivering services. In fact, the manufacturing workforce declined over 12% during the 1990s. Most new jobs that will appear in the nearest future will be in industries like fast foods, retailing, consulting, teaching and legal work. As for hospitality industry, there has been a growing labor shortage during the last decade. This labor shortage – especially of unskilled and semi-skilled laborers such as housekeepers, food handlers and other front-line staff – is now world-wide. While The United States still has a reservoir of people for these positions, many European countries and Japan are bringing in thousands of foreigners on work vises. In Russia hospitality industry is growing rapidly nowadays and the demand for efficient staff is bigger than anywhere else. Only in Moscow about 150 new hotels are expected to be opened by the year 2007.

Now we will consider the main points of work in service industry. Service organizations have nothing to sell but their service, and that makes them uniquely dependent on their personnel. Providing more hospitable service will result in a more satisfied tourist who will be inclined to return and spread positive reactions through word-of mouth advertising to other potential tourists. Employees in hospitality should not only receive appropriate education but have special attitude to this work. The three aspects of attitude are toward self, toward others, and toward the subject matter.