If you’ve recently decided that you’re going to major in hospitality, you might be wondering what your hospitality courses are going to be like. To complete your program and get a degree, you’ll have to take the required general education courses, hospitality courses, and management courses.
General Education Courses
No matter what you decide to major in while at college, you’ll have to complete some general education courses. These classes cover areas such as math, communications, English, basic science, foreign language, geography and history. Generally, students are given a wide range of courses to choose from that will fit this requirement, but if you already know that you want to major in hospitality, you can find specific courses that fit best with your career plans. For instance, if you know you want to work at or near a specific vacation destination, find out what languages are commonly spoken by guests before you decide on a foreign language course. Take a business math course if it’s an option instead of a general math course, and take an interpersonal communications course that will help you learn how to interact with guests. Learning about the history of wherever you want to work is also a good idea.
Hospitality Courses
These courses will give you the theoretical and practical knowledge that you’ll need to get a job within your field. Make sure your program is accredited with an agency like the Accreditation Commission for Programs in Hospitality Administration to make sure that your classes will be covering the right material. Depending on exactly what type of job you want to get, you may specialize in different areas, but you’ll probably have to take classes that will:
- introduce you to hospitality
- inform you on local and global issues in the industry
- teach you about sustainability without compromising on service
- show you first-hand what the field is like and give you hands-on experience
After you take basic courses in different areas, you’ll be able to choose to focus on whatever is most interesting to you.
Management Courses
If you’re going to college and taking hospitality courses, you probably want to start a career instead of staying at an entry-level job forever. Because of this, management courses will be a big part of your education. Once you learn about the hospitality field in general, you’ll learn about what it’s like to be in an authority position. By learning how to manage, you’ll be much more attractive to employers than applicants that have no knowledge of how to work efficiently when being in charge. You’ll also learn about what it takes to keep a hospitality business going. This includes topics like accounting, marketing, advertising and planning. Entry-level jobs usually offer a lot of direct contact with consumers, but they don’t have much responsibility. Management courses will prepare you for a career that’s challenging, fun and full of responsibility.
Majoring in hospitality is a good choice – while many jobs are going overseas to help keep costs down, hospitality jobs are location dependent, meaning that there will always be jobs out there for you. By taking hospitality courses, you’ll be prepared to work your way up the corporate ladder much faster than others.
To learn more about Degrees in Hospitality, take a look at “Top 10 Best Online Hotel and Hospitality Management Degree Programs“.