We are also tied up with People Pro Training Company which design and provide employability training programs, says HOD

Professor Siby Mathew, Head of Department for the Department of Hotel Management at T John College in Bangalore, speaks in-depth with Shiksha.com about the main distinguishing characteristics that set the school apart from other Hotel Management colleges around the nation. He goes into great detail about the steps the institute has taken to assist students to become marketable. Prof. Mathew asserts that industry preparedness is one of the most significant talents that business professionals today want, making it equally necessary for the school to provide such skills to students in order to help them stand out from the competition.

Siby Mathew, a hospitality professional with a bachelor’s degree of Hotel Management from Mangalore university & MBA in tourism and hotel management from Bharathiar University has 18 years of experience, with a proven track record in managing fine dining restaurants and high-end banqueting, skilled at pre-opening activities and then by virtue of being part of the academia has hands-on experience in grooming and nurturing fresh talent for last seven years.

Read the complete interview below

Q: What are the three things that your institution is doing that will enable it to differentiate itself from placement competition?

A: We are providing assured international placement opportunities to all our final-year students in countries like Dubai, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Thailand, etc. Our students are placed in various international brands like Jumeirah Hotels, Ritz Carlton, Sheraton, JW Marriott, The Westin, FIVE Hotels, Millennium Hotels & Resorts etc.

Our college is enabled with world class infrastructure facilities like Basic Training Restaurant, Advanced Training Restaurant, Basic Training Kitchen, Advanced Training Kitchen, Quantity Training Kitchen, Bakery & Confectionery, Front Office Lab, Housekeeping Lab, Model Guest Room. All our classroom is smartboard and Wi-Fi enabled.

We have well-experienced faculties who have worked in hotel industry for a decade which help us to train and mould the students as per the industry requirement.

Q: What are the top three initiatives undertaken by you that are helping your students become more industry ready?

A: As part of the international study tour, we are sending our students every year to be a part of Dubai World Cup at The Meydan Hotel Dubai. This year we are sending our students to be a part of FIFA World Cup 2022 at Qatar.

We are also tied up with People Pro Training Company which design and provide employability training programs to all our students according to the need and requirement of the industry.

We also have tie-ups with domestic hotels like Marriott, Hyatt, Oberoi Hotel where we send our students for Industrial visit, Guest Lecture, Training Program which enables the student to get updated with the latest trends of Hospitality Industry.

Q: What are the key attributes that a student should have in order to qualify for your Institution and perform well?

A: To join Hotel Management in our college the student should have the passion and right attitude to have a great career in the hospitality field apart from this as per Bangalore University requirement he or she must have min 40 % pass percentage in his 12^th/PUC

For students to perform well, we have got highly qualified faculty to train and mould our students and also, we identify good students and counsel and motivate them to achieve University Rank as a part of which we have achieved eight University Ranks in the last five years. Our college provides monetary benefits to the students who achieve University Ranks.

Q: Which programme/s would you say is /are your best? What is that helping your institution differentiate itself for this programme

A: We offer a four-year Degree program in Bachelor of Hotel Management which is approved by AICTE, approved by Bangalore University and UGC and NAAC A Grade Accredited.

It’s a four-year degree programme where students are trained in all four core departments and in the final year the student can specialise in their area of interest. Also, as a part of their curriculum, they are sent to Industry for a six-month of the training program so that they are industry ready and choose their area of specialization.

Q: What are contributions to improve/drive better campus placement for your current student and Alumni? What Kind of job opportunities routinely come to your campus? What would you say are the key recruitment trends for your college (Observed over the past five years)

A: We provide 100% assured placements to all our students who require placement. We also provide international internships and placements to all our students.  All our alumni students are placed in big brands overseas which also help us to carry out our international internship and placements to a larger extent.

Our students get a wide range of opportunities from various sectors like Hotels, Flight Catering, Industrial Catering like Sodexo, and Compass, Retail Industry, Cruise Line, QSR, Cabin Crew.

Our major recruiters for the last five years are Hotels. In the past five years, we have observed that 60% of our students are placed in hotels, 30% of our students are placed in Catering Companies and QSR and last 10% are absorbed by Retail and Facilities Sector.

We provide 100 % placement every year to both Domestic and International Hotels since we have got tie up with an international chain of hotels.