How to get hired
The degree route: NCHM JEE and IHMs
The National Council for Hotel Management (NCHMCT) runs the B.Sc in Hospitality and Hotel Administration at the central and state Institutes of Hotel Management (IHMs) and some private ones affiliated to it. Admission is through the NCHM JEE, conducted by the National Testing Agency, usually in the first half of the year, and open to class 12 pass candidates with English as a subject. Read the current bulletin on the NTA site before you apply: the eligibility clauses, including any age limit, have been reported differently by coaching sites, and only the bulletin counts. Private hotel schools and university BHM programmes admit through their own tests.
The degree's real value is industrial training: months in a hotel during the course, across departments. Treat it as your first job interview. Hotels often make pre-placement offers to trainees they liked.
Chain programmes
Some hotel groups train their own people. The Oberoi Group runs STEP for school leavers and the Oberoi Centre of Learning and Development (OCLD) for graduates, a two-year management programme for applicants up to about 25 (check the current notice). Other chains run management trainee or "hotel operations trainee" programmes for hotel management graduates through campus drives. These are competitive, but they fast-track you to assistant manager.
Straight into a department
Most hotel hiring is department by department, and many roles accept class 12 or a diploma:
- Front office: guest service associate, front office executive, then duty manager. English, calm under pressure, and the property system (PMS) count most.
- F&B service: associate in restaurants, bars, banquets and in-room dining; then captain and restaurant manager. Banquet experience pays off in event roles later.
- Housekeeping: see the housekeeping guide.
- Kitchen: see the kitchen guide.
- Sales, revenue and HR: usually need a few years in operations first.
Interviews are with the department head, sometimes a trade test (carry a tray, set a cover, handle a check-in role-play) and a final round with HR. Grooming, a firm handshake and a few lines on why this hotel, not just any hotel, go a long way.
Cruise lines
Cruise companies recruit Indian hotel staff through licensed manning agencies for F&B, housekeeping and galley jobs, on contracts of several months at sea. Use only agencies with an active Recruitment and Placement Services Licence on the DG Shipping list; licensed agencies cannot charge you a placement fee.
What the work is like
Hotels run 24x7. Expect split shifts in F&B, nights on the front desk, and work on every festival and New Year's Eve. Starting pay is modest and often stays modest for two or three years. Staff meals, uniforms, sometimes accommodation, and a share of service charge in some hotels make up part of the gap.
The ladder is associate, then senior associate or team leader, supervisor, assistant manager, department head, and then executive assistant manager and general manager. Pay jumps when you become a department head and when you move into sales, revenue management or a larger, newer property. Hotel experience also opens doors outside hotels: airlines, hospital guest relations, premium retail, facility management and luxury real estate customer service all hire hoteliers.