Professional Development in Business

Entry 1: Self-Introduction

My name is Jingwen Zha. I am a professional tourism and event manager. I am enthusiastic about the work in the travel and hospitality industry, in a hotel, to be more precise. My interests have been influenced by the hotel management foundation in China. I have practiced hotel management skills at the school cafeteria and at the fast food restaurant in the United States, thus, I have gained some necessary skills and experience in the industry. My goal is to deliver all services, in which I am involved, to customers with excellence, so that they have a lifetime experience that is worth not to forget. I have managed to develop certain skills in delivering unique accommodation and travel service, so all customers are satisfied.

I am inspired by many great hotel managers, however, I, particularly, draw my career inspiration from the schools cafeteria and fasts food restaurant work experience. It has inspired me to cultivate in mind that service delivery is all about the right attitude and strong commitment. Therefore, in cultural diversified and globalized world, positive attitude can help to deliver effective and convenient services, ensuring customer satisfaction and organizational achievements, as well as personal goals. I have the passion for the hotel management, whereby I will attend to customers, in order to ensure satisfaction and create a memorable experience in the catering and accommodation industry. I am doing all my best to get a job in one of the five-star hotels, which serves both locals and international customers. While working in this hotel, I am also able to serve many customers with diverse cultures and races, thus, delivering the services in effective and efficient manner and create competitive advantage for the organization.

Entry 2: Self-Analysis Against Industry/Professional Standards

The service industry requires meeting both ethical and professional standards. I have acquired the necessary knowledge and developed important skills through the courses that I have studied. Tourism and event management as well as hospitality management courses have instilled professional standards, so that I can deliver the services effectively. In the service industry, employees are required to always put customers first before salary and self-interests. Therefore, customers needs and satisfaction are given the needed attention more than anything else. Ethical standards, such as respect, integrity, honesty, commitment and responsibility are important aspects. I am responsible and focused in delivering the services in a respectable and honest manner, so that customers have a positive experience to share with others. I have developed a culture of adhering to code of conduct in my practice. Therefore, my moral behaviors have been grounded on desirable ethical and professional standards in the given industry. Punctuality, time consciousness, neatness, creativity and self-discipline are some of my traits that I have helped to develop professional standards in the hotel industry. Last but not least, the commitment to ensuring quality and maintaining high-performance levels are the basis of my practice, thus, I strive to achieve them the most.

A Simple SWOT Analysis

Strengths Qualified and skilled staff Proper time management Creativity Smart, neat, and self-discipline	Weaknesses Keen to every detail Impatient when things are not working
Opportunities Professional development Integrating technology	Threats Terrorism Changes of governmental laws affecting the industry

The table above presents my personal SWOT analysis related to the professional standards requirement in the industry. In fact, it reveals that I am able to gain the competitive advantage over my competitors in a job market. I have met the required standards, like I am a qualified professional, since I have acquired the necessary training and experience that is required in the hotel management and handling various visitors in an effective and positive manner. Creativity is a strength I possess, since I am able to solve emerging issues during the work. For example, there are customers who may make the order and later on change their mind; to ensure such actions do not cause problems, I try to repeat what customers have said and tell them the approximate time to wait for their order. Thus, I repeat the mentioned order out loud twice in order to avoid any unpredictable situations. There are many opportunities for me to grow, like developing professionally by improving my career path, coming up with effective ways of integrating technology in my routine tasks. This will assist me in quality service delivery in this competitive world, as well as ensure customer satisfaction and high performance in my work. The challenges I am facing are mostly from the outside, i.e. coming from external forces. I will address these challenges using my creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving techniques and skills, which I have developed over time, so that I come up with decisions that will help me deliver my services professionally and ethically in order to achieve organizational and personal goals. The continuous analysis of my standards with the determined standards in the industry will help me to develop the appropriate standards and, thus, provide benchmark for other employees in the industry. Furthermore, this will be the biggest achievement of my life and career goals.

Entry 4: Career Management Plan

Career Action Plan

There are many job positions in the hospitality industry. However, I feel that I am qualified to start with catering and accommodation officer and design my career map to become a hotel manager in five years after I graduate. My overall career goal is to become a competent tourism and event manager in the hotel industry. Hotel management, as a discipline, has been my passion since the time I was in elementary school. I dream to become a manager of one of the popular five-star hotels and may be own and manage my own group of hotels in 10-15 years of exploration in the industry. My course and college programs are in line with my career, and I plan to graduate in 2018. I hope to continue developing my professional network with my instructors, teaching and non-teaching staff and other employers in the United States and China, so that they can help me to identify my career options. Also, joining the professional associations will help me in understanding the service delivery and standards, as far as the hotel industry is concerned.

I also plan to increase my experience in the hotel and hospitality industry through getting an internship in a five-star hotel, either in the United States or in China, or get a job during my vacation in a hotel. Therefore, this will help me practice my skills and improve my experience, as well as upgrade my resume. Moreover, it is an added advantage when I will be seeking a job after graduation and in the competitive job market. Finally, I plan to conduct personal interviews and job shadowing activities with people in the industry, so that I am aware of the qualifications, experiences, skills and standards required to be competent and a professional hotel manager in the region. In fact, I will have one on one discussion with hotel managers from different organizations to give an insight experience of the job, inspirations and motivations in career development.

The position that I would like to be in five years after graduation is a hotel manager. Today, I find many posts with particular job descriptions. Many advertisements for the position are placed on the organizations website, or mass media, like newspapers, magazines, television, or radio. Also, internal advertisements can be done through posters, and memo, so that interested employees can apply for the position. The job description includes academic qualification, experience, skills and abilities from interested candidates to fill in the position. Qualifications include a degree in the hospitality-related course, like hotel management, tourism and event management, travel and other related courses. Experience in the hotel industry is essential and the period of experience varies depending on the organization. Most of the organizations require approximately from 5 to 10 years of experience in the relevant industry, like travel, hotel, and hospitality industries. The necessary skills include customer service, customer relationship management, catering and accommodation, and management skills. Alternatively, creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, conflict management and decision making techniques and skills are essential in developing a successful career in the hotel industry, like hotel manager. To tell the truth, ability to manage a group of workers, and manage an organization, ability to integrate technology into hotel operations are also important for a hotel manager. Additionally, computer literate and knowledge on relevant applications and software will be added advantage for those seeking for the job.

The job description also comes with many duties and responsibilities to ensure that the tasks are well accomplished and organizational goals are achieved. A hotel manager has the following duties: ensuring hotel operations are run effectively and efficiently, manage employees and ensure they perform their duties effectively with the help of their supervisors, monitoring the hotel activities and overall management of the hotel.

Defining career goal helps to identify education courses and program to take, and career options to plan. Internships and practice in various organizations on and off campus period will help in career development. Networking with professionals in the industry individually and in a group may be helpful in gathering the important information that is relevant to the industry and career. It is important to connect and interact with professionals in interviews, job shadowing, workshops, and conferences, so as to understand the industry and career profession better and more. The connection of education and career goals helps in outlining a well-focused career action plan. Therefore, career action plan is important in developing professionalism, especially in this industry. The job of a hotel manager is very demanding, it involves and requires adequate planning and fore-shadowing, therefore, career action plan helps in meeting all of these in a professional way.

Responses to Selection Criteria

The most common selection criterion in this job industry starts from an application to the actual interview period. The team checks whether the candidate meets the qualifications, possess the required experience and the required skills. Then during the interview, assessment is done on key skills and abilities a candidate possess to suit the job. The assessment may be oral or written or both depending on the organizations selection criteria.

Currently, I possess knowledge, skills, and experience to perform duties in catering and accommodation sector. I have effective communication skills, both written and spoken. I can proficiently speak in English and Chinese. I have developed proficiency in English during my schooling in Nanjing University, where I joined the English club to learn the language and to communicate. Traveling is my passion and serving people with diverse cultures and languages is what makes me happy, therefore, the plan to travel abroad, study and, probably, work there required English because it is considered the global language. Thus, I took the initiative at an earlier stage of my education to learn English. We participated in learning English words, communication, spelling and grammar, as well as pronunciation. I was able to lead others in learning and to communicate well in English. I read many articles written in English and this certainly has helped me learn English and be able to communicate with others. Currently, I am able to speak, write reports, letters, proposals, and other writing requirements that are necessary for my job. Chinese is my native language, hence, I can interpret English to Chinese and vice versa, as well as translating. If I work in the hotel, located in the United States, I am sure I will be helpful in interpreting to many Chinese customers who will visit the hotel.

I possess many creativity skills that help me to initiate many ways that would solve a problem or help in doing something in a better and efficient manner. I am time-conscious, therefore, I know what should be done in order to meet the deadlines. First of all, I make a list of tasks to be accomplished. Second, I assign priorities, according to urgency and importance. Third, I manage activities and my time effectively. I developed these skills during my schooling in Nanjing University because I had many activities to attend, like learning to play piano, guitar, attending English club, baking and dessert making classes, and I also engaged myself in sports like swimming, and climbing. All of these required effective time management and being creative to develop the required skills and solve any problems that could possibly arise. I lead groups in making cakes, pastries and desserts and we could offer them to teachers on their birthdays. Also, I was creative in designing gifts, like upholstery, mats and stands to give teachers during the teachers day. I used the locally available materials, like yards, to make mats through weaving and stitching. Improvisation and decorating sticks helped me to design the attractive stands to hold various goods. The outcome was very nice, and I was awarded as the best creative student at our school. I like pets, so I dedicated my time to feed them and also clean them at home, therefore, I can also care for people, I think I have a caring character, I enjoy it. Therefore, I can manage my time well, prioritize the tasks and beat the deadlines. Also, I am able to compete in the competitive world to emerge the best, as well as the organization to become the top performer in the industry.

I have the ability to interact with various categories of people no matter what their age is, what is their culture or race. During my school time in Nanjing University, we would invite children to visit the campus, we also visited the elderly people in the residential homes, thus I was able to develop interpersonal skills. Also, in the university, we did many travels and tour guides, so I was able to meet with diverse people from different ethnic backgrounds and some foreigners. With my knowledge of English, I was able to interact with foreigners and being proficient in Chinese, I was able to interact well with the locals. I lead teams in carrying out these activities, like visiting the elderly, organizing childrens visits, and touring activities. I arranged for motivational talks and catering services for children and for visitors. In care homes, we arranged drinks and recreational activities for the elderly. It was a success, since in these activities there was the proper coordination and teamwork among the participants. Communication has helped us to achieve the goals efficiently, like giving back to the community. This will be helpful in my work because I will interact and cooperate with others and I will realize various organizational goals.

Lastly, I am able to work as a team member, so that the task is accomplished on time and the goals are achieved. We worked as a team to arrange for children to visit the campus and guide them in touring around the university to inspire them and motivate to work hard in order to join the University in future for higher learning. Also, for the visitors, we could take them around the university facilities, and I played a key role, especially for the foreigners, since I had learnt English, hence it was easy for us to communicate. Sharing the roles and opinions made such activities to be done well. The outcome of all of these activities was individual, group and institutional recognition, both locally and internationally. Teams are everywhere in any organization. The teams are assigned the tasks which need to be accomplished within the specific time period, therefore, the ability to work as a team without causing conflict is essential in the hotel industry. I am sure the skills I have developed during my lifetime, like managing teams, decision making, coordination, sharing roles and opinions with group members will help in delivering my services in the hotel industry effectively and achieve my goals.

Summary/Conclusion

I am very passionate about my profession. I want to develop all the necessary knowledge, skills and abilities required in order to attain the professional standards for the job I desire in the hotel industry. My career plan of becoming a professional hotel manager or tourism and event manager is well cultivated with educational goals, professional networking, career goal identification and maximizing on the experience that I acquire in my practice and internship program. I am pleased to say that I have developed the knowledge, skills and experience for the task ahead through engaging in various activities during my education process in the Nanjing University and while working in school cafeteria. I will continue to develop the skills to achieve my goal of becoming a hotel manager.

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