NSHM School of Tourism and Hotel Management achieved a record high in their hospitality placements during the ongoing pandemic. The college commenced its yearly placement drive and related Training and Placement activities in November 2019 under the watchful mentorship of Professor Dipnath Mukherjee, Professor Subrata Pal and Professor Nasim Khan. The initiation of the training and placement activity in the pre-pandemic proved immensely beneficial for budding professionals who were set to graduate in July 2020.
The college initiated and successfully completed an on-campus interview with ITC Grand Resort Goa on 14th October 2019 where 17 final-year students received job offers. Boosting the confidence of the students and the mentor body, further negotiations for campus recruitment were taken up by eminent brands such as Taj Kovalam and Hyderabad, Grand Hyatt Goa and Ahmedabad, Radisson New Delhi, Ritz Carlton, Pune to name a few.
However, with the pandemic spreading rapidly across the globe, the mentor body overseeing the campus placement process, quickly estimated the worst blow hotel industry would face under Covid-19 attack. Anticipating its detrimental effect on the placement prospects of the 130 pass outs, they unanimously decided to speed-up the placement process, exploring new avenues or related industries for placing the students, apart from the conventional industry roles.
With a target to place all the 130 students by February 2020, Professor Dipnath Mukherjee, Professor Subrata Pal and Professor Nasim Khan set about exploring avenues for placement beyond hotels. They received wholesome support from Reliance Retail Ltd. and the campus recruitment drive was again held on 12th November, 2019 where several students received offers from the renowned retail brand.
In the next three months, final-year students from NSHM School of Tourism and Hotel Management continued to bag recruitment offers from major brands like Taj, Oberoi, Hyatt, JW Marriott, Four Seasons, Renaissance, Sheraton, Ritz Carlton and Park Hyatt to name a few. The placement dashboard reflected 98 per cent of success with few students yet to be placed. However, at the same time China, Europe and America were reeling under Covid-19 and the hospitality sector in those regions were badly affected.
The lull started by the end of February 2020 as students were sent back from hotels with early completion certificates for their industrial training. Suddenly, all jobs started drying up and hotels were non-responsive on the job front. By the end of March, the entire Indian hospitality industry went into a long hibernation. Post 9 long months of inactivity, 25 odd students working in the industry, had lost their jobs [during that period].
In the middle of October 2020, the team of Professor Dipnath Mukherjee, Professor Subrata Pal and Professor Nasim Khan had a long list of task – to find re-placement for 25 students; initiate placement cycle for the next batch of 120 final year students and help 86 odd students desperately looking for industrial training opportunities. The bleeding hospitality industry amidst the looming global pandemic brought the team to go for a priority based approach instead of confronting all challenges at once.
On priority, the team focussed on helping students looking for industrial training opportunities and get offers for the re-placed students. By December 2020, the team had successfully achieved both the targets. However, the team had to face reluctant parents and students unwilling to go places due to the fear of COVID. Further, different COVID lockdown rules at various parts of the country also proved to be a deterrent.
Simultaneously, the team ventured to Gujrat and reached out to Reliance Retail Gujrat division where 19 students got placed. Slowly, the team started placing students across the best brands and by July 2021, achieved a placement figure of 70 per cent. The team aims to place the remaining students in the coming months.
Braving the odds and overcoming the struggle, the team continues to work along with students in their placement journey. Keeping an eye on the next 6 months, which can be critical, the team is finding ways to give the best of services and support to NSHM School of Tourism and Hotel Management students.
