Make It Count! Getting the Most from a Hospitality Internship
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2017
Pages: 254
Edition: 1
Copyright: 2017
Pages: 254
Edition: 2
Copyright: 2025
Pages: 254
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Employers agree—to be successful, graduates of Hospitality Management programs need to have meaningful, hands-on industry work experiences to complement their classroom education. Consequently, nearly all Hospitality Management degree programs require students to complete an internship or practicum experience prior to graduation. The challenge is that the quality of these work experiences vary widely.
Make It Count! Getting the Most from a Hospitality Internship provides step-by-step guidance through the entire internship process, from identifying opportunities through the intern’s final evaluation of the internship site. This handbook may be utilized as a complete, turnkey internship guide from start-to-finish or simply utilize the appropriate sections of the text to help students, coordinating faculty, and employers outline and deliver meaningful experiential learning activities and outcomes.
Features of the book include the following:
- The Hospitality Career Mosaic helps students more fully appreciate the full range of exceptional career opportunities available within the hospitality industry—not just in the traditional lodging and food service segments—but in destination marketing; health, nutrition, and wellness; technology and e-commerce; and more!
- The Internship Checklist will ensure that students establish a realistic timeline for completing an internship experience—from the initial search for an appropriate opportunity, through the interview and selection process, the professional work experience itself, and the evaluation process—so that students remain on-track to complete their internship on time.
- The section of the manual dedicated to Preparing an Effective Resume helps students put together a resume that employers will notice—even if they have limited previous work experience.
- Guidance is provided to prepare students to successfully navigate the Interview process since the text explains how students can anticipate and prepare responses to potential interview questions—improving their ability to secure the ideal internship experience.
- Detailed Suggested Learning Activities and Learning Outcomes are defined for each area within a hospitality operation—from the administrative areas, including sales and marketing; human resources; and accounting, to the operational disciplines, which include guest services; housekeeping and laundry operations; and food and beverage—so that students and employers, working together, may establish appropriate learning outcomes for the experiential learning experience.
- Students are instructed on how to create Service Blueprints and Flow-Charts so that they can properly diagram and evaluate common industry practices and processes.
- To be effective, the Experiential Learning process must require that students reflect upon the learning experience and relate it to the theoretical concepts delivered in the classroom—this handbook helps facilitate this transformation of experience to deep knowledge and applied skills.
- A complete collection of Evaluation Forms is provided to ensure that the intern, facilitators, and internship site are each evaluated during as well as at the conclusion of the internship, which ensures continuous improvement, while also bringing closure to the internship experience.
Dedication
About the Author
Section 1: The Internship Experience: An Overview
Introduction
Definition of Experiential Learning
The Breadth of Hospitality
Lodging and Accommodations
Meetings, Conferences, and Events
Food and Beverage Services
Tourism, Recreation, and Entertainment
Health, Wellness, and Nutrition
e-Commerce, Distribution, and Revenue Optimization
Branding and Product Innovation
Real Estate and Asset Management
Purpose of an Internship
Gaining Skills, Application of Knowledge, and Perspective
Diagraming Processes and Creating Flow Charts
The Experiential Learning Process
Practices Critical to a Meaningful Internship Experience
Section 2: The Internship Process: A Step-By-Step Guide
to Completing an Internship
How to Utilize This Handbook
Internship Checklist
Securing an Internship
Identifying Internship Opportunities
Breadth or Depth of Experience
Compensation, Legal, and Ethical Considerations
Quality of an Organization
Preparing an Effective Resume
Preparing Cover Letters
Pre-employment Assessments
Interview Preparation
Interview Follow-up
Selecting an Internship Offer
Internship Agreement
Section 3: On-Site Internship Guide: Suggested Learning
Activities, Learning Outcomes, and Evaluations
Learning Goals and Outcomes
A Word of Caution
Learning through Adversity
Assigning Specific Learning Activities and Outcomes
Student Submissions
Unit 1: Understanding Organizational Structure and
Relationships
The Structure of Hospitality Organizations
Organizational Vision, Mission, and Values
Identify the Players
Business Unit Structure
Specific Areas of Inquiry: Suggested Learning Activities and
Learning Outcomes
Unit 1: Understanding Organizational Structure and
Relationships Learning Outcomes
Unit 2: Guest Services
Unit 3: Housekeeping and Laundry Operations
Unit 4: Revenue Management
Unit 5: Restaurant Operations
Unit 6: Beverage Operations
Unit 7: In-Room Dining (Room Service) Operations
Unit 8: Banquet and Conference Service Operations
Unit 9: Culinary and Food Production Management
Unit 10: Recreation Management
Unit 11: Managing Staffing and Labor Productivity
Unit 12: Sales, Marketing, and Customer Relationship
Management
Unit 13: Hospitality Technology, e-Commerce, and
Distribution
Unit 14: Human Resources Management
Unit 15: Engineering and Facilities Maintenance
Unit 16: Accounting and Administrative
Unit 17: Owners and Investor Relations
Professional Industry Experience Assignments and Projects
Assignment 1: Flow Charts and Service Blueprints Process
Analysis
Assignment 2: The “Service-Profit Chain”
Assignment 3: Mutually-Profitable Human Interactions
Assignment 4: Internship Reflection Log or Diary
Assignment 5: Best Practices and Management
Recommendations
Employer Provided Requirements and the Protection of
Proprietary Information
Assessment of Learning
Grading Rubrics
Overall Assessment (grading) of a Professional Industry
Experience (internship)
Evaluations: Student, Internship Site, and Supervising Faculty
Supervisory Evaluation of the Student Intern
Intern’s Evaluation of the Internship Site
Supervising Faculty Evaluation
Documentation of Professional Industry Experience
Work Hours
Appendices
Appendix A: Internship Checklist
Appendix B: Internship Agreement
Appendix C: Sample Resumes
Appendix D: Evaluation Forms
Appendix E: Professional Industry Experience Work Hours
Glossary
Michael Collins, Ph.D. brings over forty (40) years of hospitality industry experience to his current role as Chair and Associate Professor of the Department of Hospitality Management at the University of San Francisco. For the first 25 years of his career, he climbed the ranks of the hotel industry, starting as a bellman and rising to the position of Vice President and General Manager for the 2,000-acre Resort at Glade Springs (WV)—a full-service hotel, conference center, golf resort and spa. Along his career path, he served in general management capacities at Hyatt hotels in Atlanta, San Francisco, and Chicago and Wyndham hotels in Salt Lake City, Palm Springs, Los Angeles, and Myrtle Beach (SC). Since 2003, Dr. Collins has worked in higher education—starting at The Ohio State University, where he earned his Ph.D., and then serving on the faculty at Coastal Carolina University prior to assuming a faculty post at the University of San Francisco. He now teaches at Florida Gulf Coast University. Michael also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities from Michigan State University and a Master of Science in Strategic Leadership from the University of Charleston (WV). He is the author of Make It Count! Getting the Most from a Hospitality Internship, as well as Delivering the Guest Experience: Successful Hotel, Lodging and Resort Management.