INTERVIEW WITH HOSPITALITY PROFESSOR SUMMARY: I had the pleasure of interviewing a senior in the Knoebel School of Hospitality Management. The senior had a ton of experience in the industry and is definitely a go to person when in need of help. The senior knows what to expect in an around the hospitality school because the student is a fresh-out-of-school- industry-ready student with a lot of knowledge ready to be shared. The interview started out with getting to know the student and why he chose hospitality. The student originally said that he wanted to go into marketing and finance. He tried it out, but it was not the right fit. The senior then decided to check out the hospitality school, which is definitely where he found his passion. The student knew exactly what concentration he wanted to be in, which ended up being food and beverage. The student does some event planning on the side, which indicated to me that it is a very good idea to have experience in every concentration of the industry and as much as you can fit it. As the interview continued and I got to know the student better, I discovered that the student writes in the form of correspondence emails back and forth, short responses on a reading or an article, or a piece of a larger business plan. The student's example of this was writing a wine paper. It was a long paper, but very manageable, because it was broken into sections and so each student in group got a section to write. With that said, most of the writing in the industry is short, concise, and professional. The interview continued with the student stating that all writing should be professional. An few examples he gave of being professional are knowing who your audience is, few spelling and grammar mistakes, not too long, and organized. Every teacher is different and so you have to cater to that teacher style. Some are strict, while others are easy going. The student then went into saying that since the school is so small there is a limited choice of teachers. There are some that you will like and some that you won't. There is little one can do about, but "luckily quarters are only ten weeks long," said the student. It was a very interesting interview. It taught me a lot about the industry and the hospitality school at DU. I hope it will help you as well.
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