Research on the Career Quality Training

of Students in Perspective of Career Planning

Education-Take Students of Hospitality
Management Major as an Example

Hongyun Kuang1 and Xiaojing Wang2

1
International Exchange Faculty of Shanghai Second Polytechnic University,
Shanghai, China
2
Tianjin Vocational College, 2 Luo he Road, Beichen District, Tianjin, China
akhy805@hotmail.com, bmallisa99@yahoo.com.cn

Abstract. Career planning education has got more and more attention for it plays an impor-
tant role in promoting the overall development of students, increasing the employment rate
and the rational allocation of human resources. Experiences in tutoring students in hospi-
tality industry practice highlight problems that students do not have proper career aware-
ness, ideal and quality. They focus too much on salary but not on opportunity for personal
improvement. This paper proposes several solutions to improve students’ career quality in
the perspective of career planning education, such as give whole process guidance, diversi-
fy the contents and methods of education of vocational planning, provide qualified teachers
for the education of career planning.

Keywords: Career Planning Education, Career quality, Professional consciousness.

1 The Concept of Career Planning Education

Career planning is the use of so-called career assessment, survey interviews, psy-
chological measurement methods and means to reasonably match a person with an
occupation based on market supply and demand of human resources and their own
wishes and qualities through offering advice, guidance and help[1]. Career plan-
ning can be divided into social career planning and school career planning in the
perspective of implementation object. School career planning education is to de-
velop the students’ career planning abilities and skills systematically and it is criti-
cal for the comprehensive educational reform of higher education [2].
In western countries, career planning theory has been developed for over one
hundred years and career planning practice has formed a multi-level and mature
educational system. In China, career planning education is rather weak on account
of various historical and social reasons. As a professor of hospitality management
in higher vocational school, my main job in these two years is to guide students’
practice in hotels. The problems found in their practice show that they did not get
proper career planning education in school and they cannot make good career
planning for themselves.

L. Zhang and C. Zhang (Eds.): Engineering Education and Management, LNEE 112, pp. 355–360.
springerlink.com © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011
356 H.Y. Kuang and X.J. Wang

2 Problems in Aspect of Students’ Career Awareness

and Career Quality-Analysis Based on Students’
Practice in Hospitality Industry

2.1 Improper Career Awareness and Biased Understanding

of Hospitality Industry
There are mainly two wrong beliefs. The students with the first wrong belief think
that they can become a manager immediately after graduation instead of doing
years of basic jobs. Their knowledge about hospitality industry mainly comes
from films, television or luxurious appearance of surrounding hotels. Therefore
they take it for granted that the hospitality industry is an easy, decent "noble
trades", where all staffs are dressed in beautiful uniforms, and are often in the re-
ception activities of important figure and celebrities. However, when they truely
step into this "royal profession", they suddenly discovered that their responsibili-
ties are just serving consumers and meeting their need in every minute. Then a
sense of disappointment will naturally arise and thus bring some negative effect on
their performance of internship. Students with the second wrong belief simply
look down on both the hospitality industry and the related majors. They hold a
view that working in this industry is like working as a servant with very low social
position and people who work in this industry will be eliminated very soon after
they become old. And the only reason why these students choose this career is that
they have to enroll in to get a diploma. As a result, they don't treat the internship
as an 0portunity but a torture. Certainly they cannot perform well in their practice
in this industry.

2.2 Focusing Too Much on Their Money Pay But Not on

the Opportunity for Personal Improvement

Internship can help students combine their in- class knowledge with out-class ex-
perience, and form a specific acquaintance of the hospitality industry, which lay
an important foundation for their future career. But some students choose their
work position just according to how much they can earn. They haven't seen that
the salary is just a trivial thing compared to the precious chance for their self-
improvement offered by the hotels. There are two cases, one happened on students
who carried on internship in hotels in Miami. A portion of students strongly asked
to change position to another with no consideration of their own characteristics
and interests only because they discovered that their classmates got more tips on
that job. Another case is some students started to complain when they find their
star-hotel pay is lower than the salary in a social restaurant. They can't see that
they can have the chance to observe and learn advanced management skills and
experience in upper-level hotel, which can bring a lot to their future career.