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Earning a degree can help you in your search for the right job, but it is up to you to determine if a Hospitality Management degree is the right option for you. One thing to put into serious consideration is whether or not earning your degree in Hospitality Management is worth the time and money that you will invest as you study. Every individual places value on something different when it comes to careers. While salary is important to most, it goes beyond just salary ranges when you are trying to determine if a degree will have a short-term or long-term return on investment.
A Wide Variety of Career Options
The hospitality industry is a much more expansive one than you might think. There are several different areas of the hospitality industry that require experienced managers. You can work in hotel management, food and beverage, travel, casino management, culinary, dining and more. One of the reasons why a program that majors in hospitality management can be so beneficial is because not all of the areas are affected when the economy is sluggish. Travel may go down, but there is always a need for food services and lodging professionals. If you would like to find an industry that interests you and will have a long list of career paths that you can choose from, hospitality is a good choice.
Average Earnings of Graduates
You want to love what you do, but you also want to make a decent living when you report to work each week. How much you will earn will obviously depend upon the title that you are pursuing. You will need to know what type of setting that you want to work in before you will really know your earning potential. You will also need to know what region of the country or of the globe that you plan on working in.
The average salary reported for a recent graduate earning the title Hotel Resident Manager is $65,076. Compared to the average salary of an Event Planner, which is $55,476, you can see that starting salaries are in close range. According to research conducted by Salary.com, degrees in hospitality offer the 4th worst return based on the salaries reported. If you do work in hotel management, you can expect a return of about 102%, which is much lower than average.
Can you Find a Position Fresh Out of College?
One factor that many graduates overlook is the employment requirements of some of the leading companies in the industry. Hospitality is one of the industries where having an undergraduate degree or a graduate degree simply is not enough. While a degree will make the hiring manager give your resume a second glance, all recruiters want managers in the industry who have experience. If you have studied but have yet to work in the area you are studying, finding a job where you can put your degree to use can be difficult.
If you are planning on earning a degree in hospitality management, it is important that you decide what you want to do first. If you decide on the type of career that you want, you can specialize your degree and the curriculum that you cover. If you have a passion for the industry and you love dealing with the public, earning a Hospitality Management degree may be worth it to you.
See also: What Business Degree Would be Good to Earn to Become an Event Planner?
