Trained in Singapore

CEBU, Philippines - It has been said that chefs are now the new rock stars. They are now very popular and this may be the reason why a lot of culinary schools have been put up and more and more students, and even professionals, are enrolling in culinary, as well as hospitality courses.

Students should, however, be very careful when choosing a career in the hospitality industry, according to Suresh Pillay of the SDH Corporate Academy in Singapore, who is also the chief executive consultant of the Training and Further Education Centre of the University of San Carlos, Department of Hospitality Management.

He said students should not be following trends. “Before enrolling in any hospitality course, students should ask ‘Is this what you want?’ They have to be very sure that they want to be part of the hospitality industry because this entails a lot of hard work. This is not just all glamour,” he said.

True enough, HRM students from USC who were sent to Singapore for their on-the-job training experienced first hand that being in the hospitality industry indeed involves a lot of sacrifice and hard work.

Dana Joy R. Villondo, Stevens Luigi Jaen, and Yvonnie F. Villacura went to Singapore last May for their OJT. The three students worked in different departments and affiliates of Brewerkz Restaurant and Microbrewery. They were shocked at how they were treated like regular employees even when they were only students.

“We were given an orientation for a day and then the next day, we were left on our own,” said Dana.

Yvonnie, who worked in the service area because she wants to interact with people, had difficulty understanding people around her because of the accent of Singaporeans. However, when she got used to it after a few days, working became easy for her. “I now understand the hardships of people working abroad,” she added, especially since her father is a seaman.

    Stevens, who trained in one of the restaurants here in Cebu before leaving for Singapore, said that working in Singapore was a lot different. “We were given responsibilities even if we were just students,” he said.

The three students said that they all had to do their work fast. Dana and Stevens, who worked in the kitchen had to prepare food fast, while Yvonnie had to serve the food, as well as drinks, fast. “I even had to serve 10 tables at once, alone,” Yvonnie added.

Chona Arenas Manebo, associate consultant for the SDH Corporate Academy, said that in the Philippines, interns do not really experience the demands of the jobs in the hospitality industry because most establishments are hesitant to give these students responsibilities. “Internships in the Philippines, when it comes to the hospitality industry, only require 10 percent effort from students while internships in countries like Singapore require 120 percent,” she said.

Pillay added it would be better for hospitality establishments here to really treat students having internships as employees, even if they are not paid. “We are asking the leaders in the industry to let OJTs experience real work.”

Dr. Joseph Villanueva, chairman of the USC Department of Hospitality Management, said that teachers at the university are also in the process of updating their knowledge to match the things that the students are learning in their internships. “The faculty is really challenged because we now also teach competencies rather than just theories. This is an extremely challenging shift.”