A student must embrace their career choice, and must not regret later, says Dr. Bose

Interview by Pratyasha

Dr. Suborno Bose is the Chairman of the International Institute of Hotel Management. He is a chartered accountant with more than 31 years of entrepreneurial experience in different locations across the globe. A visionary, leader and the man who believes in making dreams come true, shares his views on the education industry and talks about his institute with collegedunia.com.

Experience in the education industry

Before joining this industry, I was a chartered accountant. It has been three decades now, and I am imparting knowledge and skill education to the future generations. The only thing that excites me is the difference that I am making. It is wonderful to see my students' as successful and satisfied lives of so many young people.

Leadership philosophy of Dr. Bose - Dare to Do

As a leader, I believe in going out, taking risks, and working in the interest of my students. They are the stakeholders of our institution, and it is necessary to think about them first and then about something else. Therefore, any decision of ours is purely taken to add value to our student’s life.

Unique factors of IIHM’s curriculum

As a management institution, we arrange and organise exchange programmes of faculties and students. We do not leave any stone unturned to give the best education to our students. The curriculum at IIHM ensures using best practices and the few following examples are: 

• IIHM is the only hospitality college in India to be approved and funded by the European Union to work in ERASMUS project, which undertakes research in different fields of hospitality.
• We provide technology & IT-focused hospitality education and have introduced digital marketing as a subject in the institute.
•  The only college in the world that organizes wine tour for the deserving students where the selected students are flown free of cost for ten days to study wines in the vineyards of Italy, France and Spain.
• The only college in the World again that organises the World’s biggest culinary heats, Young Chef Olympiad where we get over 60 countries send in their best student chefs to compete across 7 days and 4 cities. 

We focus on everything that leads to better learning among students. As the hotel industry demands, we emphasize much practical knowledge by using the best of ingredients and equipment. Our students are sent to top hotels of the world for their Industrial Training. Faculties are handpicked with good industry experience. 

Read about IIHM Courses & Fee

Embedding the theme of Global Connect incorporated within the curriculum

At IIHM, we set new benchmarks in hospitality education. Students who complete Year 2 at IIHM campuses in India get an opportunity to choose to study Year 3 and Year 4 at the University of West London (UWL). 

The Degree is BA in Hospitality Management by UWL. The students will get first-hand exposure to international methods of classroom teaching. In their two-year full-time course at UWL, 40 weeks are on industry placement. This gives students a chance to understand not only the global education environment, but, also make them understand the work environment. This ties in with our idea of Global Connect. The Degree delivered is in adherence with UK Higher Education Standards as per UK laws.

UWL is a center for excellence, and we are fortunate to provide our students with this opportunity to choose to study in one of London's top universities for hospitality and tourism. The international curriculum at IIHM is designed as a holistic learning arc. The students are encouraged to learn through research, field trips, surveys, and real-time practice in Hotels. Sharing of ideas with international guest lecturers promotes a global perspective.

Our students acquire hands-on experience through large-scale food festivals like Paryatan Parv, which is IIHM’s contribution to the Incredible India movement by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.

IIHM welcomes diversity with open arms

IIHM is the only college in the world that organizes the world’s biggest culinary Olympiad – Young Chef Olympiad. It witnesses participation from 50 countries from all over the world. This provides an opportunity for the students to network with chefs across the globe. Also, we do not follow a quota system for the selection procedure. It is purely based on their performance during the entrance and interview conducted by the institute. 

Changes witnessed in Hospitality Industry

With changing trends, the choices of students have evolved to a great extent. More and more students are opting for Hotel Management Industry. We, at IIHM, encourage students by providing them with scholarships and financial aids. It has now become an emerging sector with many job opportunities. Students can not only choose from vast options but also become entrepreneurs by opening their ventures. 

IIHM Digitalisation and Relevance of Education as per times

At IIHM, we believe in moving with the times. We have IT-enabled classrooms with the latest technology and equipped with audio-visual facilities for instant YouTube uploads. There are live video workshops from chefs across the world. Students are encouraged to share pictures and experiences from events using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn and access latest general knowledge of the hospitality industry through Social Media.

We also assess our degrees and associations with universities on an annual basis. 

For example, IIHM used to offer a BA/ B.Sc. in Hotel Management Catering and Tourism degree from Bharathiar University (BU) till 2016. The students enrolled up to 2016 have qualified and are well-settled today. Now, we have moved to Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). 

Click here IIHM Placement

IIHM’s greatest strengths - Global Exposure to students

When it comes to education, the international curriculum at IIHM is designed to motivate students to learn holistically through research, field trips, and surveys. Through this, the students are regularly exposed to the practical and real-world problems present in the hospitality industry. 

The methodologies employed by the Institute form intensive independent learning, field trips, surveys, food, beverage event planning, execution, comparing, contrasting, and debating established theories. It also conducts guest lectures and workshops by renowned speakers from India and abroad with the global connect initiative.

The Institute conducts numerous exposure programmes for the students and to name a few apart from the ones we have discussed before are:

• Malt Education tour to Scotland
• Rookie chef competitions for 1st-year students in Bangkok
• Super chef competitions for 3rd years in Bangkok
• International Food festivals
• International Industrial Training option for 2nd-year students
• And Much More

Suggestion to young aspirants

My suggestion to all aspiring students is to embrace their career choices. Hospitality is a celebration, and if you love interacting with people, travelling around the world, then hospitality is the industry for you. Go ahead and join hospitality; it is one of the best professions and the only one where you can take a degree and work anywhere in the world.