In Chapter 6 of the book, "Building Your Connected Learning Community" it talks about how to expand your networking abilities, how to use social medias to broaden your network and evolving your community. All of these topics in the book are great ways for me to broaden my personal network in the Hospitality Management field.
The Hospitality and Tourism Management field works solely on networking. A popular saying in the hospitality world is, "it's not what you know, it's who you know". All of my professors this far in my educational career have told me this. I transferred into Stockton University back in Fall 2018. Since then, every Hospitality professor I have had, has told me networking is important in this field. All of my professors have shown me different ways to make the most of your personal brand.
For example, in one of my hospitality classes, Career Development, we started our personal brand by creating resumes, going to career fairs to network with companies and we created LinkedIn accounts. My professor, told my class how important it was to network with people not only in the Hotel Industry, but Restaurants, Theme Parks, Corporate Teams, Airlines, Transportation Agencies as well. The more broad your network is, the more doors will open for you in your future career. Also, Dr Albano took us to a Career Fair to network with companies for potential hire. We dressed in professional attire, resumes in hand, and spoke confidently to the employers about our career goals were and exchanged business cards with all of them. I really enjoyed that day, it was so much fun to learn more about what my major has to offer!Growing and Nurturing your Personal Learning Network is important because, you want to make sure your personal network is safe and efficient. On LinkedIn, there are suggestions offered to you on what the website feels is a good fit for connecting you with others in your same industry. Even if you know these people, it is important to always check their profiles to make sure they are exactly who they say they are. There are so many unfortunate events going on in this world, where people pretend to be other people. If you consistently check profiles for accuracy, it will only create a more efficient network for you and will open a more efficient network for others when they want to connect with people you may know.
In conclusion, creating your personal brand can be challenging but oh so rewarding! The hospitality field is one of the most customer service based industries out there. Branding and networking are one of the top priorities when a person wants to broaden their career paths. Growing your network takes time and deciding who you want as a part of your network takes work. With some patience and hard work, anyone can create their own personal network. All of the hard work will be worth it in the end!
Source: Nussbaum-Beach, S., & Hall, L. R. (2012). The connected educator: learning and leading in a digital age. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
Networking is a very important factor in your field, and also my field, communication. It is so interesting to see how others feel about this topic and how they are handling their own networking situations. I love how you relate the chapter's information right back to your own experiences because it makes it more interesting to read and remember why exactly the information is important. Having a consistent brand, as you state, really adds to you and your resume.
ReplyDeleteHi Rosie! Networking is very important in hospitality and tourism management. My close friend actually received a job as a hotel manager using LinkedIn. Tools such as Linked in are more helpful than a lot of us think. Your professor was very right in explaining that you should also network outside of your main interests for your career field. You never know where you could end up at and its always great to have those connections as an extra boost of confidence.
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