QUERY HOTLINE
Where can one learn bartending?
Q Is there anywhere we can learn bartending?
A Essential bartending skills form part of full-fledged Food & Beverage courses taught at Hotel Management colleges. However, if you are only interested in learning the art of bartending, you could contact STIR Academy, Mumbai, where Shatbi Basu, a veteran F&B professional, conducts training classes. You may e-mail her at: stir@vsnl.com. Ph: 022-4452750. In Delhi, there’s the Institute of Bar Operation & Management.

• FORTNIGHTLY QUIZ-170

CAREER PROFILE
Cruise to a fat pay-packet on a liner

WITH two to three years of work experience in a star property, you could explore the option of working in a cruise liner, which is the fastest growing sector in the leisure industry. The number of passengers are expected to grow by 50 per cent within this decade and ship capacity to double over the next two years. To give you an idea, 22,000 Indians took a Star Cruise in 2001. This year the Malaysia-based company expects 25,000 Indian travellers. And this is just one company.

And of late this has emerged as a hot new destination for the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) segment, giving the industry a further boost. In fact, there is an ongoing shortage of qualified hotel staff: (waiters, stewards and cabin staff) to man the ships (another 50 new ones are being built).

Market analysts predict that the sector will need to fill 41,500 new jobs by 2005, of which two-thirds will be hotel staff.

Operations on a liner differ from that in a hotel property. The scale is massive, often the volumes are far higher than an average five-star property. The departments have to cater to the masses. So everything done on board for a guest is in an assembly line fashion where individuality is thrown out of board.

• Large cruise liners pay very well - on an average between $500- $750 p.m. for freshers (which adds up to $1000-1,500 with tips), which is better than onshore jobs and that too tax-free as contracts are for six months. The contract may be renewed depending on the requirement and your performance. Besides you get to save all of it as all your daily necessities are taken care of. Which is why it is not unusual to find well-qualified and experienced hospitality professionals working at lower levels - simply for the mullah!

• The staff on ship is often promoted faster than on land, although, at times even before they are ready.

• The advantage of working in an international environment, where your colleagues will be from different countries, speaking different languages.

• Many cruise companies follow a pension plan for their employees.

• Separate recreational facilities for staff like bar, golf, swimming pool are provided on board. Matches are also hosted between staff and passengers.

• As cruise liners get passengers from all over the world, they also recruit staff from different nationalities to make them feel at home. This gives you an opportunity to meet and make friends with a real cosmopolitan crowd!

Although "wanted" ads feature regularly in the classified and appointment pages of newspapers, and while its true that there are many jobs and the money (plus tips) is good, there are a few myths that you need to understand before you rush to apply.

• Extremely long working hours. 12-18 hours per day - all seven days a week without a break throughout the period of contract.

• The tenure of duty is between six and 10 months. Which means you will be away for the entire duration of the contract, since this is entirely an offshore posting!

• It tends to get monotonous at times.

• Be ready to share your bunker with a colleague on a two/three tier system in the lower deck. Managers are provided with independent bunkers and allowed to take their families with them.

• Even if you are appointed to a particular job, you must be ready to do other work that needs to be done, including loading provisions and unloading waste, etc.

• There have been cases where crew members from the sub-continent are discriminated against, in terms of salary as well as treatment from their western superiors. At times Asians in the same designation as their western counterparts may even have to contend with a lesser pay packet!

• Seasickness is a common occupational hazard, particularly for newcomers.

It is also inadvisable to start off your career with a cruise liner because the work is more of the assembly-line type in the "galley" which is a term used to denote the kitchen on board - and quite different from that in a traditional hotel. The only additional training you may need to work at sea is in safety, fire-fighting and crowd control, which you will receive on the job.

• Hotel management graduates with two to five years of experience in a four and five-star properties are preferred by most cruise companies.

• A positive attitude, good personality, communication skills, etc are the qualities that certainly count.

• A good command over English is another main requirement.

Kitchen: With a minimum prior experience of two years, one could join the position of assistant cook with a starting salary of about US$500 to US$600.

With an experience of over two years, one could be considered for the position of a cook, first cook or chef-de-partie with starting salaries that range from US$650 to US $800.

Service: The service area salaries are incentive based and vary with the position. Tips in the F&B service area can vary between US$800 and US$2,000 p.m depending on the company, the profile of the passengers and duration of the voyage.

Established shipping companies like P&O, NYK, Princess Cruise, Carnival Cruise, Royal Carribean, Star Cruise, etc publish their cruise schedules and destinations a year in advance. Check their annual planner for details.

Beware of falling prey to unscrupulous agents and recruiters who make tall promises and swindle you of your money in the bargain. They conduct fake interviews and selection tests and place you in small unknown liners where you may end up working in sub-standard conditions for a measly pittance. Check out their bona fides and credentials in advance.

Similarly, beware of institutes that advertise in the media offering 150 per cent placement if you enrol for their courses training you for jobs at sea -at a hefty fee of course!

For more details, you could contact:

www.induscruising.com (official recruiters for Carnival Cruises). E-mail: Capt Vidyarthi at induscruising@vsnl.com. They also run an institute in Gurgaon, Delhi that offers 4-week pre-placement training to familiarise those interested in working for cruiseliners.

E-mail: Allwyn D’Mello/Margaret at ocnships@vsnl.com (official recruiters for Star Cruise) or maya@varunship .com. or Air Borne Recruiting Pvt. Ltd, 5, Queens Mansion 1st Floor, 44 A K Nair Marg, Fort, Mumbai 400001. Ph: 022 2010438.

QUERY HOTLINE
Where can one learn bartending?

A Essential bartending skills form part of full-fledged Food & Beverage courses taught at Hotel Management colleges. However, if you are only interested in learning the art of bartending, you could contact STIR Academy, Mumbai, where Shatbi Basu, a veteran F&B professional, conducts training classes. You may e-mail her at: stir@vsnl.com. Ph: 022-4452750. In Delhi, there’s the Institute of Bar Operation & Management.

Along with mastering the trick of juggling bottles, booze and glassware with a flourish and shaking/stirring up your own version of the perfect Molotov Cocktail or Singapore Sling, you need to be familiar with the terminology and lineage of French wines, champagne-serving techniques, classic cocktail recipes and correct posture. Yes, balance and posture are the key to mastering that perfect 360-degree swing without spilling a drop!

With some practice, you will also learn to understand your client’s profile and instinctively gauge what would tickle his/her taste buds. Once you know what goes with what, there’s no end to experimenting. A dash of this and a splash of that in reverse proportion - and you may well have a fundu new invention to your credit!

"Nobody can teach you to be a bartender. You have to learn from the pros who know the business. The rest comes with experience", says Andrew Pearson, the 25-year old bar consultant for Rick’s at Taj Mahal Hotel. "Keep mixing and keep tasting that’s the only way to get it right" say some others. And cheers to that!

A When considering a business education option, particularly overseas, one often confronts the dilemma of choosing between an MBA and MS.

If you are planning to go for higher studies, i.e. a Ph.D. or teaching or consulting or research (for a large business lobby, think-tank or quasi-governmental outfit) then an MS programme will give you more depth and a wider range of options within your chosen domain.

For example, if you want to research "how accounting practices differ between the US GAAP and Indian GAAP", then the MS programme may be more appropriate.

A general MBA programme on the other hand, will give you a more rounded education in the total business. It will include components of marketing, finance, HR, business accounting and maths, organisational behaviour, systems, IT etc. Starting out as a management trainee you will be assigned a specific job after an orientation round of the various departments. In short, an MBA trains you to assume the role of a functional business head.

I have also come across several MBAs from Indian B-schools with 3-5 years of industry exposure, taking off for a year or so on unpaid leave to pursue an MS abroad in a specific area (i.e. banking software management) which gives them a definite edge upon return. Similarly a BTech working on business development in an IT firm could target the VP slot with a good international MBA under his belt.

Whichever course you choose, do a cost-benefit analysis before you proceed. Foreign MBAs come at a very hefty price (ranging from Rs 25-65 lakh). Often in a tight employment market may not even be able to offset the expense incurred. To that add the loss of income during the period of 1-2 years. Can you afford it? Is it really worth the effort? There are no easy answers.

A One year is too little experience in this field to look for a change.

Unless there are other factors such as the company’s financial health or lay-off plans etc, it is advisable to spend at least 2-3 years before changing your job.

I would therefore suggest that you concentrate on enhancing your skills in web designing as well as in web development (designing by itself is not enough).

Keep abreast of current technologies and gain as much varied experience as possible within your area of specialisation. At this stage of your career, the focus must be centered on learning. And the best way of learning is to master whatever you are doing in depth and not limit yourself to merely fulfilling the requirements of the task at hand. That is also the route to a better job in this field. Your proven on-the-job skills and relevant experience will count very highly when you apply for better jobs later.

The IT industry is beginning to look up and there will be enough opportunities for well-experienced professionals even if your company is unable to capitalise on your experience. However, do note the emphasis on "well". The emphasis in the IT industry is now shifting to quality and not quantity.

Please send in your query preferably on a postcard along with your name, complete address and academic qualifications to: 
Editor, Career Hotline, The Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh-160020, or at careerguide@tribuneindia.com

FORTNIGHTLY QUIZ-170

1. Which UN Security Council resolution was recently accepted by Iraq, facilitating the return of UN arms inspectors to the country after nearly four years?

2. Who was recently given the Indira Gandhi International Award for 2001 for Peace, Disarmament and Development?

3. Name the first Indian to be appointed a Reuters Trustee by the Reuters Founders Share Company.

4. Name the new Chief Justice of India.

5. Who is the Chairman of the 12th Finance Commission?

6. In which year was the 96.5-km long Kalka-Shimla narrow gauge rail track opened to traffic?

7. How much grant was recently announced by Bill Gates to check the spread of HIV/AIDS in India?

8. Where is the annual camel bazaar organised in India?

9. Name the writer of the book ‘White Mughals’.

10. For which field is the Dayawati Modi Award given?

11. For how many more years was Pervez Musharraf recently sworn in as President of Pakistan?

12. Which company recently announced the launch of its long-awaited Tablet PC that allows users to write with a pen?

13. Which city of Taiwan recently set the world record for the biggest gathering of boy-girl twins, with the assembly of 806 sets of such twins?

14. Expand EIL.

15. By what name do Chinese and Tibetans refer to Mount Everest?

Name..............................Class..........

School address...........................

Winners of quiz 169: The first prize by draw of lots goes to Mridul Taneja, VII-B, Army School, Fazilka Cantt, dist Ferozepur-152123.

Second: Navjot Sidhu, IX, Mandi Dabwali, dist Sirsa (Haryana), Pin-125104.

Third: Vibhooti Malhotra, IX-B, Dalhousie Public School, Pathankot-145001.

Answers to quiz 169: UK; Descent from Heaven; Mufti Mohammad Sayeed; Kyoto; Karnataka; Yann Martel; Rs 50/day; 8%; Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva; Gujarat Science City; Devdas; Anil Kumble; Perth; Mark Waugh; Sachin Tendulkar.

— Tarun Sharma