Mr Avirup Mukherjee, HOD of the Food Production department has been associated with IIHM for the last 2.5 yrs. He started his career in Oberoi Grand, Kolkata, where he worked for 2 years. Thereafter, he was transferred to The Oberoi Udaivilas in Rajasthan and then to Oberoi Calcutta. In 2021, he joined IIHM, Kolkata. 

Mr Avirup Mukherjee has over ten years of corporate experience. He is an alumnus of IHM Kolkata, where he completed his Bachelor’s in Hotel & Hospitality Administration and then a Master’s in Hospitality Management degree.

Indian Institute of Hotel Management

What is the latest program that you are offering in your institute/dept. which will help students outperform and stand apart from the crowd?

The Indian Institute of Hotel Management is a career-oriented college. We teach several undergraduate degrees, Bachelor’s in Hotel Management, Bachelor’s in Hospitality Management, and Bachelor’s in Culinary Management. The latter course is a newer offering in our curriculum. We also offer a Bachelor’s in Hospital Management for interested students. All of these courses are designed to train and up-skill the students to comfortably transition to working in the hospitality industry. They can easily accommodate themselves in the industry after passing out from this college and are flexible enough to keep up with any industry trend.

What are the factors that make this program the best for the students to opt?

The factors that make these courses best for the students are that they are career-oriented or skill-based courses. The focus is not only on theoretical knowledge but also on giving students skill-based knowledge. These can help them make a living out of it by working in any position in the industry. 

To give you an insight into our teaching process, in the second semester, students are taught Indian regional cuisines. It is not only a mixture of cultural insight where a student from West Bengal or another state gets to know the food and cultural habits of other states. This helps the students to increase to gain dynamic knowledge of their field. 

This is an important factor as most students, upon graduation, get placements throughout the country and they are able to adapt quickly. This also increases the overall work experience of the student. The cultural exhibits of different states or different places are taught to our students at a very early stage so that they can get accommodated in the industry quickly.

What are some valuable insights of the program that you are offering at your institute/dept.?

As mentioned before, we give a regional culinary experience of the different states of India with respect to the students. We even conduct seminars with experts and working professionals from diverse hotels. These are excellent opportunities for students to understand the latest news, what is trending, and what is needed to cope with the demands of the industry. 

We also take our students for hotel visits, which gives them face-to-face or real-time exposure to the industry. It is important for them to gain practical exposure apart from theoretical knowledge. There is also a six-month training requirement, which students have to go through to graduate. This training program builds industrial experience and allows students to practice their learned skills.

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How did you train yourself/faculty to deliver this program to the students?

I am a Hotel Management degree holder so I knew how it is to be on the other side of the table as a student. I knew what I was missing while I was a student, and how my teachers taught and trained me. This made me think about what would have been more helpful in certain situations. I have tried to overcome all those hurdles which I faced as a student. Here in our college, our principals and directors push, help, support and guide the faculty and other staff members so that we can impart better knowledge to students. We also keep ourselves updated by visiting and connecting with our corporate connections and learning the latest trends in the industry.

What will you say are the “best practices” in the course you’re offering?

We have complete transparency in our structure, curriculum and placements. We say or publish only what we can deliver or have already delivered. We focus on providing a combination of quality theoretical knowledge with real-world industry exposure. We don’t set unrealistic expectations, but make sure to prepare our students for what they can expect to face in the real world.

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How do you tend to build an industry connect with this program?

As I said, there are two to three ways by which we maintain an industry connection. Firstly, we regularly take our students for hotel visits and seminars where they interact with professionals in the industry. These help the students gain a practical understanding of their chosen field. Secondly, we have a mandatory training course of six months duration. Here, students work in the corporate space as a trainee in all four departments in the hotel industry, like front office, housekeeping, FNB service, and food production. They get experience in all departments during the six months of training which helps them to build their network before they have even started their careers.

What are the benefits and career options after pursuing this course?

Today’s work environment is very competitive. There are hardly any suitable opportunities after a normal course or graduation degree. Students either have to sit and wait to get a job and ultimately end up doing odd jobs, like call centres or BPOs, to survive. This is a waste of their valuable years of life and skills. Hence, these career-oriented courses can make the students an industry fit/ready in a short amount of time. Upon graduation, students have a job in their hands and they are secure with the knowledge and skills that they gain during their academic years.