Educational interview with a representative of the Universities of hospitality Glion and Les Roches

Every year, I invite the representatives of the prestigious universities of hospitality Glion Institute of Higher Education (Campuses in Switzerland, Great Britain) and Les Roches Global Hospitality Education (campuses in Spain, Switzerland, China, and the USA). These Universities are leaders in the field of the hospitality business, hotel and restaurant management, event management. The study program, as well as writing assignments, are quite complicated in these institutions, so most students use the best essay help to improve their grades.

What is the purpose of your visit?
-- To tell students about an international career. About the prospects that exist in the world in the field of hospitality. In addition, as a representative of the admissions committee, I select students who, according to their profile and criteria, are suitable or not suitable for our universities - Glion Institute of Higher Education and Les Roches Global Hospitality Education.

What exactly are the criteria used for selection?
– Hospitality industry is very different from the sciences, we look at the personality as a whole and at how a person looks at the world. How much it is open to the world. Our task is to see that a person is ready for an international career. Is he closed and fixated on some small world of his own? Is he ready to travel, communicate with people of different nationalities, understand and accept their culture? Also, certain professional qualities are important in our industry – communication skills, knowledge of languages. First of all, knowledge of the English language. The discipline of students is also important – we look at their academic performance at school or university. That is, after receiving the documents, the motivation of the student, after conducting an interview, we form a portrait of the student. And based on this, we decide how much a person meets our criteria.

Where are your universities and their campuses located?
– We have two universities – Glion was founded in 1962 and Les Roches in 1954. Both universities are top in the field of the hospitality industry in the world. We provide business education with a focus on the hospitality industry.

Our flagship campuses are located in Switzerland. But at one stage, it was decided to develop in other countries, since being in one country cannot give a full-fledged international experience. And there were campuses in London (Great Britain). Les Roches – in Spain, China, and in the USA, in Chicago.

How do you differ from other Swiss and international Hospitality schools?
There are a large number of universities in Switzerland in this area. But there are only three accredited educational institutions at the highest university level. Among them is Glion Les Roches. This means that we can issue diplomas on our behalf. Accreditation itself is a guarantee of certain standards, below which we simply cannot fall. Starting with the teaching staff and ending with the financial situation of the university. Many universities position themselves in the same way, but without their accreditation, they issue double or triple diplomas.

Explain what hospitality means in your understanding? And how can this be taught? Why do you need a higher education to work in restaurants and hotels?

Unfortunately, communication with students about hospitality is limited to hotels and restaurants, namely low-level positions – maids, doormen. No one thinks that the hospitality industry is a multifaceted sphere. It includes luxury brands, airlines, the banking sector, private medicine, i.e. any direction that is associated with interaction with the client, with people. And this, as you understand, is any business. Our students have competitive advantages, due to our education model, they become experts in working with clients. And they are in demand in absolutely any field and business. We train managers – top management.

What difficulties can students face at universities?
- There are more than a hundred nationalities among the students. This is a serious figure. Students get into a multicultural environment and for them, it may be positive, but a shock. They are in an unusual environment for them, where there is no single culture. Chinese, Brazilians, Spaniards, and Americans study and all face language barriers. On the one hand, the level of English that they confirm with an official certificate is present, but some have never lived abroad and have never been in an English-speaking environment. But, despite this, the adaptation takes place quite quickly.

Students quickly merge into such an environment and their consciousness switches. They become "people of the world", the barriers of nationalities and some prejudices disappear for them. They understand that the world is arranged differently. All people are interconnected in one way or another.

There may be difficulties associated with the training itself. But they are more individual. Someone is strong in one of the subjects, weaker in the second. But our task is not just to immerse them in some kind of environment where they can survive, but to help them as much as possible. But at the same time, students still have to make great efforts. Work, perseverance, and discipline are not empty words for our universities.

Who are the teachers of your universities?
– Most of the teachers are people from the business. These are not the people who just read a lot of literature and came to retell it to us, no! These are people who have a lot of knowledge, a lot of experience. They have been in the positions of general managers, there are teachers with 25 years of experience in hotel areas.

For example, in culinary art, we have a teacher of Fine Dining Service, Table Art subjects - Chantal Wittmann. Chantal has 30 years of teaching experience in the field of hospitality. She prepares students for competitions in the field of cooking, has won many prestigious academic awards, and has worked in various organizations in France. In 2011, Chantal won the famous award "Meilleur Ouvrier de France" and in 2017 joined the team of Glion teachers.

These people come to us, not for money, but because they are burning with this industry and their task is to transfer this experience. This does not mean that we give you and so it should be. For example, there was a class on motivations and the teacher put it in such a way that you want to start arguing, ask questions, put forward arguments if you disagree with something. In the inaccurate sciences, truth does not exist, but there are different opinions. It is important to evaluate, weigh these opinions and then apply them in a particular situation that a person will face in his professional activity.

What language does the training take place in? What subjects do students study? Does your training involve practical training?
- The training takes place in English. Our program includes not only an academic but also a practical component. I'm talking about the practice on campus now. There is a, where students change into uniforms and start serving other students. There is cooking where they participate in the process, cook, and pass everything through their hands. There are subjects directly related to business finance, marketing, talent management, and human resources. There are also subjects of a general nature – for example, psychology. In each semester, a student has about seven, eight subjects, plus there is also the study of languages. Undergraduate students can study French and Spanish. There is even an opportunity to learn Chinese at Les Roches. This is up to the student.

In which countries and institutions do students usually undergo internships?
– We do not restrict students. Internships are held all over the world – Asia, the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, Europe.

Companies come to us: Louis Vuitton, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Booking.com, InterContinental, VALENTINO, Mariott, present themselves, students communicate with them, as a result of which students have the opportunity to get an internship with them in one of the positions.

Universities have a department for the career development of students, which helps to make a resume, a cover letter, how to position yourself correctly at an interview.

What is the cost of training per year?
- The cost depends on the campus. Switzerland is the most expensive destination. Spain is a more budget-friendly destination. From 20 to 35 thousand euros per semester. The cost includes tuition, accommodation, meals, medical insurance. The student needs money only for personal expenses.

How many years does the training take?
- Bachelor's degree program – three and a half years. Master's programs-from one to two years.