Self Recommendation Letter - Personal Statement Example

?Ryan K. Tang, 16th Ave, San Francisco, CA 94122 Tel: Email: Admission Office of the Academic Secretariat, Hong Kong Polytechnic School of Hotel and Tourism Management. Dear Sir/Madam RE: Self Recommendation – Master of Science/Postgraduate Diploma in International Hospitality Management Self introduction I am a graduate of San Francisco State University where I undertook Hospitality and Tourism Management with an emphasis in Event Planning as a major and Business Administration as a minor. Professionally, I have been a teacher assistant at the San Francisco State University in the Department of Hospitality Management since August 2011. My responsibilities include engaging with supervisors to discuss and moderate the grades of students. I would also complete the grade related paperwork as required in addition to preparing and proctoring examinations. In addition, I monitor to ensure that all the materials needed in classes are available. This has opened me to an academic aspect of my professional specialization following experience from varied hotels in different capacities. WLC Corporation provided me with adequate experience in managerial skills, having served as a beverage manager in the fast food restaurant since August 2005. My duties included handling of customer relations matters and providing effective training to new employees. The management skills acquired were furthered when I joined Furama Hotels and Resorts International in Shanghai, China in May 2011 as an intern in hospitality consultancy. For the period spanning to September 2011, I assisted the Vice President, and indeed the whole team at large in maintaining and updating the restaurant’s database and providing administrative support in general. The demands of consultants’ projects saw me collecting appropriate data, analyzing and interpreting the data to give meaningful feedback in line with the objectives of the research. These tasks were sufficiently accomplished due to my proficiency in Microsoft Windows and Macintosh operating systems. More so, I have skills in Microsoft Office applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access. I have also grown in this career from basic responsibilities like the role of food delivery driver at Waiters on Wheels from January to April 2006. Here, I had to process customer orders accurately and timely, adhering to sanitation and safety principles applicable in food handling, which included maintaining the delivery vehicle clean. As a waiter at Xiao Loong Restaurant between October 2007 and January 2008 and waffle artist at WLC Corporation, I not only assisted in food preparation but also in serving customers while maintaining utmost customer service rules. These duties critically depended on my oral and written proficiency in languages including English, Mandarin and Cantonese. I also had to apply strong problem-solving and organizational skills for desired results. Being a proficient student, I was accorded the Abraham Lincoln High School Japanese Award in 2005 and the University of San Francisco, School of Law Certificate in Street Law in the same year. I am also involved in the youth ministry at the Lutheran Church of Holy Spirit and voluntarily served at the youth council as the resource person for youth activities. I have demonstrated my leadership traits as a basketball coach where my responsibilities included the preparation of registration materials needed for basketball camps and developing self esteem by teaching new skills and techniques and encouraging team work during practice and actual games. Career aspirations I have been engaged in restaurant operations from bottom up, serving as a driver, waiter up to management roles. I have also had adequate experience in hospitality academics as an assistant teacher. I look forward to nurturing event management responsibilities as I look forward to managing hospitality businesses at a senior level either at a permanent status or on a consultancy basis. In the hospitality industry, being an international worker would be a critical aspect of one’s professional considerations. Hence, I also seek to further my knowledge and acquire experience in international management of hospitality business ventures. I would be keen to develop the skills acquired in my undergraduate major in events management which should propel me to being an effective manager to my consultancy firm in the same. Senior management will provide me with the opportunity to implement the knowledge acquired academically including that from this Master of Science/Postgraduate Diploma undertaking. It will allow me to conduct research studies on the organizations I manage so as to come up with informed decisions that would propel the business towards excellence. Critically, I will be able to implement the recommendations of such research studies due to the legitimate power as a senior manager. The challenge of having to direct the team under me would see me implement the managerial skills and practices already learnt in class. This aspiration would also call for acceptance of diversity of human resource and customers. Being at a management level could see me oversee businesses not only within national boundaries but internationally due to what Hong Kong Polytechnic University, HKPU terms as the international nature of the hospitality industry. This therefore provides an opportunity to interact with people from various ethnic, religious and cultural backgrounds which diversifies one’s thinking and enhances appreciation and respect for other people’s practices. Consultancy operation would provide an opportunity for flexibility as I would deal with each hospitality client, in this case a hospitality firm according to my schedule. This would also make it effective to traverse national boundaries in offering consultation to various hospitality organizations across the world. In the process, I would also be acquiring knowledge and information on various operations across the globe which could be used in making informed decisions elsewhere and in appropriately advising my clients. In addition, consultants retain their autonomy, free from organizational coercion. Thus, this is an appropriate opportunity to implement the knowledge and skills acquired without any interference. Since the end result determines the effectiveness of my consultancy and consequently the growth in business, I would have to take caution to ensure that all implementations are backed by findings documented from research studies. Reasons for seeking to study Master of Science in International Hospitality Management Having gone through my undergraduate studies and acquired field experience from various restaurants, I am inspired to widen my knowledge and skills in the hospitality industry. Having undertaken Business Administration courses, it would be almost certain that I would be engaged in managing businesses, particularly in the hospitality industry due to my major. As such, I seek to acquire management skills that would see me effectively run such organizations. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, School of Hotel and Tourism Management would provide me with the opportunity to acquire decision making skills which are crucial for any management role. The need to further the skills acquired at the undergraduate level in hospitality and tourism management propels me to further undertake a Master of Science/Postgraduate Diploma in the same field. Extending the scope of study to cover the international scope widens the already acquired knowledge in hospitality. But modern day managers, even in the hospitality industry do not make ad hoc decisions based on experience. The changes in the environment and increased knowledge in business management dictates the need for informed decision making based on studied facts and subsequent forecasted trends. To ensure that as a manager I make informed decisions, research has to be conducted to identify the reasons for observed conditions and make the necessary adjustments or explain the observed phenomena. This course offers the opportunity to acquire research competencies. I would therefore be able to analyze the experience acquired in the various restaurants and determine the practices to borrow, those to amend and those to discard. This will be significant in explaining and making amendments in light of an organization’s strength and weaknesses and the existing and anticipated opportunities and threats. This course is diverse as it studies the practices and trends at an international scope. With increased globalization, most business organizations, of which restaurants and other hospitality enterprises fall under, seek to internationalize their operations. More so, HKPU affirms that hospitality industry has been global by nature. Therefore, acquiring the necessary knowledge on the operations of such international organizations would be critical in operating successful business ventures. HKPU provides this opportunity in as much as the Asian context would be recognized. An interdisciplinary approach would be used to impart varied skills necessary in effectively running operations in the hospitality industry. The internationalization aspect of the scope of study provides an appropriate avenue to understand the industry practice beyond the local borders. It provides the opportunity to compare the operations in various countries globally which would equip me with the needed knowledge to when dealing with different restaurants. Restaurants and tourism firms are known to adopt different products and services, including forms of entertainment based on their locality. Among the areas of importance would be customer service, record keeping and hospitality education. As such, studying this course would be critical in borrowing best practices to be adopted in my career in the hospitality industry. Of importance in this course would be to acquire management skills necessary to run profitable hospitality business ventures. Strategic management will provide me the opportunity to align business operations with changes in the environment socio-politically, economically, technologically and legally. This will make sure that the businesses I manage attain competitiveness and through hospitality revenue management make such ventures profitable and grow shareholders’ wealth, just as would be expected of any business venture. I would further the event management knowledge acquired in undergraduate level for furtherance of my management skills. In summary, this course would provide me with adequate management skills to enable me effectively run hospitality enterprises profitably, not only within national boundaries but even internationally. Yours, Ryan K. Tang. Work Cited Hong Kong Polytechnic University, School of Hotel Tourism & Management. Master of Science (MSc)/Postgraduate Diploma (PgD) in International Hospitality Management. 2012. Web. 11 May. 2012 Read More