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Job Wise - My first job experience

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A hotel job is not merely a job, it is a way of life and I loved every minute of it   (View Comments)

Unnati Narang

Posted On Wednesday, May 12, 2010 at 01:46:34 PM

Deependra L. Chumble, Chief People Officer, Hexaware Technologies Ltd shares his first job experience

I got my first job offer on campus from the Indian Hotels Company Ltd. or the Taj group of Hotels and I still cannot forget that day. I was on the ‘Top of the World’! Since class 12, I always wanted to join the hotel industry but my father was not keen that I join a catering college. He wanted me to complete my graduation and follow it up by an MBA, which I did, and as luck would have had it, Taj was visiting the campus.  I joined the Taj on 12th June 1986, in Bombay with a stipend of INR-1800 per month! 

First day

I have not forgotten my first day at work ever.  I joined as a Management trainee in HR and we were asked to undergo detailed and long operations inductions.  Within a couple of days, I was moved to Delhi and the excitement was even higher as I had never been to Delhi! That gave me an opportunity to work in all areas of the hotel, right from Housekeeping to the Kitchen to the Front office to Laundry and to F&B. It was a great learning experience which I can never forget! I was with the Taj group for about five and a half years and had never imagined that I will ever quit Taj. A hotel job is not merely a job, it is a way of life and I loved every minute of it!

Challenges

Personally, for me, I had come to the Taj with no work experience except that of a summer job, therefore it was my first exposure to the corporate world.  The challenges were many but I took them as learning opportunities. Firstly, I was moved to Delhi within a couple of days and I had never been outside Bombay/Pune. Delhi was like ‘foreign’ to me, right from the language to the food. Even the weather seemed alien. Then, I had never stayed out of home, so staying on my own was a new experience altogether. Then the glamour attached to the hotel industry was an eye-opener. Working in hotel operations and that too in different shifts was also an exposure to a new world. But slowly I got myself into the system and started enjoying it because I always wanted to interact with people than machines and my job provided me with ample such opportunities. Working with seniors had had challenges of getting accepted by them; making them believe that I can understand their work/business.

One of the biggest mistakes I used to make was to assume certain things from my perspective without thinking that other people may have other perspectives as well. So I learnt that don’t assume anything, ask and clarify. 

Special Lesson

As an HR employee, as a part of my job, I had to enquire about anyone who was not keeping well and therefore not coming for work. So, I used to visit unwell employees at their homes to check if they needed any help (there were no cell phones in 1986). I was to visit one such employee during the day, but due to work pressure I could not make it, also it was too hot in the summer in Delhi to even go out. My boss told me to accompany him late evening. Since my house was closer to his, I thought he was dropping home like other days. But soon I realised he was on a different route and he drove all the way to this employee’s house which was quite far, just to see him. My boss too had a hard day at work that day and had to go back home to his family, though I didn’t have to, as I was still single. I realized that day, that you have to go out of your way to build relationships and help people even when you are not feeling upto it. 

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