These movies show 4 things you’ll learn in hospitality!

While you may be confident that working in the hospitality industry is right for you, you’re also curious as to what the day-to-day experience actually involves. And while you might not be able to walk straight into a kitchen to sit in and see how things work, you’ve got another option: Hollywood.

While movies aren’t exactly the best reference, they’re fun and if you choose the right films, can give you a decent idea of what you might need to face the day-to-day challenges you’re going to encounter in your career and future workplace.

Curious what your future career might involve? If so, we suggest getting comfy and reading on…

What do you learn in hospitality?

Service is about more than, well, service

Preparing food. Arranging services. Making bookings. These are the sorts of things that come to mind when you think about service.

However, they aren’t the entire picture.

At the risk of sounding kind of vague, good service is about more than your official responsibilities and duties – it covers everything that impacts the customer experience.

A good example of this in film is The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel from 2011.

Just to be clear, there’s no expectation for you to impart valuable life lessons and wisdom to your customers. However, it does illustrate how even little things can influence a customer’s experience.

And that’s something everyone working in the hospitality and service industry should remember!

How the kitchen brigade works

Just like a fire brigade, a kitchen brigade is a highly structured system, with dedicated roles each with their own areas of responsibility and duties.

While not all kitchens follow the traditional model, most use some variation of the system first envisioned by Georges Auguste Escoffier all those years ago.

And if you plan on working in a commercial kitchen, it’s a system you’ll need to be familiar with.

A movie that’s a great example of this system in action is 2007’s Ratatouille.

Yes, we know, it’s a movie about a rat who becomes a chef. Take out the talking rat however, and you’re left with a very authentic representation of how your traditional kitchen brigade operates, as well as what the various roles might do during the day.

Just like Remy and Linguini in the story, you’ll need to demonstrate teamwork, coordination and communication to ensure that everybody’s working together and that dishes are going out on time.

And on a related note…

Communication is essential in hospitality

In any industry, communication is very important. It helps staff achieve unity and build camaraderie and clarity between them.

This is especially crucial in hospitality, especially with how busy and chaotic these venues can get during peak hours!

Whether you’re in a commercial kitchen or the management side of things, good communication is key, from communicating with visitors from different places and cultures, listening to instructions, or simply staying out of everyone else’s way to eliminate accidents.

Such communication skills are a MUST in hospitality, as seen in the movie Blame it on the Bellboy (1992).

While it’s a comedy, this flick demonstrates how communication, even from a bellboy, can influence guests and comfort. A miscommunication from you probably won’t put guests in crazy situations that are anywhere near this goofy, but it does have an effect.

And for an example of what can happen if your communication isn’t up to par, you could always pop on an episode of Fawlty Towers! Seeing all the chaos that ensues will almost guarantee you to uphold high standards of communication in your own kitchen!

Don’t forget about behind the scenes

While you might love food, you can’t forget that running a restaurant or working in a hotel or other hospitality venue still means running a business.

You’re going to need strong business management skills alongside your passion in the kitchen.

For Grace is a 2015 documentary that follows Curtis Duffy as he tries to go from head chef at one of Chicago’s only Michelin 3-star restaurants to opening his very own venue.

Even for someone with his skill and experience, it’s still a tough run – something this documentary does not shy away from depicting. This film shows the countless problems Curtis had to overcome financially, socially and personally to set up his own restaurant, as well as the stress it came with.

Why would we recommend something so confronting? Simple: so that you’ll understand the importance of strong business essentials, as well as how much work goes into opening your own restaurant – and how much satisfaction it can give.

How do you train for hospitality?

Enrol in hospitality courses

While there are some skills you can pick up on your own (or by watching movies), there are also many skills that you’ll need to learn through formal education and training.

And that’s what our hospitality management courses are here to help you with.

And it isn’t just our renowned commercial cookery courses, either – we also offer a range of hospitality management courses.

All are available in a variety of different streams including commercial cookery, patisserie and operations, covering whichever direction you want to take your career!

Diploma of Hospitality Management (SIT50416)

Finished your Certificate IV in Commercial Cookery? Enrol in this course to learn how to establish and conduct business relationships, and learn how to lead and manage people and venues.

Advanced Diploma of Hospitality Management (SIT60316)

The Advanced Diploma of Hospitality Management takes your leadership, management, finance, and overall operations skills to the next level with higher-level skills and more rigorous, in-depth training.

Get work placement

Hospitality is an inherently hands-on industry, even if you’re studying hospitality management.

It’s important that you know what it feels like to work in a real-life setting whether you enrol in commercial cookery training or you take a diploma in hotel management.

Each of our courses – including all of our hospitality, commercial cookery and patisserie courses – feature a mix of classroom learning and practical training.

And that includes work placements as a compulsory component..

We focus on providing a taste of real-life work settings, using our connections with partner establishments industries ranging from hotels throughout Melbourne and Brisbane to provide you with job placements that will give you the opportunity to:

Put your training to the test
Make connections
Gain an understanding of how real-life hospitality businesses operate

Learn more about Academia’s hospitality courses

Thinking about upskilling? Want to take the first step towards a rewarding career in hospitality management?

Get started with Academia! Whether it’s in a hospitality management course in Brisbane or one of our other commercial cookery and patisserie courses, you’ll get the training and support right here with us.

Check what our hospitality related courses our Melbourne and Brisbane campuses have on offer:

Have questions? Speak to our friendly team today. You can reach us out through the following: