Organize an open day for Barcelona Edition Hotel as though it were a real recruitment event: this was a project completed by 2nd-year students of the Bachelor’s Degree.
Organize an open day for Barcelona Edition Hotel as though it were a real recruitment event: this was a project completed by 2nd-year students of the Bachelor’s Degree in Tourism as part of the course on human resources management.
Since this is one of the most common tasks for hotel HR departments, students were asked to manage and plan the open day down to the last detail. They considered where to advertise, how to invite candidates, what recruitment tests to use, schedule, budget, trial management, evaluation (identifying skills for each profile), and even how to notify the new employees and those who failed to pass.
“They have to think about how to ensure equal conditions and manage candidates with functional diversity. Plus, they need to present their projects and justify each of their decisions. We hope this will help them develop their critical thinking”, explained professor Itziar Ramírez. In addition to teaching the course, Ramírez served as a consultant as students planned their open day.
The evaluation consisted of an oral presentation and a written paper connecting concepts addressed in the classroom and explaining why they were applied. “They’ve learned to manage the pressure and focus on obtaining results, all while caring for the brand’s name and reputation. By working as a team, they prioritize making the right decisions and being able to justify them.” Ramírez also noted that the students’ work and involvement were “excellent”, as was the quality of their completed projects.
According to the Professor, giving students a real scenario to work on was key to their motivation. “In HR, we always have to work on these types of situations—I think that’s what got them so involved.”
What did students think about the Open Day simulation?
What did you learn from this activity?
Junkal Asencor (J.A.): I learned much more than just the concepts needed for HR work. For example, I learned about the recruitment process and how to choose candidates for a position. The most valuable part was learning how to organize a large amount of work in a short amount of time when you’re under plenty of pressure and stress.
Sheila Vizuete (S.V.): How to coordinate with my teammates and let others know when I think something isn’t right. We each worked hard on our part of the job to get the best possible result. I think that distribution went well, and we trusted each other. We did have a small conflict when some of my teammates had trouble dealing with the stress, but I told them exactly what I didn’t like and we managed to fix it together.
What did you like best about it?
(J.A.): That this activity could be totally real. That really motivates you, because it feels like you could apply it in the future. It’s as if you were presenting a project at a real hotel. I also liked having my professor as a consultant during our working sessions.
(S.V.): Seeing all the work involved in an open day. When we went to W Hotel to learn about their internship opportunities, I wasn’t aware of all the hard work and organization they had to do to make everything perfect. Now that I know, I appreciate it much more.
What was the hardest part?
(J.A.): Managing so much work in so little time and the pressure of doing your best, since this could be a real case. Doing a good job was really enriching. It shows that if we get organized and work consistently, we can make progress.
(S.V.): Preparing all the activities and coordinating them in the right amount of time, making sure they don’t overlap, that they aren’t all in the same room, that the event took place at a reasonable hour… coordinating it all. For most activities, there’s a lot to consider—things like the budget. I had to organize the day, and from the very beginning I had to think about what expenses we had and which we could avoid.
How would you rate the job done by the class as a whole?
(J.A.): All the groups did a good job. They worked hard and gave it their best, even though it was a long project that was new for us and we didn’t have much time.
(S.V.): All the groups took it seriously and gave it their all. We worked as teams and asked how we could improve. We learned how things work in real life, what we need to take care of, what people can do and what they can’t, what interviews are like… All that gives us more experience and brings us much closer to the practical part of tourism.
Do you think this open day will help you in your professional career? How?
(J.A.): Yes, definitely. At first, I didn’t even know what an open day was! After studying it, analysing it and having to organize one, it’s a concept I’m familiar with, something I know how to do.
(S.V.): Yes. If I work at a hotel someday, if I’m the director of HR and they ask me to prepare one, I’ll be much quicker; I’ll be able to think back to this project to get ideas. Plus, I learned a lot about the different departments and jobs in a hotel and everyone you need to manage. Attitude, proper organization and teamwork will always be useful soft skills. I’m going to put all this to use, and I know it’s what people will pay the most attention to in the future.