This assignment focuses on course learning objectives 2 and 3 – Describe career opportunities available in hospitality organizations and Recognize skills and knowledge necessary to advance within the Hospitality Industry.

This assignment will be an essay, written in APA format (If you are unsure of the proper paper format, refer to the template provided in the classroom or the resources in our online library). Be sure that you have reviewed the feedback you received from your first written assignment. Your essay should be no more than 3 pages of written content, along with a properly formatted title page and reference page. An abstract should not be included. The content for your essay is described below.

First, do some reflection on your career goals and choose a job/career goal, defining your ideal position within the hospitality industry. The essay will focus on describing and explaining the necessary skills and knowledge required or preferred for advancement in the field, from an entry level position to that goal position in management (preferably to general manager, vice president, or director level). The writing should be outlined by job progression and you can refer to specific job postings from company or third party job sites, like hcareers.com for example.

NOTE: Even if you are not actually planning to obtain employment within hospitality, you will choose a hospitality job for the purpose of this writing. Also, you should be reviewing the feedback from your week two submission prior to beginning this assignment.

If you have any questions on content or format expectations, please email me or post a question in the Q&A forum. Refer to the grading rubric for guidelines and expectations.

Be sure to review the Week 4 Assignment Hints and Tips found in your course content in the Activities & Assessments tab for week 4. It describes step by step how to be successful at this assignment.

For this assignment you will watch the videos and read chapter 3. You will also read pages 376-377 that explain Memo formatting and give examples of how to do that format.

After watching the video and reading chapter 3, type a 400 to 500 word Memo to me (size 12, Times New Roman) responding to specific information found in the Videos AND Chapter 3 (your heading is not included in the word count of your memo).  Pick at least one detail that you found interesting or helpful. Feel free to mention any information you found confusing or that which you disagree.

I do NOT want a summary of the chapter and video; I want your thoughts/response to some of the information in the chapter AND video.  Use the Memo sample on page 377* as the model for your memo.  Make your memo look just like this sample in regard to appearance and usage of spacing (double/single), tabs, punctuation, headings, bold, italics, underlining, categories listed, purpose etc.

For any of these response essays when you are referring to specific information from the book and video, make sure you list/cite the page number in and the book and video speaker to which you are referring.

Remember this is Technical Writing and formatting is imperative. For many of you, this is your first introduction into the world of technical writing. The key to technical communication is following instructions and attention to detail. Make sure you pay attention to the instructions of each assignment. Your grade will depend upon it!

* I realize in the business world, there is more than one way or style to write a memo.  But in order to be fair and consistent, for this class we use the sample on page 377 in the book so that you gain experience in following this particular example, and for me to have a consistent sample to evaluate your attention to detail in following the instructions.