Inside Scoop of Hospitality with Mr. Aaron Joshua Palma

My name is Aaron Joshua Palma, currently on my last semester with Dusit Thani College under Hotel and Resort Management International Program in 2022. I am originally from Philippine but spent the last two years studying and working in Bangkok, Thailand.

Why have you chosen the hospitality industry to be your career path?

The quote from Mark Twain “find a job you enjoy doing you will never have to work a day in your life” brought Aaron to this path.

“The beautiful about this hospitality industry is that every day is a surprise. At any giving time, you can meet a new person that you can experience a new moment”. Aaron enjoys working with people, meeting new people and creating memorable experience for people. Moreover, the amount of opportunities and possibilities in hospitality industry seems endless for him. As a hospitality student, he considered himself in a unique position with various possibilities he has for career planning. It is the adventurous and unexpected nature of hospitality industry that make the career worthwhile for him.

As a Young Ambassador of Dusit Thani College, what is your day-to-day responsibility?

“As a young ambassador, my role is to promote college as an institute that aims to grow young talents who are passionate about the hospitality industry. My contributions included participating in photoshoot, conducting online orientation for first year student, and appearing in online interview on topics relating to the college and hospitality industry”.

What are the challenges you face as a Young Ambassador of Dusit Thani College, and how did you overcome the obstacles?

For Aaron, being a young ambassador entails a lot of responsibilities, and requires his dedication as the role is challenging, especially at times when he has various tasks to fulfill. Meeting the potential students and their family, either online or on-site, is a daunting task for Aaron as he feels that his words will influence the future student’s decision. He therefore managed this challenge by focusing on the fact that he did not doing his ambassador role for the college only, but also for a young individual who is trying to find out where their passion are. Helping them understand the hospitality industry and able to make the right decision for their future are Aaron’s determination.

Aaron responded that “There was a pressure when many young students asking various questions about our experiences, because we know that our answers could potentially influence their decisions”. Therefore, the young ambassadors share their experience and advices straightforward based on their perceptions. They know that the school takes full responsibility to deliver the experience they commit for the students, the learning experience that will help their students grow in their careers.

Aaron has seen students who went to hospitality school, but later quit to pursue other paths instead. He feels that everyone can make own decision, and the others should respect. The role of youth ambassador is not to recruit them, but to help them understand what the hospitality school can offer and it is them to find out where their passion are. If not in the hospitality industry, it's completely understandable, they just have to find out their own goals.

What is the motivation technique and leadership you encountered as a Young Ambassador of Dusit Thani College?

As a young ambassador, Aaron has to liaise with new students in the college, other ambassadors in the team, as well as young individuals participating in the College’s events. The motivation technique he often used is to create passion and ambition, as they are the driving forces pushing everyone forward. He motivated new students by using what he experienced as a hospitality student. Those examples helped them understand and inspired them at the same time.

Aaron always encourages his audiences to share their own stories and their own goals with him so that the bonding as well as good relationship can take place. He noticed that this technique works well when the group had a mutual understanding and achieved small successes together.

When working with other young ambassadors, Aaron reiterated that it is crucial to ensure that the team shares the same goal which was at that time to promote not only the school but the hospitality industry. Therefore, when there is any junior students or those in high school trying to figure out their futures, it is the ambassadors’ task to help them understand what the hospitality industry is about, what the school can offer and show them the career path they can pursue within the industry.

Why have you chosen the Peninsula Bangkok and the Food and Beverage Department to intern in?

“The reason I choose the Peninsula Bangkok for my internship back then in the Food and Beverage department’s management trainee program was because I want to learn from the best”.

Aaron believes that the internship with one of Thailand legendary hotels would give him both personal and professional development that he needs as an aspiring hotelier. He undergone seven months management trainee program under the Food and Beverage Department at the Peninsula Bangkok where he had an opportunity to work and learn from one the top best luxury hotel brands in the world.

What are the main day to day responsibilities involved as a Food and Beverage Management Trainee ?

“My main responsibility included managing the restaurant reservation, handling guest enquiry and reservation request from various communication channels such as phone calls, emails, social media messages, and working in the restaurant”. Aaron shared that from his experience, most of the reservations he received were for the international buffet at the River Café and Terrace all day dining.

During the internship, Aaron gained hand on experience on service standards in various types of restaurant in the hotel. The most impressive involvement was when he was trained at the Thiptara Restaurant where he learned a great deal of service standard in the fine dining restaurant.

Aaron also had an opportunity to work with the Food and Beverage Department’s administration team on a few of their projects, for example coordinating the sale of the Peninsula Bangkok’s organic mooncake during the mid-autumn festival and handling guest reservation for festive events such as Loy Kra Tong in October 2022.

What are the challenges you faced, and how did you overcome the obstacles during the Food and Beverage Internship?

“Challenges I faced were mainly because of my inexperience when working, especially for the Food and Beverage’s administration team”.

Aaron shared that he had made some mistakes during his internship as what he experienced in the real working life was different from what he learned in the classroom. He recalled how he had to fulfill his duty in both F&B operation and administration which eventually helped him learn how to prioritize. Moreover, while working could be very exhausting, physical and mentally, it was a wonderful rewarding experience for him.

For Aaron, the best way to overcome those challenges was to never stop trying and asking questions to find out how things turn wrong and to keep his mind open to newer ways, better ways. He is a firm believer of taking risks, learn from the failures and work his way toward the success.

What do you think is the skills set required to work in the Food and Beverage Department?

“For me, they are problem solving, active listening and adaptability” Aaron replied.

From his experience, Aaron found that hotel environment is very dynamic where unpredictable situations may take place without any warning, and every working day is different with a new problem to tackle, either big or small. Thus, as a hotel staff, it is crucial to be able to act fast to respond to guests’ needs, to offer right and appropriate solutions as well as to be flexible with the changing circumstances.

Aaron added that communications is also an important part in his work life. Communication takes place with friends, coworkers, supervisors, mentors and guests. He learned that he has to be focus in every conversation in order to get the messages right and correct, which helps him reduce unnecessary mistakes.

What are the key takeaways and lessons you learned from your internship in the Food and Beverage Department?

“One of the key takeaways from my internship is to always open yourself to all kind of experiences”. As a hospitality student, Aaron personally considered that the opportunity to do internship was limited, therefore he committed to learn as much as possible and make the most out of every moment during his internship.

He added that the internship opportunity are primary for young student like him to learn and gain experience, where mistakes may take place. For Aaron, being able to try everything without being afraid to fail is how to live life, however, he is seriously commit to learn from his mistakes and ensure that the same mistakes will never take place again in his career life.

What are one of the key to success in the world of hospitality industry?

“I would say passion is a good start. Let the spark of fire in you start your career and set your goal. However, the main ingredient of success is not passion, but discipline”.

Aaron shared that when talking about hospitality industry, many people may imagine a nice pleasant work life in nicely cut uniform in a beautiful luxury five star hotels which is not always true. From his internship experience, he learned that there were some good and bad days at work. Hotel staff need to work on shift and perform their roles at best no matter how they feel, good or bad, like or dislike, motivated or unmotivated, simply because the team are relying on each other. Therefore, discipline is one of the keys to success.

You are back in the Philippines; where do you see yourself in the Hospitality industry journey in the future?

Aaron plans to stay where he is for the next few years, to gain as much experience as he could and continue his role as Youth Ambassador to support his college in Philippines. At the same time, he will apply everything he have learned from three years’ experience studying and working in Bangkok into his career, and create positive impact for his employer.

“And once I am excel in what I am doing, I want to pursue my goal of working abroad. Certainly that coming back to Thailand, seeing my friends and working in the hospitality industry here is in my plan”.

I had an incredible and wonderful interview session with one of my colleague from my previous internship for my third issue of the Inside Scoop of Hospitality article. It is an horned for me to understand the passion of Mr. Aaron Joshua Palma as a Young Ambassador at Dusit Thani College and his previous internship under the role of Food and Beverage Management Trainee at The Peninsula Hotels Bangkok. Aaron Joshua Palma just begins his new journey in hospitality industry in the Philippine as a Sale Coordinator at the Movenpick Resort and Spa Boracay. Wishing him all the best and success in his journey.