How Internships Influenced Professional Development? Hotel and Restaurant Management Graduate Perspectives

Exploring on a journey through the perception of Hotel and Restaurant Management graduates. This study explores the perceptions of students about their internship experiences and focuses at how it relates to their professional development. The study is based on the theoretical framework of Situated Learning theory developed by Lave and Wenger. This theory offers a thorough lens through which to view the relationship between professional development and experiential learning. There were 206 respondents in this study. The research employed quantitative and qualitative methods. The researcher used a localized questionnaire to identify the influence of the Internship experience on the professional development of the respondents. The statement for each variable is tested for its reliability. The testing for the reliability of the questionnaire, with 30 respondents, graduates in different colleges except for Hotel and Restaurant Management. There were revisions made from the original instrument to fit the locale of the study. Additionally, the professional development mean is very high. Furthermore, there is a significant relationship between the respondents’ internship experience and their professional development. It could be deduced in this study that job placement affects their internship experience.