The Scandinavian hospitality industry vs. Norwegian hospitality students. A competency assessment

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the competency criteria employed by Scandinavian hospitality industry managers when hiring a potential full time employee in their respective departments and student perspectives of these. To achieve the best comparison students answered the survey as what they believed a recruiter would rate as important when making hiring decisions. This theses introduces competency criteria research in the Scandinavian hotel industry and can be considered to open for further research on the field. The data were analyzed with the content analysis techniques of phenomenology quantitative research and revealed that skills & abilities and attitude are the most influential factors for making hiring decisions for the industry managers. The students were more widespread in their assessment of the importance of the criteria and projected knowledge to an equally important factor. Concluding thoughts presented in this thesis is in regards to managerial implications for the industry and the educators, based on student and industry result. The ultimate outcome of these management implications is to achieve consistency in hospitality recruitment and selection based on educational and industry demands.