Selection for vocational courses at university: Part I ‐ perspectives of the employers of graduates

Explores the criteria used by industrial recruitment personnel in the selection of graduates from Hotel and Catering Management courses for management trainee positions in the hospitality industry. Reports on a study which is part of a wider investigation into the extent to which criteria employed for the admission to professionally or vocationally oriented university courses cover, or fail to cover, the criteria used for recruitment to employment positions, following the completion of such courses. Describes a series of extensive interviews with senior recruiters from 11 large UK hospitality organizations. Concludes that, in the recruitment of management trainees, first, considerable emphasis is placed on applicants’ motivation and commitment and also on certain personality aspects that are regarded as important for the industry; second, applicants’ home circumstances also influence recruitment decisions; third, little, if any, attention is paid to applicants’ previous academic career and/or achievement; lastly, industrial recruiters appear to rely largely on their own personal judgements and hunches, notwithstanding the fact that they are recognized to be subjective and, possibly, unreliable.