Hospitality graduates career pathways: an analysis of LinkedIn profiles

This article shares the results of research that explored the demographics and career pathways of hospitality graduates from Auckland University of Technology (AUT). The study [1] investigated graduates’ employment during and after their studies; promotions; job mobility; tenure of employment; and other aspects of their career pathways. A small selection of the key findings are presented here. The study analysed graduate profiles on LinkedIn, which is the world’s largest professional, online social network. LinkedIn is an employment-oriented network service that provides a website and mobile app allowing both employers and job seekers to make profiles and build connections with each other. In 2019, there were more than two million New Zealand LinkedIn users. In this study, the researcher selected a sample of 130 profiles of New Zealand LinkedIn users who had completed a Bachelor of International Hospitality Management degree at AUT in 2008–2018. A selection of the key findings Of the study participants, 72% were women and 28% were men. This gender distribution broadly matches the results of previous studies worldwide [2, 3], showing that, internationally, most people studying hospitality management in universities are female. 62% of the LinkedIn participants were domestic enrolments and 38% were from overseas. A key finding was that 80% of New Zealand’s hospitality graduates were employed throughout their studies, and that 66% were employed in the hospitality sector while still studying. This finding informs the ongoing discussion between education providers and employers about how ‘work ready’ graduates are and the effectiveness of tertiary education in providing relevant skills [4, 5]. The finding shows that a clear majority of graduates had been working in the industry for several years before they graduated and therefore had experiences of ‘real world’ hospitality work in addition to theory. After graduating, 74% of hospitality graduates decided to work in the hospitality sector (Figure 1), which is 8% more than the 66% of graduates who worked in the hospitality sector during their studies. This 8% worked outside of the hospitality industry as undergraduates but took hospitality work after graduating. Internationally, 74% of graduates finding work in hospitality is a high percentage compared to findings from other countries, e.g. Oman [6], where in 2017 this figure was only 41%; in contrast, research in Poland [7] found a figure of 59%, which is nearer to the result in New Zealand. Figure 1: Sector in which New Zealand hospitality students were employed immediately after their graduation (2008–2018) A quarter (26%) of New Zealand hospitality students decided not to work in the hospitality sector after graduation and opted instead for work in other industries; three quarters of these graduates were male (76%). Of the 74% of graduates who entered the hospitality workforce, the results show that about two-thirds were female and one-third were male. While this is a pleasing result for tertiary educators, showing a good result for industry-specific employment outcomes for hospitality graduates, the gender imbalance raises some intriguing questions that would benefit from further research. Further results show details of graduates’ length of stay at their first workplace. While a quarter (24%) of the participants chose not to enter the hospitality industry after graduating, 34% of graduates left their first place of employment within one year and 22% decided to leave their employer within two years. With a total of 56% percent of graduates leaving their employer within two years, this finding raises serious questions regarding the effect of early employment conditions on hospitality graduates. A possible contributing factor to this high turnover is the result that shows only 20% of graduates employed in the hospitality sector had any career advancement within their first place of employment. The data show that only 7% of graduates had job advancement in their first year, and 8% had a job advancement in their second year. Three percent had job advancement in their third and fourth years, combining to a rather lean 23% of graduates who were promoted within the first four years of their hospitality careers. The data from this study provides a useful and original insight into New Zealand hospitality graduate work choices and raises some interesting questions about the quality of career pathways in the sector. Further findings and discussion can be found in the original dissertation here: https://openrepository.aut.ac.nz/handle/10292/14117 Corresponding author Mario Basnayake can be contacted at: [email protected] References (1) Basnayake, M. An Exploratory Study of the Progress of Hospitality Graduates’ Career Pathways in New Zealand; Master’s Thesis, Auckland University of Technology, 2021. https://openrepository.aut.ac.nz/handle/10292/14117 (accessed Jul 7, 2021). (2) Chuang, N. K.; Dellmann-Jenkins, M. Career Decision Making and Intention: A Study of Hospitality Undergraduate Students. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research 2010, 34(4), 512–530. https://doi.org/10.1177/1096348010370867 (3) Richardson, S. Generation Y’s Perceptions and Attitudes towards a Career in Tourism and Hospitality. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism 2010, 9(2), 179–199. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332840903383855 (4) Major, B.; Evans, N. Reassessing Employer Expectations of Graduates in UK Travel Services. International Journal of Tourism Research 2008, 10(5), 409–422. https://doi.org/10.1002/jtr.670 (5) Richardson, S.; Thomas, N. J. Utilising Generation Y: United States Hospitality and Tourism Students’ Perceptions of Careers in the Industry. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management 2012, 19(1), 102–114. https://doi.org/10.1017/jht.2012.12 (6) Atef, T.; Al Balushi, M. Omani Tourism and Hospitality Students’ Employment Intentions and Job Preferences: Ramifications on Omanization Plans. Quality Assurance in Education 2017, 25(4), 440-461. https://doi.org./10.1108/QAE-04-2016-0022 (7) Grobelna, A.; Marciszewska, B. Work Motivation of Tourism and Hospitality Students: Implications for Human Resource Management. In Proceedings of the 8th European Conference on Intellectual Capital; Bagnoli, C., Mio, C., Garlatti, A., Massaro, M., Eds.; Academic Conferences and Publishing International: Reading, England, 2016, pp 95–103.

THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN TOURISM AND HOTEL INDUSTRY LABOUR MARKET DETERMINANTS AND THE NUMBER OF GRADUATES

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the existence of a relationship between tourism and hotel industry labour market determinants and the number of graduates in the sector in Croatia. Although, the expansion of Croatian tourism and hotel industry in recent years resulted in a growing number of higher education institutions in those sectors, the internationalization of study programmes and their redesigning to better meet the labour market is needed. Furthermore, there is a necessity of labour market features improving to create a motivating working environment for future employees. Design – The paper presents an explorative analysis designed to analyse Croatian tourism and hotel industry labour market and the number of higher education graduates in those sectors. Methodology – In investigating whether or not, and in what extend the number of tourism and hospitality graduates is affected by the sectors key development determinants and labour market features, the neural networks and the multiple regression methodology were used. Findings – The results showed that, although there is a relationship between the selected variables, the research hypothesis cannot be confirmed. In future, more efforts should be addressed in filling the gap, both in theory and practice. The originality of the research – The paper presents a new approach in modelling tourism-based issues combining alternative methods with traditional ones.

Innovative human resources management: key competencies expected from hospitality graduates in Ghana

Purpose: The study aimed to determine the key competencies required from hospitality graduates from the hospitality industry perspective. Research Methodology: The study adopted a qualitative research approach. Overall, 43 hotel managers in the Ghanaian hospitality industry were conveniently sampled. Data were collected using a structured survey questionnaire. The study used Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS) version 23 to analysed data collected. Results: Results from the study indicate that the “key competencies” required from hospitality graduates from the industry perspective include good inter-personal skills, innovation and ability to think of new ways of doing things, ability to maintain professional standards, customer-oriented, critical thinking ability, self-motivation, friendly and approachable, good communication skills. Limitation: The study focused only on hospitality employers in Ghana; therefore, findings from the study cannot be generalised to other hospitality employers in different country. Contribution: The study emphasises the need for hospitality educational institutions in Ghana to assess the tourism and hospitality industry's competencies to produce graduates who will fit in the job market. Keywords: Attributes, Employers, Knowledge, Skills

Career advancement of tourism and hospitality management graduates : the case of Walter Sisulu University, Eastern Cape

Hospitality graduates are entering the industry without an accurate understanding of the sector, and this could be the reason for many leaving employment in the industry (Brown, Arendt and Bosselman 2014:1). Graduates in South Africa have unrealistic expectations of employment in the tourism and hospitality industry and tend to exit the industry within few years after joining it as they are faced with a number of challenges (Sibanyoni, Kleynhans and Vibetti 2015:13). Perceptions and attitudes of tourism and hospitality graduates towards employment in the industry are not clearly understood. The focus of this study was to investigate perceptions on career advancement of tourism and hospitality graduates at Walter Sisulu University in the Eastern Cape. The quantitative approach was adopted using structured online questionnaires to collect primary data. The population comprised of graduates in the Tourism and Hospitality Department from Walter Sisulu University, who graduated between the years 2004 to 2014. Simple random sampling was used to obtain a representative sample of 133 tourism and hospitality graduates. The key findings of the study reveal that the majority of respondents were currently employed in the tourism and hospitality industry on a full-time basis. Respondents who were working in the tourism and hospitality sector indicated that expectations in this employment sector were not adequately met. Respondents who are employed in other sectors showed a higher job satisfaction compared to those employed in the tourism and hospitality sector. The results further revealed that graduates employed in the tourism and hospitality sector were faced with far more challenges than those employed in other industry sectors. Even though previous studies on perceptions and attitudes of tourism and hospitality graduates towards employment in the industry indicated that graduates tend to exit the industry within few years after joining it, the current study findings indicate that the majority of graduates are still employed in the tourism and hospitality sector

Role of servant leadership in contemporary hospitality

Purpose This study aims to determine the possible role of servant leadership (SL) in meliorating critical issues in the contemporary hospitality industry by synthesizing literature on SL, examining benefits and deriving future research propositions. Design/methodology/approach A systematic literature review of SL in hospitality was conducted to analyze, categorize and synthesize the state of research. A nomological framework of SL in hospitality was created, and research gaps were identified. Future directions and propositions were derived to investigate the antecedents of SL by applying the person-situation theoretical approach, and second, to address contemporary challenges in the industry. Findings SL theory in hospitality is examined across various themes with focus on outcome effects related to firm performance, and across different cultures, with observed dominance in Asia. All analyses demonstrate the positive effects on employers and firms and thus confirm the relevance of adopting SL in hospitality. A notable gap in hospitality research is the lack of empirical investigation of SL antecedents. Such an investigation is crucial in promoting related behaviors. Practical implications This study identifies the benefits of SL, especially in addressing contemporary issues, such as sustainability, talent shortage, competition, growing demand for experience and retention of hospitality graduates. Recommendations are elaborated for hospitality educators and industry managers to revise leadership practices. Originality/value This study is the first to review SL in hospitality and determine its role in ameliorating critical issues in the field.