How to Spot the Next Generation of Hospitality Leaders at Your Local University

Recruitment too often for hotels means standing around at some career fair for a few hours while timid students approach or don’t.

Instead of rifling through a slew of resumes, you can do some work beforehand to find students you think would be a good fit. Hospitality has a longstanding issue with recruitment, and the pandemic exacerbated it, one James Madison University researcher found.

The industry is also relatively unique in that managers can play a heavier role in hiring and making decisions. If you have the power to help decide who gets hired, how can you use the most popular job-seeking platform appropriately?

Figure out who’s involved on campus

Whether it’s student government, student media, or whatever else, many students who make a point to get involved in student groups on campus have their future in mind.

They prioritize their student involvement over other obligations because of skills they are developing in pursuit of the type of jobs they want after graduation takes place, and that’s where you step in.

Nowadays, it should be relatively easy to find student affairs personnel who know the type of students you want. They know these students’ skills and desires in ways that a professor or academic advisor might not, and they can be a valuable resource for you. That information will help cut right to the chase to find students who have shown themselves worthy of praise while they are in higher education, and those same traits might be useful for your business.

The Higher Calling blog notes the benefits of involving students in hiring professional staff at a college or university, especially student-facing staff. If a series of professionals trust a current student enough to take value in their expertise, that student may well be exemplary in their approach to work and life more generally.

That’s someone who might be useful to your company for many years to come, especially if they understand the expectations of a professional work environment.

See who’s visible on Linkedin

One of the saddest aspects of recruiting for some companies is that they sometimes prioritize folks with a high GPA over those with the experience and/or skills that their business might need.

RippleMatch notes the myriad downfalls that can come with prioritizing academic prowess when recruiting for a professional position. Don’t make that mistake, since students who don’t have clean and pristine grades could very well be more useful.

LinkedIn has a feature specifically for recruiting, but whether you use it or not is up to you. Instead of waiting for students to find you at a career fair, reach out to students preparing to graduate or those with a stated interest in hospitality, for example.

Not only might you run into a student who might not have heard of your company or its opportunities, but at least some students will be especially grateful even to be considered for professional opportunities before graduation.

Figuring out summer internships can be stressful for those looking, but post-graduate life and the nuances therein can be an even more harrowing experience for those who don’t think they have any immediate prospects.

Hearing from a professional employer can remove some of that anxiety and make the path after graduation much clearer for a student who will be glad to hear from you.