Education Vs Experience: Analyzing Hiring Preferences in Luxury Hotels of Lahore

Abstract

The present study was conducted to explore the hiring preference about formal education and professional experience in the Five-star hotels of Lahore. The aim of the study is to know the opinion of the human resource managers and the departmental heads about the relative importance of the academic qualification and the industry experience for the recruitment decisions of operational and managerial posts. This study has been conducted at selected luxury hotels in the area and a structured questionnaire was used to collect the data for the study of the specific role of the hiring criteria, perception of hospitality education and challenges of workforce selection. The results indicate that there are differences in hotel recruitment preferences among five star hotels, and they operate on the basis of the level of the job and the functional needs. Front-line or operational jobs are typically the ones that are more experience-driven. Formal education is more likely to matter for supervisory and managerial jobs that require strategic and leadership skills. The study also highlights the disconnect between the results of hospitality education and the expectations of the industry which leads to employability issues for newly graduated candidates.