Title: Career fairs: are they valuable events? Hospitality and tourism recruiter perceptions of attributes towards participation and activities

Authors: Susan Gordon; Howard Adler; Sheila Scott-Halsell

Addresses: School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Purdue University, Marriott Hall, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA ' School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Purdue University, Marriott Hall, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA ' School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration, Oklahoma State University, 210 Human Sciences Building, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078, USA

Abstract: The study examined the experience of hospitality and tourism industry recruiters who attended annual university career fairs sponsored by hotel and tourism departments at two major universities. The purpose of the study was to ascertain recruiter perceptions of the value of attending career fairs as a component of their companies' recruiting strategy. Recruiters attending the annual career fairs completed questionnaires. Survey results showed that recruiters perceive that career fairs are important to their companies' recruiting strategies and therefore, a valuable use of their time. Company representatives indicated that the universities were doing a good job in most aspects of the career fair with the exception of having students better prepared for the companies participating.

Keywords: campus recruiters; hospitality industry; recruiter perceptions; university career fairs; tourism industry; higher education; hotel industry; tourism education; hospitality education; recruiting strategy; tourism careers.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHEM.2014.062858

International Journal of Hospitality and Event Management, 2014 Vol.1 No.1, pp.81 - 94

Received: 06 Apr 2012
Accepted: 28 Jul 2012
Published online: 19 Jul 2014 *