Are You Ready? Perceived Career Readiness Attributes of the Hospitality Management Students

ABSTRACT Hospitality management schools have to ensure that their graduates are “ready” to start their career; hence, it is important to explore the perceived career readiness of graduates. The research goal of this paper is to explore the attributes contributing to the perceived career readiness of hospitality management students. An online survey was adopted and 302 completed surveys were collected. The results indicate that students’ perception of career readiness is significantly impacted by the curriculum of hospitality management programs. Our finding suggests the need for collaboration between industry and industry training partners (i.e. educational bodies) to make sure the curriculums of hospitality management programs are updated in accordance with industry trends, and students’ are able to learn the requisite skills and knowledge of the industry.