evaluating students’ experience and satisfaction at a hospitality and tourism college career fair

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This article was downloaded by: [Northeastern University] On: 21 November 2014, At: 22:38 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/whrh20 Evaluating Students’ Experience and Satisfaction at a Hospitality and Tourism College Career Fair Ady Milman a & Premila A. Whitney a a Department of Tourism, Events and Attractions, Rosen College of Hospitality Management, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA Published online: 21 Mar 2014. To cite this article: Ady Milman & Premila A. Whitney (2014) Evaluating Students’ Experience and Satisfaction at a Hospitality and Tourism College Career Fair, Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 13:2, 173-189, DOI: 10.1080/15332845.2014.847304 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15332845.2014.847304 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms- and-conditions

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Page 1: Evaluating Students’ Experience and Satisfaction at a Hospitality and Tourism College Career Fair

This article was downloaded by: [Northeastern University]On: 21 November 2014, At: 22:38Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registeredoffice: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Journal of Human Resources inHospitality & TourismPublication details, including instructions for authors andsubscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/whrh20

Evaluating Students’ Experience andSatisfaction at a Hospitality and TourismCollege Career FairAdy Milmana & Premila A. Whitneya

a Department of Tourism, Events and Attractions, Rosen College ofHospitality Management, University of Central Florida, Orlando,Florida, USAPublished online: 21 Mar 2014.

To cite this article: Ady Milman & Premila A. Whitney (2014) Evaluating Students’ Experienceand Satisfaction at a Hospitality and Tourism College Career Fair, Journal of Human Resources inHospitality & Tourism, 13:2, 173-189, DOI: 10.1080/15332845.2014.847304

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15332845.2014.847304

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the“Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis,our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as tothe accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinionsand views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors,and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Contentshould not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sourcesof information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims,proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever orhowsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arisingout of the use of the Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Anysubstantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms &Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

Page 2: Evaluating Students’ Experience and Satisfaction at a Hospitality and Tourism College Career Fair

Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 13:173–189, 2014Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 1533-2845 print / 1533-2853 onlineDOI: 10.1080/15332845.2014.847304

Evaluating Students’ Experience andSatisfaction at a Hospitality and Tourism

College Career Fair

ADY MILMAN and PREMILA A. WHITNEYDepartment of Tourism, Events and Attractions, Rosen College of Hospitality Management,

University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA

This study examined the experience of hospitality students who at-tended a semi-annual career fair at a large university located in theSoutheastern part of the United States. The study assessed students’perceptions of the value of attending the career fair and predictswhat variables may indicate their level of satisfaction in the event.Data were collected through an online survey from 123 studentsand revealed that students would like to see more available jobs thatappeal to them, to meet more industry representatives from variousindustry segments, and attract a greater variety of employers. Stu-dents’ level of satisfaction with the career fair was attributed tocurrent availability of jobs that appeal to them, willingness of em-ployers’ representatives to take their printed resume, and sufficientindustry representation of the segment that the students were in-terested to pursue their careers. Implications for college career fairevent planners, students, and recruiters are discussed.

KEYWORDS hospitality students, industry representatives, careerfair, experience, satisfaction

INTRODUCTION

The placement of university graduates in positions within the job market hasbecome an important task of career service departments or centers at highereducation institutions. Several studies have recently addressed the role ofcareer services departments in student career development skills (Chaub,

Address correspondence to Ady Milman, University of Central Florida, Rosen Col-lege of Hospitality Management, 9907 Universal Blvd., Orlando, FL 32819. E-mail:[email protected]

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2012; Choi et al., 2013; Stipanovic, 2010). Many university career servicesoffices have become a one-stop shop for students, with a variety of serviceslike advising and counseling, credit and non-credit internship opportunities,outreach community programs, networking opportunities, online and libraryresources, on-campus recruitment opportunities, and career fairs (Boettcher,2009; Dey & Real, 2010).

Proprietary and academic research on career fairs in general, and incollege career fairs in particular, addressed career fairs from the recruiters’perspective: The costs of participating in college career fairs, their hir-ing needs, and the way they attract qualified applicants (Leece, 2005; Na-tional Association of Colleges and Employers [NACE], 2013; Stewart, 2005).There is very little evidence in the literature that those employers takeinto consideration their potential employees’ needs during the career fairrecruiting process. Yet, a few studies looked at college career fairs fromthe students’ perspective (Silkes, Adler, & Phillips, 2010; Payne & Sumter,2005).

A career fair is an event where organizations meet and recruit prospec-tive talent to their companies (Silkes, et al. 2010). Recruiters find a financialbenefit in participating in face-to-face fairs, since they have the opportunityto evaluate many applicants in person in a brief, dedicated span of time.Job fairs also provide job seekers the opportunity to meet with multipleemployers and evaluate their career prospects. In an academic setting, ca-reer fairs provide students with the opportunity to learn more about variousorganizations under one roof (Brennan, Daly, Fitzpatrick, & Sweeney, 2004).

Campus recruiting has always been very competitive. The biggest chal-lenge that campus recruiters face is attracting students to work in their par-ticular industries and/or locations (NACE, 2009). Furthermore, attracting can-didates to specific locations may be an even tougher challenge to meet. Astudent may express a preference for jobs that are near their hometown ornear their college’s town or another location for a specific reason. Conse-quently, employers who require relocation must find supplementary orga-nization attributes that will make them attractive to students (NACE, 2007).NACE’s 2011 Job Outlook survey indicated that 40% of the employers whoparticipated in the study had firm intentions for on-campus recruiting dur-ing the spring 2009–2011 period, and another 19.4% had tentative plans torecruit students on campuses (NACE, 2010).

Successful employers will have to continue offering a strong job productand must be able to adapt their recruitment practices to the needs of newcollege graduates (NAS Recruitment Communications, 2006). Consequently,there is a need for employers to evaluate their recruitment processes froma student’s perspective, and assess the needs and wants of the current gen-eration at the first encounter with employers during a career fair. Limitedresearch has examined the benefits and student perceptions of career fairs(Payne & Sumter, 2005).

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To increase the body of knowledge on students’ perceptions of collegecareer fairs, specifically those that are held in the tourism and hospitality in-dustry, it is necessary to conduct additional empirical research. The purposeof this study was to examine students’ experiences, attitudes and perceptionswhen attending a college career fair. More specifically, the objectives of thestudy were to: (1) Evaluate the level of importance attached by students toa college career fair’s attributes, (2) assess students’ perceptions of their ex-perience when attending a college career fair, and (3) identify the variablesthat may predict their level of satisfaction in the event.

The study will enable recruiters to adjust their marketing efforts in theirattempt to recruit the best potential employees. The results of the studycould be beneficial to colleges and universities to enhance their career fairofferings, making them more appealing to students and industry alike. Inaddition, the results could provide information for recruiters that could beused to develop innovative marketing strategies to attract more studentsto their exhibit booths and to maintain future relationships with potentialemployees.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The literature is quite extensive with regard to placement of college graduatesin all industries and sectors of the economy including business and manage-ment (Wilton, 2012); psychology (Moores & Reddy, 2012); entrepreneurship(Ekore & Okekeocha, 2012); nonprofit, government, and business boards(Tschirhart, Reed, Freeman, & Anker, 2009); manufacturing (Bockerman,2007); and economics (Krueger & Wu, 2000).

Student Recruiting

One of the most crucial tasks of career services centers or departments isto enhance students’ skills that are sought by their prospective employers.According to Stevens (2005), recruiters are looking for applicants to haveexcellent communication skills, both written and oral. Recruiters also seekqualified applicants that are able to network successfully, either face-to-face or via e-mail (de Janasz & Forret, 2007). Most recruiters are lookingfor applicants that are professional (Hall & Berardino, 2006). Other studentattributes that recruiters look for include skills and qualities pertaining toverbal communication skills, strong work ethics, teamwork skills, analyticalskills, and initiatives (NACE, 2010).

Recruiters have a few options when it comes to finding qualified can-didates for internships, part-time, and full-time positions. NACE’s 2008 JobOutlook survey suggested that the top five methods to recruit students wereon-campus recruiting, organization’s internship program, employee referrals,

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organization’s co-op program, and career/job fairs. Less popular methodswere video interviewing, virtual career/job fairs, newspaper advertising(campus and/or local newspapers), Internet banners, and printed recruit-ment advertising (NACE, 2007).

Electronic media have become a very popular source for recruiting inthe past few years, both for employers and students. Services such as Mon-ster.com and Career Builder screen thousands of online applications receivedon the company website or by participating in a virtual career fair. Othertypes of social media have also become trendy. In a recent study of 300recruiters conducted by the Reppler organization, 90% of the employers sur-veyed report that they currently use social networking sites such as Facebookand LinkedIn not only to find qualified applicants, but also to screen thembased on their online profiles (Reppler, 2012). NACE’s 2010 Job Outlook sur-vey indicated that 82.7% of employers use LinkedIn and 73.6% of employersuse Facebook for recruiting (NACE, 2009).

Clearly, there are many ways that recruiters can ascertain if an applicanthas all of the qualities they are looking for, but one effective way of deter-mining and confirming those qualities is by meeting an applicant in person.Face-to-face meetings can be costly and timely; however, participating in acareer fair allows a recruiter to see and evaluate many applicants at one time(NAS Recruitment Communications, 2006).

There are limited studies on hospitality students’ career expectations andthe impact of career fairs. Maxwell, Ogden, and Broadbridge, (2010) studiedthe relationship between Generation Y’s career expectations and aspirationsand employee engagement in Scotland. The findings revealed that the Gen-eration Y respondents’ early experiences in the hospitality industry discour-aged them from pursuing careers in this sector. Expectations and aspirationswere determined mainly by the students’ personal career development oremployability factors. In an effort to understand why some capable studentsare not selected by recruiters, Ehlers (2005) studied corporate recruiters ata hospitality career fair. The findings revealed that resumes are infrequentlyused during career fairs as an indicator of skills. Rather, first impressions arerelied upon heavily to determine a candidate’s competencies.

Student Career Fairs

Prior research on student career fairs indicated that these events are plannednot only to recruit, but also to educate and even entertain and reward studentattendees (Payne & Sumter, 2005; Reilly, Stothers, Broudo, Perdios, & Tred-well, 2007; Roehling & Cavanaugh, 2000). Career fairs also allow students tomake assumptions about prospective employment organizations as a whole,based on their perception of the recruiter (Breaugh & Starke, 2000). Whileit is assumed that students will benefit by merely attending a recruitment orcareer fair (Payne & Sumter, 2005), research on their perceptions of career

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fair experiences, specifically within the hospitality industry, is limited. Theability of hospitality programs to adequately prepare students for a careerfair can directly affect the students’ satisfaction with the university as a whole(Silkes et al., 2010). Therefore, it is important for colleges and universities tocontinue producing student career fairs.

Universities recognize the importance of hosting career fairs for their stu-dents. Student career fairs continue to grow in size and frequency in manyU.S. universities. A random online search on academic institutions’ careerfairs indicates the proliferation of face-to-face career fairs held by an increas-ing number of universities and other academic institutions on an annual orbi-annual basis. For example, the Kansas State University scheduled sevencareer fairs in 2013 that were specifically geared toward all disciplines frombusiness and hospitality majors to engineering majors (Kansas State Univer-sity, 2013). Other examples include Purdue University (Purdue University,2013), Florida State University (Florida State University, 2013), and the Uni-versity of Massachusetts, where the event is completely student planned andexecuted by students (University of Massachusetts, 2013).

While student placement, often through the means of career fairs, is acommon practice in North American colleges and universities, similar prac-tices are not as prevalent in other geographical regions around the world. Forexample, McKeown and Lindorff (2011) found that recent Australian grad-uates did not utilize the University Careers Centre (UCC), nor did many ofthem know about the services offered. Another study concluded that amongtourism graduates from a university in Sweden, the graduates had very littleknowledge about the career options in the industry and suggested the needfor further career guidance (Hjalager, 2003).

Theoretical Framework

The theoretical background of this research project is grounded on two pre-vious studies that highlighted college students’ expectations and perceptionsof career fairs. Payne and Sumter’s (2005) content analysis identified sixthemes associated with the students’ experience of career fairs: Informationabout careers, information about the hiring process, specific information onjobs pertaining to specific majors, clear industry contacts for their careersearches, internship opportunities, and the value of the career fair as anentertaining venue. Roehling and Cavanaugh’s (2000) study addressed morespecifically students’ expectations of employers at job fairs. They collecteddata using 23 variables in the areas of characteristics of the employer rep-resentatives, behavior of the employers’ representatives, displays, recruitingliterature, and giveaways and snacks (Roehling & Cavanaugh, 2000). Whilethese studies provided detailed lists of expectations and experiences thatwere evaluated by the students, the studies did not offer a model that wouldpredict students’ level of satisfaction with the career fair. Furthermore, these

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studies did not address the marketing and administration of those career fairsthat would impact future attendance.

METHODOLOGY

The Study’s Setting

The study examined the experience of hospitality students who attended asemi-annual career fair at a tourism and hospitality college located withinan accredited university in the Southeast United States. The career fair wasorganized by a student class and sponsored by the college, as well as thecareer services department on campus. The college current enrollment isapproximately 3,000 undergraduate students.

Over the past eight years, the college has produced a career fair forthe hospitality students on the last Thursday of the months of Februaryand October, from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. In this study, a total of 65 compa-nies participated in the event and represented hotels, restaurants, attractions,transportation, and destination management companies. Most of the compa-nies were from the local area; however, five companies traveled from otherparts of the United States, and most of the hotel chains have properties lo-cated worldwide. During the timeframe of the event, faculty members wereencouraged to allow students to attend the fair as part of that day’s classroomactivity.

Instrument Development

The research instrument was based on qualitative research conducted withstudents who had previously experienced a similar career fair, as well asthe key themes identified by Payne and Sumter’s (2005) and Roehling andCavanaugh’s (2000) studies. Students who attended the previous year’s ca-reer fair were asked to complete a non-structured one-page report of theirexperience in the career fair. The report was a class assignment for thosestudents who had classes during the time frame when the career fair washeld and attended the event as an alternative class activity.

Content analysis of these 90 attendance reports was conducted. Theanalysis of the reports highlighted several issues of concern, in particular:Communication with the employer representatives, adequate representationof industry segments, professionalism demonstrated by the industry repre-sentatives, and the willingness of the exhibitors to accept students’ printedresumes while at the career fair.

The research instrument incorporated the top three student evaluationvariables of a career fair that were identified in Roehling and Cavanaugh’sstudy (2000): Knowledgeable employer representatives, information aboutavailable positions, and the personal characteristics of the employers’

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representative. Other variables that were included in the instrument wereadopted from Payne and Sumter’s study (2005) addressing issues associ-ated with the students’ major and career options pertaining to their major,manifested by the variety of employer organizations present at the event.

The survey included 31 multiple-choice variables associated with stu-dent enrollment characteristics (two questions), students’ current employ-ment practice (three questions), importance-performance analysis of thecareer fair attributes (22 questions), students’ evaluation of the marketingand administration of the career fair (one question), level of satisfactionwith the career fair (one question), and demographic characteristics (twoquestions).

Data Collection

Previous research regarding students’ and recruiters’ perceptions of careerfairs primarily utilized self-administered questionnaires that were introducedimmediately after the career fair concluded (Ehlers, 2005; Maxwell et al.,2010; Payne et al., 2005; Silkes, 2010). In this research, students also com-pleted online surveys at the end of their visit to the career fair. The studentswere personally approached by a group of student event organizers whowere part of a class that organized the career fair and were asked to partici-pate in the study. The students were directed to laptop computers that weredisplayed on high tables away from the exhibitors’ booths.

During the two-week period following the event, students were alsosent three reminders by e-mail asking them to respond to the survey. Thefollow-up surveys were mailed to students who had registered online for thecareer fair, as well as to those who registered on-site the day of the event.The online survey utilized Qualtrics software and included two qualificationquestions asking the students if they had attended the career fair and thenasking if they were willing to participate in the survey.

An important concern with administering surveys via e-mail and Inter-net links is that of non-response bias. Since only 21% of the students whoattended the career fair responded to the survey, a nonresponse bias waspossible. Online surveys are a practical, administrative method for collectingdata from college students (Wells, Cavanaugh, Bouffard, & Nobles, 2003);however, in some instances, differences between web-administered and per-sonal or self-administered hard copy versions of a survey might be evident(Wells et al., 2003). The relatively low response rate could also be explainedby the fact that the college strongly encouraged faculty to encourage or man-date students’ participation in the career fair. However, a large proportion ofthe students were not interested in attending, since they already had full-timeemployment, and therefore only attended to meet their class requirements.These students did not complete the survey, as participation was not relevantto them at this point of their academic career.

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180 A. Milman and P. A. Whitney

TABLE 1 Tourism and Hospitality Segments Students Currently Work In a

Tourism and Hospitality Segment Responseb %

Food services and restaurant industry 21 20%Theme Park industry 19 18%I do not work yet 19 18%Other 16 16%Lodging industry 15 15%Meeting and Event industry 11 11%Travel and tourism 2 2%Total 103 100%

Note. a“What segments of the tourism and hospitality industry do you currently work in?” b Total numberof responses is lower than the total surveys completed due to missing values.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Based on student registration records, 573 students attended the career fair.The survey yielded 146 online responses, 23 (16%) of which were of studentswho did not attend the career fair and therefore could not continue tocomplete the survey. With 123 students having completed the survey, theresponse rate was approximately 21%.

General Profile of the Respondents

The majority of the respondents (91%) were in the college age group(18–25 years old). Other respondents were in the 26–34 age group (5%)and the 35–54 age group (4%). Gender distribution between males and fe-males was 14% and 86%, respectively. Most of the students that attendedthe career fair were in the junior and senior academic standing. While thecollege offers a variety of specializations, most of the career fair attendeeswere in the Hospitality Management generalist track (41%) and the EventManagement track (38%). Some students reported dual majors within thecollege.

The majority of the career fair participants (82%) worked while attendingschool. The typical student that attended the career fair worked a median of24 hours per week. The students reported that they currently work in fourmajor segments of the hospitality and tourism industry: Food services andrestaurants (20%), theme parks and attractions (18%), lodging (15%), andmeeting and events (11%). Some students (16%) worked for non-hospitalityemployers, and almost one-fifth of the students (18%) reported that theywere not working (Table 1).

Students’ Experience and Satisfaction with the Career Fair

The Career fair’s attendees found out about the event from the University’sListserv e-mail (65%) and announcements during class (59%). Other sources

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Evaluating Experiences and Satisfaction 181

of information about the career fair were obtained through the college’swebsite (42%) and the college’s information table prior to the event (41%)(Table 2).

To learn more about the students’ experience with the career fair,an importance-performance analysis was conducted. The importance-performance analysis, originally introduced by Martilla and James (1977),aimed to better understand consumers’ needs and wants. This is attainedthrough the analysis of consumer expectations (importance) and consumersatisfaction (performance). In the service and hospitality industries’ empiri-cal research, participants were typically asked to rate the level of importanceof specific facilities, services, and experiences (product attributes) as well asthe level of performance of each of the attributes. Consumers’ perceptions ofthe importance and performance of controllable attributes of a product or aservice can help decision makers to make reasonable conclusions regardingthe modifications of performance on attributes that exhibited performancegaps.

In this study, students were asked to evaluate 11 attributes of their ex-perience at the career fair. These variables were adopted from the qualitativesection of this research and the literature (Payne & Sumter, 2005; Roehling& Cavanaugh, 2000). The importance of each attribute was measured on a1 to 5 scale, where 1 represented not important at all and 5 representedvery important. The performance of each attribute was measured on a 1 to5 scale, where 1 represented poor performance and 5 represented excellentperformance.

The results indicate that the two most-important aspects of a career fairwere the variety of employers (mean = 4.73, on a 1 to 5 scale) and industryrepresentation in the segment that the students were interested in to pursuecareers (mean = 4.72, on a 1 to 5 scale). Other important attributes for thestudents were current availability of jobs that appeal to the individual student(mean = 4.62, on a 1 to 5 scale) and level of professional communicationbetween the representatives and the student at the career fair (mean = 4.54,on a 1 to 5 scale). Less-important attributes were: Registration process, day

TABLE 2 Respondents’ Source of Information About the Career Fair

Sources of Information Na %

University Listserv e-mail 70 65%Announcement during class 63 59%College’s website 45 42%College’s information table prior

to the event44 41%

Information from other students 42 39%College library 5 5%

Note. a Total percentage is higher than 100% due to multiple responses.

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182 A. Milman and P. A. Whitney

TABLE 3 Importance–Performance Analysis of the Career Fair’s Attributes as Perceived bythe Students

Mean SD Mean SDCareer Fair Attributes Na Importanceb Performancec T Sig.

1 Variety of employers 106 4.73 0.82 3.35 1.09 −11.385 0.002 Industry representation

in the segment I aminterested to pursuemy career

106 4.72 0.84 3.00 1.45 −11.561 0.00

3 Current availability ofjobs that appeal tome

106 4.62 0.83 2.72 1.24 −13.284 0.00

4 Level of professionalcommunicationbetween therepresentatives andmyself at the careerfair

106 4.54 0.87 4.05 1.02 −4.164 0.00

5 Willingness ofemployers’representatives totake my printedresume

106 4.52 0.89 3.49 1.28 −6.768 0.00

6 Employers’representativesknowledge abouttheir respectivecompanies

106 4.49 0.93 4.03 0.93 −3.737 0.00

7 The career fair’smarketing andawareness amongstudents

106 4.29 0.94 4.21 0.98 −0.703 0.48

8 Hosting the career fairat the Rosen College

106 4.24 1.06 4.37 0.90 −1.177 0.24

9 Time of the day careerwhen fair was held

106 4.11 0.93 3.82 1.04 −2.395 0.18

10 Day of the week whencareer fair was held

106 4.08 0.91 3.72 1.04 −2.864 0.05

11 Registration process 106 3.99 1.03 4.54 0.75 5.221 0.00

Note. a Total number of responses is lower than the total surveys completed due to missing values.b “How important are each of the following features in your evaluation of the career fair?” 1 = notimportant at all; 2 = somewhat important; 3 = neither unimportant nor important; 4 = important; 5 =very important.c The performance of these attributes was . . . 1 = poor; 2 = fair; 3 = good; 4 = very good; 5 = excellent.

of the week when the career fair was held, and the time of the day careerwhen the event was held (Table 3).

It appears that the millennial generation represented in this study placea high level of importance to having a variety of employers and industry rep-resentation. This is consistent with previous studies indicating that millennialstudents are motivated, goal-oriented, and confident in themselves and the

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TABLE 4 Respondents’ Level of Satisfaction With the Career Fair a

Level of Satisfaction Responseb %

1. Dissatisfied 18 17%2. Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied 8 8%3. Satisfied 35 33%4. Very Satisfied 32 30%5. Extremely Satisfied 12 11%Total 105 100%

Statistic Value

Mean 3.11Standard Deviation 1.24

Note. a “In general, how satisfied are you with the career fair?” b Total number of responses is lower thanthe total surveys completed due to missing values.

future (Howe & Strauss, 2003; Sweeney, 2005). They expect the college tohelp launch them to greatness and therefore expect a variety of employmentpossibilities at career fairs.

Further analysis was performed to identify performance gaps. A series oft-tests were conducted between the perceived importance and the perceivedperformance of each of the 11 variables. The performance gaps and theresults of the t-tests are summarized in Table 4. We can conclude that thegreatest performance gaps were identified in the following attributes: Currentavailability of jobs that appeal to the students, industry representation of thesegment that the students are interested to pursue their careers, and a varietyof employers (Table 3). The performance gaps are consistent with the highlevel of importance attributed to the career fair by the millennial students.Those highly motivated and goal-oriented students wanted the opportunityto choose from a large number of jobs, industry segments, and a varietyof employers. Additional analysis of the data (t-tests) did not indicate anystatistically significant differences between males and females with regard totheir experience at the career fair.

Finally, the respondents were asked to evaluate their level of satisfac-tion with the career fair on a 1 to 5 scale where 1 represented dissatisfiedand 5 represented extremely satisfied. About 41% of the students were either“extremely satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their college career fair expe-rience. About one-third (30%) were “satisfied,” and the remainder of therespondents (25%) were “neither satisfied nor dissatisfied” or “dissatisfied”with their career fair experience (Table 4).

Predicting Students’ Satisfaction in College-Sponsored Career Fair

A stepwise regression analysis was conducted to find out who is more likelyto be satisfied with their career fair experience. The dependent variable

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was “level of satisfaction with the career fair,” and the independent vari-ables included 11 variables of importance and 11 variables of performanceof the career fair’s attributes, students’ intention to follow up with the em-ployers (one variable), the number of hours students work per week (onevariable), and demographic characteristics of the respondents (two vari-ables). The regression model yielded an R2 = 0.596 and is presented inTable 5.

The predictive model revealed that students who attended the careerfair were likely to be more satisfied with the event if they had a positiveexperience with three performance variables: Availability of jobs that ap-peal to them, willingness of employers to take their printed resumes, andindustry representation in the segment that they were interested in. It can beconcluded that the level of satisfaction with student career fairs was linkedto variables that were not necessarily associated with the production of theevent, but rather the actual “goods” presented to the students in the formsof concrete available jobs and good communication and professionalism ofthe employers’ representatives.

The findings are consistent with Roehling and Cavanaugh’s study (2000)that concluded knowledgeable employer representatives, information aboutavailable positions, and friendly and enthusiastic representatives were themost important students’ expectations of employers exhibiting at job fairs.The findings also echo Payne and Sumter’s (2005) conclusions that studentspreferred information that supported their objectives for major-specific orindustry-specific careers. This explains why the first variable that enteredinto the prediction model was “current availability of jobs that appeal tome.”

TABLE 5 Multiple Regression of Students’ Level of Satisfaction with a Hospitality Career Fairon a Variety of Career Fair Experience, College Educational Experience, and DemographicCharacteristics

Predicting Standardized Adjusted RVariables coefficient Beta R Square Change T Sig.

Performance:Current availability of jobsthat appeal to me

0.476 0.730 0.532 5.345 0.000

Performance:Willingness of employers’representatives to takemy printed resume

0.230 0.759 0.043 3.341 0.001

Performance:Industry representation inthe segment I aminterested to pursue mycareer

0.241 0.780 0.032 2.858 0.005

Note. R2 = 0.596; N = 123

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The issue of acceptance of printed resumes that entered into the re-gression model should be addressed, as this issue has been raised by thestudents who participated in the previous career fair as well. While studentsare aware that online applications are a common practice, groundwork forthe career fair required them to prepare, revise, and print their resumes.The acceptance of the resumes by prospective employers (or their repre-sentatives) after spending time preparing them for the career fair was animportant variable that predicted overall satisfaction with the career fair, asstudents wanted positive feedback for their efforts. Furthermore, the refusalby the employee representatives to accept the printed resumes might havebeen perceived by the students as a lack of personal or individual touch aspart of the communication process between the students and the employerrepresentatives.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

College-sponsored career fairs provide excellent opportunities for students tomeet job and internship recruiters and make inquiries about companies andindustry segments, as well as network with business representatives. As thisstudent-service activity is going to continue, it is important to increase thebody of knowledge that will be beneficial to all constituents involved in theseevents. This study is among a limited number of studies assessing students’experience in college-sponsored career fairs in the fields of hospitality, travel,and tourism. The study also provided a first attempt to predict students’ levelof satisfaction with the career fair.

Since the majority of the literature on career fairs, especially those hostedby colleges and universities, is limited, this study provides a stepping stonetoward determining students’ expectations of these events. Once the hostunderstands students’ expectations, they can begin to design these careerfairs with the students’ needs, wants, and desires in mind.

The findings revealed that students who attended the career fair placeda higher level of importance to meet a variety of employers, to meet moreindustry representatives of the segment that they are interested to pursuetheir careers, and to be exposed to currently available jobs that appeal tothem. Furthermore, students’ level of satisfaction with the career fair wasattributed to availability of jobs that appeal to them, willingness of employersto take their printed resumes, and industry representation in the segment thatthey were interested in.

The study has a few implications for college career fair event planners,students, and industry representatives who exhibit in career fairs. The highimportance students placed on being exposed to a wide variety of employerscan be used by universities and colleges to solicit the participation of ad-ditional employers at these events. Additional information can be obtained

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through student surveys to identify the types of employers students wish tosee at future career fairs.

Furthermore, universities and colleges sponsoring career fairs shouldconsider sharing this study’s results with industry representatives. For ex-ample, the study revealed that students were not as knowledgeable aboutthe various job opportunities within different segments. Many students mightview a hotel as only having front desk jobs, when in fact, the facility mayoffer job opportunities in other departments like housekeeping, food andbeverage, meetings and events, management positions and many others.This research showcases that the employers need to be able to sell them-selves to students by educating them on all the job possibilities they haveavailable. One recommendation would be for the industry to produce col-lateral pieces for use at the career fair that demonstrate the variety of joboptions within the organization.

Event planners that produce college career fairs can use these findingsto enhance the students’ and recruiters’ overall experience at future fairs.By working closely with the career services department on campus and net-working with industry recruitment professionals, the event planners have theability to better understand the number and types of positions currently avail-able in the market, thereby making sound decisions as to which companieswill be targeted to exhibit at the show. By attracting employers that appealto the students, more qualified students are likely to attend and participate insuch fairs. With more qualified applicants, recruiters will have more choiceswhen making hiring decisions.

As noted earlier, this research revealed that roughly 18% of those sur-veyed did not work yet. With this information, employers have the uniquechance to showcase their companies to this undecided student labor mar-ket segment. Having the opportunity to educate the workforce on whatcareer opportunities are available within their organization allows recruitersa unique, firsthand, face-to-face chance to “sell” their organizations to thosethat might not know much about it or the careers that can be had within it.

Finally, students that attend career fairs at their respective universitiescan benefit from the findings of this study. The information collected willallow students to understand the significance of career fairs and the im-portance that universities and recruiters place on them. Perhaps knowingthis information will spark the motivation in students to attend and activelyparticipate in career fairs offered on their campuses.

Several limitations of the study should be noted. First, the study wasconducted in a single university located in an area with large tourism, travel,and hospitality organizations. The results might be different in other U.S. orglobal geographical settings where less employment and internship opportu-nities were available to students attending a hospitality and tourism program.In addition, participation in the study was voluntary and there was no con-trol on the sampling. Therefore, the sample may include “extreme cases” of

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students who were either very satisfied or very dissatisfied with their careerfair experience. Finally, the study was conducted in a specific time frame.The results might have been different if the economic climate and currentjob prospects would be different.

Future studies should collect data from multiple colleges that sponsor ca-reer fairs at different geographical areas. To eliminate potential non-responsebias, data should be collected through additional techniques like personalinterviews and self-administered, hard-copy questionnaires. Additional stud-ies should be conducted on the impacts of these events on recruiting success(Palomares, 2000) and the experience of employer representatives attendingthe career fairs.

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