ARE STUDENTS COMPETENCIES IN LINE WITH INDUSTRY EXPECTATION?

Abstract

Competencies are perceived as essential for student’s future career. Educational providers need to consider industry requirements when planning related educational programme. Thus, a continuous effort must be carried out to identify relevant competencies for hospitality students. This study was undertaken to investigate competencies from the hospitality students’ perspective. The research was carried out using questionnaires that were administrated to 30 students from year 3 and year 4 of bachelor hospitality programme in Universiti Utara Malaysia. The results indicated the importance of soft skills as essential competencies. Hospitality students noted the power of teamwork in hospitality industry and good customer relations as essence for excellent customer service. On the other hand, an industry specific competency such as writing standard operating procedures (SOP) and business acumen competencies for example interpreting financial statements, forecasting revenues and forecasting staffing needs were perceived as less important. The study results provide implications that further collaboration between the hospitality education providers and hospitality industry are needed to enhance student’s competencies desired by the industry