Chapter 1
The Problem and Its Settings
Introduction
Competence is defined as the skills, knowledge and other attributes that lead to success in a chosen area. One of the major factors for students to ponder upon after graduation in college is whether they became competent to the different challenges of the global market. Acquiring techniques or knowledge for new trends is a head start for being a competent employee which can be learned through quality education. Job qualification for Hotel industry is essential in finding a competitive work in the Philippines or even in other countries. Due to the rampant growth in hospitality industry, there has been a major concern for the Hotel and Restaurant Management students to be highly competitive or highly qualified in terms of hotel and restaurant preferences and standards.
The job market in the hospitality industry is very competitive, employers will always want new graduates who are ready to “jump in” and start working immediately. Equipped with knowledge on the new trends for today’s hospitality industry, in order to be competitive in this market, newly graduates must possess the maximum skills required to perform efficiently and effectively in the hospitality industry.
Industry professionals often claim that what educators teach in the classroom is out dated (Kang, Wu, & Gould, 2005). Technology, the workforce, hospitality and tourism products, and customers are constantly changing. As a result, relevant competencies also evolve. Therefore, university faculty and industry professionals must work together to ensure that graduating students can possess the necessary skills to enter the workforce successfully.
These present challenges give empetus to the researchers to study, seek and gather information for the preferred job qualifications of today’s hotel industry, gearing towards knowledge on hiring