Closing the Gap between Education and Industry: Skills' and Competencies' Requirements for Food Service Internships in Switzerland

What is professional attire today? A conjoint analysis of personal presentation attributes

“…More recently, Fournier and Ineson (2010) conducted a skills analysis regarding food and beverage interns in Switzerland and "competent in hygienic practice" was deemed essential, ranking second out of 48 competencies. Fjelstul (2007) examined competencies for entry-level club managers and "grooming and image" ranked third in the domain of knowledge skills.…”

Academic engagement of hospitality students

“…How the curriculum prepares hospitality students for entry-level industry positions is of great concern. Founier and Ineson (2011) examined industry representatives' perceptions on evaluating the foodservice internship competencies in Switzerland. Recommendations were offered for education institutions to increase their focus on the identified skills and competencies of students in order to improve success in internships and entry-level career positions.…”

“…Hospitality programs. Studies have focused on general academic studies (Morrison and O'Gorman, 2008), quality of programs (Horng et al, 2008), and curricular challenges (Founier and Ineson, 2011) within hospitality programs around the world. However, no known studies have assessed the academic engagement of hospitality students.…”

Benefits and Challenges Encountered by Working Students

“…This is a possible indication that students are more optimistic about the benefits of working, whereas graduates have experience to better assess the benefits. Industry representatives look more favorably on personal skills and competencies, often developed in an employment setting, than technical skills (Fournier & Ineson, 2011;Tesone & Ricci, 2005). "Gaining knowledge, skills, or experience" was the highest scored of the five response categories as a reason for working by students (M = 4.35) and graduates (M = 4.08), though the students' rating was significantly higher than the graduates', possibly suggesting the difference between student expectations and graduate reality.…”