Mistake #1: Hiring for Skill Over Attitude

When it comes to hospitality, skills can be taught, but attitude can’t. Assume the attitude does not match what is listed on the cover letter or resume. Unfortunately, this can be a common hiring criterion because 

Why This Happens:

Hiring in hospitality can be fast-paced. There is very often a season or peak when it becomes even more frantic. When labour is difficult to find (and in some cases, they truly do not care about the process), we tend to downgrade much of the other criteria and choose the candidate who meets most (or all) of the baseline requirements on paper. Just because someone has a good resume and went to the right school does not mean they provide great service. 

What To Do Instead: 

Ieaves have different needs depending on the environmental context and the specific circumstances. Use behavioural interview questions and soft skills assessments as part of your hospitality hiring foundations. Be assessing for customer-focused, cultural fit, disregarding actually looking a training days, enthusiastic about the profit. There is absolutely no doubt that ignoring attitude as the first filter of hiring in hospitality needs to go away. 

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Mistake #2: Bad Job Descriptions that Attract the Wrong People

You can't hire well if you aren't attracting the correct candidates. Many hospitality employers still write vague, outdated, and often unrealistic job descriptions. Resulting in either a total mismatch of qualifications in their applicants or new hires that disengaged quickly and left.

Why This Happens: 

Employers lack time, and copying and pasting leads to generic job listings. Employers continually forget that recruiting hospitality staff in today's job market is a two-way process, where potential candidates are just as much evaluating your brand as you are evaluating theirs.

What To Do Instead:

Write job descriptions that represent your actual culture, team dynamics, and expectations. Put in growth opportunities, working conditions, and anything that is non-negotiable. Be explicit about the soft skills and values you seek.

Tell people what makes your workplace different in a hospitality market that has a talent shortage. Flexibility, training programs, and a respectful work environment are just a few things that can go a long way.

Mistake #3: Overlooking Employer Branding In Hospitality Recruitment  

Employer branding in 2025 is not optional anymore! The worst hiring mistake hospitality employers make is ignoring their overall reputation as a place to work. Failing to build a positive online brand and respond to reviews can cost you candidate interest. 

Why It Happens:  

Several hospitality brands think of branding as being customer-facing branding - think about all the time, energy and money put into building a luxury guest experience, food experience, experience for ambience - of course, a candidate is going to see it too. 

What To Do Instead: 

Start with improving your visibility on hospitality recruitment sites like Foodism Connect, LinkedIn and industry-specific job boards. Post behind-the-scenes content, showcase employee success, and respond professionally to reviews.  

Tip: Have current employees provide reviews and quotes; personal insight from peers is increasingly valuable in hospitality recruitment.

Mistake #4: Rushing the Hiring Process When You Need Staff Immediately

You’ve heard it before. A head chef quits mid-season, or three servers leave in the same week. Panic hiring is one of the worst hospitality hiring mistakes you can make, and while you may fill the role, was it the right person?

Why Do Companies Panic Hire?

The hospitality business has a notoriously high turnover. As an employer, you feel there is no time to hire when you need immediate staff. Perhaps you’re in the middle of hiring during event season, holiday rush, or hotel opening.

What To Do Instead:

When hiring isn’t urgent, you should be developing a talent pipeline for hospitality staff year-round. Even if you aren’t hiring today, you should always be connecting with the best candidates as possible. Using Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) is critical to maintaining an information candidare database, and you can develop relationships with hospitality schools too.

Mistake #5: Not Creating an Onboarding Experience and Training Focus

Just because you hired the right person doesn’t mean you are done yet. A bad onboarding experience is one of the main reasons hospitality staff leave in the first 90 days - a critical metric for hospitality retention. 

Why Do Companies Panic Hire?

Hospitality companies often think that new hires can simply “learn on the job” to be trained, but unless structured orientation, communication, and mentoring exist, some of the best staff will struggle.

What To Do Instead:

Develop and implement an onboarding plan that includes job shadowing, introductions to all of the team members, a walk-through of your operations, and some values training. In hospitality hiring, retention starts on day one. 

Reimagining Hospitality Hiring in 2025

The hospitality industry is changing, and your hiring process should change, too. Avoid these top five hiring mistakes hospitality employers make—if you're willing to change and put people first. 

Here’s a quick summary of what to change:

• First hire attitude instead of just hard skills
• Craft relatable job descriptions
• Invest in your employer brand
• Stop panic hiring—build a talent pipeline
• Onboard and train with purpose

By addressing these mistakes, hospitality employers can find better candidates while improving employee retention, quality of service and business outcomes.

Are You Ready to Upgrade Your Hospitality Hiring?

Try utilising current hospitality-focused solutions such as Foodism Connect to post job ads, pre-screen candidates and find the right people faster. No matter whether you are hiring a sous-chef, front office executive or head of hotel operations, the approach and tools can make all the difference.

Remember, great hospitality starts with great hiring, and avoiding these common hospitality hiring mistakes is your first step to a successful hospitality team.