Continuing to choose the hospitality industry after graduation: the role of mentorship and internship satisfaction

Purpose This work seeks to examine the impact of mentorship between visiting teachers and interns on the interns’ job choice intention in the hospitality industry after graduation. Additionally, the study explores whether internship satisfaction, encompassing satisfaction with internship courses and organizations, moderates the connection between mentorship and interns’ job choice intention within the hospitality industry after graduation. By understanding these dynamics, the study seeks to provide valuable insights into how mentorship and internship experiences influence career decisions in the hospitality sector. Design/methodology/approach The study used convenience sampling to distribute 179 questionnaires to off-campus interns at a central Taiwan university, all of which were returned. Confirmatory factor analysis assessed composite reliability, discriminant validity and convergent validity, while multiple regression analysis was used to evaluate the hypotheses. Findings The analysis results indicate that mentorship positively influences interns’ job choice intention in the hospitality sector after graduation. However, this relationship is negatively moderated by their satisfaction with the internship course and positively moderated by their satisfaction with the internship institution. Originality/value It is important to emphasize that visiting teachers serve as mentors for interns – a role that has not been explored in sufficient depth within the context of the hospitality industry. As mentors, they should focus on building supportive relationships, providing constructive feedback when interns face varying levels of satisfaction with internship courses and institutions and setting examples of professional behavior to enhance their job choice intention within the hospitality industry.