Realistic recruitment

Purpose To report on the results of an empirical study on recruitment practices in the cruise industry and interpret these results from the perspective of theory on “realistic recruitment”. Design/methodology/approach Research was carried out in a two‐step approach. In the first step, semi‐structured interviews were conducted with recruitment specialists at seven cruise lines and recruitment agencies. Based on these qualitative results, a survey questionnaire was sent to recently hired employees of a European cruise line. A total of 60 completed questionnaires were used for the analysis. Findings The study provides support for the existence and importance of a “realistic” recruitment approach in the particular context of the cruise industry. Recruiters possess extensive knowledge about the companies and jobs for which they recruit and systematically communicate negative information about difficult living conditions and work contexts on board through a variety of media. Candidates ranked the importance and usefulness of different media in the recruitment process and assessed their satisfaction with information received during recruitment. Research limitations/implications Both samples – for the qualitative and the quantitative part of the study – are relatively small. The fact that we focused on employees of a European cruise line may limit the generalizability of results. Practical implications Realistic recruitment can have a positive impact on turnover and job satisfaction. We provide recommendations for implementing a realistic recruitment approach in the cruise industry. Originality/value The realistic recruitment approach is uniquely suited for the particular context of the cruise industry. To our knowledge this is the first empirical study on this topic in the context of the hospitality industry.