Similarity Attraction Hypothesis: The Problems It Poses for Hotel Jobs in Singapore

The huge boom in Singapore’s economic status – the country now has the world’s fourth-largest volume of financial services transactions despite its tiny population of just five million people – has brought with it an associated boom in hotel building for businesspeople, and therefore in hospitality jobs in Singapore. That means that lots of very good employers and recruiters are hiring lots of people, and are fully aware of the complex market in which they’re attracting and discovering candidates. Good hiring managers are working on long-term, intensive campaigns to recruit the very best local and foreign staff for their busy new hotels and guesthouses.

However, there is a frequent weak spot for people recruiting candidates for hotel jobs in Singapore and in many other booming new markets. That is the interview process. And new psychological studies show that interviewing for hotel jobs in Hong Kong, Singapore, or any other country can be dangerously affected by something called the ‘similarity attraction hypothesis.’

Why is this psychological concept important for recruiters looking to fill hospitality jobs in Singapore? Because it means that managers are not immune to being swayed by small, irrelevant details like the way a candidate looks, or the fact that they come from the same region or share the same sense of humour: things that have no relation to whether or not they have the potential to excel in various hotel jobs in Singapore. As a result, hotel managers might find themselves with an employee who although good fun is lazy, or who despite sharing interests with their co-workers does not have the energy for the fast-paced hospitality jobs in Singapore.

The ‘similarity attraction hypothesis’ is the tendency held by people all over the world to prefer people who look like them. This is the cause of many major social problems within and outside the hospitality industry, like sexism and racism, but can also result in people who don’t really have what it takes filling the best hotel jobs in Hong Kong or other small markets.

Luckily, Asia Caterer can help recruiters to write or redraft interview questions to give real, objective data about a candidate’s personality, work ethic and capabilities. That means they won’t end up recruiting – for example – a team of kitchen staff who are all from the same region as the head chef but don’t represent the best talent available.

Hotel managers find this service incredibly valuable. With a set of properly tailored, proven interview questions, the task of interviewing can be given to any intelligent staff member without worries about the similarity attraction hypothesis – and the hotel jobs in Singapore businesses can be filled by objectively great people.

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