A proposed Factors Influencing Hospitality Recruiters’ Hiring Decisions (FIHRHD) model is briefly introduced to assess what selection criteria hospitality recruiters use to choose qualified hospitality graduating seniors. The FIHRID model was developed using rational choice theory and a review of literature about recruiting. The model guided the qualitative inquiry of 14 in-depth interviews with 22 purposefully selected recruiters/managers from 14 companies representing five different hospitality industry segments. The findings helped validate the FIHRHD model and indicated that seniors’ leadership, relevant experience, person-organization and person-job fit, and personality are the most influential factors in hospitality recruiters’ hiring decisions of graduating seniors.