The purpose of this study was to assess the criteria employed by hospitality recruiters to select entry-level managers among hospitality graduating seniors. This paper introduces the Factors Influencing Hospitality Recruiters’ Hiring Decisions (FIHRHD) Model based on researchers’ review of recruitment and hospitality literature. The FIHRHD Model guided the qualitative inquiry of 14 in-depth interviews with 22 purposefully selected recruiters/managers, who represented 14 companies from five hospitality industry segments. The data were analyzed with the content analysis techniques of phenomenology qualitative research and revealed that leadership, relevant job experience, person-organization and person-job fit, and personality are the most influential factors in recruiters’ hiring decisions.