The study is based on a survey carried out on 250 entrepreneurs of manufacturing companies and of industrial services of the Veneto region, Italy. The entrepreneurs expressed their preferences in relation to the hypothetical profiles of candidates for five job position in the administrative, human resources, marketing, information system and commercial offices of firms. For each position, the entrepreneurs were asked to choose among four profiles of possible candidates qualified by six attributes.
A study of the perspectives of entrepreneurs who are selecting candidates for job vacancies and of the possibly inadequate competencies of graduates who apply for these vacancies may help bridge the gap between higher education and labour. This research was aimed at examining these aspects by surveying entrepreneurs through a "conjoint" measurement approach, which is a data collection method based on the choice of one or more multifaceted alternatives within a given scenario.
