New Directions in Job Search: The Importance of Self-Efficacy, Goals, and Applicant Attraction

Abstract

Job search is a dynamic, goal-oriented process with the ultimate goal of finding employment (Kanfer, Wanberg, & Kantrowitz, 2001). Specifically, job search behaviors are exerted when discrepancies exist between individuals� current situation (e.g., unemployed, underemployed, graduating, etc.) and their desired employment state (e.g., Wanberg, Zhu, & Van Hooft, 2010). The current economic climate has made job search a more salient phenomenon as unemployed individuals face discrepancies between their current situation and their desired employment state. Despite the growing body of research examining antecedents, mechanisms and outcomes of the job search process, research is needed to better understand the importance of self-efficacy, goals, and applicant attraction in job search. The research in this symposium examines the influence of goals and self-efficacy in job search, investigates the role of context in job search self-efficacy, and integrates relevant concepts and theories from the job search and application attraction literatures. This symposium features the latest research on job search, expanding our understanding of job search in many ways. Its participants and discussant include many of the most noted job search scholars in organizational sciences.The Measurement of Job Search Self-EfficacyPresenter: Alan M. Saks; U. of TorontoPresenter: Jelena Zikic; York U.Presenter: Jessie Koen; U. of AmsterdamExamining the Within-person Effect of Job Search Efficacy on Job Search: A Two-Week Diary StudyPresenter: Shuhua Sun; National U. of SingaporePresenter: Zhaoli Song; National U. of SingaporeI Want It and I Want It Now! Antecedents and Outcomes of the Goal to Find Employment QuicklyPresenter: Lisa K J Kuron; Wilfrid Laurier U.Presenter: Simon Taggar; Wilfrid Laurier U.Who is Searching for Whom? Integrating Applicant Attraction and Job SearchPresenter: Serge P Da Motta Veiga; U. of Missouri at ColumbiaPresenter: Daniel Turban; U. of Missouri at Columbia