Proactivity and Job Search: The Mediating Role of Psychological Closeness With External Mentors

Abstract

Building on contest and sponsored-mobility perspectives, we explain how proactivity enables individuals to develop external mentoring support. By becoming psychologically close with external mentors, we predict that protégés engage in greater job search as additional job opportunities become visible. Results of two studies from different data sources (MTurk and Prolific Academic) support a connection between external mentoring and job search. Moreover, our first study suggests that gender alters the conditional indirect effect of psychological closeness with external mentors, such that women compared to men, who may have a smaller pool of internal mentors to connect with, initiate and benefit more from the influence of external mentors. In our second study, we find partial support for mediation from proactivity to job search self-efficacy (but not job search behavior) through psychological closeness with external mentors, but no gender effect. We urge career counselors to encourage individuals to consider diversifying mentoring outside of organizations.