Recruiter and job influences on candidates for employment.

Abstract

Employment interview research has been so largely focused on employer hmng decisions that little is known about job applicant decisions regarding employment. Two experiments were conducted to study the influences of recruiter behavior and job attributes on job applicant employment decisions Videotapes of mock interviews were constructed that varied recruiter affect and recruiter knowledge of the job (Experiment 1) and recruiter affect and job attractiveness (Experiment 2). These interviews were shown to student subjects (Ns =133 and 178) who were likely to apply for jobs similar to the sales position portrayed. Reliable effects of recruiter behavior and job attributes on subjects' propensities to pursue the job were obtained. Results indicated that recruiter behavior was consistently interpreted by subjects as a signal regarding their chances of getting a job offer, whereas job attributes exerted clear influence on perceived desirability of the job. Experiment 1 results (but not Experiment 2) indicated that recruiters may also influence the perceived desirability of the job