Job Search Success Research Articles

Multiple predictors and criteria of job search success

The purpose of this study was to examine the combined and differential effects of five job search behaviors (informal sources, formal sources, preparatory search intensity, active search intensity, job search effort) on five criteria of job search success (job interviews, job offers, employment status, person-job fit, and person-organization fit) as well as the direct and moderating effects of job search self-efficacy. Data based on a sample of 225 recent university graduates found that active job search intensity was positively related to job interviews and offers, and informal job sources was negatively related to job offers and employment status. The results also support an unfolding process of job search success in which active job search intensity predicts job interviews; job interviews predict job offers; and job offers predict employment status. In addition, job search self-efficacy was a significant predictor of interviews, offers, employment status, and PJ fit perceptions, and moderated the relationship between job offers and employment status. The relationship between job offers and employment was stronger for job seekers with low job search self-efficacy. The implications of these results for job search research and practice are discussed.

Negative affect and job search: Further examination of the reverse causation hypothesis

The present study examined a longitudinal model of state and trait negative affect as predictors of job-search success. Job-search self-efficacy and job-search intensity were also examined as mediators of the negative affect—job-search success relation. Overall the model offered mixed support for Kasl’s (1982) Reverse Causation Hypothesis. Results suggested that trait negative affectivity had a direct negative relationship with subsequent job-search success (i.e., number of offers and job status). Results also suggested that trait negative affectivity related indirectly to interview success through job-search self-efficacy and job search intensity. Contrary to the Reverse Causation Hypothesis, positive relationships were found between distress (state negative affect) and job search outcomes.

Are new deal employment initiatives on target?

This paper tests the appropriateness of government employment policies in targeting specific groups of unemployed job seekers in the UK. A sample of 169 job seekers is divided into those who were successful and unsuccessful in finding employment and the attributes of each group is analysed. A factor analysis of these attributes is carried out in order to develop typical profiles of unsuccessful job seekers and these profiles are compared with current policy target groups. The findings show that high levels of accumulated human and financial capital, non‐metropolitan residence and accessibility to centres of employment have a positive impact on job search success. This casts doubt on the appropriateness of using socio‐demographic and local area characteristics to select job seekers for assistance, when other factors appear to have more bearing on job search success. The only current policy target group fully justified by this study is the long‐term unemployed, who had a significantly lower chance of finding unemployment.

In With the New, Out With the Old: Has the Technological Revolution Eliminated the Traditional Job Search Process?

A study was designed to compare the number of jobs found as well as the perceptions toward job search tools when employing internet‐based tools versus traditional tools (e.g., print media). Sixty participants were randomly assigned to one of five search tools (i.e., Monster.com, Hotjobs.com, General Internet, Open, and Print Media Searches) and instructed to search for job openings in the accounting industry. Results indicated that the number of jobs found were clearly greater in the internet‐based conditions than in the traditional search condition. Impressions of the job search method were positively related to the perceived quality of information gathered and perceptions of job search success.

Queers on the Tenure Track: Notes on the Civilization of Transgressive Sexualities in the Academy

The job search success of recent doctoral recipients in the humanities and social sciences who submitted dissertations on queer topics was compared to the job search success of a control group. Members of the queer group were more likely to be employed in academe. Writing on a general queer topic, graduating from prestigious institutions, and publishing books or articles were found to be significant predictors of a successful academic job search. The results are discussed within the theoretical context of queer theory.

Tournaments Versus Sponsored Mobility as Determinants of Job Search Success

A large but dated literature indicates that academia does not reward individuals for contributions to science, instead applying sponsored mobility norms, whereby individuals are rewarded when they ...

Fishing in Different Pools: Job-Search Strategies and Job-Finding Success in Canada in the Early 1980s

This article examines the job-search methods of jobless workers and emphasizes sample selectivity in choice of job-search strategies (especially use of public employment agencies). Longitudinal data from the Labour Force Survey of Canada for 1981, 1983, and 1986 indicate that job-search methods change with the business cycle and that many people find jobs without any reported search. The determinants of job-search success also vary substantially over the business cycle, implying a substantial social return to public employment agencies at the 1983 trough of the recession but no noticeable benefits when aggregate unemployment is relatively low.

THE IMPORTANCE OF RECRUITMENT IN JOB CHOICE: A DIFFERENT WAY OF LOOKING

Recent literature reviews have called into question the impact of recruitment activities on applicants’job choices. However, most previous findings have been based on cross‐sectional ratings obtained immediately after initial screening interviews, thus raising questions about the degree to which prior conclusions are bound to that particular methodology. In contrast, the present study used longitudinal structured interviews to let job seekers explain, in their own words, how they made critical job search and choice decisions. Interview transcripts revealed that recruitment practices played a variety of roles in job seeker decisions. For example, consistent with signaling theory, subjects interpreted a wide variety of recruitment experiences (recruiter competence, sex composition of interview panels, recruitment delays) as symbolic of broader organizational characteristics. In addition, a number of “contingency” variables emerged that seemed to affect the perceived signaling value of recruitment experiences (e.g., prior knowledge of the company, functional area of the recruiter). Also notable were the strongly negative effects of recruitment delays, particularly among male students with higher grade point averages and greater job search success. Finally, our results suggest that certain applicant reactions may be systematically related to sex, work experience, grade point average, and search success. The article concludes with practical and research implications.

The implications of Holland's constructs in the prediction of employment: A cautionary note

John Holland's model of vocational choice has been used for both individual and group career counselling, in a variety of social and cultural contexts. Typically, it is used to help people to make career decisions; however, Holland has also proposed that his model could be used for predicting the manner in which individuals would cope with unemployment and/or job change. In this paper, the authors present the results of a study assessing the validity of Holland's claims with respect to the efficacy of his theory in the prediction of job search success. The results of the study provided, at best, limited support for Holland's claims; most predictor/criteria combinations were found to have little or no relationship to each other. The authors conclude that the Holland model is of limited value for predicting job search success, and suggest the use of other data collection techniques for such purposes. The authors also recommend further research regarding the operationalization of Holland's constructs.

National preferences in business and communication education

The authors seek to answer questions regarding what factors contribute most to job search success in business, what factors contribute most to success in a business career, what specific courses contribute most to career success, and what would be the basic skills of an ideal manager. Questionnaires were mailed to 1000 personnel directors in the United States with a 42.8 percent (428) return. The results indicate that communication skills are most important for business entry‐level jobs and career success.

EFFICIENCY OF JOB MATCHING MECHANISMS: A CROSS‐NATIONAL COMPARISON

ABSTRACT The purpose of the present paper is to gain insight into the efficiency of the labour market information and job matching mechanisms by means of a cross‐national analysis of labour force micro data for the Netherlands and the United States. First, the impact of personal and regional unemployment on the decision to migrate is investigated Second, job search success is evaluated by measuring the impacts of the regional Labour market situation and migration on the tre‐employment probabilities of the unemployed in both countries. The result is that the Dutch information system which allows nationwide job search from the home area without migration is superior to the U.S. system of speculative migration.

Job Search Success of Middle-Aged Managers and Engineers

This publication contains reprint articles for which IEEE does not hold copyright. Full text is not available on IEEE Xplore for these articles.

Job Search Success of Middle-Aged Managers and Engineers

Investigates the reemployment problems of displaced middle-aged professionals in the United States as of April 1973. Experiences in reemployment; Hypotheses on unemployment; Ratio of post- to pre-unemployment salary. (Abstract copyright EBSCO.)

Job Search Success of Middle-Aged Managers and Engineers

Job Search Success of Middle-Aged Managers and Engineers