Dynamics of the job search process: Developing and testing a mediated moderation model.

Abstract

Taking a self-regulatory perspective, we develop a mediated moderation model explaining how within-person changes in job search efficacy and chronic regulatory focus interactively affect the number of job interview offers and whether job search effort mediates the cross-level interactive effects. A sample of 184 graduating college students provided monthly reports of their job search activities over a period of 8 months. Findings supported the hypothesized relationships. Specifically, at the within-person level, job search efficacy was positively related with the number of interview offers for job seekers with strong prevention focus and negatively related with the number of interview offers for job seekers with strong promotion focus. Results show that job search effort mediated the moderated relationships. Findings enhance understandings of the complex self-regulatory processes underlying job search.

Are affect and perceived stress detrimental or beneficial to job seekers? The role of learning goal orientation in job search self-regulation

“…We examined new labor market entrants, who were full-time students, during a threemonth period by collecting data every two weeks. Although finding a job is a relevant goal for the participants, consistent with prior research (Sun et al, 2013), we did not expect they would engage in job search activities daily, given their other goals and contextual constraints (such as recruitment schedules).…”

“…We expect there are other cognitive signals of job search progress and thus encourage research to continue to expand the affect-as-information model to include other such indicators (Schwarz, 2012). For example, variability in job search self-efficacy provides a signal about job search progress, although how that signal is interpreted depends upon the job seekers' regulatory focus (Sun et al, 2013).…”

“…Studies that tracked job seekers over time found that job search intensity varies within-individuals during the job search process (Song et al, 2009;Sun et al, 2013;Wanberg, Glomb, Song, & Sorensen, 2005;Wanberg et al, 2012). Conceptually, at any one point in time, job search intensity is influenced by both stable and transient factors (Beal et al, 2005).…”

“…Simple slopes analyses in HLM (Preacher, Curran, & Bauer, 2006) indicated that the relationship 1 At this point in time there is no consensus as to whether multilevel modeling or structural equation modeling (e.g., latent change score modeling) is a better way to model repeated measures, although in many cases these approaches lead to identical results (Curran, 2003). Because we examined the moderating effects of a betweensubjects (i.e., level 2) measure of LGO, and had missing data at the within-subject level of analysis (i.e., level 1), we preferred a multilevel modeling (HLM) approach, which was also used by other job search researchers who had a similar design (Song et al, 2009;Sun et al, 2013;Wanberg et al, 2010). Nonetheless, to examine the robustness of our findings, we conducted additional analyses, which led to similar results and conclusions as reported in the paper.…”

Searching for a nursing job in an increased complexity of the labour market: An integrative review of the literature

“…[38] Therefore searching for a job is itself a learning process, probably never experienced before in its complexity by new nursing graduates. According to the self-regulation theory, interacting with the environment, new graduates receive feedbacks with regard to the behaviours adopted which they may self-regulate in accordance with the feedbacks received.…”