Job search self-efficacy: Reconceptualizing the construct and its measurement

Job search self-efficacy (JSSE) is one of the most studied variables in the job search literature and an important component of the theory of planned behavior and self-regulation theory which have both been used to explain the job search process. However, even though JSSE has been a part of job search research for thirty years, the measurement of JSSE has varied from study to study. This questions both the validity of the measures used and the findings from each study that used a different measure. In this paper, we propose and test a two dimensional measure of JSSE that corresponds to job search behavior (JSSE-B) and job search outcomes (JSSE-O). The results of a longitudinal study of employed and unemployed job seekers support a two-factor model corresponding to the two dimensions of JSSE. We also found differential relationships between each dimension of JSSE and several antecedents and consequences. Among the antecedents, environmental exploration and self-exploration were stronger predictors of JSSE-B while career planning was a stronger predictor of JSSE-O. In terms of consequences, JSSE-B was a stronger predictor of job search intention and behavior while JSSE-O was a stronger predictor of the number of job offers received. These findings provide support for two dimensions of JSSE and have important implications for job search research and practice.     

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.     

Self-control trumps work motivation in predicting job search behavior

Current labor market entrants face an increasingly challenging job search process. Effective guidance of job seekers requires identification of relevant job search skills. Self-control (i.e., the ability to control one's thoughts, actions, and response tendencies in view of a long-term goal, such as finding employment) is assumed to be one such relevant job search skill. The current study is the first to empirically assess the importance of self-control in the job search process. This is compared to the role of motivation, which is generally considered a crucial predictor of job searching. Based on a sample of 403 Dutch prospective vocational training graduates, we found that higher levels of self-control were related to higher levels of preparatory job search behavior and job search intentions half a year later, shortly before labor market entrance. Self-control was a significantly stronger predictor of job searching than work motivation. Moreover, relations between self-control and job searching were largely independent of motivation, which may suggest that job-seekers benefit from self-control through adaptive habits and routines that are unaffected by motivation. We propose that job search interventions, which traditionally focus on strengthening motivation, may benefit from a stronger focus on improving self-control skills.     

Predictors and outcomes of job search behavior: The moderating effects of gender and family situation

This study explored differences in the antecedents and consequences of job search behavior depending on gender and family situation in a large, nationwide sample of the Dutch population. Using Ajzen’s (1991) theory of planned behavior (TPB), we found no gender differences in the antecedents of job seeking. However, family situation did affect the relations in the TPB, such that personal attitude was a slightly weaker, and perceived social pressure a stronger predictor of job seeking for individuals with families than for singles. Concerning the consequences, job search behavior significantly predicted the chances of finding (new) employment, but not job satisfaction in the new job and the level of agreement between the obtained and wanted job.     

The Interaction of Job Satisfaction, Job Search, and Job Changes. An Empirical Investigation with German Panel Data

Using the rich data set of the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP) this article analyzes the effects of job characteristics on job satisfaction as well as the conditions under which low job satisfaction leads to job search, and under which job search leads to job changes. Individual fixed effects are included into the analysis in order to hold unobserved heterogeneity constant. According to the empirical results, the strongest determinants of job satisfaction are relations with colleagues and supervisors, task diversity and job security. Furthermore, job satisfaction is an important determinant of the self-reported probability of job search, which in turn effectively predicts actual job changes. The effect of job search on the probability of changing jobs varies with job satisfaction and is strongest at low levels of job satisfaction. The effects of job dissatisfaction on job search and of job search on quits are stronger for workers with lower tenure, better educated workers, workers in the private sector and when the economy and labor market are in a good condition.     

The Effect of Work/Family Conflict on Intention to Quit: The Mediating Roles of Job and Life Satisfaction

Research has shown consistently that job satisfaction predicts turnover, but much less attention has been given to the how relationships between work and nonwork or how overall subjective evaluations of life (i.e., life satisfaction) affects turnover. We tested a model that included job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and conflict between work and nonwork domains of life as predictors of intent to quit. Results from a sample of Air Force personnel revealed that life satisfaction was a significant predictor of intent to quit after controlling for job satisfaction, and that both job and life satisfaction mediated the effects of role conflict between work and nonwork on intent to quit. We consider implications of these findings for both theory and practice. Portions of this paper were presented at the 9th Bi-Annual Conference of the International Society for the Study of Work and Organizational Values (ISSWOV). The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force, Department of Defense, or the US Government.     

School-to-work transition: Mentor career support and student career planning,job search intentions,and self-defeating job search behavior

We hypothesized and tested a model where mentor career support predicts college student career planning, job search intentions, and self-defeating job search behavior via student career self-efficacy. Using survey responses collected at two points in time from college students near graduation who were mentored by working business professionals for 8 months in a formal hybrid university-sponsored mentoring program, results showed that mentor career support was positively related to student career planning and job search intentions and negatively related to student self-defeating job search behavior. In addition, results indicated that student career self-efficacy fully mediated the relations between mentor career support and the outcomes. The findings have important implications for future mentoring and job search research. They also provide practical guidance for improving college students' career planning and job searches.     

Job search and social cognitive theory: The role of career-relevant activities

Social cognitive theory was used to explain the relationships between career-relevant activities (environmental and self career exploration, career resources, and training), self-regulatory variables (job search self-efficacy and job search clarity), variables from the Theory of Planned Behavior (job search attitude, subjective norm, job search intention), and job search intensity. Based on a sample of employed and unemployed job seekers, we found that job seekers who spent more time in career exploration, attended more training programs, and used more career resources reported higher job search clarity and job search self-efficacy. Job search self-efficacy, job search attitude, and subjective norm predicted job search intention, and job search clarity and job search intention predicted job search intensity eight months later. The results of this study provide practical information on what job seekers can do to improve their job search clarity and job search self-efficacy and demonstrate the application of social cognitive theory for understanding and predicting job search behavior.     

Enhancing precision in the prediction of voluntary turnover and retirement

The present research examines the differential validity of the facets of organizational commitment and job embeddedness to predict who will reenlist or retire from a branch of the armed services. We tested hypotheses with survey data from 1839 enlisted personnel in the U.S. Air Force. For personnel facing the decision to reenlist or separate, continuance commitment and organizational job embeddedness predicted reenlistment. For those eligible to retire, affective and normative commitment as well as organizational job embeddedness predicted who would reenlist rather than retire. However, unlike previous studies, for both criteria (reenlistment and retirement), people who were more embedded in their communities were more likely to voluntarily leave. This finding identifies an important boundary condition for job embeddedness theory.     

Action-state orientation and the theory of planned behavior: A study of job search in China

Job search is an important element of people’s careers and is especially critical for unemployed individuals. The current study surveyed a sample of 328 unemployed job seekers in China to test hypotheses related to the theory of planned behavior and action-state orientation theory. Results of the three-wave longitudinal study demonstrated that the theory of planned behavior was effective in modeling job-search intention and job-search intensity. Action-state orientation moderated the relationship between attitude and intention, as well as the relationship between intention and intensity. The current study sheds light on the motivational and self-regulatory process of job search and reemployment for Chinese unemployed job seekers.     

Unemployed people in search of a job: Reconsidering the role of search behavior

A three-wave longitudinal study of unemployed persons in Croatia was used to examine the antecedents of job-seeking behavior and reemployment. A series of demographic, motivational and job-constraint variables were posited to influence job-seeking behavior, which, in turn, was hypothesized to affect (re)employment. The participants were surveyed in 2003 (N = 1138), and their employment status was checked in 2004 (N = 601) and 2005 (N = 452). Regression analyzes supported only one slice of the model—the antecedent-job-search relations. All motivational variables, in particular employment commitment and perceived financial strain, proved to be relatively strong predictors of job-search intensity. However, they appeared to be only weakly related to the (re)employment outcome. Demographic variables—in particular education, age, and employment duration—appeared to be the main determinants of (re)employment, operating presumably through their influence on employers’ hiring decisions. It was suggested that existing theory and heuristic frameworks overstate the importance of job-seeking activity. Further research is suggested to examine why purposeful and proactive job searching does not pay more.     

Job emotions and job cognitions as determinants of job satisfaction: The moderating role of individual differences in need for affect

Research has shown that job satisfaction is determined by both cognitions about the job and affect at work. However, findings from basic and applied attitude research suggest that the extent to which attitudes are based on affective and cognitive information is contingent on stable individual differences, in particular need for affect. Based on current conceptualizations of job satisfaction as an attitude toward the job, we hypothesized that job satisfaction depends more on affect and less on cognitions, the higher a person's need for affect is. To test these hypotheses, we conducted two correlational studies (N = 194 university employees; N = 134 employees from various organizations) as well as an experimental study (N = 191 university employees) in which the salience of positive versus negative job cognitions was varied. Results supported our hypotheses. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of these differences in affective and cognitive underpinnings of job satisfaction.     

Job loss as a blessing in disguise: The role of career exploration and career planning in predicting reemployment quality

Job loss is one of the most difficult work related situations that an individual may encounter. Yet, sometimes job loss may also turn into a blessing in disguise. Combining the careers literature with the literature on unemployment, the current paper addresses potential positive outcomes of job loss by focusing on specific career adaptability activities that individuals can undertake to obtain these outcomes. Three hundred and four unemployed outplacement attendees reported their use of self and environmental career exploration and career planning, as well as of job search (general and networking) and the availability of two resources that may foster these activities, general self-efficacy and social support. Six months later, 215 individuals reported their current reemployment status and, when applicable, the quality of that reemployment. Results replicate the positive effects of job search on finding reemployment but moreover outline the relevance of career planning and exploration during unemployment on ensuring the quality of this reemployment. Theoretical implications and directions for practice and future research are discussed.     

Constructive Thought Strategies and Job Satisfaction: A Preliminary Examination

In order to examine the potential of constructive thought strategies for enhancing employee job satisfaction, an existing dispositional model of job satisfaction was expanded and tested. Structural equation modeling techniques indicated significant relationships among constructive thought strategies, dysfunctional thought processes, subjective well-being, and job satisfaction. In addition, two competing models were examined to test for the full or partial mediation of the effects of constructive thought strategies on job satisfaction. The implications of these findings for constructive thought strategy training interventions are discussed, along with directions for future research efforts.     

Toward a better understanding of the effects of hindrance and challenge stressors on work behavior

This study investigated the processes whereby hindrance and challenge stressors may affect work behavior. Three mechanisms were examined to explain the differential effects these stressors have demonstrated: job satisfaction, strains, and work self-efficacy. A model is proposed in which both types of stressors will result in increases in strains, but that job satisfaction is primarily involved in the relationship between hindrance stressors and citizenship behavior, and efficacy is involved in the relationship between challenge stressors and job performance. Although the results generally supported the dual-stressor framework showing meaningful relationships to the work outcomes through the proposed processes, the link between work self-efficacy and job performance was not significant. This model was analyzed using multi-source data collected from 143 employees from a variety of organizational settings. Implications for the conceptualization of stressors and the development of interventions are discussed.     

Job demands and resources as antecedents of work engagement: A longitudinal study

By utilizing a 2-year longitudinal design, the present study investigated the experience of work engagement and its antecedents among Finnish health care personnel (n = 409). The data were collected by questionnaires in 2003 (Time 1) and in 2005 (Time 2). The study showed that work engagement—especially vigor and dedication—was relatively frequently experienced among the participants, and its average level did not change across the follow-up period. In addition, the experience of work engagement turned out to be reasonably stable during the 2-year period. Job resources predicted work engagement better than job demands. Job control and organization-based self-esteem proved to be the best lagged predictors of the three dimensions of work engagement. However, only the positive effect of job control on dedication remained statistically significant after controlling for the baseline level of work engagement (Time 1).     

The role of job resources in the relation between perceived employability and turnover intention: A prospective two-sample study

We hypothesize that the relationship between perceived employability (PE) and turnover intention is stronger when job resources (job control, social support from the supervisor and colleagues) are low. Results from a prospective study one year apart were similar in samples of Finnish university (N = 1314) and hospital workers (N = 308). The interaction between PE and job control related significantly to turnover intention at Time 2 in both samples, and in the hospital sample also when controlling for turnover intention at Time 1: PE related positively to turnover intention when job control was low. Furthermore, PE at Time 1 was not significantly related and job resources at Time 1 were negatively related to turnover intention at Time 2. For social support from colleagues in particular, this relationship held when controlling for Time 1 turnover intention. Thus, PE does not present a risk of turnover intention, unless job control is low.     

Perceived agency in retirement and retiree drinking behavior: Job satisfaction as a moderator

Based on recent findings that post-retirement adjustment may be influenced by the conditions leading up to the decision to retire, we examine the impact of individual agency in the retirement decision on problematic drinking behavior, as well as the extent to which such an effect may itself depend upon the valence of the pre-retirement work experience. Using a sample of 304 blue-collar retirees, our findings indicate that, when controlling for pre-retirement drinking behavior, perceptions of retirement as the result of a more forced or involuntary decision are associated with greater alcohol consumption, while perceptions of retirement as the result of a more volitional or voluntary process are associated with lower levels of alcohol consumption and a lower risk of problematic drinking behavior. Our results also indicate that pre-retirement job satisfaction amplifies the former relationship, while attenuating the latter one.     

Calling and work-related outcomes: Career commitment as a mediator

The current study tested the hypothesis that experiencing a calling to a particular career would relate positively to work-related outcomes, and that these relations would be mediated by career commitment. Using a sample of 370 employees representing diverse occupations at a Western research university, results supported these hypotheses as calling moderately correlated with career commitment, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment and weakly correlated with withdrawal intentions. Career commitment was found to fully mediate the calling–job satisfaction relation, partially mediate the calling–organizational commitment relation, and act as a suppressor in the relation between calling and withdrawal intentions; calling was associated with somewhat greater withdrawal intentions once a person's level of career commitment was taken into consideration. These results suggest that career commitment may represent a critical link between calling and work-related well-being. Implications for research and practice are explored.