Prompting Metacognition During a Job Search: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial with University Job Seekers

Searching for a job is a self-directed activity that requires self-regulation over significant periods of time; yet, in the scientific community, we know little about proximal support interventions that shape the self-regulation processes during a job search. Using an experimental design, we tested a proximal support intervention in the form of metacognitive prompts and how this shaped metacognition and effort in 123 university job seekers over a period of 9 weeks. Job seekers who were exposed to the intervention reported higher levels of metacognition, effort, and a greater number of job interviews compared to job seekers in a control condition. Additionally, the present study revealed that the prompting intervention, compared to the active control condition, resulted in higher levels of metacognition for job seekers who were less committed to finding a job than for job seekers who were more committed to finding a job. In summary, the current study makes important contributions to the job search literature and practice by fine-tuning our understanding of the interventions that may support metacognition during the job search process and the individuals for whom these interventions may be most effective.