The Role of Recruiting Source Informativeness and Organizational Perceptions in Decisions to Apply

Although recruitment researchers often discuss influences on decisions to apply for jobs, few studies assess actual application behavior. This study of individuals who expressed an interest in a firefighter job revealed that applying was related to recruiting source informativeness and organizational familiarity. Source informativeness was not related to self-selection out of the process after application or performance on the selection process, but was related to perceptions of familiarity and to applicant demographics. Implications for recruitment are discussed.