Organizational Attractiveness as an Employer on CollegeCampuses: An Examination of the Applicant Population

I extended recruitment research by sampling from the applicant population to investigate factors related to a firm’s attractiveness as an employer on college campuses. Specifically, I surveyed potential applicants at nine different universities and university personnel (faculty and placement staff) at eight of those universities to investigate relationships of recruitment activities, organizational attributes, familiarity with the firm, and the social context with a firm’s attractiveness as an employer. Results indicated that recruitment activities influenced firm attractiveness through influencing perceptions of organizational attributes. Additionally, familiarity with the firm and the social context, operationalized as perceptions of university personnel, were related to potential applicants’ attraction to the firm. Finally, of additional interest was the finding of no differences in perceptions of organizational attributes or attraction to the firm between respondents who interviewed with the firm and respondents who had not interviewed with the firm. The implications of such results for firms interested in attracting applicants are discussed. C © 2001 Academic Press