Social media (SM) permits the sharing of personal information online, which can lead to employers accessing personal, non-job-related information about applicants throughout the selection process. Limited prior research (Jeske & Shultz, in press; Stoughton et al., 2015) has found that, to varying degrees, applicants find this access of their personal information to be an invasion of their personal privacy. The aim of the present study was to replicate prior findings regarding invasion of privacy moderating the relationship between SM screening presence and procedural justice perceptions and to expand on prior research by exploring whether the stage at which this information was collected (pre- and post- conditional job offer) would mediate the relationship between SM screening and perceived invasion of privacy. A survey was administered electronically and participants (N = 210) were randomly assigned to one of four SM screening conditions: (a) SM screening absent, job offer absent, (b) SM screening absent, job offer present, (c) SM screening present, job offer absent, and (d) SM screening present, job offer present. One component of the hypothesized model was supported, that those in the SM screening groups reported higher levels of perceived invasion of privacy as compared to the no SM screening groups. No interaction effects were found between SM screening and stage in the selection process on either perceived invasion of privacy or procedural justice perceptions, indicating limited to no support for the proposed model. Thus, alternative, more robust contextual models for the examination of SM screening in the selection process were proposed for future research.

The unemployment rate has become a major concern for policy makers in South Africa and therefore the National Plan for Higher Education states that higher education training providers should produce more graduates to address this problem. This resulted in a labour force that has grown rapidly and has become younger and more educated. It would therefore be expected that graduates with a post–matric tertiary qualification would be in high demand, resulting in a low graduate unemployment rate. The reality is that the unemployment rate among graduates has increased. This is not only a concern for the policymakers of South Africa but also for a private higher education training provider situated in the North West Province, specialising in information technology (IT) qualifications (and whose students and alumni participated in this study as part of the study population). The majority of the IT jobs available to their students are in the Gauteng province which means their graduates often need to relocate. As for all other entry level graduates they also have to make choices – when to decline or accept a job offer. This study determines what the expectations of these entry level IT graduates are and the factors that might influence their decision to accept or decline a job offer. For the training provider it is important to know what the challenges are that their graduates encounter. The factors contributing to unemployment among these IT graduates were also investigated. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The unemployment rate has become a major concern for policy makers in South Africa and therefore the National Plan for Higher Education states that higher education training providers should produce more graduates to address this problem. This resulted in a labour force that has grown rapidly and has become younger and more educated. It would therefore be expected that graduates with a post–matric tertiary qualification would be in high demand, resulting in a low graduate unemployment rate. The reality is that the unemployment rate among graduates has increased. This is not only a concern for the policymakers of South Africa but also for a private higher education training provider situated in the North West Province, specialising in information technology (IT) qualifications (and whose students and alumni participated in this study as part of the study population). The majority of the IT jobs available to their students are in the Gauteng province which means their graduates often need to relocate. As for all other entry level graduates they also have to make choices – when to decline or accept a job offer. This study determines what the expectations of these entry level IT graduates are and the factors that might influence their decision to accept or decline a job offer. For the training provider it is important to know what the challenges are that their graduates encounter. The factors contributing to unemployment among these IT graduates were also investigated. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.