After school, Kenyan graduates struggle in a labour market that does not offer enough employment opportunities. Some graduates search for years, get disillusioned, and give up ever finding formal employment. Some find jobs, but not necessarily in the field of their profession, and possibly below their qualification. Kenya invests in and accumulates human capital that is untapped or even lost. One way to improve one’s job search is the use of personal social networks. By applying social network and social distance theories, this study explores the conditions under which networks can become helpful to a jobseeker. Personal experiences of young Kenyan graduates were used to find out about their job search strategies and their social networks. Insights from recruiters’ perspectives about recruitment processes offered a wholesome view on how jobseekers get connected to jobs. The main data sources were online interviews and an online survey. The findings suggest that a network’s willingness to help might depend on level of reciprocity, that many jobseekers do not have access to helpful networks, and that the ability of a network to help might be restricted due to level of influence or applicability. The study concludes that a combination of various job search strategies offers the best chances to connect a jobseeker to a job, but also that companies need to adapt their recruitment processes in include people who are less connected.

Yes / We provide a comprehensive but critical review of research on applicant reactions to selection procedures published since 2000 (n = 145), when the last major review article on applicant reactions appeared in the Journal of Management. We start by addressing the main criticisms levied against the field to determine whether applicant reactions matter to individuals and employers (“So what?”). This is followed by a consideration of “What’s new?” by conducting a comprehensive and detailed review of applicant reaction research centered upon four areas of growth: expansion of the theoretical lens, incorporation of new technology in the selection arena, internationalization of applicant reactions research, and emerging boundary conditions. Our final section focuses on “Where to next?” and offers an updated and integrated conceptual model of applicant reactions, four key challenges, and eight specific future research questions. Our conclusion is that the field demonstrates stronger research designs, with studies incorporating greater control, broader constructs, and multiple time points. There is also solid evidence that applicant reactions have significant and meaningful effects on attitudes, intentions, and behaviors. At the same time, we identify some remaining gaps in the literature and a number of critical questions that remain to be explored, particularly in light of technological and societal changes. / Research grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada awarded to Julie M. McCarthy (No. 435-2015-0220).

Améliorer l’accès et la qualité de l’emploi des jeunes figure parmi les priorités en France. Ainsi, ce travail doctoral aide à comprendre l’efficacité et les limites des canaux formels et informels. Les trois études empiriques de cette thèse fournissent un état des lieux de l’employabilité des jeunes en mettant l’accent sur les tendances concernant leurs pratiques de recherche et la qualité des emplois qu’ils obtiennent. Ces trois études sont précédés par une introduction générale et une revue de littérature. La première est dédiée à l’analyse des déterminants de l’accès à l’emploi à travers un mode de recherche bien déterminé. Dans le cadre de cette analyse, les effets de certains facteurs tels que l’origine, le genre, le lieu de résidence et l’éducation sont mis en évidence. La deuxième s’interroge sur l’influence des modes d’accès sur la qualité et la satisfaction de l’emploi obtenu. La troisième s’intéresse aux demandeurs d’emploi afin de comprendre leurs préférences et leurs stratégies de prospection. Cette dernière étude de la thèse est dédiée à la comparaison entre les pratiques (en termes d’intensité et de préférences) employées par les individus en emploi et celles menées par les chômeurs. Nos conclusions suggèrent un renforcement du rôle joué par les intermédiaires institutionnels de placement (en particulier le service public) mais aussi la nécessité de renforcer davantage le rôle des établissements scolaires afin de promouvoir le réseau scolaire comme moyen de recrutement. / Improve youth employment’s quality is a priority in France. This thesis focuses on job search and job access trends, in addition to the role played by the informal and formal search channels on the job matching issue. It helps understanding the informal and formal channels’ efficiency and limitations in order to ameliorate youth employment as France continues to prioritize youth in its national policy agendas. This PhD work offers valuable lessons learned on "who uses what" and on "what works" better for youth employment through three empirical studies.These three studies are preceded by a general introduction and a literature review. The first chapter is dedicated to the analysis of the job access channel’s determinants. As part of this chapter, the effects of some factors such as origin, gender, place of residence and education are emphasized. The second chapter examines the influence of these access channels on the quality and the satisfaction with the obtained job. The third chapter focuses on the comparaison of on- and out-of-the job seekers’ preferences, search intensity and strategies. Our findings suggest a further strengthening of the role played by the public employment service as well as the role of schools as a possible recruitment channel.

Proactive behaviour implies taking initiative and mastering unexpected situations, and hence, is desirable in different situations. The present thesis includes three empirical studies intended to understand the consequences of proactive behaviour, as well as the factors that contribute to proactive behaviour at work and when facing unemployment. More specifically, whether job design, as measured by objective work task analysis, provides conditions conducive to proactivity in the workplace and when facing unemployment. The results of proactive behaviour during unemployment were also of interest. Study I focused on the influence of job design on individuals’ personal initiative and confidence in their ability when facing unemployment. Participants were employees at a downsizing Swedish assembly plant. Confidence in one’s ability mediated the relationship between job design and personal initiative, and personal initiative affected job search behaviour when advised to be dismissed. Study II, a longitudinal exploration, focused on the predictors of re-employment in the same group as in Study I. Men were more than nine times as likely as women to obtain jobs within 15 months. Individuals without children were more than seven times as likely as those with children to find work within 15 months. The desire to change occupation and willingness to relocate also increased the probability of being re-employed, whereas anonymous-passive job-search behaviour and work-related self-efficacy actually decreased the probability of re-employment. The number of job applications did not impact later re-employment. Study III analysed job design as a predictor of group initiative and self-organisational activities in semiautonomous industrial work groups. An input-process-output model showed that group processes such as reflexivity mediated the impact of job design on proactivity in work groups. Taken together, these studies suggest that work task analysis a useful tool, since it provides access to information that cannot be obtained with self-report measures. Job design indirectly affected proactivity both in the face of unemployment, and in industrial work groups. Further, it is worthwhile to continue identifying the antecedents and consequences of proactivity, as this seems to be an important factor regarding work and unemployment.

Cette thèse présente le modèle de recherche d’emploi en partant du modèle élémentaire pour aboutir à un modèle destiné à analyser les mécanismes d’incitation à la reprise d’emploi. Le mécanisme analysé est celui du Revenu de Solidarité Active. La première partie sert à mettre en place les éléments théoriques nécessaires aux modèles de la seconde partie. On part du modèle élémentaire en élargissant le débat aux modèles plus complexes et moins restrictifs en termes d’hypothèses. Cette partie est ponctuée d’analyses empiriques effectuées sur les données de l’Enquête emploi de 2006. La seconde partie tente d’analyser les effets du RSA sur le comportement de recherche des travailleurs à bas niveau de qualification dans le cadre du modèle de recherche d’emploi en utilisant les méthodes de simulations numériques calibrées sur l’Enquête emploi pour obtenir des résultats. / This thesis presents the job-search model, starting from the elementary model to reach a model analyzing mechanisms designed to enhance employment recovery. This study concerns the French active solidarity income mechanism (Revenu de Solidarité Active or RSA). The first part will allow us to implement the theoretical elements we will need in the second part. In the first part, we will start with the elementary model, and then widen the debate to more complex models and less restrictive assumptions. We will punctuate this part with empirical analysis based on the 2006 employment survey data. The second art is aimed at analyzing the effects of the RSA on the job search behavior of workers, especially those with low levels of ualification. We will use numerical simulation methods calibrated on the employment survey in order to achieve results.

A dissertação tem como objeto de estudo a procura de trabalho por meio de instituições do mercado de intermediação. Para desenvolver a análise assume-se que a busca de emprego não pode ser reduzida a um fenômeno econômico, baseado no cálculo racional, que une ofertantes e demandantes de vagas; nem pode ser tratada apenas como um indicador estratégico para caracterizar a situação de desemprego, como o faz uma certa sociologia. Ao contrário, assume-se que ela é uma experiência social, moral e subjetiva e que, nesse sentido, é fundamental entender os processos de interação que se dão na situação em que ela transcorre, bem como a forma como ela é vivenciada no cotidiano pelos demandantes de trabalho. A análise se baseia num estudo empírico de tipo qualitativo conduzido, entre 2005 e 2009, na região da Rua Barão de Itapetininga, no Centro de São Paulo, o principal espaço de concentração de agências de emprego da Região Metropolitana, ela mesma o maior mercado de intermediação no Brasil. Observação de tipo etnográfico, entrevistas com os agentes envolvidos na situação e análise de material documental foram as técnicas mobilizadas na análise. / This dissertation aims to understand the process of searching for a job by means of the labor market intermediaries. Our theoretical approach refuses both the type of economic analysis that describes it as a mere rational behavior linking job seekers and employers, and the current sociological perspective that reduces it to a crucial variable on the measurement of the unemployment situation. We assume a different sociological point of view which approaches the search for a job as a social, moral and subjective experience; in this sense, it has to be analyzed taking into account its context, as a negotiated situation, and the job seeker perceptions, experiences and discourses. The empirical research took place during four years (2005 to 2009) in the Barão de Itapetininga street, Sao Paulo downtown, the most important cluster of labor market intermediaries in São Paulo Metropolitan Region, which concentrates itself the most important segment of the Brazilian intermediation market. Ethnographic observation, interviews, analysis of documents and secondary data were the main sources in the fieldwork

A dissertação tem como objeto de estudo a procura de trabalho por meio de instituições do mercado de intermediação. Para desenvolver a análise assume-se que a busca de emprego não pode ser reduzida a um fenômeno econômico, baseado no cálculo racional, que une ofertantes e demandantes de vagas; nem pode ser tratada apenas como um indicador estratégico para caracterizar a situação de desemprego, como o faz uma certa sociologia. Ao contrário, assume-se que ela é uma experiência social, moral e subjetiva e que, nesse sentido, é fundamental entender os processos de interação que se dão na situação em que ela transcorre, bem como a forma como ela é vivenciada no cotidiano pelos demandantes de trabalho. A análise se baseia num estudo empírico de tipo qualitativo conduzido, entre 2005 e 2009, na região da Rua Barão de Itapetininga, no Centro de São Paulo, o principal espaço de concentração de agências de emprego da Região Metropolitana, ela mesma o maior mercado de intermediação no Brasil. Observação de tipo etnográfico, entrevistas com os agentes envolvidos na situação e análise de material documental foram as técnicas mobilizadas na análise. / This dissertation aims to understand the process of searching for a job by means of the labor market intermediaries. Our theoretical approach refuses both the type of economic analysis that describes it as a mere rational behavior linking job seekers and employers, and the current sociological perspective that reduces it to a crucial variable on the measurement of the unemployment situation. We assume a different sociological point of view which approaches the search for a job as a social, moral and subjective experience; in this sense, it has to be analyzed taking into account its context, as a negotiated situation, and the job seeker perceptions, experiences and discourses. The empirical research took place during four years (2005 to 2009) in the Barão de Itapetininga street, Sao Paulo downtown, the most important cluster of labor market intermediaries in São Paulo Metropolitan Region, which concentrates itself the most important segment of the Brazilian intermediation market. Ethnographic observation, interviews, analysis of documents and secondary data were the main sources in the fieldwork

<p> </p><p>The aims of this qualitative study are threefold: 1) to explore, describe and analyze the paths for accessing the Swedish labour market among a group of women of Latin-American origin; 2) to address the question about role of the women’s social networks in relation to the processes of gaining/maintaining employment; and 3) to present how the participant’s perceive their job careers within the Swedish labour market. Individual semi-structured interviews constituted the primary source of data collection. Conceptualizations from labour market theories and social capital theories were laid out to bring relevant understandings. The sampling strategy used was ‘criterion’. The results shown the interaction of personal and structural aspects in the job-search process, jobs attained and perception of occupational careers. Bonding, bridging and linking social capital are relevant concepts to understand the extent to which women obtain information and mobilize resources in the job-search process. Perceptions regarding career paths are tied to the participant’s expectations on the jobs they have looked for, the meanings they attribute to their occupations and the learning derived from their working experiences. Further research on networking at the workplaces and its impact on job satisfaction, job attachment, and self-esteem, are suggested. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>

The aims of this qualitative study are threefold: 1) to explore, describe and analyze the paths for accessing the Swedish labour market among a group of women of Latin-American origin; 2) to address the question about role of the women’s social networks in relation to the processes of gaining/maintaining employment; and 3) to present how the participant’s perceive their job careers within the Swedish labour market. Individual semi-structured interviews constituted the primary source of data collection. Conceptualizations from labour market theories and social capital theories were laid out to bring relevant understandings. The sampling strategy used was ‘criterion’. The results shown the interaction of personal and structural aspects in the job-search process, jobs attained and perception of occupational careers. Bonding, bridging and linking social capital are relevant concepts to understand the extent to which women obtain information and mobilize resources in the job-search process. Perceptions regarding career paths are tied to the participant’s expectations on the jobs they have looked for, the meanings they attribute to their occupations and the learning derived from their working experiences. Further research on networking at the workplaces and its impact on job satisfaction, job attachment, and self-esteem, are suggested.

In the recent years, companies began emphasize the employees¡¦ cognition on happiness and well-being to recruit and retain the talents and human resources. This study is to explore the factors influencing the employee¡¦s well-being cognition and the impacts of attitudes and behaviors from the employees¡¦ well-being. This study adopted the high-performance human resource practice (HPHRP) in organization level as the independent variable and the organizational identification, job involvement and job searching behavior in individual level as dependent variables. The employee¡¦s well-being was a mediator between the independent and dependent variables to examine the mediating effects. This research employed the questionnaire suvey to collect the data. To avoid the common method variance, the questionnaire is divided into two parts, one for the HR professionals, and another on for the general employees. The data was collected from fifty companies. Valid questionnaires from fifty HR professionals and 461 employees are included. The Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used in the main hypotheses tests to examine the relationships among the variables. The results showed that the HPHRP of company has significant positive influences on employee¡¦s well-being, organizational identification, and job involvement, and has significant negative influence on job search behavior. Employee¡¦s well-being has positive influences on organizational identification and job involvement. Employee¡¦s well-being is also a mediator between the relationships HPHRP and organizational identification and job involvement of employee. Based on the results, this study proposed some empirical and practical suggestions.