Applicant Attraction Strategies: An Organizational Perspective

Labor shortages, which are predicted to last into the next century, are expected to increase the importance of applicant attraction for organizations. Unfortunately, previous research has provided little unified theory or operational guidance for organizations that are confronted with such difficulties. In part, this is because much research has been framed from the applicant's, rather than the organization's, perspective. In addition, attraction-related theories and research are scattered across a variety of literatures, and often are identified with other topics (e.g., wage, motivation, or discrimination theories). Drawing on multiple literatures, this article develops a model of applicant attraction from the organization's perspective, which (a) outlines three strategies for enhancing applicant attraction, (b) proposes categories of contingency factors that are expected to affect the choice (and potential effectiveness) of alternative strategies, (c) suggests probable interrelationships among the strategies, (d) links applicant attraction strategies to other human resource practices, (e) outlines dimensions of attraction outcomes, and (f) discusses implications for future research.