Influencing How One is Seen by Potential Talent: Organizational Impression Management Among Recruiting Firms

This paper investigates how employers influence the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of potential talent as part of a process of Organizational Impression Management (OIM) during the recruitment process. Several studies were conducted seeking to address the lack of empirical research on what recruiters do to manage organizational images. Study 1 developed and validated an empirical measure of OIM. Study 2 demonstrated that OIM tactics were distinct from other phenomena encountered by job seekers as part of the recruitment process. Study 3 established predictive validity by investigating the impact of OIM on organizational images and attraction in a field experiment setting. Implications for future research in OIM, as well as recruiting organizations in the practice of OIM, are discussed.