Proactive Personality and the Successful Job Search – Journal of Applied Psychology

Summary:
Writing a thesis was my most painful and rewarding university experience. I became a better researcher and writer. A summary and a link to my thesis is below.

Fortunately for me, my cat was less judgmental about my thesis.

While working toward my degree in Psychology at the University of Waterloo, the hardest work I did might have been writing an undergraduate thesis.

I was lucky, though. My thesis adviser, Doug Brown, was working with three colleagues on a paper to be submitted to the most recognized journal in Industrial and Organizational Psychology — the Journal of Applied Psychology (JAP).

For my thesis, Doug invited me to write a paper that would contribute to a larger article for the JAP. The opportunity to be published in the JAP — as an undergrad — was an auspicious stroke of fortune that I couldn’t turn down.

Of course I had no idea how much I’d have to work my butt off! But the effort was worth it (and I had a bit of butt left over when all was done).

Since the JAP is the most selective journal (in regard to publishing submissions) in the field of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, my paper had to meet rigorous standards. It might have been too much to expect of an undergraduate student.

But Doug is a tremendous coach.

He mentored me at every step, helping me improve the quality of my paper with each revision. In other words, when I was ready to give up after about 10 revisions, he made me rewrite that damn paper about 26 times!

I’m grateful for Doug’s high standards, though, because he taught me to become a better scientist and writer. He showed me how to:

Thoroughly conduct research: to understand the literature on my topic, and to buttress my arguments with peer-reviewed evidence.
Make arguments that are empirically supported and logically consistent.
Write more clearly and succinctly.
Present a compelling and persuasive story.

Thesis Summary and PDF

The current article tests a model of proactive personality and job search success with a sample of 180 graduating college students.

Using structural equation modeling, the authors tested a theoretical model that specified the relations among:

Proactive personality

Job search self-efficacy

Job search behaviors

Job search effort; and

Job search outcomes.

Keywords: proactive personality, job search, social– cognitive theory, self-efficacy.

Job seekers were surveyed at 2 separate points in time: once at 3–4 months prior to graduation and once at 2–3 months following graduation.The results suggest that proactive personality:

Significantly influenced the success of college graduates’ job search

Was partially mediated through job search self-efficacy and job search behavior, and

Was independent of self-esteem and conscientiousness.

The findings are discussed in terms of their general implications for understanding the nature of the process through which distal personality factors — such as proactive personality — affect the nature and success of an individual’s job search.