A longitudinal study of undergraduates' job hunting and self-efficacy

Abstract

The purpose of the present longitudinal study was to examine the following: (a) effects of generalized and career decision-making self-efficacy of university junior year undergraduates on job hunting and satisfaction with the workplace, (b) effects of job hunting and satisfaction with the workplace on generalized self-efficacy during the students' senior year. Questionnaires were completed by 113 undergraduates (57 males, 56 females) twice: at the beginning of the second semester of their junior year, and at the beginning of the second semester of their senior year. In their senior year, all the participants had received informal promises of employment. Structural equation modeling indicated the following: (a) generalized self-efficacy as a junior enhanced career decision-making self-efficacy as a junior and had positive effects on job hunting, (b) generalized self-efficacy as a junior also indirectly influenced job hunting and satisfaction with the workplace through career decision-making self-efficacy as a junior, and (c) between the first and the second measurements, generalized self-efficacy was highly stable. These results suggest that although generalized self-efficacy can change during the process of job hunting, high generalized self-efficacy as a junior appears to be a key success factor in job hunting.