Job type and recruiters' inferences of applicant personality drawn from resume biodata: Their relationships with hiring recommendations

Abstract

Using data collected from 244 recruiters who reviewed resumes and made dispositional inferences and hiring recommendations for 122 entry-level job applicants, we found that type of job opening (Holland's Conventional vs. Enterprising jobs) moderated relationships between recruiter inferences of applicant personality traits and recruiter judgments of applicant employability. Results showed Conscientiousness correlated with employability ratings for Conventional jobs (e.g., accounting) while extraversion was most associated with employability ratings for Enterprising jobs (e.g., marketing).