Features of an Online Job Advertisement that mostly Influence Job Seekers’ Intention to Apply for a Particular Job Vacancy: Moderating Role of Organizational Attractiveness

Abstract

Presently, the world of recruitment pays an increasing interest on online recruitment where designing an attractive online job advertisement has become crucial to attract potential applicants’ intention to apply for a particular job vacancy. To design an online job advertisement that trigger intention to apply for a job vacancy, recruiters should pay close attention to the content or the features of the advertisement. Thus, this study focused on determining the features that significantly affect intention to apply of Commerce and Management undergraduates in the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka and the moderating role of organizational attractiveness. Data were collected from 146 respondents through a questionnaire developed using standard measures validated by previous researchers. The researcher found that organizational culture and HR offerings are the two features considered by the most respondents out of work characteristics, employee portrayal, organizational culture, aesthetic appeal of the advertisement and HR offerings. Furthermore, the study revealed that organizational attractiveness as a strong moderator to strengthen the relationship between features of an online job advertisement and intention to apply. The study contributes to knowledge domain on recruitment while adding valuable insights to recruitment personnel and organizations in identifying features of an online job advertisement that mostly considered by applicants who intend to apply for a particular company