Signaling ‘student-oriented’ job opportunities enhances attractiveness in work-integrated learning programs | Higher Education Research and Development

Employers are essential partners in sustainable work-integrated learning (WIL) programs. They aim to recruit talented students, and they create recruitment messages (e.g., job advertisements) to achieve this goal. Signaling theory suggests that aligning recruitment messages with WIL students’ interests will enhance job attractiveness. This study conceptualized such interests as ‘student-oriented’ opportunities: opportunities for learning, making an impact, and connecting academic studies with careers. It then examined whether signals aligned with student-oriented opportunities enhance job attractiveness relative to a traditional job advertisement. Participants (n = 57) viewed job advertisements that signaled the employer’s commitment to creating a student-oriented opportunity, commitment to and plan for such an opportunity, or a control version with no such messages. Results suggest that WIL job seekers were most attracted to job advertisements that signaled the employer’s commitment to and plan for creating student-oriented opportunities. Implications for WIL employers and the educators who support them are discussed.