Priming Jobs as Skill Development Opportunities and Responses to Job Postings

Key points

• Work-integrated learning (WIL) students often don’t apply for jobs they feel are unrelated to their interests or academic program.
• Researchers conducted a study to test whether students can be “primed” to be more open to job postings that may seem unrelated to their interests or academic program.
• Study results show that students can be influenced to perceive job opportunities as more relevant through the learning opportunities they could provide (e.g. new skills).
• An increase in perceived job relevance was positively associated with an increase in job attractiveness.