Impact of Recruiter Employee–Organization Relationship on Job Seeker Application Behaviour

The employee–organization relationship (EOR) is a vital component in the micro‐foundations of employment systems, and yet has received little attention in the recruitment literature. Thus, we developed and tested a model in which we examined whether job seekers who held a more positive employer image prior to an on‐campus interview subsequently had more optimistic perceptions of anticipated organizational support, person‐organization fit (P‐O fit) and recruiter affect following the on‐campus interview. In turn, we assessed whether this positive employer image pathway increased the likelihood that the job seeker would apply for a job with the organization. Finally, we studied whether the recruiter's EOR served as a potential moderator of these relationships. On the basis of data collected from 383 job seekers and 85 recruiters, we found that job seekers were more strongly influenced by the recruiter's EOR if the employer image they held was positive. In addition, the recruiter's EOR moderated the positive relationship between job seeker perceived employer image and job seeker anticipated organizational support, such that the relationship was stronger when the recruiter EOR was high versus low. Further, job seeker perceived employer image was positively related to job seeker job application behaviour sequentially via anticipated organizational support and anticipated P‐O fit. However, this sequential relationship was not moderated by the recruiter's EOR. An alternate pathway with recruiter affect as a mechanism linking anticipated organizational support with job application behaviour was not significant. We discuss implications of Marsden's theory of employment systems for organizational recruitment.