A house divided: A multilevel bibliometric review of the job search literature 1973–2020

A growing body of research across multiple disciplines has aimed to better understand the phenomenon of job search. However, little empirical research has examined the combined content and structure of the job search literature to accumulate programmatic knowledge. Unfortunately, this has resulted in redundancies and isolated advances that harm our ability to make concrete practical recommendations to aid policy makers, organizations, and broader society. Using bibliometric analysis of 3,197 articles on job search, the present article identifies and describes 10 distinct communities of thought and assesses patterns of integration between these communities. Assessment of community relationships confirms disciplinary divides, but reveals insights into patterns of thought within disciplines, and structural and conceptual relationships between them. Based on these findings, we offer a multilevel conceptual framework to organize the job search literature and suggest possible ways to improve its integration to build a more programmatic understanding of the job search phenomenon.