Who would you rather go on a blind date with: someone you don't know or someone recommended by a friend? The same is true when applicants are applying for jobs; according to new research by Beth Ayers McCague Family Fellowship Associate Professor Brian Swider at the University of Florida Warrington College of Business, applicants are more attracted to and willing to take jobs with a company their friends feel are a great fit.
Walking into a career fair is different than picking up a date – you're still dressed up and sweating, but typically you won't bring a resume when being interviewed by a potential partner. The elevated stakes might be why students take on career fairs in packs, opting to perform their elevator pitches alongside a classmate as they introduce themselves to recruiter after recruiter.
It's a functional method, Swider says, but a faulty one. What follows a team of classmates taking on a career fair is a classic case of social information processing.
"The study identifies that how applicants go through the recruitment process is meaningfully impacted by what their friends think about those organizations," Swider explained. "That can be positive in the form of learning. But that can also be negative in the form of social influence and pressure to conform to what your friend group thinks about a certain organization."
