Recruitment process outsourcing: one size fits all? : recruiter competence and firm reputation effects

"A Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Business Administration."Though the use of recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) has increased in recent years, little research has examined the impact that RPO may have on applicants. This is particularly relevant as extant findings suggest that negative experiences during the recruitment process may be detrimental to organization attraction and job acceptance. Thus, this study uses signaling and critical contact theory to examine the main and interactive effects of RPO, recruiter competence, and perceived firm reputation on organization attraction. I presented undergraduate students with hypothetical job application scenarios in which I manipulated RPO, recruiter competence, and perceived firm reputation. Results showed that respondents were more attracted to an organization when a recruiter was competent rather than incompetent and when perceived hiring firm reputation was positive rather than negative. There was no main effect of RPO use on organization attraction. However, I did find support for an interactive effect of RPO use and recruiter competence on organization attraction. Organization attraction was greater when RPO was not used than when it was used when the recruiter was competent, but the opposite was true when the recruiter was incompetent. This suggests that the relationship between RPO use and organization attraction may be dependent on other factors