Online Job-seeking: Acceptance and Use of the Internet for Job-seeking

ABSTRACT

The Internet has the potential to facilitate the process of job-seeking, but this has been an under-researched dimension of Internet use in the Philippines. As such, this thesis explores job-seekers’ perceptions and use of the Internet for job-seeking, guided by the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, McQuail’s new media theory, and a cost-benefit analysis of job-search. A survey was used to obtain information on young, middle-class members of the labor force’s general use of the Internet and their acceptance and usage of the Internet for job-seeking. Two-hundred respondents from Metro Manila were selected using criterion sampling. Results showed that respondents used Internet-based methods of searching for job openings more than traditional methods. Specifically, older respondents used Internet-based methods most frequently. In applying for work and following-up applications, Internet-based methods and traditional methods were used by the respondents almost to the same extent. Considering that all the respondents had access to the Internet, performance expectancy was the best predictor of intention to use the Internet for job-seeking and actual usage. In particular, the Internet was perceived as information-rich and accessible, hence its continued use in job-seeking despite uncertainties about privacy and reliability.

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Subject Index: Job hunting, Labor supply, Internet