The article ‘Networking as an information behaviour during job search: a study of active jobseekers in the Scottish youth labour market‘, which I co-authored with Dr John Mowbray (University of Glasgow), is now available as an EarlyCite paper from the Journal of Documentation.

In the paper we show that young job seekers acquire a range of networked information throughout a variety of tasks related to job search, and demonstrate the value of active networking during this process. We also highlight that the propensity for job seekers to network is contingent on a host of factors. These include the occupational level of the job role sought, motivation to find a job, and an awareness of the utility of networking as an information behaviour.

This work is an output from Dr John Mowbray’s PhD, which was funded by the ESRC and Skilled Development Scotland, and completed in 2018. John’s full thesis The role of networking and social media tools during job search: an information behaviour perspective is available from the Edinburgh Napier repository, as is the manuscript of the EarlyCite paper for those who do not have subscriber access to the Journal of Documentation.