During my studies, I developed a habit of reading research papers related to career, hiring, recruitment, and HR in general. This habit started during my master's thesis research on student career choices in Slovenia and Serbia, and it stuck.
Academic papers can be challenging to read, but they offer something most LinkedIn posts and recruitment blogs don't: dependable evidence. When you're advising a hiring manager or a candidate, it helps to be able to point to a study rather than just your gut feeling.
My primary sources for finding these papers are Emerald Insight and Science Direct. Here are five studies that have most shaped how I think about the work of recruiting.
The Five Papers
The Validity and Utility of Selection Methods in Personnel Psychology
A foundational meta-analysis on which selection methods actually predict job performance. Essential reading for understanding why structured interviews outperform unstructured ones - and why work sample tests are underused.
Risks Perceived Regarding Recruitment Process Outsourcing: Stakeholder Concerns
A study on how companies and candidates perceive the risks of working with external recruiters. Useful for understanding the trust gap that external recruiters need to bridge - both with clients and candidates.
The Effects of Sex and Gender on Recruitment
Research examining how gender influences recruitment decisions, both consciously and unconsciously. A critical read for anyone trying to build more balanced engineering teams.
How Accurate Are Recruiters' First Impressions of Applicants in Employment Interviews
Spoiler: not very. This paper quantifies the reliability of initial impressions formed in the first few minutes of an interview - and why relying on them is problematic.
Convincing the Recruiter: A Comparison of Resume Formats
A direct, practical study on what resume formats are most effective at getting through recruiter screening. Useful both for advising candidates and for understanding your own biases as a reviewer.
If you want links to any of these papers, feel free to reach out. They are all available on Emerald Insight or Science Direct.