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Using extracurricular activity as an indicator of interpersonal skill: Prudent evaluation or recruiting malpractice?
Author(s) -
Rubin Robert S.,
Bommer William H.,
Baldwin Timothy T.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
human resource management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.888
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1099-050X
pISSN - 0090-4848
DOI - 10.1002/hrm.10053
Subject(s) - psychology , interpersonal communication , extracurricular activity , social skills , social psychology , malpractice , interpersonal relationship , intellect , medical education , developmental psychology , pedagogy , political science , medicine , philosophy , theology , law
There is widespread agreement that success in organizations requires more than high intellect. Thus, collegerecruiters commonly examine job candidates' extracurricular activities in search of“well‐rounded,” emotionally intelligent, and interpersonally skilled students. Intuitively,extracurricular activities seem like valuable student experiences; however, research evidence is sparse,suggesting far more questions than answers. Is participation in extracurricular activity truly linked tointerpersonal skill performance? Does leadership experience make a difference? Do extracurricularexperiences yield higher skill development? Six hundred eighteen business students and the relationship oftheir extracurricular involvement to four interpersonal skills were examined. Significant relationships were foundand recruitment implications are discussed. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.