Job Matching: An Interdisciplinary Scoping Study With Implications for Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling

• Published in: Rehabilitation psychology 2017-02, Vol.62 (1), p.45-68
• Main Authors: Nützi, Marina, Trezzini, Bruno, Medici, Lorenzo, Schwegler, Urban
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Career Choice; Disabled Persons - rehabilitation; Germany; Human; Humans; Industrial and Organizational Psychology; Interdisciplinary Communication; Intersectoral Collaboration; Job Search; Occupational Guidance; Psychology, Industrial; Reemployment; Rehabilitation, Vocational - methods; Return to Work; Vocational Guidance; Vocational Rehabilitation
• ISSN: 0090-5550; 1939-1544
• DOI: 10.1037/rep0000119

Purpose: Matching a person's capabilities and characteristics with the demands and characteristics of their job is crucial for sustainable employment, in particular for persons with disabilities. The present study aims to summarize and synthesize conceptual and empirical knowledge on job matching (JM) from industrial and organizational psychology (IOP), vocational psychology (VP), and return to work (RTW) research. Research Method: We conducted a scoping study applying Arksey and O'Malley's (2005) framework and using eight electronic databases from psychology, economics, and medicine. The literature search covered studies in English and German published between 1945 and 2015. Results: A total of 312 studies were selected and analyzed. Of these, 205 were assigned to IOP, 45 to VP, 31 to both IOP and VP, and 17 to RTW research. Fourteen studies were allocated to both RTW and VP research, representing the field of vocational rehabilitation counseling. IOP and VP studies predominantly investigated the effects of JM on work-related outcomes, such as job satisfaction, tenure, or career development. RTW research focused on the development of mainly generic JM tools for job placement of persons with disabilities. Limited cross-fertilization between IOP and VP and the RTW context became evident. Conclusions: Unlike in IOP and VP, there is a dearth of JM research in the RTW context. Integrating the broad organizational and occupational JM knowledge from IOP and VP with the biopsychosocial framework of RTW could provide a sound basis for developing JM applications in vocational rehabilitation counseling that promote sustainable work reintegration of persons with disabilities. Impact and Implications Although job matching has been studied to a greater or lesser extent in industrial and organizational psychology, vocational psychology, and return to work research, there was little knowledge exchange between these disciplines so far. The present scoping study is the first that synthesizes job matching research across these three fields of study. The current study reveals that vocational rehabilitation counseling research examined job matching by drawing predominantly on person-job fit and person-occupation fit approaches from vocational psychology. Person-organization fit approaches from industrial and organizational psychology as well as the biopsychosocial understanding of job matching from return to work practice were rarely considered in the context of vocational re