Business organizations use job advertisements to find and attract the high-quality workforce they need. Skillfully crafted job advertisements not only provide job-related information to job seekers but also help develop a strong employer brand in the employee market. Based on signaling theory and person-environment fit theory, we propose that the content and specificity of information provided in job advertisements influence job advertisement effectiveness through various mechanisms. In a scenario-based experiment on 310 young job seekers, we probed the direct and indirect effects of job advertisement informativeness on job pursuit intentions. Using structural equations modelling and multi-group path analysis, the mediating roles of perceived job appropriateness and ad truthfulness, along with the moderating role of previous employment experience, were examined. By manipulating the information content of a hypothetical job advertisement, we demonstrated that: a) both advertisement informativeness and perceived job appropriateness had positive direct effects on application intentions, while the latter had a greater effect; b) perceived job appropriateness mediated the relationship between advertisement informativeness and job pursuit intentions; c) the indirect (mediated) effect of advertisement informativeness on application intentions was moderated by previous employment experience; d) perceived ad truthfulness did not exert any significant effect on application intentions. These findings imply that HR practitioners should provide specific information in job postings to help candidates, especially those with less work experience, evaluate how well the job suits them and increase their motivation to apply.

This study aims to investigate the phenomenon of non-disclosure of personal information among male individuals, employing the Communication Privacy Management Theory as a guiding framework. The objectives of the study encompass identifying the specific types of personal information male students refrain from disclosing, examining the underlying reasons for their non-disclosure practices, and assessing the impact of non-disclosure on their interpersonal relationships. Qualitative research methods, primarily in-depth interviews, were employed to gather insights, with six male students from Sultan Idris Education University (UPSI) participating in the interviews. The findings reveal that male students at UPSI do engage in non-disclosure of personal information, albeit to a certain extent. Specifically, the findings discovered four types of personal information—secrets, traumas, dark history, and family matters—that these students commonly choose not to disclose. Notably, there are four categories of personal information they tend to withhold, namely secrets, traumas, dark history, and family matters. The reluctance to disclose stems from factors such as insecure attachment, a reluctance to worry about their parents, and strained relationships with their family members. Furthermore, the study highlights that non-disclosure of personal information has both negative and positive repercussions on the participants’ relationships with others. Moreover, the study underscores that non-disclosure of personal information can have both negative and positive effects on the participants’ relationships, shedding light on the complexities of navigating personal privacy choices in the university and job-seeking context. The study contributes valuable insights into the challenges of employability dilemmas faced by male university students concerning the management of personal information.