Although previous literature has identified personal branding as an important concept in marketing, little is understood about the effects of personal brand equity (PBE) during the personnel selection process. To address this research gap, we performed two experimental studies and one field study in the domains of sales and engineering to examine the effect of candidates’ PBE on hiring outcomes through recruiters’ perceptions. This research draws upon signaling theory and an integration of the accessibility-diagnosticity model with the competence-based view of careers and regards PBE as the interpreted outcome of personal branding signals, reflecting how recruiters perceive and evaluate the value conveyed by job candidates. We unveil that candidates’ PBE positively predicts hiring recommendation and that credibility mediates this relationship. Moreover, job hierarchy and objective job qualifications appear to negatively moderate the relationship between candidates’ PBE and hiring recommendation. Our findings also indicate that objective job qualifications negatively interact with candidates’ PBE in predicting their credibility. The present research contributes to personal branding and selection research by offering novel insights into the role of PBE during the interview process, thereby providing guidance for job candidates and practitioners.

Previously, scholars have studied the need for implementing different human resource (HR) configurations that foster aging employees' outcomes, but there is a lack of evidence at the group level. Using the framework of Social Exchange Theory, coupled with the Selection, Optimization, and Compensation theory, we examine associations between bundles of HR practices, age (measured both as calendar age and proportion of an aging workforce), and performance, at both the individual and group levels. First, the outcomes of our multi-level analysis show that bundles of maintenance-enhancing HR practices are positively related to performance at both levels, whereas bundles of growth-enhancing HR practices associate with performance only at the group level. Second, age relates positively to performance, both at the individual and group levels. At the group level, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between the proportion of an aging workforce and group performance, such that a group's performance benefits from the participation of older employees up to a maximum proportion of 56%. Finally, age negatively moderates the association between growth-enhancing HR bundles and performance at both the individual and group levels. Results highlight the value of older employees for working organizations, and the importance of adopting HR practices that consider maintenance and growth-related needs across the life-span, while also providing useful theoretical and practical implications for Human Resource Development scholars and professionals.