Realistic job information and salesforce turnover: an investigative study

Little research has been done on the impact of realistic job information on the salesperson′s decision to terminate a sales position. Using propensity to leave as a surrogate for salesforce turnover,presents the results of an investigative study of realistic job information in sales interviewing. Breaks down the construct of realistic job information into four dimensions, namely volume; personal relevance; depth; and accuracy. Finds that salespersons who display a higher tendency to leave their jobs believed their job preview to have been less realistic than those who exhibit a propensity to stay in their positions. Also finds, however, that while relevance, depth and accuracy of job information are strong predictors of propensity to leave a sales job, volume of information is not, suggesting that the problem may be one of interview quality, rather than information quantity.