Kanar, Adam2010-10-202015-10-202010-10-20bibid: 7061351https://hdl.handle.net/1813/17550How do employed persons think about job searching? This dissertation draws on an analysis of decision process research and two qualitative studies to answer this question. The study explores the factors that lead employees to begin their job search and the way employees represent their job searches. Previous literature on job search and job choice has been developed in the context of unemployed job losers and unemployed new labor market entrants. In addition, turnover research has focused mostly on factors that cause employees to leave their current position, giving little attention to employees who do not leave but still search. This study argues that employees face a unique decision situation and their job searches. Employees' situations are unique because they do not have a set starting point for job searching, they may not dislike their current position. This dissertation is a contribution to the literature on job search and voluntary turnover. The dissertation inductively explored the factors that prompt employees to search for new employment, the way employees structure the employment decision problem, and their motivations driving their decisions and behaviors.en-USdissertation or thesis