PurposeJob-seeking success relates to engagement with specific job-seeking strategies, so it is important to understand the beliefs that job-seekers have of them. Using multiple methods, this study aims to establish a typology of the beliefs job-seekers have about strategies, create and validate a measure of these beliefs and relate them to job-seeking behavior.Design/methodology/approachIn the first sample, the authors interviewed 77 job-seekers about their job-seeking strategy beliefs. The authors then created a measure and verified its psychometric properties using 396 job-seekers. Finally, using a sample of 628 job-seekers, the authors continued their evaluation of the measure and related strategy beliefs to job-seeker motivation and behavior.FindingsThe authors initially identified 21 beliefs about job-seeking strategies. The authors ultimately found support for 15 dimensions, replicating the factor structure across samples. Strategies are perceived to differ on most beliefs, and eight beliefs had unique relationships with job-seeker effort and/or motivation.Practical implicationsThe study results can help organizations and job-seekers increase job-seeking motivation by targeting specific beliefs found to have the strongest relationships with strategy use.Originality/valueThis is the first measure of job-seeking strategy beliefs that generalizes across strategies. Furthermore, the authors establish several beliefs that have the strongest relationships with job-seeking motivation.

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