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The current war for talent among firms in the labor market is a huge topic for firms marketing and human resources divisions as well as for academics with various backgrounds. Organizational attractiveness is being analyzed from numerous perspectives. However, especially the research field of family firms, which play a major role for the global economy, surprisingly, does not exhibit any literature analyzing the question whether family firms represent attractive employers to well-educated job seekers. To overcome this drawback, this article aggregates insights in search for an answer to this question. More precisely, my literature review reveals six key attributes named employer attractiveness factors - which account to the largest extent for the attractiveness of employers to job seekers. A subsequent literature review-based test of the applicability of family firm characteristics on these key employer attractiveness factors discloses that four out of six of these factors can be attributed to family firms, showing that family firms do indeed represent attractive employers to job seekers with higher education.

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Patrick Makulinski completed his academic studies at the Cooperative State University Baden-Wuerttemberg in Loerrach and at the WHU in Vallendar. After having gained work experience in financial services, consulting as well as media, currently he works in the field of strategy and business development for a major Swiss bank.

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