Job Hunters' Strategic Goals of Self-presentatio

Abstract

Identified job hunters' strategic goals by doing a content analysis of post-factum reports on the recruiting activities of university and graduate students. Subjects (Ss) were 314 male and 95 female university seniors and master course graduate students in Japan. Ss' personal job search experience records were analyzed. The preliminary analysis revealed 9 categories: eagerness, self-esteem, autonomy, preparation, self-control, straightforwardness, self-representation, responsiveness, and luck. A correspondence analysis of the scores obtained by content analysis of these categories was conducted, and individual reports were analyzed as a cluster. The results showed that (1) there were 3 different strategic goals for self-presentation, that is Ss tried to give the impression that either they met the hiring party's demands, or that they had good interview skills, or that they were open and sincere and (2) Ss seemed to select and implement behaviors to foster one of these specific images. The implications of these findings for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)