Cyanobacteria which can form resting cells (in this case akinetes) are common in meso-eutrophic lakes in temperate regions, often dominating the phytoplankton communities during summer. The life cycles of akinete-forming cyanobacteria has been studied with Gloeotrichia echinulata as a model organism. Anabaena and Aphanizomenon were also included in a migration study. The focus of this thesis has been the factors influencing the processes of germination and subsequent growth, the factors influencing migration from the sediment, and the amount of growth occurring in the water. Germination of G. echinulata was strongly favoured by light, and recruitment was highest from organic-rich sediments in shallow, sheltered littoral areas, between 0-3 m. Recruitment of Anabaena and Aphanizomenon was less light dependent, yet the highest recruitment occurred from shallow sediments (0-2 m). This means that organic-rich sediments (0-3 m) in shallow areas are the most important seed-banks of akinete-forming cyanobacteria. The inocula contributed only to a minor extent to the maximum pelagic populations. 4% for G. echinulata in the mesotrophic Lake Erken, and 0.03% for both Anabaena and Aphanizomenon in the eutrophic Lake Limmaren. This implies that processes of growth and division in the water are important for the maximum size of the pelagic population. Prolonged recruitment from the sediment strongly promoted establishment of the species in the water, especially G. echinulata.

The trend that more and more recently graduated (business) students are having trouble entering the Swedish labor market, and the fact that many of Sweden’s small firms are perfect absorbers of labor − putting aside the larger firms − how well do these two supply and demand sides match. The recurring theme of this thesis was to analyze the perceptions that small firm managers in Jönköping area, in the business-related sectors, had of business graduates and business graduate skills and competences. It was the skills approach that was the main focus of this thesis. Here we restrict ourselves to the small firms that employ less than fifty people and more than ten. To supplement the reflections of small firm managers on graduates, soon-to-become business graduates in Jönköping area (undergraduates or postgraduates) were asked for their own opinion on small firm recruitment possibilities, and which ‘basket of skills’ they acquired and thus found to be important for small business firms. It is because of these two complementing perceptions that the authors had a chance to underline interesting graduate recruitment results, and perception on skills gaps. The research design was of mostly qualitative nature coupled with additional integrated quantitative data serving as a supplement to the former. The empirical work was conducted through four interviews with small businesses and three focus groups with graduates. Two of the companies had a basic aversion towards employing graduates, while one was indifferent and another welcomed graduates into the company. Graduates were seen as a ‘fresh applicant’, with new ideas and good social competence. However, lack of work experience and practicality, risks of hiring and over qualification brings the employability down. The authors cannot identify a clear indication of a skills gap or skills match, but when taking into account the categorization of skills between practical and non-practical ones, there is a very positive skills match between graduates and small firms. In this way recommendation for designing educational business programs on the basis of practical skills seems to be appropriate for having business students well equipped for the small business labor market. In addition to that, other interesting results point out to that the skills preferences/demand by small firms varies when taking into account whether they recruit graduates to specific job posts or just for general work.

Introduction: A job interview is for both the candidate and the company involved, an important situation. It might be tempting for the candidate to adjust the answers to the job in question or what he or she thinks the recruiter wants to hear. This behaviour is a part of what socialpsychology would call impression management. This term means that you try to control the impressions you send out and accordingly adjust your behaviour for the current situation. Purpose: Candidates usage of impression management is a widely debated subject where the research mainly has focused on the candidates, their strategies and the efficiency of impression management. Our purpose with this thesis is therefore to see how recruiters experience candidates impression management in a job interview, how they handle it and what level of acceptance they have for it. Theoretical perspectives: The theories and previous research used as models for explanation and basis for discussion is mainly Erving Goffman´s (1974) dramaturgical perspective and thoughts about impression management and Mark R Leary´s (1995) theories concerning impression management tactics. In addition to these we also used more specific research concerning attribution, selfdescription and problems with applicants use of impression management. Methodology: We carried out six qualitative semistructured interviews with recruiters from two marketleading Swedish companies. The empirical foundation was analyzed through the method concentration of meaning and thereafter put in relation to relevant theories and previous research. Finally the empirical foundation was discussed on the basis of the thesis purpose. Empirical foundation: The empirical foundation is mainly a description of the recruiters experiences of different impression management tactics and their coping strategies. The result shows that there is many different experiences of the various tactics and whether they are seen positive or negative is dependent on which job it is and the candidates impression in general. The empirical foundation also describes the recruiters thoughts about how a candidate carries out a successful interview and what their interviewsituation looks like. The chapter ends with a description of which importance the recruiters ascribe candidates usage of impression management. Conclusions: Our main conclusion is that even if the recruiters on direct questions concerning different impression management tactics describe it as negative, the result shows that it often is seen as a relevant social skill and something that is expected of a good candidate. We also think that the recruiters are “unconciously aware” of the different impression management tactics. At first they show no awarness concerning the tactics but after further discussions we found that they had several coping strategies for them.

Personlighetstester är en urvalsmetod som blivit vanligt förekommande vid re-krytering av ny personal inom ett flertal yrkeskategorier och branscher i Sveri-ge. Det är därför intressant att studera människors upplevelse av personlighets-test vid rekryteringssammanhang. Studiens syfte var att undersöka individers upplevelse av och förhållningssätt till personlighetstester under en rekryterings-process. Åtta deltagare valdes ut utifrån bekvämlighet och tre kriterier. Delta-garna skulle ha olika yrken, gjort ett personlighetstest under de senaste två åren och blivit anställda. Data samlades in genom halvstrukturerade intervjuer och analyserades tematiskt. Resultatet visade att flertalet av deltagarna upplevde personlighetstest som en lämplig urvalsmetod i kombination med intervjuer un-der en rekryteringsprocess. Företagets krav på arbetet, rekryternas bemötande, information och feedback hade stor inverkan på deltagarnas upplevelse av per-sonlighetstest. Key words: Personality test, Personality, Faking, Recruitment process. Inledning I dagens IT- och Servicesamhälle är människan företagens viktigaste resurs och konkurrens-medel. En ökad globalisering, teknologiskutveckling och nya sociala trender är företeelser som bidragit till att företag står inför nya utmaningar när det gäller att hitta och selektera ny personal (Lievens, van Dam & Anderson 2002; Mabon, 2002). Yrken försvinner helt, ändrar form eller nya tillkommer på arbetsmarknaden. I takt med utvecklingen, förändras kraven på vad företagen behöver för typ av kompetens och medarbetare. För dem som hanterar och till-sätter mänskliga resurser inom företag innebär detta att det ställs högre krav på användandet av bra metoder, för att kunna identifiera och anställa kompetenta framtida medarbetare. En av dessa metoder är personlighetstest som har blivit vanligt förekommande vid rekryteringspro-cesser inom flertalet branscher i Sverige (Mabon). Under de senaste 18 åren har ett stort antal studier visat att personligheten har stor betydelse för framgång inom arbetslivet (Sjöberg, 2000). Varje individ är unik, har olika egenskaper, erfarenheter, förutsättningar och är liksom företagen i ständig utveckling. Genom att mäta dessa olikheter och tillvarata dessa egenskaper kan de användas för att få ett bättre fungerade arbetsliv på företagen (Mabon). I föreliggande studie var syftet att undersöka användningen av personlighetstest vid rekrytering utifrån indi-videns perspektiv med fokus på upplevelse av och förhållningssätt till personlighetstest.

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As the market for talent becomes more competitive it is important to create a comprehensive employer brand (EB). A comprehensive EB ensures that organizations will get the most out of the resources they spend. EB can be seen in many aspects and context. Organizational culture provides an important framework as it includes the collective thoughts, ideas and assumptions within a group and was therefore chosen as the analytical context. Two important aspects within EB that is highlighted in this study is; retention and attraction. The aim of this thesis was to investigate how a company that is about to create a strategy for employer branding reasons around the usage of an EB as well as which opportunities and challenges both managers, employees and thesis students face within the areas of attraction and retention. The authors chose a case study to gain a deeper understanding from both an employee and an employer perspective. The case study company is in IT and is rapidly growing which created a need for an employer brand. The data is from managers, employees and students. The students refer to a group of thesis students at the company. This group was added to increase understanding for attraction. The method section provides combined data sets including interviews, a survey, a previous study of organizational values, a review of formal company documents and informal meetings with field notes. The data was then analyzed within the analytical context culture and the two aspects retention and attraction. The data is then discussed and compared with the literature, explaining similarities and differences from the results. The first two research questions were answered by describing the organization from different points of view; management, employees and students. The third research question investigated what opportunities and challenges existed to develop an EB from the two perspectives with regard to the three areas; culture, retention and attraction. The different office locations had different cultures with a mutual customer focus. The thesis found that the unclear vision, mission and goals created different directions and messages for potential employees. The compensation and benefits package is appreciated but the most important factor for case company employees are “inspiring coworkers”. The employees also appreciate varied and challenging work tasks together with flexibility and work life balance. The authors found that the talent managers were not held accountable for company guidelines regarding career plans as most employees had little or no career plan.

The critical and growing shortage of nurses is a global concern. The growth and sustainability of the nursing profession depends on the ability to recruit and retain the upcoming generation of professionals. Understanding the career choice experiences of Millennial nurses is a critical component of recruitment and retention strategies. An interpretive, narrative methodology, was used to understand how Millennial explain, account for, and make sense of their choice of nursing as a career. Individual, face to face interviews were conducted with 12 Millennial Nursing students (born 1980 or after), for whom nursing was their preferred career choice. Participants were interviewed twice and chronicled their career choice experiences within reflective journals. Data was analyzed using Polkinghorne’s method of narrative configuration and emplotment. The participants’ narratives present a shift from understanding career choice within a virtuous plot to one of social positioning. Career choice was initially emplotted around a traditional and stereotypical understanding of nursing as a virtuous profession: altruistic, noble, caring, and compassionate. The narrative scripts evolved from positioning nursing as virtuous towards understanding the meaning of career choice in relation to one’s position in the social world. The narratives position career choice in relation to the participants’ desire for autonomy, respect and quality of life. Pragmatic considerations such as lifestyle, job security, salary and social status were also emphasized. The narratives represent career choice as a complex consideration of social positioning, fraught with hopes, dreams, doubts and tensions. The participants’ perceptions and expectations in relation to their future nursing careers were influenced by a historical and stereotypical understanding of nursing; an image that remains prevalent in society. Insight gained from this inquiry can inform recruitment, education, socialization and retention strategies for the upcoming and future generations of nurses.

The critical and growing shortage of nurses is a global concern. The growth and sustainability of the nursing profession depends on the ability to recruit and retain the upcoming generation of professionals. Understanding the career choice experiences of Millennial nurses is a critical component of recruitment and retention strategies. An interpretive, narrative methodology, was used to understand how Millennial explain, account for, and make sense of their choice of nursing as a career. Individual, face to face interviews were conducted with 12 Millennial Nursing students (born 1980 or after), for whom nursing was their preferred career choice. Participants were interviewed twice and chronicled their career choice experiences within reflective journals. Data was analyzed using Polkinghorne’s method of narrative configuration and emplotment. The participants’ narratives present a shift from understanding career choice within a virtuous plot to one of social positioning. Career choice was initially emplotted around a traditional and stereotypical understanding of nursing as a virtuous profession: altruistic, noble, caring, and compassionate. The narrative scripts evolved from positioning nursing as virtuous towards understanding the meaning of career choice in relation to one’s position in the social world. The narratives position career choice in relation to the participants’ desire for autonomy, respect and quality of life. Pragmatic considerations such as lifestyle, job security, salary and social status were also emphasized. The narratives represent career choice as a complex consideration of social positioning, fraught with hopes, dreams, doubts and tensions. The participants’ perceptions and expectations in relation to their future nursing careers were influenced by a historical and stereotypical understanding of nursing; an image that remains prevalent in society. Insight gained from this inquiry can inform recruitment, education, socialization and retention strategies for the upcoming and future generations of nurses.

This research explored how memorable messages and formal (official) university messages work together to inform and influence students’ college choices. Recognizing the ways in which university-constructed and other memorable messages influence students’ choice of college could potentially help colleges improve their recruitment messages and distinguish themselves from other institutions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to obtain data from the participants, and the data were analyzed through a thematic, constant comparative method. Within the context of higher education, findings revealed students’ perceptions of memorable college-related messages, the sources of memorable college-related messages, the characteristics that increase the likelihood that students will recall a college-related message, and the extent to which college-related messages influenced students’ choice of college. This study extends the exploration of the memorable message construct and provides practical implications for university admission offices and their student recruitment efforts.

Syftet med det här arbetet var att ta reda på vem rederierna anställer, samt identifiera vilka faktorer som påverkar rekryterarna när de ska anställa en ny styrman.  För att ta reda på det har jag intervjuat två rederier som anställer svenska styrmän. Jag valde att göra en kvalitativ undersökning för att kunna ställa lite mer ingående frågor samt att ha möjlighet att ställa följdfrågor. Resultatet blev att det är till stor del de personliga egenskaperna samt den sociala kompetensen som är av störst betydelse så länge de formella kraven uppfylls. Erfarenhet inom sjöfarten eller utav yrken som man kan ha nytta av i sjöfarten är också meriterande samt att man har bra referenser.