<p>Introduction: </p><p>A job interview is for both the candidate and the company involved, an important</p><p>situation. It might be tempting for the candidate to adjust the answers to the job in question or what he</p><p>or she thinks the recruiter wants to hear. This behaviour is a part of what socialpsychology would call</p><p>impression management. This term means that you try to control the impressions you send out and</p><p>accordingly adjust your behaviour for the current situation.</p><p>Purpose: </p><p>Candidates usage of impression management is a widely debated subject where the</p><p>research mainly has focused on the candidates, their strategies and the efficiency of impression</p><p>management. Our purpose with this thesis is therefore to see how recruiters experience candidates</p><p>impression management in a job interview, how they handle it and what level of acceptance they have</p><p>for it.</p><p>Theoretical perspectives: </p><p>The theories and previous research used as models for explanation and</p><p>basis for discussion is mainly Erving Goffman´s (1974) dramaturgical perspective and thoughts about</p><p>impression management and Mark R Leary´s (1995) theories concerning impression management</p><p>tactics. In addition to these we also used more specific research concerning attribution, selfdescription</p><p>and problems with applicants use of impression management.</p><p>Methodology: </p><p>We carried out six qualitative semistructured interviews with recruiters from two</p><p>marketleading Swedish companies. The empirical foundation was analyzed through the method</p><p>concentration of meaning and thereafter put in relation to relevant theories and previous research.</p><p>Finally the empirical foundation was discussed on the basis of the thesis purpose.</p><p>Empirical foundation: The empirical foundation is mainly a description of the recruiters experiences</p><p>of different impression management tactics and their coping strategies. The result shows that there is</p><p>many different experiences of the various tactics and whether they are seen positive or negative is</p><p>dependent on which job it is and the candidates impression in general. The empirical foundation also</p><p>describes the recruiters thoughts about how a candidate carries out a successful interview and what</p><p>their interviewsituation looks like. The chapter ends with a description of which importance the</p><p>recruiters ascribe candidates usage of impression management.</p><p>Conclusions: </p><p>Our main conclusion is that even if the recruiters on direct questions concerning</p><p>different impression management tactics describe it as negative, the result shows that it often is seen</p><p>as a relevant social skill and something that is expected of a good candidate. We also think that the</p><p>recruiters are “unconciously aware” of the different impression management tactics. At first they show</p><p>no awarness concerning the tactics but after further discussions we found that they had several coping</p><p>strategies for them.</p>
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA/oai:DiVA.org:hh-1141 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Lidenberg, Jesper, Nilsson, Sebastian |
| Publisher | Halmstad University, School of Social and Health Sciences (HOS), Halmstad University, School of Social and Health Sciences (HOS), Högskolan i Halmstad/Sektionen för Hälsa och Samhälle (HOS) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, text |
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