Recruitment strategies in marketing and communications : A qualitative study of how individuals and organizations handle the search for employees/employers and how recruiters create match

This paper describes and analyzes how individuals and organizations that operate in careers in communications and marketing deal with the search for employees / employers, and how recruiting managers and recruitment consultants are working to create a match between the parties. The study was conducted on behalf of a recruitment agency that offers services in recruiting and staffing for organizations in communication and marketing. The empirical material consists of ten qualitative interviews from three different perspectives on the labor market, recruitment consultants, managers and employees. The interviews were analyzed from sociological and social psychological theories of organizations and individuals opportunities and strategies in today's western labor market. Conclusions that emerged are that organizations need for decreased amount of tied assets provides increased need for temporary employments. To plan and manage the strategic HR operation in the flexible organizations, with more temporary employments and decentralized structures, it has become important to increase factors of control. This generally applies to the entire recruitment process but also for potential employees. Employees increasingly aim to move on to new jobs in new organizations require that organizations develop strong employer brands. Unless employees have incentive to stay in the organization it is a risk of competence losses and the loss of control over HR work. Also people who are looking for jobs use strategies such as marketing to get a job. The study indicates a shift in responsibility for the search from organization to job applicant. A further trend is that today's leaders are looking for new employees with the "right" personality. Job applicant adjusts their self-presentation to their perception of what the employer considers to be a suitable personality in general, but also towards the specific job and organization and thus makes it matchable