Mer än bara kravprofiler : En studie om relationen mellan tydlighet i jobbannons, självskattad person-job fit och intention att söka tjänsten

Sammanfattning

Today's labor market reveals a tension between job requirement profiles and university students skills and qualifications. This study aimed to deepen the understanding of how HR and economics graduates perceive their ability to understand parts of a job advertisement, their perceived person-job fit and intent to apply. The study also aimed to examine the relations between these variables. The study addresses four research questions: “How do recent HR and economics graduates perceive their ability to understand different parts of the job advertisement?” “How do recent HR and economics graduates perceive their person-job fit in relation to the job advertisement?”, “How do recent HR and economics graduates perceive their intention to apply for the role?” and “What relationships exist between perceived understandability, person-job fit and intention to apply for the role?”. The study was designed as a quantitative cross-sectional study with survey as data collection method. The investigation was based on a total of 47 answers. The survey questions were based on a fictional role and therefore a job advertisement aimed for the target group was constructed. The target group consisted of HR- and economics students who had recently graduated or were expected to graduate within the foreseeable future. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson's correlation. The results showed that the respondents perceived the job advertisement as understandable, especially regarding the requirements and desirable qualifications. The values were perceived as the least understandable, while still having a strong effect on the intent to apply. The results also showed that needs-supplies fit, a dimension of person-job fit, had a greater impact on the intention to apply than demands-abilities fit. The majority of respondents did not meet the work experience requirement, yet the results still showed a high intention to apply. Furthermore, the results indicated relationships between all variables and the assessment of the job advertisement. In conclusion the study indicated that recent HR and economics graduates did not interpret requirement profiles literally. Organizational signals, values and development opportunities appeared to have a greater influence than the fulfillment of formal requirements.