Employer Attractiveness Through Social Media: A Phenomenological Study

Authors

Chetna Priyadarshini, IBS Hyderabad, IFHE University, Hyderabad, IndiaFollow
YLN Kumar, Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Hyderabad, IndiaFollow
Rajneesh Ranjan Jha, IBS Hyderabad, IFHE University, Hyderabad, IndiaFollow

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to gain insights into the subjective experience and perception of job seekers about the extensive use of social media as a source of recruitment and selection by the employers and its influence on the overall employer attractiveness. Four focus group interviews were conducted, audio-taped, transcribed, and analyzed by following the procedure of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) laid down by Smith and Osborn (2007). By employing IPA, the themes which emerged under the study are: ease of information; navigational usability and user friendliness; person-job fit and person-organization fit; reliability and timeliness; positive and cost effective marketing; value creation for the employers; and privacy concern. The present study posits to assist the human resource managers in formulating strategies pertaining to social media recruitment and selection so as to create an image of attractive employer. Although IPA has been predominantly used within health psychology, it has been uncommon in the recruitment literature so far. Since IPA is a phenomenological account of an individual’s personal experience and perception about an object or event, it allowed determining the richness of job seekers’ perception and the extent to which it is similar or different across each participant groups. Also, the current study is one of the pioneers in uncovering the perception of job seekers about social media recruitment and selection process in the Indian context.

Keywords

E-Recruitment, Selection, Employer Attractiveness, Social Media, Job Seekers, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Author Bio(s)

Chetna Priyadarshini is a Doctoral student at IBS Business School, IFHE University, Hyderabad, India. She is pursuing PhD in Human Resource Management and is actively involved in teaching assignments for undergraduate students. Her research interest includes e-recruitment, job search behavior, and qualitative research methods. She has published research articles in journals of international repute and has also presented papers in a few international conferences. Her previous publications in qualitative research appeared in The Qualitative Report and IUP Journal of Soft Skills. Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to:chetnapriyadarshini@gmail.com.

Dr. Y.L.N. Kumar is an Associate Professor at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Hyderabad, India. Having served as a head of department for Human Resource and Soft Skills for several years at IBS Hyderabad, he has conducted numerous Management Development Programmes for government officials in India. His areas of research interest include organizational citizenship behavior, employer branding, e-recruitment, and entrepreneurship. His previous publication using qualitative research methods appeared in The Qualitative Report. Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to:yln.kumar@nmims.edu

Rajneesh Ranjan Jha is a Doctoral student at IBS Business School, IFHE University, Hyderabad, India. He is pursuing PhD in the area of Finance and is actively involved in teaching assignments for undergraduate students. His research interest includes cash-holdings, behavioral finance and mixed-method research design. He has published research articles in journals of international repute and has also presented papers in a few international conferences. His previous publication in qualitative research appeared in IUP Journal of Soft Skills. Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to:rajneeshranjan.jha@ibsindia.org.

Publication Date

4-1-2017

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2017.2663

Recommended APA Citation

Priyadarshini, C., Kumar, Y., & Jha, R. R. (2017). Employer Attractiveness Through Social Media: A Phenomenological Study. The Qualitative Report, 22(4), 969-983. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2017.2663