Recruitment interviews for intermediate labour markets

Identity construction under ambiguous expectations

Bibliographic Data

ID5965768
AuthorsSanni Tiitinen (0000-0002-2567-9182, Tampere University, corresponding author), Tea Lempiälä (0000-0002-0141-5254, University of California, Merced)
Year2022
Volume24
Issue6
Pages758-780
Publication date2022-12-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDiscourse Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1461-4456 • E-ISSN: 1461-7080
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/14614456221112276
OpenAlexW4289523506
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited25

Intermediate labour markets (ILMs) provide fixed-term work opportunities and coaching for people in disadvantaged positions in labour markets. We study 46 sequences from six audio-recorded recruitment interviews for an ILM job targetted at people who have been unemployed for a prolonged period. Using an ethnomethodological approach to identity, membership categorisation analysis and conversation analysis, we study how interviewers and candidates construct and negotiate who is fit for the ILM job. We present interactional moves through which the participants jointly construct the ‘fit for the ILM job’ category and treat the candidate’s membership in it as a positive matter. Further, we demonstrate how the candidates are put in an interactionally difficult position in the interview as there are contradictory and ambiguous expectations about the ideal candidate. We discuss the results in relation to the interactional and institutional logics of a recruitment interview and suggest that enhancing the transparency might reinforce ethics of recruitment in ILMs

Conversation · Conversation analysis · Disadvantaged · Economics · Ethnomethodology · Negotiation · Sociology · Communication · Emotional Labor in Professions · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies · Management and Organizational Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology

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Open DOIOpen Access