The Paradox of Hiring Newly Graduates: Employer Branding ... · The Paradox of Hiring Newly Graduates: Employer Branding Upside-Down According to the study regulations, the maximum

TheParadoxofHiringNewlyGraduates:

EmployerBrandingUpside-Down

-acasestudyofsmallerDanishorganizations’attractionofnewly

graduates

MACulture,Communication,andGlobalisation

AalborgUniversity

MASTERTHESIS

2018

BY:

CAMILLARAVNOVERBYNIELSEN

20162703

AalborgUniversity 15.September2018CamillaRavnOverbyNielsen(20162703)MACulture,Communication&Globalization–MarketCommunication&Consumption

i

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Studyprogram: MACulture,CommunicationandGlobalization–MarketCommunication&Consumption

Semester: 10

ExamTitle: Master’sThesis

Nameanddateofbirth/Namesanddatesofbirthofgroupmembers:

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CamillaRavnOverbyNielsen(StudentNumber:20162703) 15-01-1991

Handindate: 15-09-2018

ProjectTitle/SynopsisTitle/ThesisTitle: TheParadoxofHiringNewlyGraduates:EmployerBrandingUpside-Down

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CamillaRavnOverbyNielsen

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ii

Abstract

Purpose:Theoverallaimofthisthesisistogenerateanunderstandingofhowtheutilization

ofemployerbrandingcanbenefitsmallerDanishorganizationsinthe(previouslyanticipated)

intensifiedglobalcompetitionfornewlygraduates.Furthermore,itaimstogiveatrustworthy

pictureofthe(actual)competitionfornewlygraduates,andtheirworkvaluepreferences.

ProblemFormulation:Thisthesisisfocusingonnewlygraduates’workvaluepreferences,if

graduateprogramsareaffectingtheirpreferencestowardsaspecificsizeoforganization,as

wellashowsmallerDanishorganizationsarehandlingtheintensifiedglobalcompetitionfor

newtalents,andiftheycanbenefitfromusingemployerbrandingtoattractnewlygraduates.

ThecoretheoreticalconceptutilizedforthisresearchhasbeenEmployerBranding,whichin

recentyearshasbeenexperiencingmoreimportance,particularlywiththe‘warfortalent’.

ResearchDesign:Toanswertheresearchquestionapredominatingqualitativeresearchde-

sign,composedbyacasestudyapproach,utilizingamixed-methodsresearchdesigncarried

outbytwodifferentmethods,anonlinesocialwebsurveyalongwithsemi-structuredinter-

views.

Findings:Theinitialfocusofthisresearchwastoidentifyexternalemployerbrandingvalue

propositionframeworkfornewlygraduates,inorderforsmallerDanishorganizationstouse

itasabrandingstrategy intheglobalcompetitionfornewtalents.However,aparadoxwas

found, since the smallerorganizationsonlywant experiencedemployees – leading towards

employerbrandingupside-down.

Researchlimitations/implications:Theresultsofthisresearchstartanewsetofquestions,

whichneed further research.Even though this thesisoffersnew insightsonsmallerDanish

organizationsand thenewlygraduatesanno2018, itdoesmeetsome limitations.However,

forsimilar,smallerDanishorganizations,thisresearchcanbeusedasaninspirationorfoun-

dationforanewframeworkrelatedtonewemployerbrandingstrategies.

Keywords:Employerbranding,organizationalawareness,talentattraction,recruitment,newly

graduates,workvaluepreferences,graduateprograms,‘warfortalent’


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Tableofcontents1.INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................................2

1.1.RESEARCHPURPOSE...............................................................................................................................................................4

1.1.1.ProblemFormulation....................................................................................................................................................4

2.PHILOSOPHYOFSCIENCEANDMETHODOLOGY........................................................................................7

2.1.RESEARCHPARADIGM............................................................................................................................................................7

2.1.1.ReflexiveMethodology...............................................................................................................................................10

2.2.RESEARCHDESIGN..............................................................................................................................................................11

2.2.1.CaseStudy.......................................................................................................................................................................13

2.2.2.MixedMethods..............................................................................................................................................................15

2.3.DATACOLLECTIONANDPROCESSING..............................................................................................................................16

2.3.1.OnlineSocialWebSurvey.........................................................................................................................................17

2.3.2.Semi-StructuredInterviews.....................................................................................................................................22

2.4.TRUSTWORTHINESS............................................................................................................................................................27

3.THEORETICALFRAMEWORK..........................................................................................................................31

3.1.EMPLOYERBRANDING........................................................................................................................................................31

3.1.1.Definition.........................................................................................................................................................................31

3.1.2.ResearchDevelopmentsoftheConcept..............................................................................................................33

3.1.3.EmployerBrandingValuePropositions.............................................................................................................36

3.2.ATTRACTIONANDCOMMITMENT.....................................................................................................................................40

3.2.1.WorkValuePreferences............................................................................................................................................40

3.2.2.GenerationY–Millennials.......................................................................................................................................42

4.FINDINGS...............................................................................................................................................................46

4.1.WHOARETHENEWLYGRADUATESANDWHAT’SINTHEIRTELESCOPE?................................................................46

4.1.1.TheInfluenceofGraduatePrograms..................................................................................................................53

4.2.ORGANIZATIONALFOCUSOFSMALLERDANISHORGANIZATIONS.............................................................................59

4.2.1.HiringNewlyGraduates–Aretheysugar-coatingit?.................................................................................61

4.2.2.PersonalityWITHexperiences,please!...............................................................................................................64

4.3.ISEMPLOYERBRANDINGNECESSARY?...........................................................................................................................65


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5.DISCUSSION..........................................................................................................................................................68

5.1.THEGENERATIONOFNEWLYGRADUATES....................................................................................................................68

5.1.1.ImportanceofGraduatePrograms......................................................................................................................70

5.2.WHYSMALLERORGANIZATIONSNEEDEMPLOYERBRANDING..................................................................................71

5.2.1.RaisingAwarenesswithEmployerBrandingValuePropositions..........................................................73

5.3.DOTHEYHAVEASOCIETALRESPONSIBILITY?...............................................................................................................75

5.3.1.EmployerBrandingUpsideDown.........................................................................................................................78

6.CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................................................81

6.1.LIMITATIONSANDFUTURERESEARCH............................................................................................................................83

7.REFERENCELIST.................................................................................................................................................86

APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................................................2

A.SURVEY.........................................................................................................................................................................................2

A.1.SurveySectionsandQuestions.....................................................................................................................................2

A.2.RawData................................................................................................................................................................................9

B.INTERVIEWGUIDE..................................................................................................................................................................16

B.1.InterviewQuestions–DanishVersion....................................................................................................................17

B.2.InterviewQuestions–EnglishVersion...................................................................................................................19

C.TRANSCRIPTIONOFINTERVIEWS.........................................................................................................................................21

C.1.BangsA/S............................................................................................................................................................................22

C.2.KonsolidatorA/S..............................................................................................................................................................33

D.INITIALCODINGTEMPLATESFORINTERVIEWS................................................................................................................49

D.1.FirstVersion......................................................................................................................................................................49

D.2.SecondVersion.................................................................................................................................................................50


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Listoffiguresandtables

Figures

Figure1:SevenEmployerBrandingValuePropositions……………………………………………………….…38

Figure2:Importanceofanorganizationofferinganindustryofinterest………………………………...47

Figure3:Importanceofanorganizationofferingsocialsettings……………………………………………..47

Figure4:Importanceofanorganizationofferingeconomicvalue……………………………………………48

Figure5:Importanceofanorganizationofferingtraininganddevelopment…………………………..49

Figure6:Valuesofmostimportancetonewlygraduates…………………………………………………………49

Figure7:Valuesofleastimportancetonewlygraduates…………………………………………………………50

Figure8:Valuesindifferenttonewlygraduates………………………………………………………………………51

Figure9:Mostpreferablesizeoforganizationbyage………………………………………………………………51

Figure10:Jobpreferencesaffectedbyawareness……………………………………………………………………52

Figure11:AwarenessofGraduatePrograms…………………………………………………………………………...54

Figure12:MostAttractiveElementsofGraduatePrograms…………………………………………………….55

Figure13:LeastAttractiveElementsofGraduatePrograms……………………………………………………56

Figure14:Attractivenessofthecompetitivefieldelementofagraduateprogram………………….56

Figure15:Attractivenessofthegoingabroadelementofagraduateprogram………………………..57

Figure16:Attractivenessofthelargercompanieselementofagraduateprogram…………………57

Figure17:InterestinapplyingforaGraduateProgram…………………………………………………………..58

Figure18:Numberoffull-timeemployeesbyenterprisesize(inpercent)………………………………76

Figure19:NumberofDanishenterpriseswithemployeesbysize(innumber)……………………….76

Tables

Table1:SampleCharacteristics-Survey………...……...……………………………………………………………….21

Table2:SampleCharacteristics-Interviews………...……...……………………..…………………………………..23


1

CHAPTER1

INTRODUCTION


2

1.Introduction

Throughthepastcoupleofyearsthe‘warfortalent’hasbecomemorecritical,andthe

constant search for the best new talents has become commonplace in the corporateworld

(Lønstrup,2016;Kolesnikov,2018).Accordingtoasurvey,madebythenewsmediaBerling-

skeabouthow175largeandmedium-sizedorganizationsexperiencethecompetitionfortal-

entedemployeeshasevolvedduringthelastdecade,61%answeredthatthecompetitionhas

increased,while 15% answered that the competition has increased significantly (Lønstrup,

2016). Thismakes the ‘war for talent’ critical, since the next generation to enter the labor

force (the generation born between 1979 and 1994 – also called Millennials (Hewlett,

Sherbin, & Sumberg, 2009)) are few in numbers (CompanYoung ApS, 2015), and since the

Danishlaborforcefrom2008alreadyhasdecreasedby74,000peopleofworkingage(aged

between18and64years),whichonly increase the competition for the talentedemployees

(Seerup,2015).EventoughtheDanishlaborforcepresentlyisexperiencingthelowestunem-

ployment rate in years and the market is experiencing an economic upturn (Danmarks

Statistik,2018),thedemographicchangehasandwillfurtherresultinasignificantchallenge

for organizations to replace retiring experienced employeeswith younger and significantly

differentemployeesinformofMillennials(Napoli&Ewing,2000;Krahna&Galambosb,2014;

Queiri,Yusoff,&Dwaikat,2014;ManpowerGroup,2016),whoarearguedtomakeupformore

thanhalfofthelaborforcewithinthenext10years(MacDermott&Ortiz,2017).Inorderto

overcome this intensifying global talent shortage, organizations have initiated the develop-

mentofextensiverecruitmentstrategiestobeabletoattractandretainbothcurrentandpo-

tential qualified employees (ManpowerGroup, 2016; Theurer, Tumasjan,Welpe, & Lievens,

2018).

Notonlybusinessexecutivesbutalsoscholarlyresearcharticles,andbusinesspublica-

tionshaveallbeentalkingaboutthisongoingglobalchallengeoffindingthebestandtalented

employees,whichinparticularinvolvethenewlygraduates(universitystudentswhoareei-

ther still studying or have finished their Master’s degree within the last two years)

(MacDermott&Ortiz,2017).Previously,anumberofstudieshavebeenmadeonthecareer

experiencesofgraduatesintheirimmediateyearsofemploymentafterthegraduation,which

generallyillustratethatthenewlygraduates’experiencesonajobdonotliveuptotheiractu-

alexpectationsofparticularlytraininganddevelopment,whichtheyexpecttoreceivewhen


3

they start working (Keenan & Newton, 1986; Dean, Ferris, & Konstans, 1988; Graham &

McKenzie,1995;Wickramasinghe&Perera,2010),and that the intermediatestageofwork

alongwith theadjustments fromstudent toa full-timeemployeeoftenare stressfulexperi-

ences for these new talents (Graham&McKenzie, 1995; Holden& Jameson, 1999). Conse-

quently,itisarguedthatnewlygraduatesmightbetooaccustomedtoacademicmethodsand

performancefeedback,whichcanmakethemunpreparedforthelessstructuredfeedbackat

theworkplace (Holton, 1992). This induces a higher demand for developing graduate pro-

gramsamongnewlygraduates,andplacesthesenewlyeducatedinastrongcompetitionfor

suchgraduatepositionswithanabundanceofapplicationsforthepositionsavailable(Holst,

2018). Graduate programs are defined as a tailored two year career development program

withinanorganizationthatgivesupto4differentdepartmentrotationswithpossibilitiesfor

rotations abroad, fornewly finishedpostgraduates (i.e. graduates),whohave finished their

Master’s degree within the last two years prior to application (Jobindex, 2012; Aarhus

Universitet,2017;Djøf,2018).Thedevelopinggraduateprogramresemblesaninternshipbut

it targetsspecificallynewly finishedMaster’sdegreegraduates,anddiffers fromthe intern-

shipintermsofofferingthegraduateanentrypointtoalongcareerinsteadofonlyofferinga

short-termandoftenunpaidworkexperience (Clarke, 2017).The entry into suchgraduate

positionisseenasa‘fasttrack’routetoforinstancemanagement,thustheselectionprocess

isoftenmuch tougher thannormal jobpositions,as theorganizationswant toensuregreat

potential(Hayman&Lorman,2004).

Employers are increasingly looking inside the organization to train and develop their

ownemployeesinordertofillintalentgaps(ManpowerGroup,2016),whichalsoinducethe

organizations’establishmentofowngraduateprogramsthataddcontributiontogrowthand

developmentofthenewlygraduatestofitintothespecificorganization.Hence,graduatepro-

grams today appear tobe growing in attractivenessparticularlywithin large,multinational

organizationssuchasforexampleNestle´andPricewaterhouseCoopers(PwC),whobothas-

sess the attraction of newly graduates as being of great importance (Hayman & Lorman,

2004).However,thesedevelopinggraduateprogramshavealsobecomeextremelyattractive

amongthenewlygraduatesthemselves.AsanexampleØrstedA/S(previouslynamedDONG

EnergyA/S),alargeDanishorganizationandoneoftheleadingnorthEuropeanenergycon-

cerns(ØrstedA/S),received3,200applicationsforonlyonegraduateposition(Holst,2018).


4

1.1.Researchpurpose

It isarguedthatwell-knownorganizationsaremore likely tobeassociatedwithmore

positivefeatures,hencebeingseenasanattractiveemployerandagoodplacetowork.How-

ever,thistruthalsocountsfornegativefeatures(Brooks,Highhouse,Russell,&Mohr,2003).

Subsequently,themediatodayhasanincreasingrole,asitpresentsorganizationstothepub-

licandinfluencesthepublic’sopinionoftheorganizations,whetheritispositiveornegative

(Brooksetal.,2003).However,astherelationsbetweenrecruitmentstrategiesandtheappli-

cation intentions and –decisions aremoderated by brand awareness (Collins, 2007), larger

organizationsmighthaveanadvantagewhenitcomestoemployerbrandingandtheattrac-

tionofnewtalents,astheyoftenarerepresentedbyawell-knownbrand.Hence,theymight

haveastrongerbrandawarenessamongnewlygraduates,whichconsequentlymakes them

moreattractiveemployers.ThismightnotbethecaseforsmallerDanishorganizationswith

lowerbrandawarenessamong thenewlygraduates,whichmakes it significantly important

withemployerknowledgeand–reputationinordertoattractnewlygraduates(Collins,2007).

Therefore, thismaster thesis’ objective is to explore how smallerDanish organizations are

handlingtheintensifiedglobalcompetitionfornewtalents,whatarenewlygraduates’work

valuepreferences,ifgraduateprogramsareaffectingtheirpreferencestowardsaspecificsize

of organization, and how smaller Danish organizations can benefit from using employer

brandingtoattractthesenewlygraduates.

1.1.1.ProblemFormulation

Theresearchobjective isaddressedby threeresearchquestions (RQ),whichwillpro-

videaframeforthismasterthesis:

RQ1:Whatarenewlygraduates’workvaluepreferences,andaregraduateprogramsaffecting

theirpreferencestowardsaspecificsizeoforganization?

RQ2:HowaresmallerDanishOrganizationshandlingtheintensifiedglobalcompetitionfornew

talents?

RQ3:HowistheconceptofemployerbrandingofbenefittosmallerDanishorganizationsinthe

globalcompetitionfornewlygraduates?


5

Theresearchwillbecomposedbyacasestudyusingmixedmethodsinordertogivein-

dicationsforthenewlygraduates’workvaluepreferences,ifgraduateprogramsareaffecting

theirpreferencestowardsaspecificsizeoforganization,aswellashowsmallerDanishorgan-

izationsarehandlingtheintensifiedglobalcompetitionfornewtalents,andiftheycanbenefit

fromusingemployerbrandingtoattractnewlygraduates.


6

CHAPTER2

PHILOSOPHYOFSCIENCEANDMETHODOLOGY


7

2.PHILOSOPHYOFSCIENCEANDMETHODOLOGY

The following chapter will present this research’s methodological process. First and

foremostthissectionwilloutlinetheresearchparadigminformoftheontologicalandepis-

temologicalstanceoftheresearch,followedbyadiscussionofreflexivemethodology.Subse-

quently,theresearchdesignalongwiththedatacollectionand–processingwillbeoutlinedin

ordertogiveabetterunderstandingofhowthisresearchhasbeenmade.Finally,thechapter

willgiveareflectionontrustworthinessoftheresearch.

2.1.ResearchParadigm

Thefollowingparagraphoutlinestheontologicalandepistemologicalstancesofthere-

search,whichhavebeenselectedaccordingtotheresearcher’sperceptionofreality,aswellas

totherelevancetotheproblemarea.Thesestanceswillbeaconsistentthoughtthroughout

thisresearch,whichaimistogenerateanunderstandingofhowemployerbrandingcanbene-

fit or aid smallerDanish organizations in the competition for newly graduates. In order to

generate such understanding, the ontological stance of constructionism is particularly rele-

vantforthisresearch,alongwiththeepistemologicalstanceofinterpretivism.

Hence this research follows the ontological position constructivism.Within this para-

digmasocialobjectorphenomenaistobeconstructedbytheactorssurroundingit(Bryman,

2016, p. 29-31). By this notion it is implied that all social phenomena depend on the sur-

roundingcontextandhenceare inconstantstateofdevelopment(Bryman,2016,p.29-31).

Since aphenomenawithin the thisparadigmare shapedand influencedby current context

surroundings, it can encompass differentmeanings, all depending on the setting, time and

placeinwhichitiscontextualized,implyingnosingleobjectivereality(Bryman,2016,p.29-

31). By following this ontological stance of constructionism, itwill only be possible for the

researchertoobtainapresentknowledgeandunderstandingofhowemployerbrandingcan

benefitsmallerDanishorganizationsinthecompetitionfornewlygraduatesduetothecon-

stantstateofdevelopmentbycontextsurroundings(Gibbs,2007,p.1-9).

Lookingattheepistemologicalquestionofresearch,itconcernswhatknowledgethatis

considered acceptable within a discipline of research. When choosing the epistemological

stance,therewillbedifferentiatedbetweenresearchofnaturalandsocialsciences(Bryman,


8

2016,p.26-28).This research follows theepistemologicalposition interpretivism.With the

epistemologyinterpretivism,oneofthemainpointsisthatstudyofsocialsciencesisfunda-

mentally different from studying natural sciences (Bryman, 2016, p. 26-28). This stance of

interpretivism takes thehumanaspect into consideration, andallows the researcher toun-

derstandphenomenawithoutattemptingtoexplainit,buttounderstandtheresearchedtopic

it requiresengagement in thecontext inorder toget the fullperspective (Bryman,2016,p.

26-28).Whentalkingaboutinterpretivismitisoftenconcerningtheunderstandingandinter-

pretationofsocialactionsbygoingbackandforthbetweendataandtheory(Saunders,Lewis,

&Thornhill,2012,p.148-149;Bryman,2016,p.26-28).Thisindicatesanabductiveapproach,

where the researcher acknowledges some basic assumptions and goes back and forth be-

tweenthedatacollectionandtheoryinordertodrawmoreattentiontotheinterpretationin

theresearchandhenceleadingtothenecessityofreflection(Alvesson&Sköldberg,2018,p.

1-18).ThisleadstotheclaimofAlvessonandSköldberg(2018)thatthesocialrealityisnot

completelyexternalandunknownto theconsciousnessof theresearcher,as theresearcher

andotherpeopleingeneralareallmembersofsuchsociety(Alvesson&Sköldberg,2018,p.

3-4).

Considering this research, it intents to illustrate different meanings and implications

among people (newly graduates) that are constructed within social actions. Thus, the re-

searcherexaminesthesocialphenomenafromdifferentviewpointstobuildanunderstanding

andpotentiallyconnections(Gibbs,2007,p.1-9).Basedontheabovementionedontologyand

epistemology theresearchdesignwillemerge,whichmakes itessential that theresearched

phenomenonofemployerbrandingis investigatedwithinasocialcontextwherethereisno

definitetruth,asitisinconstantdevelopment.Thisiscoherentwiththenatureofthethesis

butalsowiththeconstraintforfoundingtheresultsonasurveyandtwosemi-structuredin-

terviews(seeSection2.2.),whichmakes itparticularly importanttoemphasizethatthisre-

searchisrepresentingoneversionofasocialconstructedrealitybasedonindividualinterpre-

tation.Duetotheepistemologyinterpretivismtheresearchprocesshasbeenabductive,and

theresearcherhasstudieddifferenttheoriesofemployerbrandingbeforestartingthecollec-

tionofprimarydatainordertogetabetterpictureofhowtoconstructtheresearch.Thisis

primarilyexplainedasthestanceofinterpretivismwithfocusoninterpretationandcreation

of understanding, leads the researcher to see organizational communication, thus also the

concept of employer branding, as social interactions and creation of relations (Kolstrup,


9

Agger, Jauert,&Schrøder,2014,p.611-613).Meaningthat there is less focusonwhatcom-

municational channels to choose and more focus on the communicational contribution to

‘sense-making’andcreationofunderstanding(Kolstrupetal.,2014,p.611-613).Hence,this

research ispartofknowledgecreation,and the researcherhas functionedasamediumbe-

tween theoretical concepts and a social phenomenon. Additionally, the research presents a

particularversionof the investigatedcontextofemployerbranding,whichmightreflect the

researcher’ssocialreality.

Contrary to theepistemological stanceofpositivism, this researchwillnotnecessarily

beseenasonerealitybutratherasasocialconstruction,whichaccordingtoBryman(2016)

will lead toacontinuallystateofdevelopment (Bryman,2016,p.29-31).This signifies that

thenewly graduates’workvaluepreferenceswillmeet continually (re)developmentby the

graduates themselves,as it is closelyconnected to theirsocial reality,and thus itwill influ-

encetheimpactofemployerbrandingandhowitcanbebeneficialtosmallerDanishorgani-

zationsintheglobalcompetitionfornewtalents.Hence,thenewlygraduates’valuesandmo-

tivations for theiractionscompriseadequateknowledge for this research.However, the in-

terpretativenatureofthisresearchmakesitcrucialfortheresearchertobecontinuouslyre-

flective(Alvesson&Sköldberg,2018,p.1-18).

Therefore,theresearchwillbeconductedasacasestudyusingmixedmethodsinorder

toachieveanunderstandingof thephenomenon(Bryman,2016,p.637).Suchapproachal-

lowstheresearchertomakesenseoftheacademicconceptofemployerbrandinginconnec-

tiontonewlygraduatesandhowsmallerDanishorganizationscanbenefitfromit,asitwillbe

investigatedinareallifesituation(Creswell,2013,p.97;Bryman,2016,p.66).Theresearch

collects its data from newly graduates themselves via an online survey, along with semi-

structuredinterviewsoftwosmallerDanishorganizationsinordertoachieveabroaderper-

spective of how employer branding can benefit or aid smaller Danish organizations in the

competitionfornewtalentsinformofnewlygraduates.

The research design, data collection and data processing, along with a reflection on

trustworthinesswillbeelaboratedinthefollowingsections.


10

2.1.1.ReflexiveMethodology

Inorderfortheresearchertobecontinuouslyreflective,thusensuringmoreattentionto

theinterpretationandhenceleadingtoadeeperresearch,thethesiswillfollowAlvessonand

Sköldberg’s (2018)definitionand suggestion for reflexivemethodology.Accordingly,Alves-

sonandSköldberg(2018)seereflexiveresearchasaconceptofthoughtfulattentiontodiffer-

entelementsoflanguage,political,socialandtheoreticalaspectsthatareallweavedtogether

inordertodevelopknowledge,andtherebythroughouttheprocesstheempiricalmaterialis

both constructed, interpretedandwritten (Alvesson&Sköldberg, 2018,p. 10-11). Further-

more,theyarguethatsuchresearch“[...]startsfromaskepticalapproachtowhatappearata

superficialglanceasunproblematicreplicasofthewayrealityfunctions,whileatthesametime

maintainingthebeliefthatthestudyofsuitable(well-thought-out)excerptsfromthisrealitycan

provideanimportantbasisforagenerationofknowledgethatopensupratherthancloses,and

furnishes opportunities for understanding rather than establishes ‘truths’” (Alvesson &

Sköldberg, 2018, p. 11). Consequently, Alvesson and Sköldberg (2018) define reflexive re-

search as containing of “two basic characteristics: careful interpretation and reflection”

(Alvesson&Sköldberg,2018,p.11).

The interpretationhas anessential role, as all references to empiricalmaterial that is

collectedforaspecificresearchisseenasresultsoftheresearcher’sowninterpretation, in-

cluding preconceptions, cultural background, and theoretical assumptions (Alvesson &

Sköldberg,2018,p.11).Therefore,tobeabletocarefullyinterpretingthematerial,itinvolves

theresearcher’sacknowledgementthat“therearenoself-evident,simpleorunambiguousrules

orprocedures,andthatcrucial ingredientsaretheresearcher’s judgment, intuitionandability

to‘seeandpointsomethingout’,aswellastheconsiderationofamoreorlessexplicitdialogue”

between both the research subject, the researcher, and the reader (Alvesson & Sköldberg,

2018,p.329).

Byreflectionit ismeant“thinkingabouttheconditionsforwhatoneisdoing,investigat-

ingthewayinwhichthetheoretical,culturalandpoliticalcontextofindividualandintellectual

involvementaffects interactionwithwhatever isbeingresearched[...]”(Alvesson& Sköldberg,

2018, p. 326). In this research context, reflexivitymeans to pay attention to these features

without one dominating the others. Therefore, it is descibed as interpreting own

interpretation,by confrontingprospectiveproblemsduring the research inorder toensure


11

differentlevelsofinterpretationgetting”playedoffagainsteachother”(Alvesson&Sköldberg,

2018,p.330).

Consequently, reflexive interpretationneeds tobeapplied throughout theresearchby

theavoidanceof focusingonsolelyonespecific themeor level, thusgeneratingmultiple in-

terpretationsthatareevaluatedagainsteachother.Hence,theapplicationofreflexivemeth-

odologyisconsideredtoberatherchallenging,requiringtheresearchertohaveanexhaustive

overviewofboththeempiricalandtheoreticalmaterial,andsimultaneouslygeneratemulti-

layeredinterpretations,remainingsensitivetofeedback,andstayingself-awareofweakness-

es(Alvesson&Sköldberg,2018).Accordingly,theyarguethatasuccesfullreflectiveresearch,

is expected to be filled with problems, however, this should not keep one from doing the

research, as it is stongly perceived that a reflexive–interpretive approachwill improve the

research outcome, andmake it possible tomake qualified, original comments (Alvesson &

Sköldberg,2018,p.394-395).Thus,researchfocusedonminimizingtherisksisoftenseento

bemeaningless.However,thisresearchdidnotgoforminimizingtherisks,andittooksome

unexpected turnsalong theway,making itdifficult tokeepoverviewasaresearcheracting

alone.

AlvessonandSköldberg(2018)furtherexplain,“[...]thedecisivequalityinqualitativere-

searchisnotthewayitsdifferentcomponentsaremanaged.Rather,whatprimarilydetermines

itsvalue isanawarenessof thevarious interpretivedimensionsatseveraldifferent levels,and

theabilitytohandlethesereflexively”(Alvesson&Sköldberg,2018,p.396).

Furtherexplanationsonhowreflexivityhasbeenimplementedthroughoutthisresearch

willbeoutlinedinthefollowingsections.

2.2.ResearchDesign

TheresearchdesignisaccordingtoTeddlie&Tashakkori(2010)naturallyconstructed

bytheresearchquestionsandtherebytheresearch’soverallobjective(Teddlie&Tashakkori,

2010),whichinthiscaseistoexaminetheworkvaluepreferencesofnewlygraduates, ifor

how graduate programs are affecting their preferences, and how smaller Danish organiza-

tionscanbenefitfromusingemployerbrandingtoattractthesenewlygraduates.Therefore,

inalignmentwiththeresearchparadigmandtheobjectiveoftheresearch,thisresearchde-


12

sign is set as a predominately qualitative research. However, due to complexity of the re-

searchedtopic,aswellastheidentifiedknowledgegapofnewlygraduates’expectationsand

workvaluepreferences,alongwiththesmallerDanishorganizations’abilitytoattractthese

newlygraduates,andwhetherornot thesesmallerDanishorganizationscanbenefit froma

strongerfocusonemployerbranding,theresearcherdecidedtoconductacasestudy(further

explainedinSection2.2.1.)usingmixedmethodsresearch(furtherexplainedinSection2.2.2).

Thisstudyhasbeenmadebyanabductiveapproach,wheretheresearcheracknowledg-

essomebasicassumptionsandgoesbackand forthbetweenthedatacollectionandtheory

(Saunders,Lewis,&Thornhill,2012,p.143-148).Itcanseemlikeacombinationofboththe

inductiveand thedeductiveapproach,however, abduction isnot seenasa ‘mix’of the two

methods(i.e.theinductiveanddeductiveapproach),asitisarguedtohaveadeeperfocuson

underlying patterns and thereby adding new elements to the research during the process,

henceitincorporatestheunderstandingandthusitenablesboththeempiricalandtheoretical

areatobeadjustedandrefined(Alvesson&Sköldberg,2018,p.4-8).Whiletheinductiveap-

proachtakes itspointofdeparture in theempiricaldataset,andthedeductiveapproach in

thetheory,theabductiveapproachtakesitspointofdepartureonanempiricalbasis(i.e.like

theinductiveapproach),butcontrarytoinductionitacknowledgesthetheoreticalpreconcep-

tions,whichinthatrespectmakesitclosertothedeductiveapproach(Alvesson&Sköldberg,

2018,p.4-8).Thismeansthattheresearchprocesswillbealternatingbetweenbothempirical

realities that canbe seenas clues, and theory that also includeprevious theory,whichwill

entail a deeper research as they both will gradually reinterpret in the view of each other

(Alvesson&Sköldberg,2018,p.4-8).Hence,thisresearchdesignisperceivedasasystematic,

repetitive, and recursive process,which is contributing to flexibility in the analysis of data

(Saunders,Lewis,&Thornhill,2012,p.147-148).Thisdesignfitsverywelltoresearchedtop-

ic,asthereisawealthofinformationonemployerbrandinginothercontextsbutlessinthe

context this research takesplace,and thus italignswith theoverallexploratoryaimof this

research (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2012, p. 148-149). Most exploratory research are

seenasratherbroad,onlynarrowdownwiththedatacollection,whichallowstheresearcher

moreflexibilityinordertoadapttoregularlychanges,indicatedbyinsightsandnewresults

(Saunders,Lewis,&Thornhill,2012,p.148-149;Gibbs,2015,p.3-6).Thisalignswiththisre-

search,asitinitiallybeganwithabroadinterestinnewlygraduates’valuecriteriaandwork

preferencesaspartofemployerbrandingandhowinconsequencesmallerDanishorganiza-


13

tionscanbenefit in thecompetition fornew talents,whichhasbeennarroweddownonan

ongoingbasisasnewempiricalandtheoreticalmaterialhaveappeared.

2.2.1.CaseStudy

Thepurposeofthisresearchistogiveindicationsforthenewlygraduates’workvalue

preferences,andhowsmallerDanishorganizationscanbenefitfromusingemployerbranding

to attract these newly graduates, which make this case study about newly graduates and

smallerDanishorganizations.Byusing case studies, thiswayof exploring thephenomenon

gives rise tomoredetailed insights andunderstandingsof thenewlygraduates’ values and

workpreferencesalongwiththesmallerDanishorganizations’viewontheirpositioninthe

competitionfornewtalents(Bryman,2016,p.66).

Meaning,byfollowingacasestudyapproachitbecomespossiblefortheresearcherto

investigateandunderstandaphenomenoninthecontextinwhichitispresent,whichgoesin

linewith the ontological stance of this research, as a case study focus on relationships be-

tween a contemporary phenomenon and its real life context (Yin, 1981). Bymaking a case

study the researcher can conduct a detailed and intensive research (Bryman, 2016, p. 66),

examiningauniquecaseincombinationwithlimitedpreviousconductedstudieswithinthat

specificcontext,makingitpossibletocapturethephenomenonunderinvestigationinamore

detailedway(Yin,2003,p.13;Creswell,2013,p.97;Gibbs,2015,p.5-6).Consequently, the

findings are often seen as smaller snapshots of the reality, and thus cannot be generalized

(Flyvbjerg,2003;Bryman,2016,p.64),astherewithintheconstructivistpositionisnosimple

orabsolutereality/truth,butrathermultipleinterpretations(Gibbs,2015,p.91).Though,itis

arguedthatthesuggestionpresentedislimitedduetorestrictedexternalvalidity,itwasnev-

er the purpose of this research design to generalize beyond this specific case (Flyvbjerg,

2003).However,inordertoconductatrustworthycasestudy,itisarguedbyCreswell(2013)

tobeessential topresentan in-depthunderstandingof thespecificcase (Creswell,2013,p.

98).Therefore,theresearcherhasutilizedbothonlinesources,interviewsandasocialsurvey,

whichhavemadetheresearchergainknowledgeaboutthecasefrommultipleperspectives.

On a general level, the case studies have been criticized for the problem of generalization

(Gibbs,2015,p.91),whichaccording toCreswell (2013)have ledmoreresearchers tocon-

ductmultiplecasestudies inorder to increase thepossibilitiesofgeneralizabilityof there-


14

search(Creswell,2013,p.101;Bryman,2016,p.67).Additionally, it isarguedbyFlyvbjerg

(2006)thatthestrategicchoiceoftheselectedcasewillincreasethepossibilitiesofgenerali-

zability(FlyvbjergB.,2006).Flyvbjerg(2006)furthersuggestthatsuchchoiceofcasecanbe

seenasacritical case,as itwillhavea stategicpositionrelated to theresearchofa certain

problem/phenomenon(FlyvbjergB.,2006).Thus,Flyvbjerg(2006)arguethatsuchstrategi-

callyselectedcasesentailthepossibilityofgeneralizinginformof“Ifitisvalidforthiscase,it

isvalidforall(ormany)cases.”andinamorenegativeform“Ifitisnotvalidforthiscase,then

itisnotvalidforany(oronlyfew)cases.”(FlyvbjergB.,2006,p.230).

This researchcanbeseenas conductinganexemplifyingcase (or typical case), as the

goalistoinvestigatecircumstancesandconditionsforatypicalsituation,andasitallowsthe

researcher to investigate key social processes (Bryman, 2016, p. 62). In this case, the re-

searcherseekstogiverisetomoredetailedinsightsandunderstandingsofthenewlygradu-

ates’ values andwork preferences, as well as the researcher seeks access to two different

typesofsmallerDanishorganizationsinformofrespectivelyanolder(andinsometermsa

moretraditionalandwellestablished)organization(i.e.BangsA/S)andanewer(andinsome

termsamoreinnovative)organization(i.e.KonsolidatorA/S) inordertomakeunderstand-

ingsofhowsmallerDanishorganizationsareactingregardingthecompetitionofnewtalents

andhowtheycanbenefitfromusingemployerbrandingtoattractthesenewlygraduates.The

strategicallyselectedcasesforthisresearcharerepresentingabroadertypeofsmaller(i.e.1-

50employees),private,Danishorganizations,operatingontheB2Bmarket.Hence,itcanbe

arguedthatthisresearchconductsamultiplecasestudy,whichisreferringtoacomparative

designasanextensionofacasestudydesignthatallowsdistinguishingcharacteristicsoftwo

(ormore) cases to give theoretical reflections of the findings,which according to Creswell

(2013)increasesthepossibilitiesofgeneralizability(Creswell,2013,p.101;Bryman,2016,p.

68).TheselectedcasesarearguedtorepresentothersimilarorganizationsontheDanishB2B

market.Therefore,thisresearchisconsideredtofollowFlyvbjerg’s(2006)suggestionofgen-

eralizationinformof“Ifitisvalidforthiscase,itisvalidforall(ormany)cases.”(FlyvbjergB.,

2006,p.230).

The case study design is often associatedwith an abductive approach but it does not

necessarilyhavetobe(Bryman,2016,p.64),justasitaccordingtoYin(2006)ispossibleto

use not only qualitative andquantitativemethods in a single research but also in different


15

typologies(Yin,2006),whichhefurhterarguestobeparticularlylikelytoimprovethevalidi-

tyofacasestudy(Yin,2013).

2.2.2.MixedMethods

Oftenwhenstudyingmeaningitisassociatedwithqualitativeresearchandtheabilityto

studytheworldthroughtheeyesofthepeoplewhoarestudied(Bryman,2016,p.624).How-

ever,thishasbeenquestionedandevaluatedtobeatoddsduetowidespreadstudiesofatti-

tudeinsocialsurveysbasedonbothinterviewsandquestionnaires(Platt,1981,p.87).Con-

sequently, quantitative research frequently addressmeanings, and by designing attitudinal

questionstheresearchmightstrengthenitsabilitytoobtainaccesstomeaning,whichindicate

that thegapbetweenquantitativeandqualitative research isnotas largeas sometimesas-

sumed, and that the two methods often are employed together, called mixed methods

(Bryman,2016,p.624).Combiningquantitativeandqualitativemethodsinamixedmethods

researchmakesitpossiblefortheresearchertoobtaingreaterprominencetostrengthenthe

datacollectionandanalysis(Bryman,2016,p.637).

Mixedmethodsresearchinasingleproject,havepreviouslybeenthetargetofcriticism,

buthavenowevolved tobecomemoreusedandrespectedwithin theontological stanceof

constructionism (Bryman, 2016, p. 636-637). One of the arguments advocating the mixed

methodsapproachisthetriangulation(diversificationofperceptions)thatisthecombination

ofquantitativeandqualitativedata,whichcanleadtohighercredibilityandtransferabilityof

the findings (Bryman, 2016, p. 643-646), and thus providing increased confidence in these

(Yin,2013).AccordingtoTeddlieandTashakkori(2010)thecomplexityoftriangulationand

thediversificationofperceptionshave leadsome to thesuggestionofneed forprespecified

designs,howeveritisclaimedthatsuchdesignsareimpossibletoframeduetotheabductive

natureofmixedmethodsresearch,asnewelementsmightbeaddedduringtheresearchpro-

cess(Teddlie&Tashakkori,2010).Thus,theuseofmixedmethodsleadstheresearchertobe

continuouslyreflectiveandmakes itpossiblewithalterations to thedesignanddatacollec-

tionprocessaccordingly(Teddlie&Tashakkori,2010),whichiscoherentwithAlvessonand

Sköldberg’sthoughtsaboutreflexivemethodology(Alvesson&Sköldberg,2018).

Consequently, this thesisusesamixedmethodsresearchconsistingofanonlinesocial

websurvey,includingattitudinalquestions,thusprovidingabroaderperspectivetotheprob-


16

lemarea,alongwithqualitativesemi-structured interviewsof twosmallerDanishorganiza-

tions.Thesemi-structured interviewshaveanunderlying focuson theconceptofemployer

brandingfromtheorganizations’perspective,whereastheonlinesocialsurveyisprovidinga

contextfortheconceptofemployerbrandingfromthenewlygraduates’perspective,interms

ofwhattheirworkvaluepreferencesareandhowthesepreferencescanbeaccommodatein

thebestpossibleway.Thetwomethodscontributetoamoreholisticoverviewoftheemploy-

er branding concept – however, focused on the organizational perspective in form of how

smallerDanishorganizationcanbenefitfromtheconceptofemployerbrandinginthecompe-

titionfornewtalents.Nevertheless, theresearcherconsidersthatthisapproachwillhelpto

improve the understanding and meaning of the phenomena, and hence the aim by using

mixedmethodsistoobtainmorecredibilityandamoretrustworthypictureofthecompeti-

tion fornewlygraduates, andhowemployerbrandingcanbenefit smallerDanishorganiza-

tions, than if the researchwhere solely based on qualitative research. By combining semi-

structuredinterviewsoftwosmallerDanishorganizationswithanonlinesocialwebsurveyof

thenewlygraduates’expectationsandworkvaluepreferences,itwillbepossibletoobtaina

broaderreachofrespondents,whichwillstrengthentheabilitytoobtainaccesstomeaning

andunderstanding(Bryman,2016,p.624).

2.3.DataCollectionandProcessing

Aspreviouslymentioned,thisthesisispredominatedbyaqualitativeresearch(seeSec-

tion 2.2.), which traditionally utilizes a series of differentmethods that allow comparisons

acrossdifferentempiricalmaterialsinordertodecidewhatcanbeseenastrue(Alvesson&

Sköldberg,2018).However, this research isnot focusingonanyverification,but rather the

explorationandunderstandingofhowindividualsportraythesamephenomenaindifferent

ways.As theresearchunderpins that this thesis is conductedutilizingamixed-methodsre-

search design consisting of both quantitative andqualitative data, this research’s empirical

materialhasbeencarriedoutbytwodifferentmethods,namelytheonlinesocialwebsurvey

alongwiththesemi-structuredinterviews.Bothmethodswillbefurtherexplainedinthefol-

lowingsections.


17

2.3.1.OnlineSocialWebSurvey

Forthisthesistheresearcherdecidedtoconductanonlinesocialwebsurvey,whichac-

cordingtoBryman(2016)isunderstoodtobesimilartoaself-completedquestionnaire,asit

istherespondentswhocompletethesurveythemselves,howeverinthissettingthesurveyis

administeredonline(Bryman,2016,p.229-232).Thismeansthattherespondentsgetaccess

tothesurveyviaanonlinelink,whichthenwilldirectthemtoawebsitewheretheyareable

toanswer thequestionsof the survey themselves.Today, therearea largenumberof soft-

wareapplicationsavailable,suchasforexampleSurveyMonkey,GoogleDocsandSurveyXact,

whichcanbeutilizedinordertodevelopthesurvey,administeringandcollectingdata,andto

constructlimiteddataanalysisinformofreportingwithbothfrequencytablesanddiagrams

(Faarup&Hansen,2010,p.59-60).Regardingthisthesistheresearcherhaschosentousethe

softwareapplicationSurveyXact,which is anapplicationdesignedbyRambollManagement

ConsultingA/S,andfurthermoreanapplicationthatisprovidedaccessbyAalborgUniversity

(AAU). According toManfreda et al. (2008) someof the advantages of thismethod involve

thatitdoesnotrequireaninterviewertoasktheintervieweethequestions,nordoesthein-

terviewneedtobeadministeredface-to-face,whichotherwisewouldbebothtimeandcost

consuming (Manfreda, Berzelak, Vehovar, Bosnjak, & Haas, 2008). Contrarily, some disad-

vantagesof themethodareargued tocontain for instanceasix to fifteenpercent lowerre-

sponseratethanothersurveytypes,suchasforexampleemailsurveys,asitmightbeeasier

tocompleteasurveyrequestedviaemailcomparedtotheprocessofswitchingfromemailto

theInternet(Manfredaetal.,2008).

When it comes to surveys, the sampling can generally be categorized into two broad

groups, the probability-based sampling (also called ‘random sampling') and the non-

probability sampling (also called ‘convenience sampling’) (Fricker, 2017).With probability

samplingthechancesofeachcasegettingselectedfromthepopulationisknownandthereby

usuallyequalforallcases,whichmeansthatitwillbepossibletoachieveobjectivesthatre-

quire statistically characteristics of the sampled population (Saunders et al., 2012, p. 261-

262).Therefore,surveysareoftenassociatedwithprobabilitysamples.Onthecontrary, the

chancesof each case getting selected from thepopulationwithnon-probability sampling is

notknown,anditwillbedifficulttoaddressobjectivesrequiringstatisticallycharacteristics

ofthesampledpopulation(Saundersetal.,2012,p.261-262).However,itisarguedthatbya

non-probabilitysampleitwillstillbepossibletomakegeneralizationsaboutthepopulation,


18

justnotonstatisticalgrounds(Saundersetal.,2012,p.261-262).Asthemainpurposeofus-

ing thismethod is toexploreandmakeunderstandingsof thenewlygraduates’workvalue

preferences,andifgraduateprogramsareaffectingtheirpreferencestowardsaspecificsize

oforganization,andsincethisresearchhasaconstructivistviewpointwithaninterpretation-

alstancetherearenoneedforstatistical inferencesmadefromthesample(Saundersetal.,

2012,p.262-272).However,whenworkingwithsmallersamplesas in thisresearchwitha

casestudy, the researcherneeds to select the respondents thatareparticularly informative

forthisspecificresearch,thustherespondentsneedtobeofaspecificcategoryinordertouse

themforansweringtheresearchquestions(Saundersetal.,2012,p.287-289).Therefore, it

hasbeenchosentouseanon-probability-basedsamplinginformofapurposivesamplethat

allow theresearcher to ‘judge’ relevant interestgroupsbasedondecisionsmadeby there-

searcher,hencethistypeofsamplingiscommonlyknownas‘judgmentalsampling’(Saunders

et al., 2012, p. 287). Accordingly, the population selected for this research is consisting of

newly graduates, closer defined as: “Danish and international university students (bothmen

andwomen), livingor intendingto liveandwork inDenmark,whoareeitherstill studyingor

havefinishedaMaster’sdegreewithinthelasttwoyears(finishedin2016atthelatest)”.

Inordertoobtainrespondentsfromdifferentstudyprogramsanduniversities,aswell

asthosewhohavefinishedtheirstudiesfrom2016onwards,thesurveywasdistributedpri-

marilyonsocialmediaviaalinkpostedindifferentgroupsassociatedwithwholeuniversities,

groupsofspecificstudyprograms,groupsforinternationalstudents,andgroupsforjobseek-

ers on Facebook and LinkedIn respectively. The socialmedia sites Facebook and LinkedIn

werechosenastheresearcherdeemthesesocialmediasitesasaneasyaccesstotheinterest

group,astheinterestgroupareconsideredtobelongtothegenerationofMillennials,whoare

particularly attending socialmedia sites (Knight-McCord, et al., 2016;Monalisa& Salamah,

2018).Theresearchersalsousedownnetworktosharethelink,asshealsoispartofthespe-

cificgroupofinterestherself.Additionally,theresearchergotincontactwithvariousDanish

jobcenters,aswellasdifferentunemploymentfunds,andlastlytheresearchercontactedthe

SecretariatofCulture,CommunicationandGlobalStudiesatAalborgUniversity,whosentout

arequestforparticipationinthesurveytoallenrolledstudents.Thesejobcentersandunem-

ploymentfundswereselected,astheyprovidesaccesstoalargeamountofbothnewlygradu-

atedmasterstudentsandjobseekersofseveralbackgrounds,whiletheSecretariatatAalborg

Universityprovidesaccesstoalargepoolofpresentstudentsofdifferentbackgrounds.How-


19

ever,somejobcentersandunemploymentfundsreturnedwithananswerthattheywerenot

legallyabletohelpoutandsharethelinkwiththeirclients,whileothersrespondedthatthey

wouldhighlyencourage their clients toparticipate, andsomeevenshared the linkon their

individualcompanyprofilesonsocialmedia(i.e.Facebook).

Thesurveyconsistsof13questions(seeAppendixA.1.),ofwhich6areattitudinalques-

tionsinordertoexploreandmakeunderstandingsofthenewlygraduates’workvaluepref-

erences, and if graduateprogramsare affecting theirpreferences towards a specific sizeof

organization.AsBryman(2016)arguethatawebsurveyhastobeparticularlyeasytofollow,

and likewise the questions need to be especially easy to answer because respondents are

completingthesurveythemselves(Bryman,2016,p.221-232),theresearcherhaschosento

makethequestionsasclosed-endedandeasy toansweraspossible(Bryman,2016,p.246-

250).However,theresearcherstillneedsomeopinionsfromtherespondentsinordertoex-

ploreandmakeunderstandings,ofwhichtheresearchercannotpredictoranticipate,hence

theresearcherneedsomeopen-endedquestionsaswell(Bryman,2016,p.244-246).There-

fore, the researcher is aware of adding an ‘other’-optionwhenmaking closed-ended ques-

tions, as the researcher acknowledges that the respondents might have different opinions

thantheresearcherself,hencebeingconsistentwiththeconstructiviststanceofthisresearch.

Also,theresearcherhasmadean‘anythingyouwanttoadd’-optionavailabletwotimes,dur-

ingthesurvey,inthemiddleandintheendrespectively.Thiswasmadeinformofafreetext-

box, making it possible for the respondents to add anything on their mind when going

through the survey and answering the questions. Furthermore, when making open-ended

questionstheresearcherempowervariousrealities,whichwillhelpinthesearchforexplora-

tionandunderstandingsofthephenomena.Hence,theresearcherattemptstoprovideasur-

veythatcancontributetowhatAlvessonandSköldberg(2018)explainas“richnessinpoints”

(Alvesson&Sköldberg,2018,p.372),bydeveloping insights that canchallengeestablished

waysofthinking,andthus“provideinspirationandargumentsforinterpretations”(Alvesson&

Sköldberg,2018,p.372).Theyfurtherarguethatsuchinterpretations(i.e.‘richinpoints’)will

appear soundandwell founded in connectionwith theempiricalmaterial, butdonotneed

muchsupport(i.e.proof)fromit(Alvesson&Sköldberg,2018,p.372).

Whendoingresearchonattitudes,oneofthemostfrequentlyappliedtypesofquestions

isthelikert-scale,whereabatteryofquestionscantobeasked(Bryman,2016,p.250-251),

whichhasbeenusedinthisresearchaswell.Oneoftheadvantagesofthiskindofquestioning


20

isthatthequestionscanbepre-coded,asforexamplewiththisquestion‘Howimportantare

the following factors for you in relation to a futurework place?’ where the respondents are

askedtoindicatehowimportantaseriesofdifferentfactorsareforthemonascaleof1-5,of

which 1=Very unimportant, 2=partly unimportant, 3=neither unimportant nor important,

4=partly important, 5=Very important, which is argued to ease the processing of data for

computeranalysis (Bryman,2016,p.227-228).With these typesofquestions it isoftenar-

gued that such amiddle alternative as ‘neither unimportant nor important’might give the

respondentsanoptionthatdoesnotrequirethemtogiveanythoughtstothespecificques-

tionortheiranswertoit(Bryman,2016,p.256-258).However,theresearcherchosetoadd

suchmiddle alternative, asBryman (2016) also argue that a questionwithout suchmiddle

alternativemight in fact leadsomerespondents toselecta response that theydonotagree

with,orevenresultinalargernon-responserateandleadtomissingdata(Bryman,2016,p.

256-258).

Inthefirstsection(seeAppendixA.1.)therespondentsareaskedforsocio-demographic

detailsandwhetherornottheyarestudyingaMaster’sdegreeorhavecompletedaMaster’s

degreewithinthelast2years(completedin2016atthelatest),inordertosetthesceneand

identifywho the respondents are. Subsequently, the followingquestions include attitudinal

questions on the respondents’work value preferences and the importance of an organiza-

tion’s image.The last set of questions are about graduateprogramsand include attitudinal

questions on how attractive the respondents find such program. The survey is finished, by

askingtherespondentsiftheresearchercouldhavetheiremailaddressandcontactthemfor

furtherinformationontheiranswersifneeded.Outofthe124respondents36answeredyes,

whichenabledtheresearchertocollectadditionaldataifneeded,whichgenerallyisnotvery

commonwhenconductingasurvey(Bryman,2016,p.224).

ThesurveywasonlymadeinEnglish(seeAppendixA.1.),astheresearcherdeemedthat

itwouldbesensible,sincetheresearchisappointedbothDanishandinternationalgraduates

atanacademiclevel,whotherebyshouldbeabletounderstandEnglishtoagreatextent.The

surveywasopenforresponsein42days,fromthe10thofJuly2018untilthe20thofAugust

2018,andwasaccessed185times,ofwhich52defected,thustherewere133completedre-

sponses.Additionally,thoserespondentswithoutafinishedMaster’sdegree(from2016atthe

latest)andthosethatarenotpresentlystudyingataMasterdegreeprogramwereexcluded,

hencetherewereintotal124usable,completedresponses,whichresultedinaresponserate


21

of67percent.As illustratedbelow inTable1, therespondentswereprimarilyconsistingof

NorthEuropean,femaleswitharesponserateon82,3and67,7percentrespectively.Theyare

mainlycomingfromaneducationalbackgroundinHumanities,whilethepredominantageis

24-27years,countingfor58percent.

Table1:SampleCharacteristics-Survey.

Inordertoadministeringandanalyzeontherespondentsanswers,theresearcherhas

beenusingSurveyXactasreportingapplicationwithbothfrequencytablesanddiagrams,and

therawdatahavebeentransferredtoanexceldocument(seeAppendixA.2.),aswell.Howev-

er,itismostlikelyonlyreadablebyzoominginonthedocumentinthisthesis.Consequently,

theresearchermadeitpossibletoaccesstherawdataonlineviaalink:http://www.survey-

xact.dk/report/shared/5ea02396-a588-47b6-9bce-c0906f5c3460.

As this method (i.e. survey) generally leans towards the positivistic stance, which is

characterizedbythecollectionofdatainregardstoevidentreality,andasearchforregularity

andcausalrelationsinordertomake‘law-like’generalizations(Saundersetal.,2012,p.134),


22

the researcher has been particularly careful in the configuration of the survey, and

acknowledge thatby suchconfiguration the researcher ispartofa creationofa social con-

struction, hence the researcher is aware that there is no unambiguous or precise accom-

plishedfactsaboutthenewlygraduates’opinions(Saundersetal.,2012,p.131-135).Howev-

er,basedon the124accomplishedrespondents, the researcherwillbeable toobtainsome

indicationsofthenewlygraduates’opinions,whichwillbeusedintheinterpretationtomake

understandingsofthenewlygraduates’workvaluepreferences,andifgraduateprogramsare

affectingtheirpreferencestowardsaspecificsizeoforganization.

2.3.2.Semi-StructuredInterviews

Theresearcherchosetoapplyasemi-structured interviewapproachthat ischaracter-

izedasfocusingonaspecifictopicwithsomepreparedquestions,whichallowtheresearcher

toshiftbetweenthepreparedquestions(i.e.aninterviewguide)andpossibletopicsofinter-

estexpressedbytheinterviewee,ofwhichtheresearcherdidnotexpectbeforehand(Bryman,

2016,p.201).Hence,thismethodisselectedinorderfortheresearchtoachievemoreinsight

into the smaller Danish organizations and thus the interviewee’s frame of understanding

(Johnson&Rowlands,2012).Theselectedinterviewees’perceptionandconceptualizationof

arespectiveorganizationasanemployeringlobalcompetitionfornewtalents,isaccredited

asessentialinordertounderstandthedynamicsofthecompetitionfornewlygraduatesand

the possible achievements of using employer branding. Thus, these semi-structured inter-

viewsareseentobealignedwiththisthesis’sconstructiviststance,astheyseektoemphasize

theCEO’sof twosmallerDanishorganization’ssociallyconstructedconceptualizationof the

respectiveorganizationsasanemployeringlobalcompetitionfornewlygraduatesandtheir

utilizationofemployerbranding.

Aswiththepreviousmethod,theseinterviewparticipantsweresampledbytheusageof

anon-probability-basedsamplinginformofapurposivesampleaswell.Thisischosenasthis

typeofsamplingallowtheresearchertodeemrelevantparticipantsbasedondecisionsmade

by the researcher, and thereby the researcher can selectparticipants thatwill facilitate the

answeringofrelevantRQs(Saundersetal.,2012,p.287). Initially, theresearcher identified

sevensmaller(i.e.1-50employees),private,Danishorganizations,operatingontheB2Bmar-

ketviaan intensiveonlinesearchachieveprimarilyonLinkedIn.Thesesevenorganizations


23

werecontactedviaemailregardingparticipationinaninterviewforthisthesis.Consequently,

threeofthosedidnotreply,onewasdirectlyuninterestedinparticipating,andonefoundthe

project interestingbutdefined the specific organization asunable toparticipate asmost of

theiremployeeswereemployedintheirsubsidiarycompanyinSarajevo(thecapitalofBosnia

andHerzegovina),implyingthattheydonotneednewlygraduatesinDenmark.However,out

of these seven organizations, two respondedwith a positive answer of participating in the

interview.

The firstof the twopositive responds came fromCarlGustavLehmann,CEOatBangs

A/S,whowasinterestedintheprojectandwantedafurtherexplanationoverthephone.The

researcher called Carl Gustav Lehmann, explaining the project in detail after which they

scheduledameetingwheretheresearcherwasablevisittheorganizationandtheinterview

could be accomplish. The second of the two positive responds came from Claus Finderup

Grove,CEOatKonsolidatorA/S,whowasveryinterestedintheprojectaswellandwouldlike

toparticipateintheinterview,butatthepresenthewasonvacation,whichhewouldbeback

frominthemiddleofAugust.Therefore, itwasagreed-uponthattheresearcherwouldcon-

tactClausFinderupGroveagainafterhisvacationandtheycouldscheduleameeting.Hence,a

meetingwasscheduledinlateaugustandtheresearcherwenttovisittheorganizationwhere

theinterviewwasaccomplish.Consequently,thestrategicallyselectedcasesforthisresearch

representabroadertypeofsmaller(i.e.1-50employees),private,Danishorganizations,op-

eratingontheB2Bmarket,ofwhichtheresearcherobtainedaccesstotwodifferenttypesof

smallerDanishorganizationsinformofrespectivelyanolder(andinsometermsamoretra-

ditionalandwellestablished)organization(i.e.BangsA/S)andanewer(andinsometermsa

moreinnovative)organization(i.e.KonsolidatorA/S).Inordertogiveanoverviewofthetwo

selectedorganizations,theyhavebeenexemplifiedbelowinTable2.

Table2:SampleCharacteristics–Interviews.


24

Theinterviewquestions(i.e.theinterviewguideasswell)weredeterminatebytheex-

ploratoryRQsinordertoemphasizethetwoCEOsperceptionsandperspectives(Johnson&

Rowlands,2012).Consequently,theinterviewguidewasprepared(seeAppendixB.1.)asgo-

ingfromaboarderspectrumofquestionstonarrowerquestions,separatedinthreesections.

Thefirstsectionincludesmoregeneralquestionsabouttheorganizationsandtheiremploy-

mentof newly graduates if any.The second section is about the ‘increased competition for

talents’, and how the organizations see the employment of newly graduates. The third and

finalsection isabout theawarenessof theorganization,howtheorganizationsdifferentiate

themselvesfromlargerorganizations,andhowtheypossiblyuseemployerbranding.

Aspreviouslymentioned,theinterviewswereconductedatface-to-facemeetingsatthe

respectiveorganizations,whichproceededforaround30-40minuteseach.Duringtheinter-

views,theresearcheractedastheinterviewerwitharoleasmoderatorandobserver,howev-

erwithoutinterruptions,influence,corrections,oranyopiniongiving.Onlyiftheinterviewees

neededitandthuswhereitwasappropriate,theinterviewercouldclarifyorgiveanyaddi-

tional information to the interviewees. Since the intervieweeswerebothDanesandas it is

assumed to generate a deeper insightwhen talking inmother tongue, the interviewswere

accomplished in Danish, but the interview guide (i.e. the prepared questions) have been

translated into an English version in order to clarify the interview process (see Appendix

B.2.).Inordertofacilitatethetranscriptionsandanalysisofthematerial,theinterviewswere

both audio recordedwith permission from both participants. Subsequently, the researcher

transcribedthetwointerviews(seeAppendixC.1.–C.2.)inasimpleform,astheprimaryfo-

cuswasonthecontentofthetwointerviews,ratherthanthediscourse.Thus,interruptions,

overlap in talk etc. arenot comprised in the transcriptions.However, sometimeswhatwas

saidintherecordingswasuncleartounderstandfortheresearcher,henceithasbeenmarked

as [inaudible] in the transcriptions.Additionally, aneditornotehasbeenadded in inserted

bracketswhereitmightnotbeobviouslywhattheintervieweeisreferringto.Furthermore,

allnamesexceptoftheintervieweeandtheparticularorganizationhavebeenanonymized.

After the two interviews were carried out, the outcome was discussed with the re-

searcher’s supervisor as Alvesson and Sköldberg (2018) argue that feedback enhances the

reflexivity. In order for the researcher to process the obtained dataset from the two inter-


25

views,athematicanalysiswasutilized,whichwillbefurtherexplainedinthefollowingsub-

section.

ThematicAnalysis

Thisresearchutilizesathematicanalysisinordertoanalyzethegatheredempiricaldata

from the semi-structured interviews. Such analysis is referring to “formsofqualitativedata

analysisthatprincipallyfocusonidentifying,organisingandinterpretingthemesintextualda-

ta”(King&Brooks,2018,p.220).KingandBrooks(2018)arguethatathemerecursaschar-

acteristicorsomethingdistinctiveinforexampleaninterviewtranscript,howevertheyfur-

thersuggestathemetobeasfollows;“Aone-offcommentcouldnotconstituteatheme,butwe

havenoproblem in principle in identifyinga theme that is unique to a single case – in other

words, themesdonotnecessarilyhave tobe identifiedacrosscases” (King&Brooks, 2018, p.

220).Generally,thematicanalysisisusedtoidentify,highlightandmakesenseofkeythemes

in qualitative data, in order to understand the researched phenomena, however there are

manydifferentwaysitcanbecarriedout.Thisresearchutilizesthegenericformofthematic

analysis,informofatemplateanalysisstyle.

AccordingtoKing&Brooks(2018)thetemplateanalysisstyleiscenteredbetweenthe

inductivegroundedtheoryontheonesideanddeductivecontentanalysisontheotherside,

thus it canbeuseful to variousmethodologies, and consequently they suggest that “Rather

thaninsistingoncodingusingeithera‘bottomup’approach(inwhichthemesarederivedinduc-

tivelyfromthedata)ora‘topdown’approach(inwhichthemesareinformedbypreviouslyde-

terminedconcerns–eithertheoreticalorpractical),TemplateAnalysisallowstheuseofeither

orboth”(King&Brooks,2018,p.225).Thus,templateanalysiscanbeseenasatechniquethat

impliesdevelopingacoding templateona subsetof thegathereddataset, subsequentlyap-

plied to a larger part of the dataset, then revised, and lastly applied to the entire dataset,

henceencouragingacontinuallyabductiveprocess inorder tosummarizeandorganize im-

portantthemes(King&Brooks,2018,p.225).Inordertodoso,KingandBrooks(2018)sug-

gestdividingthetemplateanalysisinsixsteps:1)becomingfamiliarwiththegathereddata

thatneedstobeanalyzed–inthisresearchachievedbytranscriptionsofthetwointerviews;

2) doing preliminary coding by highlighting relevant data and possible priori themes (i.e.

themesdefined inadvance that correspondwith theRQs);3) cluster thepreliminarycodes


26

and priori themes inmeaningful groups; 4) developing the initial template by establishing

hierarchical relations between the themes; 5) applying the initial template to further data,

continuallymodifyingandrevisingthetemplate;6)applyingthetemplatetothefulldataset,

oncetheresearcheragreeswithafinalconstructedtemplateversion(King&Brooks,2018,p.

224-227).

Regarding this thesis and the implementationof the template analysis, the researcher

hasbeenutilizingparallelcoding(i.e.codingcertainpartsoftextundermorethanonecode)

andhierarchicalcoding(i.e.clusteringsimilarandrelatedcodesinmeaningfulgroups,nesting

narrower themes under broader themes), in order to enhance the opportunity ofmultiple

interpretations(King&Brooks,2018,p.224-227).Consequently,thisstyleofthematicanaly-

sisisseenasanapproachinalignmentwiththeoverallabductiveapproachofthisresearch.

Practicallyspeaking,aftertheresearchermadethetranscriptionsofthetwointerviews,

theonetranscriptionwasgoneovertoidentifyandhighlightrelevantdata,developingcodes

basedontheinterviewguide,asittakesitpointofdepartureintheRQs(i.e.referringtopriori

themes).Subsequently,thesecodeswereclusteredbyrelatedcodesandnestedunderbroad-

erthemes,developingtheinitialcodingtemplate(seeAppendixD.1.).Thisinitialcodingtem-

platewas then applied to one interview transcription,where it underwentmodifications if

newcodeswerenecessaryorifcurrentcodeswereunnecessary,leadingtoasecondversion

thatwasappliedtothesametranscriptionagain.Sincethereare‘just’twointerview,thispro-

cessofmodificationswasadaptedtothesecondinterviewaswell(seeAppendixD.2.),before

thefinaltemplatewasachieved,byensuringthattherelevantRQswereaddressed,andthus

beappliedtothefulldataset.

Thethematicanalysisapproachescanbeutilizedwithvaryingdatasets insizeandre-

search interest, however is it most often associated with large, detailed datasets (King &

Brooks,2018),whichmightquestiontheuseofitinthisthesis,astheresearchisconducting

‘just’twointerviews.Nevertheless,thisanalysiswasmadeinordertocontributetothe“rich-

ness in points” (Alvesson & Sköldberg, 2018, p. 372), as previously described (see Section

2.3.1.),bydevelopinginsightsandthereby“provideinspirationandargumentsforinterpreta-

tions”(Alvesson&Sköldberg,2018,p.372).Likewise,as they furtherarguethatsuch inter-

pretations (i.e. ‘rich in points’)will appear sound andwell founded in connectionwith the

empiricaldataset,butdonotneedmuchsupport (i.e.proof) from it (Alvesson&Sköldberg,


27

2018,p.372), thus it isassessedasrelevant for thisresearch.However, inordertoachieve

this ‘richness inpoints’, this thesiswillcontainasection fordiscussion(seeSection5)with

thepurposesofdiscussinginterpretationsoftheanalyzedempiricaldatasetwiththeinsights

fromthetheoreticalframework,andthusachievingdeeperinterpretationandunderstanding

ofthedataandphenomenonrespectively.

2.4.TrustworthinessBesides the application of reflexive methodology, this research additionally employ

parts of Guba and Lincoln’s (1985) four criteria for trustworthiness in a research, namely

credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability (Guba&Lincoln, 2016, p. 384).

Thiswasdecidedbasedon thedifferencesbetweena researchofnaturalisticobjects anda

researchofsocialactors,whichiscommonlyacknowledgedwithinresearchofsocialscience,

andalsoanessentialparttotheinterpretativenatureofaresearch(Saundersetal.,2012,p.

131-135).Hence,applicationsofthepositivisticnotionsofvalidity,reliabilityandgeneraliza-

bilityhavebeencriticized.

Thecriteriaofcredibilityprimarilyrelatestothequalityof thegathereddata(Guba&

Lincoln,2016,p.384)Here it isessential tonote that theresearcherdesignedan interview

guidetobesemi-structured,allowingtheintervieweestopresentanyperceptionsofthetop-

ics discussed. Furthermore, the researcher interviewed two CEO’s of two different smaller

organizationsatface-to-facemeetingsattherespectiveorganizations,withanaimtocreatea

more accustomed settingwhere the interviewees could express their opinionsmore confi-

dently. Consequently, this was also the reason for conducting the interviews in Danish, as

bothintervieweeswereDanes,andthusitwasassumedpossibletogenerateadeeperinsight

when talking in mother tongue. As previously mentioned the use of mixed methods have

evolvedtobecomemoreusedandrespectedwithintheontologicalstanceofconstructionism

(Bryman,2016,p.636-637),asitbyatriangulationaddsdiversificationofperceptions,thus

utilizationofthesurveyisseenascontributingtohighercredibilityandtransferabilityofthe

findings (Guba&Lincoln,2016,p.384), andhenceproviding increasedconfidence in these

(Yin,2013).Itispossiblethatasimilarresearchwillleadtootherconstructionsofknowledge

andunderstanding,astheresultsfromthesemi-structuredinterviewswiththetwoorganiza-

tions are conditional to the relationsmade between the organizations and the researcher.


28

However, this isnotconsideredasproblematic,sincethepurposeofthethesis istogainan

understanding,andthusthisresearchisnotseenasoneunambiguousrealitybutratherasa

socialconstructionthatisunderacontinuallystateofdevelopment(Bryman,2016,p.29-31).

Consequently, this thesis’ use of mixed methods are seen as an asset, as the quantitative

method more frequently sees to address meanings by designing attitudinal questions,

strengthentheresearch’sabilitytoobtainaccesstomeaningbyawiderrangeofrespondents

(Bryman,2016,p.624).

The criteria of transferability primarily focus on amore in-depth investigation and is

thereby oftenmore oriented towards the particular context of a research (Guba& Lincoln,

2016,p.384).Theresearcherhaveaccommodatethisbyconductingacasestudy,whichallow

theresearchertogathermorerichdataandhenceincreasetheresearcher’sabilitytounder-

standthecontextofthecompetitionandattractionofnewlygraduatestosmallerDanishor-

ganizations.Astheresearchwasconductedwitharelativelysmallsample,itlimitsthegener-

alizability.However,asformanyqualitativeresearches,thisthesis’smainobjectiveisnotto

generalize,butrathertoproduceimplicationsthatcanbetransferredtoother,similar,social

contexts.Therefore,despitethefindingsnotbeingdirectlygeneralizable,theresearcherwill

beabletoobtainsomeindicationsofthenewlygraduates’opinions,whichwillbeusedinthe

interpretationtomakeunderstandingsofthenewlygraduates’workvaluepreferences,andif

graduate programs are affecting their preferences towards a specific size of organization,

basedonthe124accomplishedrespondents.Furthermore,theselectedorganizationsforthe

twointerviewsarearguedtorepresentother,similarorganizationsontheDanishB2Bmar-

ket,whicharefurtherdiscussedinsectionaboutcasestudy(seeSection2.2.1).Thecriteriaof

dependabilityandconfirmabilityprimarilyrelates toaccountabilityandcriticalreflectionof

theresearch(Guba&Lincoln,2016,p.384-386).HereitisessentialtonotetheAppendixes,

whichmake itpossible forthereadertoobtainanoverviewandaclearerunderstandingof

theresearchprocessandhowpossibleconclusionswereachieved,addingtransparencytothe

thesis.Furthermore,thetranscriptionoftheinterviewsandtherelatedtemplateanalysisalso

allowstheresearchertobemorefamiliarwiththegatheredmaterial,improvingtheabilityto

developmultipleinterpretations(Alvesson&Sköldberg,2018).

Regarding any ethical considerations, both the intervieweeswere informed about the

recordingof the interviewbefore the starting, aswell as their right toobjectionduring the

interview.Furthermore,theresearchermadethetranscriptionsasclosetotheoriginalphras-


29

ing as possible, however ensuring anonymity to names and places presented by the inter-

vieweesexceptfromthenameoftheorganizationandtheintervieweesownnames.


30

CHAPTER3

THEORETICALFRAMEWORK


31

3.THEORETICALFRAMEWORK

The following chapter will propound a theoretical framework of employer branding,

alongwiththeemployerbrandingvaluepropositioninordertounderstandtheconceptand

how it can benefit or aid smallerDanish organizations in the global competition for newly

graduates. The aim of this theoretical framework is to synthesize areas of conceptual

knowledge about employer branding and organizational commitment,whichwill provide a

better and overall perspective of how to attract potential employees and especially newly

graduates.Hence,lastlytheframeworkwillcontributetothisstudybyexaminingfactorsthat

determinenewlygraduates’ (GenerationY’s) initialattractionandcommitment to the labor

market,astheybybeingthenewestenteringthelaborforcehavea‘reputation’amongtheo-

reticianstobesomewhatdifferentfromearliergenerations.

3.1.EmployerBranding

Inordertocreateconceptualknowledgeandamoreholisticunderstandingofemployer

branding,thissectionwill lookatthedefinitionofemployerbranding,aswellashowithas

beenusedanddeveloped.

3.1.1.Definition

Talentsandtheorganization’scorporatebrandarecrucialfortheearningofacompeti-

tiveadvantage,whichledAmblerandBarrow(1996)tocreatetheterm‘employerbranding’

by integratingthetwoconcepts(Ambler&Barrow,1996).Sincetheturnof themillennium

theconceptofcorporatebrandinghasevolvedfroma‘firstwavewhereitwasconsideredasa

marketing-dominateddisciplinethatwascampaign-drivenandoftenfocusedonvisualidenti-

ty,toa‘secondwave’whereitwasconsideredtobeastrategicandcontinuousorganizational

adaptation process that required integration across disciplines (Schultz, Antorini, & Csaba,

2005, p. 220-231).Today, as theboundariesbetween internal and external communication

havedegraded,corporatecommunicationandthedevelopmentofemployerbrandingisseen

asanewerandbroaderperspective,whereallcommunicationthattakesplacefromanorgan-

ization to its external stakeholders also gets receivedby its internal stakeholders, and vice

versa (Dutton&Dukerich,1991;Eiberget al., 2013,p.11-25;Kolstrupet al., 2014,p. 611-


32

613). Thus, according to Hatch & Schultz (2009), the field of corporate branding and the

evolvementofemployerbrandingisheadingforits ‘thirdwave’,whichincorporatenetwork

relationswithalltheorganization’sstakeholders(Hatch&Schultz,2009,p.249-280).There-

fore,ithasevolvedtobeunderstoodasamorestrategicandholisticapproachwheretheoc-

currenceofanorganization’scommunicationhappenswithallitsinternalandexternalstake-

holders(Kolstrup,Agger,Jauert,&Schrøder,2014,p.83-85).

AmblerandBarrow(1996)arguedthattheorganization(i.e.theemployer)canbeseen

asabrand,whichcanleadtheemployeestodevelopacloserrelationshipwiththeorganiza-

tion,astheemployeeperformanceisinfluencedbyawareness,positiveattitudestowardsthe

brand, aswell as loyalty and the trust that the brand is there for the employee (Ambler&

Barrow,1996).Equally,theyarguedthatmarketingismovingtowardsgreaterrecognitionof

peopleorientationandlessfocusontheshort-termtransactionaleconomics,whichmakesit

botheasier,cheaperandmoreprofitableinordertokeepexistingcustomersthanrecruiting

new customers (Ambler & Barrow, 1996). Fundamentally, marketing has the function to

achievethecorporateobjectives,suchasprofitbymeetingthecustomers’objectives–bysub-

stitutingthe‘customers’with‘employees’,wegetthefirstthoughtsaboutemployerbranding

(Ambler&Barrow,1996).AmblerandBarrow(1996)definetheconceptofemployerbrand-

ing as: “The package of functional, economic and psychological benefits provided by employ-

ment,andidentifiedwiththeemployingcompany”(Ambler&Barrow,1996).

Meaningthattheongoingrelationshiptotheorganizationwillprovideexchangesofmu-

tualbenefit,andisseenasanintegralpartoftheorganization’snetwork,whichwillofferem-

ployees the benefits that are parallel towhat the conventional (product) brand offers con-

sumers; functionalbenefits(suchasdevelopmentalandusefulactivities),economicbenefits

(suchasmaterialorfinancialrewards),andpsychologicalbenefits(suchasfeelings, likebe-

longing,directionandpurpose)(Ambler&Barrow,1996).Thishighlightsemployerbranding

asawaytorecruittherightemployeesinordertoensureadeliveryofthebrandpromiseto

theexternalstakeholders.Additionally,thevalueoftheemployerbranddependsontheim-

portancetheemployeesareassigningtothebenefitsthattheorganizationisabletodeliver

anddifferentiatefromcompetitors(Ambler&Barrow,1996).


33

3.1.2.ResearchDevelopmentsoftheConcept

Inthewakeofglobalization,organizationsareincreasinglyencouragedtofocusmoreon

ethicalandsocialresponsibility,aswellascontributingtoasustainabledevelopment,which

meansthatorganizationsincreasinglyareintegratingthesemattersaspartoftheirbranding

asithashighlyinfluentialimplicationsfortheemployer-employeerelationship,meaningthe

relationship between the organization and its current and potential employees (Porter &

Kramer,2006;Carroll&Shabana,2010).Consequently,organizationstodayaremoredepend-

ingonemployeecommitmenttotheirbrand, forexample inorderto ‘livethebrand’,acting

somekindof‘organizationalambassador’andattractingnewemployees,buttheyalsoexpect

higheremployeecommitmentasaresultofthe ‘moralbrand’,becauseethicalandsocialre-

sponsibilityhavebecomeofhigherinteresttotheemployees(Morsing,2006).Additionally,it

iscommittingfortheemployees,asitisaboutselectingbetween‘good’or‘bad’,whichtiesthe

employees’ personal moral to the organization and make them identifying with their job

(Gossett&Kilker,2006).Hence,organizationshaveincreasinglyrecognizedthatthestrength-

ening of an employer-employee relationship, the organization’s attractiveness to new em-

ployees,aswellastheorganization’sfutureprofitabilityaredependingontheorganization’s

ownwillingnessandabilitytorecognizetheemployeesandalsopotentialemployeesas im-

portant stakeholders that can contribute to the corporate brand (Preuss, Haunschild, &

Matten,2009).

Therefore,Aggerholmetal.(2011)arguethattheconceptofemployerbrandinghasex-

pandedfromAmblerandBarrow’s(1996)conceptualizationofapplyingbrandmanagement

tothehumanresourcemanagement(HRM)function,toamoredynamicapproachthatnow

includeawiderrangeofstrategicHRMandcorporatesocialresponsibility(CSR)aspects,asit

needs to apply more stakeholder and relationship thinking (Aggerholm, Andersen, &

Thomsen,2011).Thisexpansionoftheconceptsupportsthemorepragmaticunderstanding

ofemployerbranding,withamoreconstructivistapproach,asitisshiftingfromamorefunc-

tionalisticreasoningtowardstheparadigmaticunderstandingwheremoresocialinteractions

asdialogueandco-creationareseentobebothproducedandlimitedbydiscursivesurround-

ings(Gibbs,2007,p.6-7).Aggerholmetal.(2011)arguethatthiswiderunderstandingofem-

ployerbrandingmanifestsitselfwithinareassuchasforexample;theworklifebalance,asit

is no longer limited to the physical presence in the organization and the amount of work

hours,butisratherseenasaresourcetoconstructionofindividuals’ identity;organizations


34

areno longerseenasstaticcorporateentities,butareratherseenasdynamicandevolving

co-constructionsdevelopedbyalltheorganization’sstakeholders;theemployeesthatareno

longerrecognizedasrawmaterial,butareratherseenasaresourcetomeaning-makingand

corporatecitizens;andcommunicationthatisnolongerpurelyseenasatooltosolveprob-

lems, but is increasingly recognized as fundamental and sustainable to the organization in

terms of interpretations of meaning among stakeholders and ongoing dialogical processes

(Aggerholmetal.,2011).

The expansion and new evolved understanding of the concept of employer branding

made Aggerholm et al. (2011) re-conceptualize employer branding as: “Strategic branding

processeswhichcreates,negotiatesandenactssustainablerelationshipsbetweenanorganiza-

tionanditspotentialandexistingemployeesundertheinfluenceofthevaryingcorporatecon-

textswiththepurposeofco-creatingsustainablevaluesfortheindividual,theorganizationand

societyasawhole”(Aggerholmetal.,2011,p.113).MeaningthatAggerholmetal.(2001)have

transformedandevolvedtheconceptofemployerbrandingtoamoreco-creativeapproach,

including a sustainable andvalue-creatingprocesses,with an increased focuson the stake-

holder relationship (Aggerholm, Andersen, & Thomsen, 2011), which goes in linewith the

‘thirdwave’andthemoreholisticapproachsuggestedbyHatchandSchultz(2009)(Hatch&

Schultz,2009,p.249-280).

Itisarguedthattherearethreeaspectsofthesustainablepart,whichincludeeconomic

(i.e.arequiredpart), legal (i.e.arequiredpart),andethical (i.e.anexpectedpart),andthat

fulfillmentoftheseresponsibilitiesatthesametimewillleadtoadesiredphilanthropicposi-

tionwheretheorganizationwillbeseenas ‘thegoodcorporatecitizen’(Schwartz&Carroll,

2003).Hence, the integrationof sustainability isnotmandatory,but since ishasbecomeof

increasing interest toall stakeholders, itpressures thenormandexpectationsof todaysor-

ganizations,andbyintegratingsustainabilityitwillcreatevaluenotonlytotheorganization

butalsotoitsstakeholdersincludingitsemployees(Haugh&Talwar,2010;Aggerholmetal.,

2011). According to Aggerholm et al. (2011) the redefined concept of employer branding

highlightsthreedistinctivefeatures(Aggerholmetal.,2011,p.114-115):

• Itisastrategicbrandingdiscipline,asitisanchoredinandsupportingtheoverall

corporatestrategy;


35

• Itisaprocessofcontinuousco-creationofvalueswiththeorganization’sstake-

holdersdependentontheirstakesandexpectations;and

• It isanestablishmentof sustainablerelationsbetween theorganizationand its

employees,revolvedaroundacontinuousreflectionontheirmutualneedsandexpectations.

Groundedinthenotionofcorporatebrandinganditsintegrationofvision,cultureand

image (Hatch& Schultz, 2003), Aggerholm et al. (2011) argue that the employer branding

processes will become a more holistic and integrated part of the organization, which will

ensure a contionous attention towards the organizational departments and their primary

stakeholders(Aggerholmetat.,2011).Aslinkedtotheoverallorganizationalvision,mission

and its strategicgoals,whicharticulateexpectationsof theorganization’s stakeholders,and

which is translated into the organization’s corporate brand values, the employer branding

processeswill continuouslybenegotiated in stakeholderdialogues (Hatch&Schultz, 2003;

Morsing,2006).Byfollowingthisapproach,theemployerbrandingwillnolongerpurelybea

one-way tool forrecruitmentandretentionofemployees, itwillalso facilitate thestrategic,

communicative processes for supporting a sustainable development and an organizational

value creation, by inviting its employees to partake in corporate branding and co-creating

communicativeprocesses(Edwards,2010;Aggerholmetal.,2011).Thisalsomeansthator-

ganizations todayneed to continuouslyaddress contextual challenges, as factors thatmight

seemvaluableintimesofprosperity,suchasforexamplehighersalaries,mightseemlessim-

portant in timesof a crisis,where for example job securitywill bemore relevant. Further-

more, in a context that is characterized by prosperity, low unemployment, and increased

competitionfortalentedemployees,oneofthemainreasonsofanemployerbrandingstrate-

gywillbetoattractandretainhighlyqualifiedemployeestotheorganization.Inashort-term

perspective, employerbranding initiatives canbe seenas a cost, butby seeing it in a long-

termperspective,itcanbeanessentialinvestmentthatbuildsstablereputationsandmutual-

ly beneficial relationships with the employees (Kucherov & Zamulin, 2016). Consequently,

strategic employer branding in varying contexts emphasizes the importance of continuous

stakeholder negotiation and co-construction of the employer brand (Edwards, 2010;

Aggerholm et al., 2011), and thus indicate the importance of staying updated on the

employees’values(Glazer,Daniel,&Short,2004).


36

3.1.3.EmployerBrandingValuePropositions

Thissectionwilllookfurtherintohowemployerbrandingcanbeutilizedasastrategic

toolinthecompetitionforandattractionofnewpotentialemployees,whichcanenhancethe

understandingoftheconcept’svaluetoanorganization,andlaterberelatedtoifitcanbenefit

inthecompetitionforthenewlygraduates.

According toSenguptaetal. (2015)employerbrandingcanbeseenasastrategic tool

thatmakesitpossiblefororganizationstomarkettheiruniqueemploymentofferingsorvalue

propositionstoboththeircurrentandpotentialemployees(Sengupta,Bamel,&Singh,2015).

Closelyrelatedtotheconcept‘employerbranding’isthenotionof‘employerattractiveness’.

Inordertobothretainthegoodemployeesandattractnewtalents,itisarguedthatanorgan-

izationneedstoestablishtheirexternalperceived imageandreputationas ‘agreatplace to

work’oras‘anemployerofchoice’,bycreatingbothconvincinganddistinctiveemployeeval-

uepropositions (EVPs) (Jiang& Iles,2011).Here itwillbeessential todistinguishbetween

internal(i.e.currentemployees)andexternal(potentialemployees)employerbranding,asit

isarguedtohavetwodifferentperspectives,respectivelytheretentionofcurrentemployees

viainternalemployerbranding(IEB)andtheattractionofpotentialnewtalentsviaexternal

employerbranding(EEB)(Backhaus&Tikoo,2004).Thisresearchwillbefocusingonexter-

nalemployerbranding(EEB),astheaimistounderstandhowsmallerDanishorganizations

canbenefitfromtheconceptofemployerbrandinginordertoparticipateintheglobalcom-

petitionfornewlygraduates.

Borrowedfromthefieldofmarketing,theconceptofvaluepropositionisdescribed,as

the promise a sellermakes,which by value-in-exchange is linked to value-in-use.Meaning,

when a customer exchangesmoneywith a seller, the customer implicitly assumes that the

value-in-exchange will result in value-in-use that meets or exceeds the value-in-exchange

(Lusch, Vargo, & O’Brien, 2007). Similarly, exchange-relationship exists between employer

andemployeesassuggestedbythetheoryofpsychologicalcontract(Millward&Brewerton,

1999).Additionally, it isarguedthatthepsychologicalcontractandits influenceontheem-

ployee-employerrelationshipprovidestheconceptofemployerbrandingwithanotherfoun-

dation, since; in the traditional notion of the psychological contract between the employee

andtheemployer,theemployeepromisedloyaltytotheorganizationinexchangeforjobse-

curity;whereasthelatestorganizationaltrendsregardingdownsizing,outsourcing,andmore


37

flexibility have imposed a newnotion of the psychological contract, inwhich the employer

nowprovidetheemployeewithskillsthroughtraininganddevelopmentinexchangeforwork

effortandflexibility(Backhaus&Tikoo,2004).

According toGlazer et al. (2004) the right valuepropositionare argued to attract the

right talents to anorganization,bymatchingemployeevalueswithorganizationalofferings

(promises),whichalsomightleadtogreaterjobsatisfactionandorganizationalcommitment

(Glazeretal.,2004).Consequently, themore the individualscanassociate theirvalueswith

the offered organizational values, the more attracted they will feel to the organization

(Senguptaetal.,2015).Therefore,theemployerbrandisreferringtoanorganization’srepu-

tationasanemployerand theorganization’svalueproposition to its employees (Barrow&

Mosley,2011).Overtimethevaluepropositionframeworkhasbeenregardedinterchangea-

bly as factorsoforganizational- or employerattractiveness, andBerthonet al. (2005)have

identifiedfivefactorsofemployerattractiveness;interestvalue,socialvalue,economicvalue,

andapplicationvalue(Berthon,Ewing,&LianHah,2005).

Thefirstfactor(1)‘Interestvalue’,apprizestheextenttowhichtheindividualisattract-

ed to an organization that provides innovativeworkpractices, have an excitingwork envi-

ronment, andmakes use of the employee’s creativity in order to produce innovative, high-

qualityproductsandservices(Berthonetal.,2005).Thesecondfactor(2) ‘Socialvalue’,ap-

prizestheextenttowhichtheindividualisattractedtoanorganizationthatoffersaworking

environmentthatisbothfun,cheerful,andprovidesgoodcollegialrelations,aswellasateam

spiritatmosphere(Berthonetal.,2005).The third factor (3) ‘Economicvalue’,apprizes the

extenttowhichtheindividualisattractedtoanorganizationthatofferspromotionaloppor-

tunities, job security, and an above-average salary compensation package (Berthon et al.,

2005).Thefourthfactor(4)‘Developmentvalue’,apprizestheextenttowhichtheindividual

isattractedtoanorganizationthatisabletoproviderecognition,confidenceandself-esteem,

along with career-enhancing experiences that can be used as a springboard to future em-

ployment(Berthonetal.,2005).Thefifthandfinalfactor(5)‘Applicationvalue’,apprizesthe

extenttowhichtheindividualisattractedtoanorganizationthatcanofferitsemployeesan

opportunitytoapplywhattheyhavelearnedaswellasteachingothers,inahumanitarianand

customer oriented environment (Berthon et al., 2005). These five factors of Berthon et al.

(2005) are primarily amodification and extension of the three dimensions, the functional,

economicandpsychologicalbenefits,suggestedbyAmblerandBarrow(1996).Accordingly,


38

the first two factors, the ‘Interest value’ and ‘Social value’ respectively by Berthon et al.

(2005),arecapturingthe ‘psychologicalbenefits’byAmblerandBarrow(1996).The fourth

andfifthfactors,the‘Developmentvalue’and‘Applicationvalue’respectivelybyBerthonetal.

(2005),areexpandingthe‘functionalbenefits’byAmblerandBarrow(1996).Sinceboththe

conceptualizationshaveaneconomicdimension,Berthonetal.(2005)developedtheirthird

factor‘Economicvalue’(Berthonetal.2005).

Asthetermimplies,anorganizationwillbenefitfromtheemployerbrandingprocesses

whenitisperceivedas‘agreatplacetowork’(Minchington,2010).Today,employeesgeten-

couragedtocommitthemselvestoanorganizationwithgoalsthatoftenareaccomplishedby

healthy work communities, meaningful work tasks, inspiring encouragement and rewards,

whichmakethesefactorsessentialinordertogettheemployeesto‘livethebrand’andthere-

bycreateareputation in theireveryday interactionsalongwithasocial influenceonstake-

holders (Gotsi &Wilson, 2001). When contemplating whether a specific organization is ‘a

great place towork’ or not, the five factors of Berthon et al. (2005) have been further re-

searchedandre-conceptualized,anditisnowarguedthatemployeesusuallyconsiderseven

employerbrandingvaluepropositions(Berthon,Ewing,&LianHah,2005),asshowedinfig-

ure1(Dabirian,Kietzmann,&Diba,2017).

Figure1:SevenEmployerBrandingValuePropositions(Dabirian,et.al.,2017).

These value propositions illustratewhat people usually care about when it comes to

evaluatingdifferentorganizationsasaworkplace,andwillbefurtherelaboratedinthefollow-

ingsevensteps.Thesocialvalueproposition(1)ishighlyemotional.Inthisvalueproposition


39

peopledocareabouttheachievedenjoymentfromapositiveworkatmosphere;thefriendly

andfuncolleagues,thepeoplewhosharesamevalues;theproblemsolvingteamspirit;and

theorganizationalculturewithafocusonitspeople.Thisvaluepropositionisoftenseenas

theproposition thatattractsnewpeopleandmakes them loyalemployees (Dabirian,et. al.,

2017).Theinterestvalueproposition(2)isaboutpeoplewhofinditimportanttohaveajob

wheretheworktheydoneedstobeinteresting.Inordertohaveaninterestingjobtoday,the

workneedstobebasedonalevelwherethereisrequirednovelworkpracticeandaninnova-

tivemind,whicharemakingthetaskschallengingbutstillachievable(Dabirian,et.al.,2017).

Theapplicationvalueproposition(3)isaboutpeople,whofinditdesirableandinspirational

toputtheirknow-howandskillsintomeaningfuluse.Asanexample,thiscouldincludeteach-

ingopportunitiesortheopportunitytoprovidebenefitstocustomers(Dabirian,et.al.,2017).

Thedevelopmentvalueproposition(4)isabouttheemployees,whofinditimportantthatthe

employer is able to see and recognize the employees’ efforts, which often gets favored by

providing the employeewithnewopportunities, likeprofessional development and further

career advancement (Dabirian, et. al., 2017). The economic value proposition (5) ismostly

aboutallowancesandtheemployees’salaries.Itdoesnotonlycoverthespecificpaymentbut

alsobenefits,likejobsecurity,healthcareandpension,whichtheemployeesfindparticularly

important(Dabirian,et.al.,2017).Themanagementvalueproposition(6)isabouttheorgani-

zation’s management and how it is affecting the employees to either leave or stay at the

workplace,astheinfluenceofanexecutiveisenormous,anditisarguedtohaveaneffecton

theemployees’sparetime,asitaffectstheirrelationshipwithbothfamilyandfriends.Arethis

management value proposition notmeeting the employees’ expectations, it is often amain

reasonforemployeestoleaveanorganization(Dabirian,et.al.,2017).Thework/lifebalance

valueproposition(7)isaboutpeople,whonotonlyhaveadesiretoidentifywiththeorgani-

zationtheyworkfor,butalsohaveadesiretobeidentifiedasmorethanjustanemployee.It

isarguedthataproperwork/lifebalancewillallowtheemployeestohavemoreharmonious

lives,whichwillbemoresuitable toall their identities, suchas forexample tobeaparent,

friendoremployee,asitwillleadtolessconflicts(Dabirian,et.al.,2017).


40

3.2.AttractionandCommitment

Inorderfortoday’sorganizationstoattractpotentialemployees,itisarguedthatorgan-

izations need to understand thework value preferences of the employees,which often are

varyingacrosstimeandculture(Sengupta,etal.,2015).Therefore,thissectionwillexamine

the concept ofwork value preferences, aswell as itwill be looking deeper into the newly

graduatesaspartofGenerationY,anddeterminetheir initialattractionandcommitmentto

thelabormarket,asitwillbehelpfulinordertounderstandtheirbehaviorandhowtoattract

themtowardssmallerDanishorganizations.

3.2.1.WorkValuePreferences

Researchershavearguedthatworkvaluesareseenasaperceptionofemployees’pref-

erences (Dose,1997),which influence theirbehavior,attitudeandeventually theircommit-

menttotheworkplaceaccordingtotheirorientation,whichcanbeseenaseitherintrinsicor

extrinsic (Vansteenkiste, Neyrinck, Niemiec, Soenens, De Witte, & Van den Broeck, 2007).

Basedontheself-determinationtheory(SDT),which isseenasasolid theoryofmotivation

thathasbeenwellusedto investigatehowaspecifichumanbehavior is induced(DeciE.L.,

1972;Deci,Koestner,&Ryan,1999),itisarguedthatindividualscanbemotivatedtoaspecif-

icbehaviorbybothextrinsic(alsocalledexternally)inducedincentives(i.e.controlledmoti-

vation)andintrinsic(alsocalledinternally)inducedincentives(i.e.autonomousmotivation)

(Wang&Hou,2015).

Tobeinternally(i.e.intrinsically)motivated,itisarguedthatapersonwillperforman

activity or behavior for no obvious reward except the specific activity or behavior itself,

whereas theexternally(i.e.extrinsically)motivationarereferring toanactivityorbehavior

thatisperformedbecauseitisleadingtoanexternalreward(e.g.approval,orstatus)(DeciE.

L.,1972).AccordingtoDeci(1972)therearetwofacetsofanexternalreward;1)thecontrol-

lingpart,and2)theinformativepart.Thecontrollingpartisarguedtomakeadecreaseinthe

intrinsic motivation, meaning that a person will become less likely to perform an activi-

ty/behavior for no obvious reward,whereas the informative part is argued tomake an in-

crease in the intrinsicmotivation, leading toan increase the individual’sself-determination,

whichmakes the informative part of an external rewardmore desirable (Deci E. L., 1972).


41

Additionally,WangandHou (2015)argue thatbehaviorsencouragedbycontrolledmotiva-

tion(i.e.externalincentives)areconsideredtobeoflowerquality,ifthereceiversexperience

it as an attempt to control their behavior, and thus behaviors encouraged by autonomy-

orientedmotivation(i.e.internalincentives)arevaluedtobeofhigherquality(Wang&Hou,

2015).Furthermore,WangandHou(2015)arguethat theautonomy-orientedmotivation is

referringtointernalincentiveswheretheindividualbehaviordonotcontributetoselfneeds

andbenefits,givingtheindividualafeelingofindependence,whichisoftenachievedwhenthe

individualperceive self-determination in selectingownobjectivesbasedonvaluesof inter-

ests,curiosity,orcare(Wang&Hou,2015).Hence,Vansteenkisteetal.(2007)arguethatin-

trinsic-oriented individuals arepreferring values such as for example self-actualization, de-

velopmentandgrowth,harmoniousrelationships,andchallengingtasks,whereastheextrin-

sic-orientedindividualsarepreferringvaluessuchasforexamplestatus,paymentandfacili-

ties,powerandahierarchicalposition,alongwithrewardsandmotivations(Vansteenkisteet

al.,2007).

AccordingtoSullivanetal.(2001)youngergenerationsaremoreconcernedaboutful-

fillingtheirindividualvaluesastheyarelookingforpotentialemployers,whileoldergenera-

tions have stronger ethical values and commitment (Sullivan, Sullivan, & Buffton, 2001),

whichissupportedbySenguptaetal.(2015),whoarguethatthereexistsagenerationalim-

pactonthejoboutcomeaswellasonthepersonalvaluesoftheindividuals(Senguptaetal.,

2015).BackhausandTikoo(2004)arguethatoncepotentialemployeeshavebeenattracted

towardsanorganization,theywilldevelopasetofassumptionsabouttheemploymentinthat

specificorganization,whichtheywilltakewiththemintotheorganizationandtherebysup-

porttheorganization’svaluesandenhancetheirowncommitmenttotheorganization,thatis

iftheseassumptionsaremetbytheorganization(Backhaus&Tikoo,2004).AccordingtoDa-

vies (2008),whoexplored the roleof employerbrandingandhow it is influencing theem-

ployees’perceiveddifferentiation,loyalty,satisfactionandaffinitytoanorganization,“people

associatewithbrandsthatallowthemtosustainordeveloptheirownself-image”(Davies,2008,

p. 678). This goes in linewith Collins’s (2007) suggestion that job seekers view upon and

opinionsaboutanorganizationasapotentialemployer(i.e.the‘employerknowledge’),which

includethefamiliarityandreputationoftheorganization,arestronglyaffectingtheinterestin

applyingfora jobataspecificorganization(Collins,2007).Consequently,effectiverelation-

shipsbetweentheemployeesandtheorganizationwillexist iftheemployerbrandingvalue


42

propositionsarealignedwiththeemployees’needsforworkvalues,hence leadingtotalent

attraction(andretentionaswell)(Senguptaetal.,2015).Therefore,itisindicatedthatorgan-

izationsneedtocontinuouslydeveloptheirvalues,butinordertokeepalinkagetothesocie-

ty, Sengupta et al. (2015) further argue that the organizations need to understand the em-

ployees’expectationsandpersonalvalues,whichthenwillinfluencetheemployees’attitudes

andbehaviorstowardstheorganization,astheemployeeslookingforjobsarehighlyawareof

thevaluesofferedbytheorganization(Senguptaetal.,2015).

3.2.2.GenerationY–Millennials

ItissuggestedbyJohnson(2002)thatanindividual’sworkvaluesareinfluencedbythe

associated generation (Johnson, 2002),which in this casemake it important tounderstand

the generation of newly graduates, thus understandingGenerationY. Since this research is

focusingonyoungtalents,informofnewlygraduates(i.e.universitystudentswhoareeither

still studyingorhave finished theirMaster’sdegreewithin the last twoyears), theywillbe

categorizedandanalyzedbythetheoryofGenerationY(alsocalledMillennials).This isde-

cided, as Generation Y is the latest generation entering the labour force, thusmost newly

graduatesareconsideredtobelongwithinthisgeneration(Krahna&Galambosb,2014;Queiri

etal.,2014),andsincethisgenerationisestimatedtocountformorethanhalfofthelabour

force within the next ten years, it is a particularly important generation (Tulgan, 2011;

MacDermott&Ortiz,2017).

AccordingtoEgriandRalston(2004),agenerationisdefinedbysubculturesthatreflect

theprevailing valuesof a historical period,which is determinedby cultural, economic, and

political developments, and thereby affecting the individual’s worldview (Egri & Ralston,

2004).Previously,severalresearchesanddefinitionsonGenerationYhavebeenmade,how-

everthisresearchfollowsthenewerdefinitionofferedbyHewlettetal.(2009),whereGener-

ationYisperceivedtobebornbetween1979and1994(Hewlettetal.,2009).Nevertheless,

theresearcheracknowledgetheterm‘NetGeneration’,introducedbyTapscott(1998),which

isargued toexistofpeoplebornbetween1977and1997,andperceivedas technologically

sophisticated people, who readily adapt new innovations into their daily environment

(Tapscott,1998).Additionally,Hansen(2013)define the ‘DigitalGeneration’,as thegenera-

tionbornfrom1994,asitisthefirstgenerationthathasbeendigitalalllife(Hansen,2013,p.


43

6-27).Consequently,thisthesisperceivestheMillennials(i.e.GenerationY)asadigitalsavvy

generationbornbetween1979 and1994, thus agedbetween24 years and39 years at the

momentofthisstudy(Hewlettetal.,2009),whichisconsistentwiththepredominatingageof

therespondentsofthesurveywith82,3percentofthembeingagedbetween24yearsand31

years(seeAppendixA.2.)

Millennialsarearguedtobemostaffectedbyawarenessoftheorganizationasanem-

ployer,theperceptionsofhowfellowstudentsandfriendsperceivetheorganization’sreputa-

tion and their opinions regarding aspects of the specific job, such as for example payment,

development, and the interest in thework tasks itself (Jiang& Iles, 2011).Thismeans that

careeropportunities,includingchallengingandmeaningfultasksarecrucialtotheMillennials

(Shaw&Fairhurst,2008),andthatorganizationsneedtofostertheskilldevelopmentofthis

generationinordertokeepthemsatisfied(Özcelik,2015).Henceitisarguedthattheappli-

cantbehaviorofnewlygraduatesisbothinfluencedbythejobattributesaswellastheorgan-

izationalcharacteristics(Jiang&Iles,2011).InordertobuildrelationshipswiththeMillenni-

alsandencouragetoloyalty,NapoliandEwing(2000)suggestthatorganizationsneedtouse

thedigitalmedia,andattach theirbrands to thegeneration’svalues,whichwill require the

organizationstoobtainathoroughunderstandingoftheMillennialspsychographiccharacter-

istics(Napoli&Ewing,2000).

Today’sinteractivemediahaveprovidedthegenerationwithtoolstoreadilyaccessin-

formation,whichenablethemtobecriticalthinkersandprovidethemwithasenseofinde-

pendenceandautonomy(Tapscott,1998).Thusthegenerationisperceivedas intellectually

expressive, innovative, assertive and self-reliant (Tapscott, 1998; Hansen, 2013). Further-

more,theMillennials’areperceivedascollaborativeindividuals,whoarelesshierarchicaland

more unselfish, aswell as honest in their communications (Crutsinger, et al., 2009),which

make themmoreattracted toanorganizationwithamissionandvalues thatprovide them

with ameaning for the actualwork (Queiri et al., 2014). They areprimarilywell-educated,

creative,visualthinkersthatemphasizefunandexcitement,andwhowantinstantgratifica-

tion,whichtheyarenotshytotellothersabout(Crutsinger,etal.,2009).Generally,theyare

seen to have an aggressive approach to payment, and high expectations of a balanced

work/familylife,whiletheyatthesametimearequicktoriseupthecorporateladder,which

makethemlessemployer-loyal(Crutsinger,etal.,2009).Generally,theyhavehighambitions

aswellasexpectationstowardsanenjoyablejobwithfairnessandopportunities,whichmake


44

them confident an unafraid to move for the job and spread their knowledge (Kucherov &

Zamulin,2016).Millennialsareseenasglobalists,astheyknowalotaboutwhatisgoingonin

theworld,andtheyactuallyseemtocareaboutit(Kucherov&Zamulin,2016).

AccordingtoJohnsonandMortimer(2011)Millennials’careerchoicesandoutcomesare

shapedbytheirworkvaluesandtheperceivedimportanceofthespecificjobcharacteristics

(Johnson&Mortimer,2011),buttheseworkvaluesareclaimedtochangeconsiderablyasthe

Millennialscompleteeducations(Johnson&ElderJR.,2002)andexperiencethelabourmar-

ket(Johnson&Monserud,2010),whichaccordingtoJinandRounds(2012)willinducethem

to takeonnew ‘roles’ (Jin&Rounds, 2012).According to Johnson&Mortimer (2011), this

means that the intrinsic and extrinsicwork values, such as the preferences for interesting

workorforrewardslikepayment,canhavedifferentoriginsandoutcomes(Johnson&Mor-

timer,2011).Anemphasison theextrinsicworkvalues (i.e. externally inducedmotivation)

canbeexplainedbytheindividualisticandmorenarcissisticfeaturesdevelopedbyMillenni-

als,whichcanbeexpressedintheeligibilityattheworkplacewithconnectionbetweenper-

formanceandrewards(Queirietal.,2014).However,HajduandSik(2018)suggestthatthe

probability of choosing an interesting jobwith a goodpayment solution and goodworking

hours as the important factors decreaseswith age; the job security is perceived as equally

importantinallages;whereastheprobabilityofchoosingausefuljobastheimportantfactor

willincreasewithage(Hajdu&Sik,2018).Consequently,itisarguedthattheindividualistic

andmorenarcissisticworkvalueswillbecomeless important,andthemoreholisticandal-

truisticworkvalueswillbecomemoreimportantwithage(Hajdu&Sik,2018).


45

CHAPTER4

FINDINGS


46

4.Findings

Thissectionwillpresentandanalyzethefindingsofthecollectedempiricaldataforthis

research.ToensureanswerstothepropoundedRQs,theanalysishasbeendividedintothree

overall sections, containing relevant subparts in order to focus on todays newly graduates’

workvaluepreferencesandtheinfluenceofgraduateprograms,thesmallerDanishorganiza-

tions’handlingoftheintensifiedglobalcompetitionfornewtalents,andhowtheseorganiza-

tionscanbenefitfromusingtheconceptofemployerbranding.

4.1.WhoaretheNewlyGraduatesandwhat’sintheirTelescope?

Thefirstpartofthisanalysisfocusmoregenerallyonthenewlygraduates’workvalue

preferences,andwillfurthercontainasubsectionfocusingontheinfluenceofagraduatepro-

graminrelationtothenewlygraduates’workvaluepreferences.

As previously mentioned the respondents of the survey are primarily consisting of

NorthEuropean,femalesintheageof24to31years,withapredominatingeducationalback-

groundinHumanities,followedbyeducationalbackgroundsinSocialSciences,Business,and

EngineeringandNaturalScience.Commontoalmostallrespondents,by97,6percentisthat

theychosetheirspecificMaster’sdegreebasedonainterestinthechosenfield,howeverfor

nearly5percentitdidhaveaninfluencewhetheryouwerewellpaidaftergraduating.

Whenaskingthenewlygraduatesabout4specificfactorsandhowimportanttheyarein

relationtoafutureworkplace,theywereallratedinthehigherendofimportance.Whenask-

ingabouttheimportanceofanorganizationworkingwithinanindustryofthenewlygradu-

ates’interestandofferingtheminnovativeworkpractices,around90percentoftherespond-

entsfindthisofinterest,whichisshowninfigure2.However,byatakingcloserlookitisil-

lustratedthataround5percentofthenewlygraduatesfinditunimportant,ofwhommostly

respondentsare28+years.Additionally,tworespondentstatesinthefreetextbox,“Itmeansa

lottometoworkinanexcitingindustry”and“Thereishighunemploymentamongbiologists,so

Idonot feel that I canbe toopickyabout theworkplace I'mgoing towork for.Themost im-

portantthingformeisthatI'mgoingtoworkinanareaI'minterestedin”(seeAppendixA.2.).

Another respondent states, “It is preferable that thework I door the companyvaluesare in

somewayalignedwithmyownpersonalvaluesoraspirations.Thejobneedstobemeaningful”


47

(seeAppendixA.2.),indicatingthatthe‘right’organizationisofhighimportancetothenewly

graduates.

Figure2:Importanceofanorganizationofferinganindustryofinterest.

Whenasking about the importanceof anorganizationoffering social settings, such as

funworkingenvironmentorgoodcollegial relations,around87percentof therespondents

findthisofinterest,asillustratedinfigure3.Again,byatakingcloserlookitisillustratedthat

around3percentoftheoldernewlygraduatesfinditunimportant,asmostoftheseare32+

years,andmostofthesecomewithaneducationalbackgroundinbusiness.

Figure3:Importanceofanorganizationofferingsocialsettings.


48

Whenaskingabouttheimportanceofanorganizationofferingeconomicvalueinterms

ofjobsecurity,promotionalopportunities,andaboveaveragesalary,thenewlygraduatesare

moreseparatedintheiranswersasillustratedinfigure4,witharound69percentofthere-

spondentsfindingitimportant,while23percentoftherespondentsarebeingindifferenton

theimportance.However,only7percentoftherespondentsindicatethatthisfactorisunim-

portant,ofwhommostlycomewithaneducationalbackgroundinBusiness,whichcanseem

kindofodd,henceitisevaluatedthatitdohavesomeinfluenceonthenewlygraduatesbutit

mightbeafactorthatisseenpoorlyuponasitcharacterizesthepersonwithaspecificimage.

Figure4:Importanceofanorganizationofferingeconomicvalue.

When asking about the importance of an organization offering training and develop-

ment, providing the newly graduates withmore confidence and enhance their experience,

whichcanbeusedasaspringboardtofuturejobpositions,around86percentoftherespond-


49

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

DevelopmentChallengingtasks

ResponsibilityofowntasksSocialworkenvironment

Self-actualizationAcknowledgementandrewards

GrowthpotentialAboveaveragepayment

BigCitylocationHierarchicalposition

Awell-knownorganization

entsfindthisofinterest,asshowninfigure5.Though,thereareapartialnumber,withnearly

13percentofrespondentsfeelingunsureabouttheimportanceofthisfactor,orevenfindit

partlyunimportant,ofwhommostrespondentsarefemalesbeing32+years.

Figure5:Importanceofanorganizationofferingtraininganddevelopment.

Nevertheless,whenaskingthenewlygraduatesonmoredirect,single, isolatedvalues,

andhowimportanttheyare,thereseemtobealittlemorediversityintheanswers.Theval-

ues evaluated ofmost importance to the newly graduates, are the ones rated as ‘very im-

portant’ and ‘partly important’ by most respondents, which is illustrated in figure 6 and

shows that ‘Development, ‘Challenging tasks’, ‘Responsibilityofown tasks’and ‘Socialwork

environment’ are thevaluesevaluatedasmost importantvalues, of thosepresented in this

research,whenrelatedtonewlygraduates.

Figure6:Valuesofmostimportancetonewlygraduates.


50

Onthecontrarythefourvaluesoflessimportancetothenewlygraduated,theonesrat-

edas‘veryunimportantand‘partlyunimportant’bymostrespondents,areillustratedinfig-

ure7andshows that ‘Awell-knownorganization’, ‘Hierarchicalposition’, ‘BigCity location’

and‘Growthpotential’,areevaluatedastheleastimportantvalues,ofthosepresentedinthis

research,whenrelatedtonewlygraduates.However,itisevaluatedthatthecommunication

topotentialemployeesandtheawarenessofanorganizationareofimportancetothenewly

graduates,as it impactsthenewlygraduates jobpreferencestosomeextend,which is illus-

tratedinfigure10laterinthissection.Therefore,thevalue‘Awell-knoworganization’should

notbeseenascompletelyunimportant.

.

Figure7:Valuesofleastimportancetonewlygraduates.

Additionally, the4values thataremost ratedas ‘Neitherunimportantnor important’,

includethevalues:‘Aboveaveragepayment’, ‘Companygrowthpotential’, ‘Hierarchicalposi-

tion’,and‘Self-actualization’,whichareillustratedinfigure8,indicatingthateithertheseval-

uesactuallyareindifferenttothenewlygraduates,oritispossiblethattherespondentsdid

notunderstandwhatwasmeantbythespecificvalues.However,thevaluerelatedtopayment

might indicate that newly graduates actually find this value of less importance, since this

questionreceivedahigherpercentageof ‘Neitherunimportantnor important’ thanthe first

question related to payment. Nevertheless, as one respondent state in the free textbox, “I

wouldonlytakethesegraduatepositionsifthesalarywouldbeashighasmynormalposition”

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Awell-knownorganization

Hierarchicalposition

BigCitylocation

Growthpotential


51

(seeAppendixA.2.), indicating that the payment still do have some influence on thenewly

graduates’jobpreferences.

Figure8:Valuesindifferenttonewlygraduates.

Whenaskingtherespondentswhatsizeoforganizationthatismostpreferabletothem,

theanswersvary,asillustratedinfigure9nearly6percentsaythatthelargerorganizations

aremostpreferable,ofwhommostrespondentsare32+yearsofage.Around21percentsay

that themedium-sizedorganizationsaremostpreferable,whilearound19percent say it is

thesmallerorganizationsthataremostpreferable,andwhole53percentoftherespondents

saidthatitdoesnotmatterwiththesizeoftheorganization.

Figure9:Mostpreferablesizeoforganizationbyage.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%

Aboveaveragepayment

Companygrowthpotential

Hierarchicalposition

Self-actualization


52

Additionally, thenewlygraduateswereaskedhowanorganizationsabilitytopromote

it,affectstheirjobpreferences.Heremostoftherespondent’sanswersarecenteredto ‘Nei-

therlownorhighdegree’with45percent,andnearly26percentoftherespondent’sanswer

thatitaffectstheirjobpreferencestoalowerdegree.However29percent,ofwhomaremost-

lyagedbetween24-31years,dofeelthattheorganizations’abilitytopromotethemselvesare

affectingtheirjobpreferencestoahigherdegree,asshowninfigure10,whichindicatethat

thecommunicationtopotentialemployees,inthiscasenewlygraduates,andtheawarenessof

anorganizationareofimportance.

Figure10:Jobpreferencesaffectedbyawareness.

Therefore,generallywhenlookingatwhatworkvaluepreferencesthenewlygraduates

haveandwhethertheyareaffectedbythesizeorimageofanorganization,itcanbesaidthat

themostimportantvaluestonewlygraduates,accordingtothiscase,are‘Development,‘Chal-

lengingtasks’, ‘Responsibilityofowntasks’and ‘Socialworkenvironment’,whereastheval-

uesoflessimportance,andtherebyvaluesthatshouldnotbepaidasmuchattentiontobythe

organizations,are‘Hierarchicalposition’,‘BigCitylocation’and‘Growthpotential’.According

tothesefinding,mostnewlygraduatesdonotreallycareaboutthesizeoftheorganization,

however19percentofthemdofindsmallerorganizations,liketheonesinthisthesisofhigh-


53

erpreference.Lastly,whenitcomestohowanorganizationsabilitytopromoteitaffectsthe

newly graduates jobpreferences,most of thenewly graduates in this research state that it

doesnotreallyhaveeninfluenceontheirjobpreferences.However,29percentstillthinkthat

theirjobpreferencesareinfluencedtoahigherdegreebytheorganizations’awareness.Addi-

tionally, as one respondent stated in the free textbox, “Howdosmallcompaniesshowthem-

selvesandthejobpositionstheyhaveavailable.Ihaveprimarilyfoundjobsuggestionsthrough

jobnet.dkasanexample”(seeAppendixA.2.),indicatingthatthenewlygraduatesarelooking

for thesmallerorganizations,howeversince theyarenotawareofwhotheyare, thenewly

graduatesdonotknowwheretolookforthemotherthanviaonlinejobsites.Hence,itbecame

clearthatthenewlygraduatesweremostlygettingawareofnewjobpositionsviatheinternet

intermsofforexampleonlinejobsites,whichmakestheinternetacentralpartoftheattrac-

tionofnewlygraduates.

4.1.1.TheInfluenceofGraduatePrograms

Basedonthesurveyitbecameclearthatmostnewlygraduates,by92percentofthere-

spondentsinthisresearch,wereawareofgraduateprograms,however,nearly47percentof

thoserespondentswerenotcompletelysureaboutwhatitactuallyis,andabout8percentof

thenewlygraduatesinthisresearchhaveneverheardoftheconceptbeforenow,asshownin

figure11.Those45percentof therespondents,ofwhomtheconcept iswellknow,arepri-

marilybelongingtotheagegroupbetween24and31yearsandpredominatedbyfollowing

threeeducationalbackgrounds:Business,IT&Design,andEngineeringandNaturalScience.

Thosewhohaveneverheardof theconceptofgraduateprogramsbefore,areprimarilybe-

long to the age group 32+ years and do mostly come with en educational background in

HealthandMedicalSciences.


54

Figure11:AwarenessofGraduatePrograms.

Therespondentsweregiven this shortdescriptionofwhatgraduateprogramsare; “A

newway inwhichcompanies today try toattractnewgraduates, isbyofferinggraduatepro-

grams,which isakindof traineepositionwithamentorsystemforgraduateswhohavecom-

pletedaMaster’s degree. It is definedas a tailored1 to4-years career developmentprogram

withinanorganizationthatgivesupto4differentdepartmentrotations(oftenabroad)fornew-

lygraduates,whohavefinishedtheirMaster'sdegreewithinthelasttwoyearspriortoapplica-

tion” (seeAppendixA.1.), inorder forallof themtounderstand theconceptandbeable to

answerthequestionsofhowattractivetheyfindeightspecificelementsofsuchprograms.

So,whenaskingthenewlygraduatesabouttheattractivenessoftheseeightelements:1)

not much work experience is needed; 2) rotating in the company and try out different

tasks/departments; 3) getting a support system by having amentor; 4) possibilities to go

abroad; 5) most commonly offered in larger and well-known companies; 6) chances for a

permanentpositionafterwards;7)mostcommonlyacompetitivefield;and8)looksgoodto


55

haveontheresume,theelementsevaluatedtobethethreemostattractive,wasasillustrated

infigure12:chancesforapermanentpositionafterwards,gettingasupportsystembyhaving

amentor,androtatinginthecompanyandtryoutdifferenttasks/departments.

Figure12:MostAttractiveElementsofGraduatePrograms.

Thisillustratesthatthenewlygraduatesinthiscase,aremostattractedtotheelement

thatagraduateprogramenhancestheirchancesofapermanentpositioninanorganization

afterfinishingapotentialprogram,as93percentofalltherespondentsinthisresearchfind

thiselementattractive.Furthermore,itindicatesthatnewlygraduatesarehighlyfocusedon

theirpossibilitiesforpermanentpositions.Thesecondmostattractiveelementofagraduate

programthatnewlygraduatesofthisresearchfindattractive,by90percentoftherespond-

entsisthatagraduateprogramprovidesasupportsystembyhavingamentor.Thisindicates

thatthenewlygraduatesarevaluingthesupportandguidanceofhavingamentor.Thethird

most attractive element that the newly graduates find attractive, by 80 percent of the re-

spondents, is the rotationwithin anorganization,which allow them to try fordifferentde-

partmentsandtasks.Thus,itcanbesaidthatnewlygraduatesarehighlyattractedtotraining

anddevelopment,whichalsowasevaluatedtobethevalueofmostimportancetothenewly

graduatesasillustratedpreviouslyinfigure6.

Additionally, threeelementsof a graduateprogram thathasbeenmostoften ratedas

‘Veryunattractive’and‘Partlyunattractive’,includetheelements:Mostcommonlyacompeti-

0% 10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%

Chancesforapermanentpositionafterwards

Gettingasupportsystembyhavingamentor

Rotatinginthecompanyandtryoutdifferenttasks/departments

Notmuchworkexperienceisneeded

Looksgoodtohaveontheresume

Possibilitiestogoabroad

Mostcommonlyofferedinlargerandwell-knowncompanies

Mostcommonlyacompetitivefield


56

0%10%20%30%40%

Mostcommonlyacompetitivefield

Possibilitiestogoabroad

Mostcommonlyofferedinlargerand

well-knowncompanies

tive field, Possibilities to go abroad, andMost commonly offered in larger andwell known

companies,asshowninfigure13.

Figure13:LeastAttractiveElementsofGraduatePrograms.

Thisillustrates,notsurprisingly,thatthenewlygraduates,byaround31percent,evalu-

atethehighlycompetitivefieldofapplicantsapplyingforgraduateprogramsastheleastat-

tractiveelementofagraduateprogram,indicatingthatmostnewlygraduatesofthisresearch

do not find such competitive environment attractive. As one respondent states in the free

textbox,“Inthisperiodtherearenotsomanygraduateprograms”(seeAppendixA.2.),indicat-

ingthatbynothavingenoughgraduateprogramsoffereditleadstostrongcompetition.How-

ever,asillustratedinfigure14around20percentoftherespondents,whohaveaneducation-

al background in Engineering and Natural Science find this competitive environment very

attractive.

Figure14:Attractivenessofthecompetitivefieldelementofagraduateprogram.


57

Thesecondleastattractiveelementofagraduateprogramthatnewlygraduatesevalu-

atedby23percentistheelementofthepossibilitiesofgoingabroad,whichasillustratedin

figure15indicatesthattheattractivenessfornewlygraduatesofgoingabroaddecreaseswith

age.Asonerespondentstates,“Idon'tknowmuchabouttheprograms.Butiftheywerepossible

todowhilestayinghome,itwouldbeveryattractive.Withafamilyitisnotanoptiontotravel”

(seeAppendixA.2.).Thus,theolderthenewlygraduatesget,thelessattractiveitisforthem

togoabroad.

Figure15:Attractivenessofthegoingabroadelementofagraduateprogram.

The third least attractiveelementof a graduateprogram is theelement that graduate

programsmostcommonlyareofferedbylargerandwell-knownorganizations,with19per-

centoftherespondentsfindingthiselementunattractive.However,asillustratedinthefigure

16,mostrespondentscenteronanagreementofthiselementbeingmoreorlessunimportant.

Figure16:Attractivenessofthelargercompanieselementofagraduateprogram.


58

Consequently,asillustratedinfigure17whenaskingthenewlygraduatesiftheywould

beinterestedinapplyingforsuchpositioninagraduateprogram,mostoftherespondents,by

nearly77percentanswerthattheywouldbeinterested,whilearound12percentofthere-

spondentswouldbeuninterested,andaround11percenthavenotmadeuptheirmind,thus

answering‘neitheruninterestednorinterested’.

Figure17:InterestinapplyingforaGraduateProgram.

Sincesuchalargenumberoftherespondentsfindthesegraduateprogramsofinterest,

itindicatesthattheperceivedvalueoftheelements:chancesforapermanentpositionafter-

wards,gettingasupportsystembyhavingamentor,androtatinginthecompanyandtryout

different tasks/departments, are of high importance to the newly graduates, and count for

more than the value of the unattractiveness of the least attractive elements, such as:most

commonlyacompetitivefield,possibilitiestogoabroad,andmostcommonlyofferedinlarger

andwellknowncompanies.Furthermore,tworespondentsstateinthefreetextbox,“Gradu-

ateprogramsareveryuncommoninmyacademic field(psychology),althoughIdothinkthat

theyareagoodidea”and“Graduateprogramsandpositionsshouldnotonlybeofferedbylarge

companies. I'm sure smaller businesses could arrange their own graduate programs without

havinglargebudgetsorwhateveritseemstotake.It'sagreatopportunityforcompanies,large

orsmall,toreallyshapeandtraintheiremployeestofittheirbusinessandneeds”(seeAppendix


59

A.2.),advocatingtheelementoftraininganddevelopmentishighlyattractive,notonlytoall

thenewlygraduatesbutalsofortheorganizations,largeorsmall.However,thelargenumber

ofrespondentsfindingtheseprogramsofinterestmightalsoindicatethatalotofnewlygrad-

uatesjustwantto‘getoutthere’andgetstartedontheircareerpath,asanotherrespondent

states, “Iamambivalentwithgraduateprograms - I justwant toenter the labormarketand

workhardtotoilmyselfforward,notintoanewhalf-educationcourse”(seeAppendixA.2.).

Consequently,onerespondentstatesinthefreetextbox,“Idon'tthinkgraduatesareun-

employedbecausetheydon'twantthejobsavailable.We'vejustbeenthroughalongperiodof

highunemployment,andthecompanieshavehadtheirchoiceofthelitter,becausesomanywell

oroverqualifiedpeoplehavebeenoutofwork.Nowthatthetimeshavechanged,andlesspeople

areoutofwork, it seemsthatthecompanieshaven'treally followedthetimes.Theystill think

theycanfindthesameoverqualifiedcandidatesandsotheywon'tsettleforanythingless.Inmy

areaofworkit'snearlyimpossibletofindanyjobopeningthatdoesn'tDEMAND3+yearsofex-

perience.THATiswhygraduatescan'tfindwork.Companiesarearrogantanddon'tthinkthey

shouldbetheonespayingbacksocietybyopeningupfor"lesser"qualifiedcandidates.Graduates

areawesomeandcompaniesshouldgiveusachancetogetstarted.I'vegottentiredofthede-

mandsaftertwoyearsandtwojobswheretheythoughtI'dbemuchbetterandmuchfasterat

everything,notgivingmeachancetoadjustandlearn(gotfiredbothtimesafter2-3months).In

short;morecompaniesshouldhiregraduatesandgivethemthesupportandtimetheyneedto

get started“ (see Appendix A.2.). Another respondent states, “IwishmyUniversity (Aarhus)

tookmoreinterestinourjobpossibilities” (seeAppendixA.2.).Thesestatementshighly indi-

catesthatthenewlygraduatesarehavingahardtimewhenitcomestojobsearch,andalmost

sounddesperateinordertogetajob,whichmightleavethemwithfallingdemandsandwork

valuepreferencesforafutureemployer.

4.2.OrganizationalFocusofSmallerDanishOrganizations

ThissecondpartoftheanalysiswillhaveitsfocusonthesmallerDanishorganizations’

handlingofthecompetitionfornewtalentbylookingattheirattitudesandexpectationsto-

wardsnewemployees.


60

Basedonthetwoconductedinterviews,itbecameclearthateventhoughthetwoorgan-

izationswerethoughttobedifferent,intermsofoneorganizationbeinganoldfamilyowned

organization (BangsA/S) thatwas imagined to bemore traditional and old fashioned, and

anotherorganization(KonsolidatorA/S)beinganewlyestablishedtechorganizationthatwas

imaginedtobemoreboldandinnovative,theyweresurprisinglynotthatdifferentfromone

another. Both organizations have between five and eight employees and consist of a team

predominatedbypeoplewithaMaster’sdegreebehindthem,astheystate,“Mybigbrotheris

acandidate,Iamacandidatemyfatherisacandidate,[anonymized]isacandidate,[...][anon-

ymized]whoisourexportmanagerhealsohasacandidate”(seeAppendixC.1.line61-65)and

“[...]soit'scand.merc.aud’sasaccountantsandI'macand.polit.andcomesfromtheUniversityof

Copenhagen”(seeAppendixC.2. line.22-23).However, thebackgroundof thetwoorganiza-

tions’employeesvariesabit,sinceBangsA/Sisafamilyownedbusinessandthemajorityof

theemployeesarefamilymembers,asillustratedinthefirststatement,whereasthemajority

ofemployeesinKonsolidatorA/Sconsistofonlyhighlyexperiencedemployeesandaddition-

allystudentworkers,asstated“[...]fullyfledged,somearewithmanyyearsofprofessionalex-

perience,wheretheyoungestisintheearly40's.Soit'sallsomewithatleast20yearsofexperi-

ence”(seeAppendixC.2.line9-11).Furthermore,thetwoorganizationsvaryfromeachother

asBangsA/ShasplentyofyearsbehinditandKonsolidatorA/Sisanewlyestablishorganiza-

tion.

Ageneral thingbothorganizationshave incommonthough, is that theyarehighly fo-

cusedon thecustomerperspective, in termsofgettingmorecustomers,whichcanbe illus-

tratedinthesestatements,“[...]wespendalotofmoneyonit,butwedonotdothatbecausewe

wanttoattractnewemployees,becausewewanttoattractnewconsumers”(seeAppendixC.1.

line231-234)and “[...]wewouldverymuchliketohaveaveryhighbrandrecognitionwithin

ourtargetgroup[...]”(seeAppendixC.2.line264-265).Morespecifically,BangsA/Shasbeen

focusinga lotonreorganizing thecompany'sstructure, includingresourcesavingsandout-

sourcingofforexamplesalesstaff(seeAppendixC.1.line3-4and14).WhileKonsolidatorA/S

hasstartedtolookatglobalexpansionplans(seeAppendixC.2.line296).Thereforeitcanbe

evaluatedthatbothorganizationspaymoreattentiontotheircustomers, thantotheattrac-

tionofnewpotentialemployees.


61

4.2.1.HiringNewlyGraduates–Aretheysugar-coatingit?

When it comes to the newly graduates, both organizations in this research talk well

aboutthesenewtalents,whoareperceivedtobea‘breathoffreshair’andgenerallyseento

beinnovative,open-mindedandeagertogetstartedontheircareer.Thisisexpressedbythe

CEOofBangsA/S in following twostatements, “[...]oftennewlyeducatedareveryhookedto

getoutandworkandtry itbecause theyhavebeen inschool for so longand it's like [...] they

havebeenwaiting for themomentwhentheycanenterthe labormarket” (seeAppendixC.1.

line84-87)and“It'sabigredemptionforthem.Sotheywouldverymuchliketolearn,theyare

veryopenandtheyarenotsoafraidofnewtasksandsomethinglikethat.So,theyhavethean-

tennasoutandthat'sreallypositive”(seeAppendixC.1. line89-91).WhenaskingtheCEOof

KonsolidatorA/S,heexpressitasfollowing,“Ilikeworkingwithyoungpeople.Definitely.Ilike

theyoungpeople;theycomewithanotheronecansay ‘freshness’,astheyhavefewerbarriers.

They come a lotmorewith 'that’s how I've always done, that's how it’s like being young', so

there'sanotherenergyandanotherwayofseethings”(seeAppendixC.2.line76-79).TheCEO

ofKonsolidatorA/Sfurtherexplainthatthenewlygraduatesaretechnologicallysavvycom-

paredtotheoldergenerationslikehimself,ashesay,“[...]wearen’tbetterourselves”(seeAp-

pendixC.2.line136-137)and,“Ifyouareabitolderlikeme,yousimplyhavetorecognizethat

therearemuchwedonotknowandthenyousimplyhaveto ‘walkoutonthethinice’andtry

somethings,andseewhatthehellishappening”(seeAppendixC.2.line142-144).Subsequent-

ly,theCEOofKonsolidatorA/Scontinuesbyexplaininghowtheygivetheirstudentworkersa

lotofresponsibilitybygivingthemmoreorlessfreereintodowhattheythinkisbestforthe

organization,astherearenooneelseintheorganizationwithexperiencewithintheirfieldof

study,towhichhestates,“Whenastudentcomesandsays,‘Ithinkweshoulddothis’.Firstly,I

havenoargument,nottodothat”(seeAppendixC.2.line129-130)and“Theydonotevenhave

toarguetheircase.Theyjusthavetocomeupwithanideaandtheywilltryitout”(seeAppen-

dixC.2. line133-134).Consequently,heargues, “even if it turnedoutnot tobeagood idea,

thenwehavelearnedfromit,youcansay”(seeAppendixC.2.line136-137).

Anotherthingtopointoutaboutthesmallerorganizations’viewonnewlygraduates,is

the potential of ‘shaping’ these new talents to fit into the organization and also that these

newlygraduatesareseentobe lessexpensive insalarycomparedto ‘normal’,moreexperi-

encedemployees.ThiscanbeseenastheCEOofBangsA/Sstatesthefollowing,“Onewhois

experienced,hashisroutinesand thatmeans thatyoucannotshapehimthesamewayyou


62

can with a new graduate” (see Appendix C.1. line 91-92) and “I think the interesting thing

aboutnewlygraduatesis,firstly,theyarecheaper.It'sabigfactorforasmallcompanylikeus

[...]. So it is amajor factor that one should not override. And that you can shape them, that

soundssobrutal,but[...]theydonotcomewithanypreconceptionsabouthowthingsaretobe

done.[...]youcantellthemwhatfitsinyourway,orthestructurethatalreadyexistsinthecom-

pany.Theyadaptmorethanpeoplewhomayhavebeenintheindustryforalongtime”(seeAp-

pendixC.1.line142-148).Alternatively,thehiringofnewlygraduatescanalsoleadto,asthe

CEOofKonsolidatorA/Sexplains,diversityattheworkplacewherethemajorityofemployees

are middle-aged. Hence, he argues, “There is no doubt that the next wewill employwill be

younger, iftheywanttobewithus. It'salwayshardtogetthefirstyounger,becausewe'reall

over40,theyneedtoagreewiththat.[...]wewanttheyoungpeople,inordertogetthiswide[...]

andthisdiversity”(seeAppendixC.2.line80-91).

Eventhoughthe twoorganizations talksowellabout thenewlygraduates,one theme

seemtoremaincrucial,namelythe levelofexperienceofthenewlygraduates,andthusthe

elements of the newly graduates being resource- and time-consuming in terms of training.

TheCEOofBangsA/SarguesthatthosewhohavefinishedaMaster’sdegreemightbemorein

controlandthereby“daretotryalittle.So,theyareindependentenough”(seeAppendix178-

179).However,regardingstudentsandtrainees,healsostates,“Itisalotmoretimeconsum-

ingyes.Theyarenotsoself-propelled,right?Theyoungertheyare,themoreyouneedtobeover

them, themore they comewith questions, they don’t dare somuch” (see Appendix C.1. 176-

178).Hence,itmakesitdifficulttogetaclearpictureofwhatBangsA/Sactuallymeanwhen

talkingabouthiringnewlygraduates,however,whenaskingwhotheyhirethemost,experi-

encedemployeesornewlygraduates,theanswerisclear,andtheCEOsays,“Ifwearetolook

backinourcase,wehavebeengoingmoreafterpeoplewithexperience”(seeAppendixC.1.line

126).TheCEOfurtherarguesthatthereasonforthisisbecausetheyareasmallorganization

anddonothavetheresources,ashestates,”weareasmallcompanysowehavealotunderthe

wings,thepeoplehave,theyhavemanytasksunderthewings,andthereforeitisimportantthat

youcanlandcontinuously,andthatwedonothavetheresourcesforsomeonetolookoveryour

neck”(seeAppendixC.1.line128-131).

This ‘thing’ with experience and resources seems to recur several times in the inter-

viewswithbothorganizations.When talkingwith theCEOofKonsolidatorA/S,heexplains

theimportanceofresourcesrelatedtohiringnewlygraduatesasfollowing;“Forsmallercom-


63

panies, trainingpositions [i.e. trainee or graduate positions] donotworkbecause youget as-

signedaverylargeresponsibility.Therearenoneofus,whohavethetimeortheabilitytobea

mentorforatrainee,ortoserve,soifyouwantsomethinglikethatthenyouneedtoworkina

bigcompany.So,insmallbusinessesyougetoutandthenyoumightgetaquarter'sintroduction,

andthenyoujustgetstarted”(seeAppendixC.2.line156-160).Hence,thereseemtobesome

kindof ‘agreement’ among thesmallerDanishorganizationson thismatter, and thatnewly

graduatesrathershouldbeemployedbylargerorganizations.LikewisetheCEOofBangsA/S

statesthefollowing,“wejustdon’thavetheresourcesandthestructuretosupportit.Itneedsto

beasomewhatlargercompany”(seeAppendixC.1.line165-166).Inthisrelation,theCEOof

KonsolidatorA/Sadvocatesthatnewlygraduatesshouldstarttheircareerinalargerorgani-

zation, as he states, “Imean,andthat'swhatIsaytoourstudentsaswell.Theperfectcareer

path,whetheryouwantthebigorthesmall,thatis,startinabigcompany.It'shardtogothe

otherwayaround.Startinabigcompany,becauseyougetsometoolsinadditiontoyourmas-

ter'sdegree[...]” (seeAppendixC.2. line180-184),andgoing further theCEOalmostunder-

mine the smallerorganizations, by stating, “It's justhardwhenyoustartsmall,youdon’tget

thesetools,youwillnotgetonthisfastexchangecourse,youdon’tgettheEnglishcourseandall

thesedifferentcourses.Thisisjustnothowitworksinthesesmallcompanies[...]”(seeAppendix

C.2.line190-193).

Thesamesituationor‘agreement’seemstobeapplyingwhentalkingmorespecifically

about graduate programs or the opening of a graduate position. In general there are not

enoughresources,however,whentheresearcheraskedtheCEOofBangsA/Smorespecifical-

ly,hestatedthefollowing,“well,wehavenotactuallydivedmoreintoit,ifitcanbedoneornot,

buttherearesomephysicalframestohinderit.Itdoesmeanthatyouneedsomemoreemploy-

ees,right.[...].SoIdonotthinkI'maloneaboutthis”(seeAppendixC.1.line170-174).Howev-

er,bothorganizationsfromthisresearchhaveorhavehademployedstudentworkerswitha

lotofresponsibility,andasstatedbytheCEOofKonsolidatorA/S,“Ithinkourstudentshave

beenveryhappytobehere,becausetheyasstudentshavebeengivenverymuchresponsibility,

becauseweareasmallcompany.So,thosecand.ling.merc’sthatwe'vebeenemployedwhilethey

arestillstudents;they'veactuallybeenactingmarketingmanagers”(seeAppendixC.2.line97-

100).ConsideredwithoneoftheCEO’spreviousstatements,“Ifyouareabitolderlikeme,you

simplyhavetorecognizethattherearemuchwedonotknowandthenyousimplyhaveto‘walk

outonthethinice’andtrysomethings,andseewhatthehellishappening”(seeAppendixC.2.


64

line 142-144), this indicate that the organizations need or at least want some of the

knowledgefromtheMaster’sdegreestudentsorgraduated,buthowever,asstudentworkers,

asthenewlygraduatesareinlackofexperience,andthusthenewlygraduatesarebeingtoo

resource-andtime-consumingintermsoftrainingandguidingforafirstjobposition.

4.2.2.PersonalityWITHexperiences,please!

AccordingtobothCEO’sinthisresearch,thesmallerorganizationscanofferajobwith

plentyofdifferentworktasks,andalotofresponsibilityintermsofmoreleadingroles,ina

funanddynamicenvironment,however,forthe‘right’employeewithexperience.TheCEOof

BangsA/Sindicatesthis,ashestates,“Itwaslikearequirementtogetintothepositionthatyou

couldworkinthisprogram”(seeAppendixC.1.line119-121).WhereastheCEOofKonsolida-

torA/Sstatesitasfollowing,“[...]forthecompletelynewlyeducated,Iwouldrecommendmost

tosearchinthelargercompanies,asyougetsomeprettygoodtoolsatthelargercompanies.[...]

butotherwise thenhereagain three to five yearsof experience,which iswhat I'm looking for

rightnow.Well,wecanoffersomethingcompletelydifferentandasignificantlymoreinteresting

jobtotherightprofile”(seeAppendixC.2.line382-286).

Whenaskingmoreaboutwheretheyfindthese’right’candidates,itbecomesclearthat

manyofthesesmallerorganizations’recruitmentishappeningthroughownnetwork,forin-

stancetheCEOofBangsA/Sstatesthefollowing,“often,well,Ihaverecruitedthroughmyown

network”(seeAppendixC.1.line138)and“[...]initiallywetalktonetwork,andthenwepostit

onJobnetandLinkedIn.It'ssteptwo,becausethereusuallycomesalot”(seeAppendixC.1.line

207-208).Furtherheargues thata lotofsmallerorganizationsuse theirnetwork in there-

cruitmentofnewemployees,ashesays, “[...]manyofthesmallercompaniesemploythrough

networks.AndIthinktheydothatfortworeasons:that'sone,tosavemoney;andtwo,because

youfeellikeyoucantrustmoreonyournetwork,well,thenthereferenceisalreadytaken”(see

AppendixC.1.line218-220).Thisindicatesthatmuchrecruitmentinsmallerorganizationsis

happeninginsomewhat‘closed’circleswithintheirownnetwork,makingitdifficulttoknow

about theorganizationand itspossible jobpositions.However, it ispossible toget through

theeyeof theneedle,whichcanbe illustratedbyanexampleofBangsA/S,as theyhireda

newlygraduate,straightoutofschool,basedonnetwork(seeAppendixC.1.line132-134).


65

More focus andattentionhavebeengiven to socialmedia andonline jobsites aswell.

Thedifferentoptionsareusedindifferentwas,justastheCEOofBangsA/Sindicatedbyus-

ingownnetworkas firstpriorityandthenfollowedbyLinkedInandonline jobsites,he fur-

therargues,“LinkedInitismoreheavierprofiles,Jobindexitis,well,alittlemoreaverage”(see

AppendixC.1.line254).Nevertheless,insomesenseitmightopenupthemore‘closed’circle

ofrecruitmentinthesmallerorganizations.

4.3.IsEmployerBrandingNecessary?

Thisthird,andfinalpartoftheanalysiswillhaveitsfocusonthesmallerDanishorgani-

zationsandhowidentifiedareasfromtheconductedinterviews,canbenefitmoregenerally

fromusingtheconceptofemployerbranding.

Bothorganizationsinthisresearchseemtohavegoodjoboffers,however,onlyavaila-

ble for the ‘right’ candidate, as stated by the CEO of Konsolidator A/S, “Well,we can offer

somethingcompletelydifferentandasignificantlymoreinterestingjobtotherightprofile”(see

AppendixC.2.line382-286).Thismakesitcrucialtobeabletoattractthese‘right’candidates.

Especially, asa smallerorganizationwith lessawareness, as indicatedby theCEOofBangs

A/S,“[...]mostcertainlyachallengethere,thattheydon’tknowustothesameextent.[...]some

studieshavebeenmadeshowingthatstudentsprefertoenterintothecompaniestheyknow,and

well,that’swhatyousufferunderasasmallercompany,andsomethingonejustmustrecognize

andthen‘runfaster’togettherightemployees”(seeAppendixC.1.line194-198).However,for

somesmallerorganizations it canseemtobeadifficult ‘mission’ to find these ‘right’ candi-

dates,whichiswhytheyappreciatehonestyandvaluetheiremployees,astheCEOofKonsol-

idatorA/Sargue,“WhatIcan’tuseforanythingisifpeoplesaytheycandosomethingthatthey

reallycan’t.Andifyoudon’tsay, ‘Idon’treallyknowanythingabout[...],butI'mgoodat[...],I

havenotworkedwith[...]before,sothatIdon’tknowanythingabout’.Thiscanbereliedon,and

thenwemustjustfindoutofit.[...]ifweshoulduseanexternalagencytohelpyou[...],andten

calmlyyou'lllearnsomethingfromit.That'sfine”(seeAppendixC.2.line397-402).

Nevertheless, as both organizations in this research have indicated that they have a

somewhatlowgeneralawareness,especiallyasanemployeramongnewpotentialemployees,

andastheCEOofKonsolidatorA/Sstates,“wewouldverymuchliketohaveaveryhighbrand


66

recognition[...]”(seeAppendixC.2.line264-265),itwouldbeessentialtolookattheorganiza-

tionalawarenessviatheconceptofEmployerBranding,asitcanbeusedasastrategictoolin

ordertoattractthe‘right’employeesandbeperceivedas‘agreatplacetowork’,regardlessif

itsnewlygraduatesormoreexperiencesemployees(Minchington,2010).


67

CHAPTER5

DISCUSSION


68

5.DISCUSSION

This sectionwilldiscuss the findingspreviouslypresentedwith the theoretical frame-

work of the research, in order to reflect different interpretations critically, and thereby be

abletoanswerthepropoundRQsofthisthesis.Consequently,thediscussionwillbedivided

intothreeoverallparts,coveringtheaspectsof:firstly,thenewlygraduates’workvaluepref-

erences, and if graduateprogramsare affecting theirpreferences towards a specific sizeof

organization; secondly, how smallerDanish organizations can benefit fromusing employer

branding to attractnewlygraduates; and lastly, howsmallerDanishorganizationsarehan-

dlingtheintensifiedglobalcompetitionfornewtalents.

5.1.TheGenerationofNewlyGraduates

One aspect of this thesis seeks to examine newly graduates’ work value preferences

when looking for an employer, andhowor if graduateprogramsare affecting theirprefer-

ences towards a specific size of organization. As previously mentioned in the theoretical

framework(seeSection3),workvaluesareseenasaperceptionofemployees’preferences

(Dose,1997),influencingtheirbehavior,attitudeandeventuallytheircommitmenttoanor-

ganization based on either intrinsic or extrinsic values (Vansteenkiste, Neyrinck, Niemiec,

Soenens, DeWitte, & Van den Broeck, 2007). Based on the theory of motivation (i.e. self-

determination theory) thathasbeenwellused to investigatehowbehavior is induced, it is

arguedthatnewlygraduatescanbemotivatedtoaspecificbehavior,suchasattractingthem

toaspecificorganizationandapplyingfora job,bybothexternally inducedvalues(i.e.con-

trolledmotivation) and internally induced values (i.e. autonomousmotivation) (Deci E. L.,

1972;Deci,Koestner,&Ryan,1999;Wang&Hou,2015),whichmakesitimportanttoknow

thesenewlygraduates’workvaluepreferencesinordertoattractthemasnewpotentialem-

ployees.

Asmentionedinthefindings(seeSection4)thefourmostimportantvaluesofthenewly

graduates’relatedtotheirchoiceofemployerare:Development,Challengingtasks,Responsi-

bilityofowntasks,andaSocialworkenvironment.Accordingtothefindingsofthesurveyit

wasfurtherevaluatedthattwobasicvalues,suchas‘interest’and‘meaning’,werehighlyim-

portant,whichwasseeninseveralstatements.Thissignifiesthatthe‘right’organizationisof


69

highimportancetothenewlygraduates,eventhoughsomeofthemmighthaveahardtime

findinga job.These findingssupport theclaimsofSullivanetal. (2001)andSenguptaetal.

(2015),arguingthatyoungergenerationsareconcernedabout fulfillingtheir individualval-

ues when looking for potential employers. Therefore, as claimed by Shaw and Fairhurst

(2008)andÖzcelik(2015),thefindingsofthesurveymadeforthisresearchalsosupportthat

careeropportunities,whichincludechallengingandmeaningfultasksarecrucialtothenewly

graduates,andthatorganizationsneedtofosterskilldevelopmentinordertokeepthemsat-

isfied.Accordingly,thesefindinggoinlinewithJiangandIles(2011),astheapplicantbehav-

iorofnewlygraduatesisbothinfluencedbyjobattributesaswellastheorganizationalchar-

acteristics.

Thenewlygraduatesareseenasintrinsic-orientedindividuals,whohaveahighfocuson

internally inducedvalues, thus theyareevaluated tobemostmotivatedbyautonomous in-

centiveswheretheydonotfeel‘controlled’.Therefore,thisresearchfollowsVansteenkisteet

al.’s (2007) suggestion that the newly graduates prefer values, such as development and

growth, challenging tasks,andharmoniousrelationships.BasedonDeci’s (1972)claim, this

meansthat thenewlygraduateswillperformanactivityorbehavior,suchasapplying fora

job inaspecificorganization, fornoobviousrewardexcept thespecificactivityorbehavior

itself.Accordingly,ifanorganizationrewardsnewlygraduatesitshouldbedoneby‘informa-

tiverewards’,as isarguedtomakean increase in the intrinsicmotivation, leading toan in-

creasetheindividual’sself-determination.Onthecontrary,ifanorganizationmakes‘control-

lingrewards’it isarguedtomakeadecreaseintheintrinsicmotivationofthenewlygradu-

ates,whichmeansthattheywillbecomelesslikelytoforexampleapplyforajobinthatspe-

cificorganization.Therefore,thisresearchsupportstheclaimsofWangandHou(2015)that

behaviorsencouragedbyautonomy-orientedmotivationareevaluatedtobeofhigherquality,

andthatsuchbehaviordonotcontributetoselfneedsandbenefits,whichgivestheindividual

a feeling of independence, and thus often achieved when the individual perceive self-

determinationinselectingownobjectivesbasedonvaluesof interests,curiosity,orcare.As

previouslymentioned in the theoretical framework, theMillennials’ careerchoicesandout-

comes,arearguedtobeshapedbyworkvaluesandtheperceivedimportanceofthespecific

jobcharacteristics,whichareclaimedtochangeconsiderablywithage,whichthisthesissup-

ports,as itwasfoundthatnewlygraduatesbecamelessinterestedinthegraduateprogram

elementofgoingabroadastheyturnolder.Consequently,thetheoreticalframeworksuggest


70

thatanyindividualisticandmorenarcissisticworkvalueswillbecomelessimportant,andthe

moreholisticandaltruisticworkvalueswillbecomemoreimportantwithage(Hajdu&Sik,

2018).

5.1.1.ImportanceofGraduatePrograms

Aspreviouslymentioned in the findings (see Section 4), a large number of the newly

graduatesinthisresearch,nearly77percentfindgraduateprogramsofinterest,withhighest

attractiontowardstheelements:chancesforapermanentpositionafterwards,gettingasup-

port system by having a mentor, and rotating in the company and try out different

tasks/departments. This can be seen as an effect ofmost newly graduates generally being

highlyattractedtothetraininganddevelopment,whichisperceivedtobepartoftheirmost

important values as explained above in section5.1. This is evaluated to go in linewith the

theoreticalassumptions,asexplainedaboveinsection5.1.,sincetheseelementscanbeper-

ceivedasvaluesrelatedtodevelopmentandgrowth,challengingtasks,andharmoniousrela-

tionships,whichagainsupporttheclaimsbyVansteenkisteetal.’s(2007).Hence,thenewly

graduatesareevaluated toperformanactivityorbehavior, suchasapplying foragraduate

position,fornoobviousrewardexceptthespecificactivityorbehavioritself.

Thehighattractiontowardsvalues,suchastraininganddevelopment,mightalsobethe

reasonwhy somenewly graduates advocates these graduateprogramsashighly attractive,

notonlytothemselvesbutalsototheorganizations,astheygetto‘shapeandform’thenewly

graduatestofitrightintothespecificorganization.However,thelargenumberofnewlygrad-

uatesinterestedintheprogramsmightalsoindicatethatmanynewlygraduatesarehavinga

hardtimefindingajob,andjustwanttogetstartedontheircareerpath.

Consequently, as severalnewlygraduatespointout that theywish formore trustand

guidance fromtheorganizations,andalmostsounddesperate inorder togeta job, itmight

leave themwith fallingdemandsandworkvaluepreferences fora futureemployer.There-

fore, itcanbeevaluatedthatagraduateprogramorat leastsomeelementsofone,suchas:

chances forapermanentpositionafterwards,gettingasupportsystembyhavingamentor,

androtatinginthecompanyandtryoutdifferenttasks/departments,willhaveapositivein-

fluenceonthenewlygraduatesintermsofattraction.Onthecontrary,elementsuchas:most


71

commonlyacompetitivefield,possibilitiestogoabroad,andmostcommonlyofferedinlarger

andwellknowncompanies,areevaluatednottobeinfluencingthenewlygraduates.

5.2.WhySmallerOrganizationsneedEmployerBranding

Anotheraspectof this thesis seeks toexaminehowtheconceptofemployerbranding

canbeofbenefittosmallerDanishorganizationsinthecompetitionfornewlygraduates.As

previouslymentionedinthefindings(seeSection4),itisevaluatedthatthecommunicationto

potentialemployeesandtheawarenessofanorganizationareimportanttothenewlygradu-

ates,asitimpactsthenewlygraduatesjobpreferences,thusthevalueof‘Awell-knoworgani-

zation’shouldnotbeseenasunimportant.Thishavealsobeenindicatedby29percentofthe

newly graduates, feeling that the organizations’ ability to promote themselves are affecting

theirjobpreferencestoahigherdegree.However,itseemslikethenewlygraduatesarehav-

ingtroublefindingthesmallerorganizations,sincetheyarenotawareoftheirexistentsnor

wheretofindthem,otherthanviaonlinejobsites.

Thiscanseemkindofodd,asthesmallerorganizationsinthisresearcharguethatthey

arefacinglowawarenesschallengesofbeingasmallorganizationduetograduatespreferring

largerwell-knownorganizations,asindicatedbytheCEOofBangsA/S,“[...]mostcertainlya

challenge there, that theydon’tknowus to thesameextent. [...] somestudieshavebeenmade

showingthatstudentsprefertoenter intothecompaniestheyknow,andwell, that’swhatyou

sufferunderasa smallercompany” (seeAppendix C.1. line 194-198). Nevertheless, the two

smaller organizations in this research both indicate that theydonot have the recourses to

hirenewlyeducated,andthustheyadvocatethatthenewlygraduatesshouldstarttheirca-

reer in a largerorganization,where they canget the trainingandguidance theyneed.Fur-

thermore,accordingtothefindings(seeSection4),bothorganizationsinthisresearchseem

tohavegoodjoboffers,however,onlyavailableforthe‘right’candidates,whichinthiscasedo

not include newly graduates as they needmore experience, and in addition the candidates

willberecruitedbythesomewhat‘closed’circlewithintheirownnetworkatfirst,makingit

difficultfornewlygraduatestoknowabouttheorganizationsandanypossiblejobpositions.

Then,ifitbecomesnecessarysocialmediaandonlinejobsiteswillbeusedasasecondoption

inordertoattractnewemployeesofmore‘normal’character,asitisnotastrustedaswhen


72

usingnetwork.However,evenifthesmallerorganizationsarenotactuallyinterestedinem-

ployingnewlygraduates,itwillstillbecrucialtobeabletoattractthese‘right’candidates.

Aspreviouslymentionedinthetheoreticalframework(seeSection3),inordertoearna

competitiveadvantagetheconceptofemployerbrandingcanbeutilized,seeingtheorganiza-

tionasabrand that leadsemployees todevelopa closer relationshipwith it, influencedby

awareness,positiveattitudes,aswellasloyaltyandtrust.Thishighlightsemployerbranding

asawaytorecruitthe‘right’employees,byensuringadeliveryofthebrandpromisetothe

externalstakeholders(Ambler&Barrow,1996).Additionally,theperceivedvalueoftheem-

ployerbrandwilldependontheimportancetheemployeesareassigningtothespecificbene-

fits that the organization is able to deliver and differentiate from competitors (Ambler &

Barrow,1996).However, today it is not as ‘black andwhite’, as it has evolved to include a

moreholisticview,meaningthatanorganization’sattractivenesstonewemployees,aswell

as theorganization’s futureprofitability are to ahigherdegreedependingon theorganiza-

tion’sownwillingnessandabilitytorecognizetheemployeesandpotentialemployeesasim-

portantstakeholders(Preuss,Haunschild,&Matten,2009).Theevolvedconceptofemployer

branding thus include a more co-creative approach, including a sustainable and value-

creating processes,with an increased focus on stakeholder relationship, hence the concept

cannotsolelybeseenasaone-waytoolforrecruitment,andretentionofemployees,asstra-

tegicandholisticcommunicationhasbecomefundamental(Edwards,2010;Aggerholmetal.,

2011).Thisthesissupportsthesesuggestions,andsuggeststhatthesmallerDanishorganiza-

tionsshouldbeutilizingtheconceptofemployerbrandinginordertoattractandretainthe

‘right’andhighlyqualifiedemployees,whichintimesofprosperity,lowunemployment,and

increased competition for talents are seen to be evenmore crucial,making it important to

stayupdatedontheemployees’values(Glazer,Daniel,&Short,2004).

Anotherfinding,asmentionedpreviously(seeSection4), isthatthetwoorganizations

inthisresearchwanttoincreasetheirawarenessintermsofgettingmorecustomers,which

indicatethatbothorganizationspaymoreattentiontotheircustomers,thantotheattraction

ofnewpotentialemployees.However,sincetheconceptcannotsolelybeseenasaone-way

toolforrecruitment,andretentionofemployees,asstrategicandholisticcommunicationhas

becomeafundamentalpart,itisimportantforsustainabledevelopmentaswell.Moreover,it

hasbecomeespeciallyimportantwithemployeesofnewlygraduatesorMillennialsingeneral,

astheyarearguedtomakeupformorethanhalfofthelaborforcewithinthenext10years


73

(Napoli & Ewing, 2000; Krahna&Galambosb, 2014; Queiri, Yusoff, &Dwaikat, 2014;Man-

powerGroup,2016).Hence, it is important tobuildapositionas ‘anemployerofchoice’ for

today’sorganizations,whether it is largeorsmall, inordertoget theemployeesto ‘livethe

brand’,thuscreatingareputationintheireverydayinteractionsaswellasasocialinfluence

onstakeholders.

5.2.1.RaisingAwarenesswithEmployerBrandingValuePropositions

Basedontheabovediscussionaboutwhysmallerorganizationsneedemployerbrand-

ing,itwasindicatedthattheconceptcanbeseenasastrategictool,makingitpossibleforor-

ganizationstomarkettheiruniquevaluepropositionstoboththeircurrentandpotentialem-

ployees (Sengupta et al., 2015). Therefore, this thesis supports Glazer et al. (2004) and

Senguptaetal.’s(2015),suggestionsthattherightvaluepropositionarearguedtoattractthe

righttalents,bymatchingtheemployeevalueswiththeorganizationalofferings,andconse-

quently,themoretheindividualscanassociatewiththeofferedvalues,themoreattractedto

theorganizationtheywill feel.This,however,makesitcrucialtostayupdatedonthe ‘right’

employees’values,inthiscasenewlygraduates.

In order for the smallerDanish organizations to obtain this status as ‘an employer of

choice’, seven employer branding value propositions have been (re-)conceptualized by

Dabirian, Kietzmann, & Diba (2017), illustrating what people usually care about when

evaluating organizations. However, this thesis’ finding do not support all of these value

propositions. Asmentioned previously in the theoretical framework (see Section 3), these

sevenpropositionsinclude:1)thesocialvalue;2)theinterestvalue;3)Theapplicationvalue;

4) Thedevelopment value, 5) The economic value; 6) Themanagement value; and7) The

work/lifebalancevalue.Whenitcomestoextrinsicworkvalues(i.e.externallyinducedmoti-

vation,suchasstatus,paymentetc.), it is likelythatnewlygraduateswouldnotconsideran

organizationas‘anemployerofchoice’,iftheirpreferencesforextrinsicrewardsarenotade-

quatelyprovided(Queirietal.,2014).Meaning, ifnewlygraduatesdonotseea fitbetween

theirperformanceandthereceivedrewards,theirintentiontoapplyforajobmightbeweak-

ened.However,accordingtothefinding(seeSection4)inthisresearchthenewlygraduates

areperceivedtobestrivingtowardstheachievementofameaningfuljob,whichisinteresting,

challenginganddeveloping.Hence,thesevaluesareseenas intrinsicrewardsthataremore

desirable features thanextrinsic rewards for thenewlygraduates.Basedon the theoretical


74

frameworkofnewlygraduatesaspartoftheMillennials,itissuggestedthatthesepreferences

forintrinsicrewardshaveledtoariseofpositiveself-viewoftheMillennials,whichhaveat-

tributed toaperceptionof self-actualization that contribute to thegenerations’desire fora

morechallenginganddevelopingjob,whichthisthesissupports.Consequently,newlygradu-

ateshaveevolvedalowtoleranceforlesschallenginganddevelopingjobs,whichmakethem

lookforjobswithhigherimpact,makingintrinsicrewardsofmoreinfluenceinordertomake

newlygraduatesperceiveanorganizationas‘anemployerofchoice’.Basedonthetheoretical

frameworkofnewlygraduates,itcanbeevaluatedthattheMillennialsarelookingforamore

balancedwork/familylife,whichisarguedtoincreasetheirdemandformoreflexibilityand

‘freedom’intermsofforexampleworkinghoursandempowermentinordertomakerespon-

sibledecisions(Hewlettetal.,2009;Queirietal.,2014).However,thefindingofthisresearch

didnotsupport this.Nevertheless,as thenewlygraduatesseekandappreciatetrainingand

guidanceaswellasmentoring, itcanbeevaluatedthatthenewlygraduatespreferencesfor

social rewardswill be leading towardshigher expectations for a thoughtful and supportive

supervisor.As the theoretical frameworkof newly graduates suggest, another emphasis on

socialrewardscanbeindicatedbythenewlygraduates’wishforajobthatisperceivedasa

funandessentialworkplace,whichwillhaveasubstantialinfluenceontheirlevelofsatisfac-

tionandtheorganizationalcitizenship(Queirietal.,2014).However,thisisonlypartlysup-

portedbythefindings.

Assuggestedbythetheoreticalframework,thisgenerationarearguedtohavemoreal-

truisticworkvalues,includingbeinghelpfultothesociety,alongwithamoremoralandethi-

calconsideration,itislikelythatnewlygraduateswillhavehigherexpectationstotheorgani-

zations in formof for instancesocial responsibilityandethicalbehavior (Ng.,Schweitzer,&

Lyons, 2010). This is supported by this research, as findings suggest newly graduates are

seekingajobofmeaning.Consequently,thenewlygraduatescanbeseenassensitivetoim-

partialandunfairpracticesofanorganization,whichwillaffecttheirperceptionsofanorgan-

izationasan‘employerofchoice’(Aggerholmetal,2011;Queirietal.,2014).Asanexampleit

isarguedthatCSRinitiativesmightbeseenasanattractivemotivationthatpotentiallycould

increasetheemployee-organizationidentification,andinturnbeinfluencingtherelationship

andtheemployees’commitmenttothespecificorganization,asitisspeakingtotheintrinsic

workvalues(i.e.internallyinducedmotivation),whichisthevaluesarguedtodrivethenewly

graduates.


75

5.3.DotheyhaveaSocietalResponsibility?

The lastaspect tobeaddressed in thisdiscussion ishowthesmallerDanishorganiza-

tionsarehandlingtheintensifiedglobalcompetitionfornewtalents.

Asmentionedpreviously inthe findings(seeSection4) itwas foundthateventhough

theDanishlaborforceatpresentisexperiencingthelowestunemploymentrateinyearsand

themarket is experiencinganeconomicupturn (DanmarksStatistik,2018), aswell asboth

practitionersandacademialiteraturehavebeenunderlininganintensifiedglobalcompetition

for talents, often addressed as ‘war for talent’ (Seerup, 2015; ManpowerGroup, 2016;

Lønstrup,2016;Kolesnikov,2018;Theureretal.,2018;Holst,2018),thisresearchhasfounda

paradox,namelythatnewlygraduatesarenot inhighdemand,rathertheyarefacingahard

time,havingtroublerelatedtojobsearch.AssuggestedbyCollins(2007)andasfirstantici-

pated, the relations between recruitment strategies and the application intentions and –

decisions aremoderated by brand awareness (Collins, 2007), arguing that larger organiza-

tionswouldhaveanadvantagewhentalkingaboutemployerbrandingandtheattractionof

newtalents, since theywouldberepresentedbyawell-knownbrand.Thus, theywereper-

ceived tohave strongerbrandawareness amongnewly graduates that consequentlywould

makethemmoreattractiveemployers,whichwereperceivednot tobe thecase forsmaller

Danish organizations with lower brand awareness among newly graduates, and thereby it

wasseentobesignificantlyimportantwithemployerknowledgeand–reputationinorderto

attract newly graduates to the smaller Danish organizations (Collins, 2007). Consequently,

this issupportedbythisresearch,asitfoundthesmallerDanishorganizationstobeexperi-

encing lowerawarenessand, that the largerorganizations seem tobe theones that runoff

withthenewtalents.However,what is interestinghere isthatthesmallerorganizationsdo

notseemtomind.Aspreviouslymentionedinthefindings(seeSection4),thisresearchfound

indicationsforthesmallerDanishorganizationsnotwantingtohirethenewlygraduates,and

ratheradvocatingthemtostarttheircareerinthelargerorganizations.

By lookingat theunemploymentrate inDenmark, it iscurrentlyat its lowest inmany

yearssincebeforethefinancialcrisis,butifwetakeafurtherlookatit,thepercentageofun-

employment seem to be highest among the age group, of which newly graduate belong to

(Danmarks Statistik, 2018). Looking at figure 18 the number of Danish organizationswith


76

employees,illustratesthatitisthelargerorganizations,whichemploythemostpeople,with

62percentofallfull-timeemployedpersons(DanmarksStatistik,2016).

Figure18:Numberoffull-timeemployeesbyenterprisesize(inpercent)(DanmarksStatistik,2016).

However, it is thesmallerorganizationsthataccount forthe largestnumberofDanish

enterprises,by96percent,asshowninfigure19,ofwhich80percentareorganizationswith

1-9employees,likethetwoorganizationsinthisresearch(DanmarksStatistik,2016).

Figure19:NumberofDanishenterpriseswithemployeesbysize(innumber)(DanmarksStatistik,2016).

1-9employees

10-49employees

50-99employees

100employeesandmore

0

10.000

20.000

30.000

40.000

50.000

60.000

70.000

80.000

90.000

100.000

1-9employees 10-49employees

50-99employees

100employeesandmore


77

Aspreviouslymentionedinthetheoreticalframework(seeSection3),theorganizations

todayaremoredependingonemployeecommitmenttotheirbrand,inordertoforexample

‘live the brand’, and acting as a an ‘organizational ambassador’, attracting new employees,.

Thisalsomakes theorganizationsexpectahigheremployeecommitment,asaresultof the

‘moral brand’, since ethical and social responsibility have become of higher interest to the

employees (Morsing,2006).Additionally,as the theoretical frameworksuggest, this iscom-

mittingfortheemployees,asitisaboutselectingbetween‘good’or‘bad’,whichtiestheem-

ployees’personalmoraltotheorganizationandmakethemidentifyingwiththeirjob(Gossett

&Kilker, 2006). This is supported by the findings, as the newly graduates perceive values,

suchasorganizationalmeaningand interestofhigh influence.Therefore, theorganization’s

attractivenesstonewemployees,aswellastheitsfutureprofitability,aredependingonthe

organization’sownwillingnessandabilitytorecognizetheemployeesandalsopotentialem-

ployeesas importantstakeholders thatcontribute to thecorporatebrand inamoreholistic

way (Preuss, Haunschild, &Matten, 2009). Hence, employer branding and good employee-

employerrelationsarecrucial.Nevertheless, itbecomesparticularly importanttothenewly

graduates,asthedemographicchangehasandwillfurtherresultinasignificantchallenge,in

terms of organizations replacing retiring experienced employeeswith younger and signifi-

cantlydifferentemployeesinformofMillennialsamongothers(Napoli&Ewing,2000;Krah-

na&Galambosb,2014;Queiri,Yusoff,&Dwaikat,2014;ManpowerGroup,2016),whoarear-

guedtomakeupformorethanhalfofthelaborforcewithinthenext10years(MacDermott&

Ortiz,2017).Butalso,assuggestedbythetheoreticalframework,becauseMillennialsarear-

guedtobemostaffectedbyawarenessoftheorganizationasanemployer,theperceptionsof

how fellow students and friends perceive the organization’s reputation and their opinions

regardingaspectsofthespecificjob,suchasforexamplepayment,development,andthein-

terestintheworktasksitself(Jiang&Iles,2011),whichindicatetheeffectoftheholisticview.

Furthermore,asmentionedpreviously inthetheoretical framework, it issuggestedby

Aggerholmetal.,2011thattheholisticexpansionoftheconceptsupportsthemorepragmatic

understanding of employer branding,where the organization can be seen as a resource to

constructionofindividuals’identity;organizationsarenolongerseenasstaticcorporateenti-

ties,butareratherseenasdynamicandevolvingco-constructionsdevelopedbyalltheorgan-

ization’sstakeholders;theemployeesarenolongerrecognizedasrawmaterial,butarerather

seenasaresourcetomeaning-makingandcorporatecitizens;andcommunicationthatisno


78

longerpurelyseenasatooltosolveproblems,butisincreasinglyrecognizedasfundamental

andsustainable to theorganization(Aggerholmetal.,2011).Followingthissuggestion, it is

arguedthattherearethreeaspectsofthesustainablepart,includingeconomic(i.e.arequired

part),legal(i.e.arequiredpart),andethical(i.e.anexpectedpart).Byfulfillmentofthesere-

sponsibilities, anorganizationwill lead to adesiredphilanthropicpositionwhere itwill be

seenas‘thegoodcorporatecitizen’(Schwartz&Carroll,2003).However,asthereseemtobe

some kind of ‘agreement’ among the smaller Danish organizations on thematter of hiring

newlygraduates,andthatthey insomewayadvocatethenewlygraduatestostart theirca-

reerinlargerorganizationsinsteadofsmaller,whilethesmallerorganizations,asthetwoin

thisresearch(i.e.1-9employees),aretheonesaccountingfor80percentoftheDanishenter-

prises,andwhileatthesametime,theunemploymentrateamongtheagegroupofwhichthe

newlygraduatesbelongtoarethehighestamongallinDenmark(DanmarksStatistik,2018),

itseemsdifficultfortheorganizationstoachievetheethicalaspectofthesustainablecommu-

nication.Hence,theseorganizationsmightbeperceivedatnot takingpartofthesocietalre-

sponsibility.Accordingly,aspreviouslymentionedinthefindings(seeSection4)itisargued

bysomeof thenewlygraduates,andalso theDanishsocio-economicmarketresearch insti-

tute, Arbejderbevægelsens Erhvervsråd, that the smaller Danish organizations should take

responsibilityandstarthiringsomeofthenewlyeducated(Bjørsted,2018).

5.3.1.EmployerBrandingUpsideDown

Theparadoxicalfindingmadetheresearcherthinkinmorecreativeways,thustheidea

ofturningtheconceptofemployerbrandingupsidedownappeared.

Itisseenasapossibilitythatthesmallerorganizationsdonotknowwhattheyneedhelp

for,orwhattheyaremissingouton,intermsofwhatthenewlygraduatescanofferthem.For

thebenefitofthesmallerorganizations,asmentionedpreviouslyinthefindings(seeSection

4)bothorganizationsofthisresearchhavetriedemployingstudentworkers,whoweregiven

muchresponsibilityand ‘acting’ ina leadingrole,thustheorganizationsshouldbeawareof

theskillsofthenewlygraduates,however,asoneoftheCEO’sargued,hedidnotknowany-

thingaboutmarketing, forexample.Thus,hisstudentworkersweregiven ‘freerein’andhe

nearlydidnotknowwhat theyweredoing.This indicates that theyoungerandmore tech-

savvygenerationofnewlygraduatesdohaveanadvantageinformofahighlyvaluedskill-set,


79

whichcanbeseenasaninherentability,however,itcanalsobeseenasadisadvantage,asthe

employers (mostly of older age)might not knowwhat they actuallywant of need help to,

whichmakethemunabletodefineitandthus,unabletosearchfortherighthelp.

Therefore,itmightbeanopportunitytoturntheconceptofemployerbrandingupside

down.Insteadofemployerbranding,asweknowit,itshouldbeseenasemployeebranding,

whereitwillbepossibleto‘turntheview’andseetheconceptfromtheemployee’sperspec-

tive,intermsofhowtheycanmakethemselvesattractivetothesmallerDanishorganizations.

Aconcreteexamplecouldpotentiallybeareversedjobfair,wherethenewlygraduatesinvite

companiestoattendafair,wherethegraduatesforexamplewillpresentskills,research,or

makingotherpresentations.However, thisofcourse ispractical ideas,whichneedmorere-

searchbeforeonecouldknowif itwouldhaveanyeffectontheunemploymentrateamong

thenewlygraduatesoramongthesmallerDanishorganizationsandtheir‘resourcedemand-

ingview’onnewlygraduates.


80

CHAPTER6

CONCLUSIONANDFUTURERESEARCH


81

6.CONCLUSION

Thetheoreticalframework(seeSection3),suggestsworkvaluestobeseenasapercep-

tionofemployees’preferences(Dose,1997),influencingbothbehavior,attitudeandeventual-

ly their commitment to an organization based on either intrinsic or extrinsic values

(Vansteenkiste,Neyrinck,Niemiec,Soenens,DeWitte,&VandenBroeck,2007)

Bylookingatthenewlygraduatesandtheirworkvaluepreferencesregardingorganiza-

tions as future employers, it can be said that the fourmost important values of the newly

graduates’relatedtotheirchoiceofemployerare:development,challengingtasks,responsi-

bilityofowntasks,andasocialworkenvironment.However,basedonthefreetextboxinthe

survey, two other values, such as ‘interest’ and ‘meaning’,were evaluated to be highly im-

portantaswell,andsignifiesthatthe ‘right’organizationisofhighimportancetothenewly

graduates.Hence,itisarguedthatnewlygraduatesareseenasintrinsic-orientedindividuals,

withahighfocusoninternallyinducedvalues,thustheyareevaluatedtobemostmotivated

by autonomous incentiveswhere theydonot feel ‘controlled’. Thenewly graduates are ar-

guedtoperformanactivityorbehavior,suchasapplyingforajobinaspecificorganization,

fornoobviousrewardexceptthespecificactivityorbehavioritself.Accordingly,ifanorgani-

zationrewardsnewlygraduatesitshouldbedoneby‘informativerewards’,asitisarguedto

make an increase in the intrinsic motivation, leading to an increase the individual’s self-

determination.Onthecontrary,ifanorganizationmakes‘controllingrewards’itisarguedto

makeadecrease in the intrinsicmotivationof thenewlygraduates,whichmeans that they

willbecome less likely to forexampleapply fora job in that specificorganization.Further-

more,itisworthnoticingthatthenewlygraduates’careerchoicesandoutcomes,areargued

tobeshapedbytheirworkvaluesandtheperceivedimportanceofthespecificjobcharacter-

istics,however,thiswillchangeconsiderablywithage.

When looking at the graduate programs, it is argued thatmost newly graduates find

such programs highly interesting, with particularly high attraction towards the three ele-

ments: chances for a permanent position afterwards, getting a support systemby having a

mentor,androtatinginthecompanyandtryoutdifferenttasks/departments.Thisisseenas

aneffectofmostnewlygraduatesgenerallybeinghighlyattracted to traininganddevelop-

mentvalues,asit isperceivedtobepartoftheirmostimportantvalues.Hence,mostnewly

graduatesfindthesegraduateprogramsveryattractive,howeverthiselementofattractionis


82

argued not to be based on the particular graduate program itself, but rather as the newly

graduatesseektoobtaintheirmostpreferredworkvaluepreferences,nomatter if it is ina

graduateprogramornot,thusseeking:development,challengingtasks,responsibilityofown

tasks,andasocialworkenvironment.

Whentalkingaboutemployerbranding,itisinthisresearcharguedthatthecommuni-

cationtopotentialemployeesandtheawarenessofanorganization,arehighlyimportantto

thenewlygraduates,as it impacts their jobpreferences,which iswhyorganizationsshould

not see this characteristic of ‘A well-know organization’ as unimportant. Furthermore, the

conceptofemployerbrandingarearguedtohelpearnacompetitiveadvantage,perceivingthe

organizationasabrandthatleadsemployeestodevelopacloserrelationshipwithit.Thus,it

willbeinfluencedbyawareness,positiveattitudes,aswellasloyaltyandtrust.Thishighlights

employer branding as away to recruit the ‘right’ employees, by ensuring a delivery of the

brandpromisetotheexternalstakeholders(Ambler&Barrow,1996).Additionally,theper-

ceivedvalueof theemployerbrandwilldependonthe importancetheemployeesassignto

the specificbenefits that theorganization is able todeliveranddifferentiate fromcompeti-

tors.Since thenewlygraduates todayare focusingmoreondevelopment,challengingtasks,

responsibility of own tasks, as well as the social environment, an organization should pay

moreattentiontothesevalueswhenitcomestoattractionandrecruitmentofnewlygradu-

ates.However,theorganizationsinthisresearchseemtohavesomekindof‘hiddenagenda’

bynotreallywantingtohirethesenewlygraduates,atleastnotbeforethegetsomeexperi-

ence. As, the concept of employer branding has evolved to amore holistic approach, being

moreorlessafundamentalpartofsustainablecommunication,itisarguedthatanorganiza-

tion’sattractivenesshasbecomehighlydependableontheorganizationsownwillingnessand

ability to recognize the employees and potential employees as important stakeholders

(Preuss,Haunschild,&Matten,2009).Thisalso includesthe increasedfocusonstakeholder

relationship, and thus the concept cannot solelybe seenas aone-way tool for recruitment.

Therefore, it is suggested that thesmallerDanishorganizationsshouldbeutilizing thecon-

ceptofemployerbranding inorder toattractandretain the ‘right’andhighlyqualifiedem-

ployees(Glazer,Daniel,&Short,2004).

However, the smaller Danish organizations seem to have forgotten their ‘societal re-

sponsibility’,sincetheyonlywanttohirenewlygraduatesasstudentworkers.Onesaposition

isopen,theyneedanexperiencedemployee,andnotsomenewlygraduates.Eventhoughthe


83

newlygraduateshavebeenworkingthereinanactingleaderrole.Thisisseenasaparadox,

sincethenewlygraduatesbelongtothelargestgroupofunemployment,andthesmalleror-

ganizations(i.e.1-9employees)belongtothelargestgroupofenterprisesinDenmarkby80

percent.Hence,itseemsdifficultfortheorganizationstoachievetheethicalaspectofthesus-

tainable communication,whichmight leave theorganizations tobeperceivedasnot taking

theirpartofthesocietalresponsibility.

Thisimpliesthattheyoungerandmoretech-savvygenerationofnewlygraduateshave

anadvantageinformofahighlyvaluedskill-setthatisperceivedasaninherentability,anda

disadvantage,astheemployers(mostlyofolderage)mightnotknowwhattheyactuallywant

ofneedhelp to,whichmake themunable to search for the righthelp.Therefore, lastly, the

researchersuggeststurningtheconceptofemployerbrandingupsidedown,makingtheem-

ployees, in this case the newly graduates, attractive to the employers. More concrete, this

couldbepotentiallybeviaareversedjobfair,givingnewlygraduatesthechancetopresent

skills,research,ormakingotherpresentationsinordertoshowtheirworthanddestroythe

paradox.

6.1.LimitationsandFutureResearchThe results of this research start a new set of questions, whichwill need further re-

search.Eventhoughthis thesisoffersnewinsightsonsmallerDanishorganizationsandthe

newlygraduatesanno2018,itdoesmeetsomelimitations.

One limitation isseentoberelatedtotherelativelysmallsamples,regardingboththe

surveyandinterview,sincethisresearchhasbeenfocusingonthesmallerDanishorganiza-

tions and since themain respondents to the online survey come from thenorthernpart of

Europe, itneeds tobeborne inmind that it isnotpossible to take theseresultsandwiden

themtoothercountrieswithoutanyfurtherresearch.Therefore,itlimitsthegeneralizability

ofthefindings.However,inordertogainmoreinsights,alargersamplesizecouldbemade.

Another limitation is related to the fact that this research does not take any specific

companyindustryintoaccount.Therefore,beingmoreindustryspecific,mightgivesomeoth-

eranswers,differingfromtheonesinthisthesis,whichmightmakenewinsight.


84

Thirdly, itwouldbe interestingtocomparethisresearchonnewlygraduateshavinga

master’sdegreewithotherpeoplefromGenerationY,inordertomakeunderstandingabout

ifitisdifferenttobeanewlygraduatehavingamaster’sdegreeseekingforajob,comparedto

anon-academic.


85

CHAPTER7

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86

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1

APPENDIX


2

APPENDIX

A.SurveyPracticalities:Thesurveywasconductedinordertohelpansweringtheresearchquestionsofthisthesis.Themainpurposeofutilizingaquestionnaire istoexploreandmakeunderstandingsofthenewlygraduates’workvaluepreferences,andifgraduateprogramsareaffectingtheirprefer-encestowardsaspecificsizeoforganization.Inrelationtothissurveyitwaschosentouseanon-probability-basedsamplinginformofapurposivesamplethatallowtheresearchertoselecttheinterestgroupondecisionsmadebytheresearcher(fordetailedinformationseeSection2.3.1.).Thesurveywasonlymade inEnglish(seeAppendixA.1.)as theresearch isappointedbothDanishandinternationalgraduatesatanacademic level,whotherebyshouldbeabletoun-derstandEnglishtoagreatextent.Inordertoanalyzeontherespondentsanswersinthesurvey,therawdatahavebeentrans-ferredtoanexceldocument(seeAppendixA.2.).However,itcanonlybereadbyzoominginon thedocument in this thesis.Consequently, the researchermade itpossible toaccess therawdataonlineviaalink:http://www.survey-xact.dk/report/shared/5ea02396-a588-47b6-9bce-c0906f5c3460A.1.SurveySectionsandQuestions

Therightjobpositionsfornewlygraduates.Today,thereisanincreasedcompetitionfortalentedemployees,whichforcesorgan-izationstobeontheforefrontwiththeirrecruitmentstrategies.Iamresearching(formymasterthesis)howsmallerDanishorganizationscanparticipateintheglobalcompetitionfornewlygraduates,asIwanttohelpthesesmallerDanishorganizationsgettingbetteratofferingtherightopportunities/jobpositionsfornewlygraduates.Therefore,IneedrepliesfrommasterdegreestudentsorpeoplewhohavefinishedaMaster'sdegreewithinthelasttwoyears(completedin2016atthelatest).Thesurveywilltakebetween3-5minutestoanswer,andyouranswerswillbehighlyappreciated.

Gender?(1) qMale

(2) q Female

(3) q Other_____


3

Age?(1) q 19yearsorless

(2) q 20-23years

(3) q 24-27years

(4) q 28-31years

(5) q 32+years

Country?(1) q NorthernEurope(suchasChannelIslands,Denmark,Estonia,FaeroeIslands,Finland,Iceland,Ireland,

IsleofMan,Latvia,Lithuania,Norway,Sweden,UK,ÅlandIslands)(2) q SouthernEurope(suchasAlbania,Andorra,BosniaandHerzegovina,Croatia,Gibraltar,Greece,Holy

See,Italy,Kosovo,Macedonia,Malta,Montenegro,Portugal,SanMarino,Serbia,Slovenia,Spain)

(3) q EasternEurope(suchasBelarus,Bulgaria,CzechRepublic,Hungary,Poland,Moldova,Romania,Russia,Slovakia,Ukraine)

(4) qWesternEurope(suchasAustria,Belgium,France,Germany,Liechtenstein,Luxembourg,Monaco,Netherlands,Switzerland)

(5) q OutsideofEurope _____

AreyoustudyingaMaster’sdegree/completedaMaster’sdegreewithinthelast2years(com-pletedin2016atthelatest)?(1) q Yes

(2) q No

Youreducationalcourse(faculty)(1) q Humanities

(2) q EngineeringandNaturalScience

(3) q HealthandMedicalSciences

(4) q Business

(5) q SocialSciences

(6) q Law

(7) q ITandDesign

(8) q Other_____

WhydidyouchoosethatspecificMaster’sdegree?Selectallrelevantanswers.(1) q Ihadaninterestinthechosenfieldofstudy


4

(2) q Therewasalaborshortagewithinthechosenfieldofstudy

(3) q Itrunsinthefamilytostudywithinthechosenfieldofstudy

(4) q Itwasapopularstudychoiceamongmycircleofacquaintances(friends)whenIchosethefieldofstudy

(5) q YouarewellpaidafteryougraduateaMaster’sdegreewithininthechosenfieldofstudy

(6) q Other_____

Companiesarealwaysinterestedininformationabouthowtheyinthebestpossiblewaycanattractgraduates,whichiswhythenextcoupleofquestionsareaboutwhatkindoffactorsthatareimportanttoyouinrelationtoafutureworkplace.

Howimportantarethefollowingfactorsforyouinrelationtoafutureworkplace?Pleaseindicatehowimportantthefollowingfactorsareforyouonascaleof1-5,ofwhich1=Veryunimportant,2=partlyunimportant,3=neitherunimportantnorimportant,4=partlyimportant,5=Veryimportant.

1Veryunim-portant

2Partlyunim-portant

3Neitherun-importantnorimportant

4Partlyim-portant

5Veryim-portant

Thecompanyworkswithinanindustryofmyinterestanditoffersinnovativeworkprac-ticeswhereIgettousemycreativity

(1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q

Thecompanyoffersgoodso-cialsettingswithinafunwork-ingenvironmentandgoodcollegialrelations

(1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q

Thecompanyoffersgoodeco-nomicvalueintermsofjobsecurity,promotionaloppor-tunities,andanabove-averagesalarycompensation

(1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q

Thecompanyofferstraininganddevelopmentthatcanpro-videmewithconfidenceandenhancemyexperiences,whichcanbeusedasaspring-boardtofuturejobpositions

(1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q


5

Howimportantarethefollowingvaluestoyou?Pleaseindicatehowimportantthefollowingvaluesareforyouonascaleof1-5,ofwhich1=Veryunimportant,2=partlyunimportant,3=neitherunimportantnorimportant,4=partlyimportant,5=Veryimportant.

1Veryunim-portant

2Partlyunim-portant

3Neitherun-importantnorimportant

4Partlyim-portant

5Veryim-portant

Developmentopportunities (1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q

Companygrowthpotential (1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q

Challengingtasks (1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q

Bigcitylocation (1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q

Responsibilityforowntasks (1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q

Aboveaveragepayment (1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q

Self-actualization (1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q

Awell-knowncompany (1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q

Socialworkenvironment (1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q

Hierarchicalposition (1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q

Acknowledgementandre-wards

(1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q

Whatsizeofcompanyismostpreferableforyou?(1) q Largeorganizations(251+employees)

(2) qMedium-sizedorganizations(51-250employees)

(3) q Smallorganizations(1-50employees)

(4) q Idon’tcareaboutthesizeoftheorganization

(5) q Other_____

Towhatdegreedoesthecompany’sabilitytopromoteitselfwellaffectyouinyourjobprefer-ences?(1) q 1Verylowdegree

(2) q 2Lowdegree

(3) q 3Neitherlownorhighdegree


6

(4) q 4Highdegree

(5) q 5Veryhighdegree

Anythingyouwanttoadd?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Anewwayinwhichcompaniestodaytrytoattractnewgraduatesisbyofferinggraduateprograms,whichisakindoftraineepositionwithamentorsystemforgraduateswhohavecompletedaMaster’sdegree.Itisdefinedasatailored1to4-yearscareerdevelopmentprogramwithinanorganizationthatgivesupto4differentdepartmentrotations(oftenabroad)fornewlygraduates,whohavefinishedtheirMaster'sdegreewithinthelasttwoyearspriortoapplication.

Howawareareyouofgraduateprograms?(1) q Ihaveneverheardofitbeforenow

(3) q IhaveheardaboutitbeforebutIamnotcompletelysureaboutwhatitis

(2) q Itisawell-knownconcepttome

(4) q Other_____

Howattractivedoyoufindthesegraduateprogramelements?1=veryunattractive,2=partlyunattractive,3=neitherunattractivenorattractive,4=partlyattractive,5=veryattractive.

1Veryunat-tractive

2Partlyunat-tractive

3Neitherunat-tractivenorattractive

4Partlyattrac-tive

5Veryattrac-tive

Icangetthistypeofpositionwithoutmuchworkexperience

(1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q

Icanrotateinthecompanyandgettheopportunitytotryoutdifferenttasks/departments

(1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q

Igetasupportsystembyhav-ingamentor

(1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q


7

1Veryunat-tractive

2Partlyunat-tractive

3Neitherunat-tractivenorattractive

4Partlyattrac-tive

5Veryattrac-tive

Itgivesmetheopportunitytogoabroad

(1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q

Itismostcommonlyofferedinrelativelylargeandwell-knowncompanies

(1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q

ThereisagoodchancethatIgetapermanentpositioninthecompanyafterwards

(1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q

Itisacompetitivefield (1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q

Itlooksgoodtohaveonmyresume

(1)q (2)q (3)q (4)q (5)q

Wouldyoubeinterestedinapplyingforagraduateposition?(1) q 1Veryuninterested

(2) q 2Partlyuninterested

(3) q 3Neitheruninterestednorinterested

(4) q 4Partlyinterested

(5) q 5Veryinterested

Anythingyouwanttoadd?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Thankyouverymuchforparticipating.

MayIcontactyouforfurtherinformationonyouranswers?(1) q No

(2) q Yes,myemailis: _____


8


9

A.2.RawData

Gender? Age? Country?

Country? - Outside of Europe

Are you studying a Master’s degree/completed a Master’s degree within the last 2 years (completed in 2016 at the latest)?

Your educational course (faculty)

Your educational course (faculty) - Other

Why did you choose that specific Master’s degree?Select all relevant answers.

Why did you choose that specific Master’s degree?Select all relevant answers. - Other

How important are the following factors for you in relation to a future work place?Please indicate how important the following factors are for you on a scale of 1-5, of which 1=Very unimportant, 2=partly unimportant, 3=neither unimportant nor important, 4=partly important, 5=Very important. - The company works within an industry of my interest and it offers innovative work practices where I get to use my creativity

How important are the following factors for you in relation to a future work place?Please indicate how important the following factors are for you on a scale of 1-5, of which 1=Very unimportant, 2=partly unimportant, 3=neither unimportant nor important, 4=partly important, 5=Very important. - The company offers good social settings within a fun working environment and good collegial relations

How important are the following factors for you in relation to a future work place?Please indicate how important the following factors are for you on a scale of 1-5, of which 1=Very unimportant, 2=partly unimportant, 3=neither unimportant nor important, 4=partly important, 5=Very important. - The company offers good economic value in terms of job security, promotional opportunities, and an above-average salary compensation

How important are the following factors for you in relation to a future work place?Please indicate how important the following factors are for you on a scale of 1-5, of which 1=Very unimportant, 2=partly unimportant, 3=neither unimportant nor important, 4=partly important, 5=Very important. - The company offers training and development that can provide me with confidence and enhance my experiences, which can be used as a springboard to future job positions

How important are the following values to you?Please indicate how important the following values are for you on a scale of 1-5, of which1=Very unimportant, 2=partly unimportant, 3=neither unimportant nor important, 4=partly important, 5=Very important. - Development opportunities

How important are the following values to you?Please indicate how important the following values are for you on a scale of 1-5, of which1=Very unimportant, 2=partly unimportant, 3=neither unimportant nor important, 4=partly important, 5=Very important. - Company growth potential

How important are the following values to you?Please indicate how important the following values are for you on a scale of 1-5, of which1=Very unimportant, 2=partly unimportant, 3=neither unimportant nor important, 4=partly important, 5=Very important. - Challenging tasks

How important are the following values to you?Please indicate how important the following values are for you on a scale of 1-5, of which1=Very unimportant, 2=partly unimportant, 3=neither unimportant nor important, 4=partly important, 5=Very important. - Big city location

How important are the following values to you?Please indicate how important the following values are for you on a scale of 1-5, of which1=Very unimportant, 2=partly unimportant, 3=neither unimportant nor important, 4=partly important, 5=Very important. - Responsibility for own tasks

How important are the following values to you?Please indicate how important the following values are for you on a scale of 1-5, of which1=Very unimportant, 2=partly unimportant, 3=neither unimportant nor important, 4=partly important, 5=Very important. - Above average payment

How important are the following values to you?Please indicate how important the following values are for you on a scale of 1-5, of which1=Very unimportant, 2=partly unimportant, 3=neither unimportant nor important, 4=partly important, 5=Very important. - Self-actualization

How important are the following values to you?Please indicate how important the following values are for you on a scale of 1-5, of which1=Very unimportant, 2=partly unimportant, 3=neither unimportant nor important, 4=partly important, 5=Very important. - A well-known company

How important are the following values to you?Please indicate how important the following values are for you on a scale of 1-5, of which1=Very unimportant, 2=partly unimportant, 3=neither unimportant nor important, 4=partly important, 5=Very important. - Social work environment

How important are the following values to you?Please indicate how important the following values are for you on a scale of 1-5, of which1=Very unimportant, 2=partly unimportant, 3=neither unimportant nor important, 4=partly important, 5=Very important. - Hierarchical position

How important are the following values to you?Please indicate how important the following values are for you on a scale of 1-5, of which1=Very unimportant, 2=partly unimportant, 3=neither unimportant nor important, 4=partly important, 5=Very important. - Acknowledgement and rewards

What size of company is most preferable for you?

What size of company is most preferable for you? - Other

To what degree does the company’s ability to promote itself well affect you in your job preferences?

Anything you want to add?

How aware are you of graduate programs?

How aware are you of graduate programs? - Other

How attractive do you find these graduate program elements?1= very unattractive, 2=partly unattractive, 3= neither unattractive nor attractive, 4=partly attractive, 5=very attractive. - I can get this type of position without much work experience

How attractive do you find these graduate program elements?1= very unattractive, 2=partly unattractive, 3= neither unattractive nor attractive, 4=partly attractive, 5=very attractive. - I can rotate in the company and get the opportunity to try out different tasks/ departments

How attractive do you find these graduate program elements?1= very unattractive, 2=partly unattractive, 3= neither unattractive nor attractive, 4=partly attractive, 5=very attractive. - I get a support system by having a mentor

How attractive do you find these graduate program elements?1= very unattractive, 2=partly unattractive, 3= neither unattractive nor attractive, 4=partly attractive, 5=very attractive. - It gives me the opportunity to go abroad

How attractive do you find these graduate program elements?1= very unattractive, 2=partly unattractive, 3= neither unattractive nor attractive, 4=partly attractive, 5=very attractive. - It is most commonly offered in relatively large and well-known companies

How attractive do you find these graduate program elements?1= very unattractive, 2=partly unattractive, 3= neither unattractive nor attractive, 4=partly attractive, 5=very attractive. - There is a good chance that I get a permanent position in the company afterwards

How attractive do you find these graduate program elements?1= very unattractive, 2=partly unattractive, 3= neither unattractive nor attractive, 4=partly attractive, 5=very attractive. - It is a competitive field

How attractive do you find these graduate program elements?1= very unattractive, 2=partly unattractive, 3= neither unattractive nor attractive, 4=partly attractive, 5=very attractive. - It looks good to have on my resume

Would you be interested in applying for a graduate position?


May I contact you for further information on your answers?

May I contact you for further information on your answers? - Yes, my email is:

Samlet status

Male20-23 years

Northern Europe (such as Channel Islands, Denmark, Estonia, Faeroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, UK, Åland Islands) Yes Humanities

I had an interest in the chosen field of study 5 Very important 4 Partly important

3 Neither unimportant nor important 4 Partly important

5 Very important

5 Very important

4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

3 Neither unimportant nor important

2 Partly unimportant


1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

1 Very unimportant

Medium-sized organizations (51-250 employees)

3 Neither low nor high degree

I have heard about it before but I am not completely sure about what it is

3 Neither unattractive nor attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive

5 Very interested No Gennemført

Female24-27 years

Northern Europe (such as Channel Islands, Denmark, Estonia, Faeroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, UK, Åland Islands) Yes Social Sciences

I had an interest in the chosen field of study 5 Very important 5 Very important 4 Partly important 4 Partly important

5 Very important


5 Very important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important


5 Very important



I don’t care about the size of the organization


It is a well-known concept to me

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive

2 Partly unattractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly interested No Gennemført

Female24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 4 Partly important 2 Partly unimportant 4 Partly important 4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important


5 Very important

1 Very unimportant




I don’t care about the size of the organization 2 Low degree


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive



5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive


Female24-27 years

Northern Europe (such as Channel Islands, Denmark, Estonia, Faeroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, UK, Åland Islands) Yes

Engineering and Natural Science

It runs in the family to study within the chosen field of study 5 Very important 5 Very important 4 Partly important 4 Partly important

5 Very important


4 Partly important


5 Very important


4 Partly important


5 Very important






4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive




Female24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 4 Partly important 5 Very important 4 Partly important 5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important



4 Partly important


4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant



4 High degree


5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive





5 Very attractive


Male32+ years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 4 Partly important 4 Partly important 4 Partly important 4 Partly important

5 Very important

4 Partly important


1 Very unimportant




1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important




5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

1 Very unattractive

4 Partly attractive


1 Very unattractive


Female24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 5 Very important 5 Very important 4 Partly important



1 Very unimportant

5 Very important


5 Very important




5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important


1 Very low degree


1 Very unattractive


4 Partly attractive



5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive

2 Partly uninterested

Yes, my email is:

[email protected] Gennemført

Female20-23 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 2 Partly unimportant 5 Very important 4 Partly important 5 Very important

5 Very important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important


5 Very important


4 Partly important



4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive



4 Partly interested

Graduate programs are very uncommon in my academic field (psychology), although I do think that they are a good idea.

Yes, my email is:


Female28-31 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 5 Very important 4 Partly important 5 Very important 5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

5 Very important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important








5 Very attractive







Female28-31 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study / Other

Continuation of My BA studies 5 Very important 5 Very important 4 Partly important 4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important

5 Very important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important


5 Very important






5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive

1 Very unattractive


5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive



Male28-31 years Outside of Europe Greenland Yes Social Sciences


It was the one I was qualified to study. 1 Very unimportant 5 Very important 5 Very important 5 Very important

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important 5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

1 Very unimportant


1 Very low degree


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive


1 Very unattractive

4 Partly attractive

1 Very unattractive

5 Very attractive

2 Partly uninterested No Gennemført

Male32+ years

Eastern Europe (such as Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine) Yes Business

I had an interest in the chosen field of study 5 Very important 5 Very important 5 Very important 5 Very important

5 Very important

5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important


5 Very important


5 Very important

5 Very important



1 Very low degree

Very one sided and guiding questions, who wouldn't want to work in such a great company?


5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly interested

I'm getting annoyed by the lack of effort put into these questions: How attractive do you find these graduate program elements? It is most commonly offered in relatively large and well-known companies

How am I supposed to answer this?

Yes, my email is:


Female20-23 years

Western Europe (such as Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Switzerland) Yes Social Sciences


5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

5 Very important

5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important


5 Very important


4 Partly important


4 High degree


4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly interested

Yes, my email is:


Male28-31 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study

3 Neither unimportant nor important 4 Partly important 4 Partly important 5 Very important

5 Very important


4 Partly important

4 Partly important



4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important

Large organizations (251+ employees)





4 Partly attractive

1 Very unattractive


5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive


Female24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 4 Partly important 5 Very important 4 Partly important 2 Partly unimportant


1 Very unimportant



5 Very important

4 Partly important


1 Very unimportant

5 Very important


4 Partly important

Small organizations (1-50 employees) 2 Low degree



4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

1 Very unattractive

5 Very attractive

1 Very unattractive

5 Very attractive

3 Neither uninterested nor interested No Gennemført

Male24-27 years



5 Very important


5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important


1 Very low degree


5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive



5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive


Female28-31 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 5 Very important 4 Partly important 4 Partly important


4 Partly important


5 Very important


5 Very important


5 Very important


4 Partly important




4 High degree


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive



5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive


Female24-27 years



5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important


4 Partly important




4 Partly important





4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive


5 Very attractive




Female24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 4 Partly important 4 Partly important 5 Very important 4 Partly important

4 Partly important



4 Partly important


5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

Small organizations (1-50 employees)

4 High degree


5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

1 Very unattractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive


Male24-27 years

Northern Europe (such as Channel Islands, Denmark, Estonia, Faeroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, UK, Åland Islands) Yes Business

I had an interest in the chosen field of study 4 Partly important 4 Partly important



4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important




4 Partly important


4 Partly important



Dette spørgsmål kunne være delt op i to for mig "The company works within an industry of my interest and it offers innovative work practices where I get to use my creativity" Det betyder meget for mig at arbejde i en spændene branche, men det behøver ikke være med innovative opgaver.



5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive



4 Partly attractive



3 Neither uninterested nor interested

Jeg har det ambivilient med graduate programmer - jeg vil bare gerne ud på arbejdsmarkedet og knokle mig fremad, ikke ind i et nyt, halvt uddannelsesforløb. No Gennemført

Male24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 5 Very important

3 Neither unimportant nor important 4 Partly important 5 Very important

5 Very important


5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important


5 Very important



4 Partly important

4 Partly important




4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very interested

Yes, my email is:


Male24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 5 Very important 4 Partly important 2 Partly unimportant 1 Very unimportant


1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important


1 Very low degree

I have never heard of it before now

5 Very attractive



4 Partly attractive


5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive




10


11









































Samlet status

Female24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 4 Partly important


3 Neither unimportant nor important 5 Very important

5 Very important



4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important






4 High degree


5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive



5 Very attractive



5 Very interested

Yes, my email is:


Female24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 4 Partly important 4 Partly important 4 Partly important 5 Very important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important




4 Partly important


4 Partly important







4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly interested

Yes, my email is:


Female28-31 years




4 Partly important


5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important



1 Very unimportant


5 Very important

1 Very unimportant




5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

1 Very unattractive


5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive


Male24-27 years



I had an interest in the chosen field of study / There was a labor shortage within the chosen field of study / You are well paid after you graduate a Master’s degree within in the chosen field of study 5 Very important 4 Partly important



5 Very important


5 Very important


5 Very important





1 Very unimportant

5 Very important


5 Very high degree



5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

1 Very unattractive


5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive



Female28-31 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study / It runs in the family to study within the chosen field of study

3 Neither unimportant nor important 5 Very important 4 Partly important 5 Very important

4 Partly important



1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important




4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive



5 Very attractive

1 Very unattractive

4 Partly attractive


Male24-27 years




5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important



1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant



4 High degree


5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

1 Very unattractive

1 Very unattractive

4 Partly attractive


1 Very unattractive


Male24-27 years




The competencies allow for a wide range of jobs in engineering and IT 5 Very important 5 Very important 4 Partly important 4 Partly important

5 Very important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important

4 Partly important

5 Very important



1 Very unimportant



4 High degree


4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

1 Very unattractive



Female32+ years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 2 Partly unimportant 2 Partly unimportant 2 Partly unimportant 2 Partly unimportant


4 Partly important


1 Very unimportant


1 Very unimportant


1 Very unimportant

1 Very unimportant


1 Very unimportant


1 Very low degree


5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

1 Very unattractive

5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive


Female24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 5 Very important 5 Very important 5 Very important 4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important


5 Very important


4 Partly important



1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important

Medium-sized organizations (51-250 employees) 2 Low degree


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly interested

Yes, my email is:


Female28-31 years

Western Europe (such as Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Switzerland) Yes Humanities




4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important


4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant






4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive



4 Partly interested

Yes, my email is:


Female24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 5 Very important 5 Very important 4 Partly important 5 Very important

5 Very important


5 Very important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important


5 Very important


4 Partly important



4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive



5 Very attractive




Male28-31 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 4 Partly important 5 Very important


4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important



1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important


4 Partly important





4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive




Male28-31 years



5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important 5 Very important

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important


4 Partly important






4 Partly attractive

1 Very unattractive


4 Partly attractive

1 Very unattractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very interested

Yes, my email is:


Female24-27 years


Health and Medical Sciences




4 Partly important


4 Partly important




4 Partly important




4 Partly important



5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive


Female32+ years





5 Very important










1 Very unimportant

Large organizations (251+ employees) 2 Low degree



4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

1 Very unattractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive


Female28-31 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 4 Partly important 5 Very important 4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important




4 Partly important





4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive



4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive


Female28-31 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 5 Very important 4 Partly important 2 Partly unimportant 4 Partly important



4 Partly important

4 Partly important

5 Very important



1 Very unimportant

5 Very important


4 Partly important





5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive



4 Partly attractive

1 Very unattractive

4 Partly attractive


Male28-31 years

Northern Europe (such as Channel Islands, Denmark, Estonia, Faeroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, UK, Åland Islands) Yes Other

The interaction between human and technology Other

It (Techno-antropolog) supports my background as a radiographer with academic tools 4 Partly important 5 Very important 4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 High degree

How do small companies show themselves and the job positions they have available. I have primarily found job suggestions through jobnet.dk as an example


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive



5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive


5 Very interested

Yes, my email is:


Male24-27 years



5 Very important


4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant


4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important





5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

1 Very unattractive

1 Very unattractive

5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive


Female24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study / It runs in the family to study within the chosen field of study 5 Very important 5 Very important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important

5 Very important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important


4 High degree











Female24-27 years




5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important


5 Very important


4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important


4 Partly important




5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive


5 Very interested

Yes, my email is:


Male24-27 years




5 Very important


5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important


4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important


4 Partly important




5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive




12









































Samlet status

Male24-27 years




5 Very important

5 Very important

5 Very important


5 Very important


4 Partly important


5 Very important


4 Partly important






5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive




Female32+ years




5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important


4 Partly important



1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important





4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

1 Very unattractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive


Female32+ years



5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important

4 Partly important



4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important





4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

1 Very unattractive


5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive


I don't no much about the programs. But if they were posible to do While staying home, it Would be very attractive. With a family it is not an option to travel.

Yes, my email is:


Female24-27 years

Northern Europe (such as Channel Islands, Denmark, Estonia, Faeroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, UK, Åland Islands) Yes IT and Design

I had an interest in the chosen field of study 5 Very important 5 Very important


5 Very important

5 Very important

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important


5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important


4 High degree




4 Partly attractive


1 Very unattractive

5 Very attractive

1 Very unattractive


1 Very uninterested

Yes, my email is:


Female24-27 years

Northern Europe (such as Channel Islands, Denmark, Estonia, Faeroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, UK, Åland Islands) Yes Humanities Other

couldn’t get into that study I really wanted to 5 Very important 4 Partly important 4 Partly important


5 Very important


5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important


5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important


4 Partly important






4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive




Female24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 5 Very important 4 Partly important 4 Partly important 4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important





1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important






4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive


Female24-27 years



4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant










4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive



Female20-23 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 4 Partly important 4 Partly important 5 Very important 5 Very important

5 Very important

5 Very important

5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important




5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive



5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive


Female28-31 years



4 Partly important


4 Partly important

5 Very important

5 Very important

4 Partly important



5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important




4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive




Female20-23 years



5 Very important


4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important

4 Partly important

5 Very important


4 Partly important


4 High degree


4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive



5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive


Female28-31 years



5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important




1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important





5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

1 Very unattractive


5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive

1 Very uninterested No Gennemført

Female24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 4 Partly important 5 Very important 4 Partly important 4 Partly important

4 Partly important




4 Partly important




5 Very important







4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly interested

Yes, my email is:


Female24-27 years



5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

5 Very important


4 Partly important


4 High degree


4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very interested

Yes, my email is:


Female24-27 years




5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important

5 Very important


1 Very unimportant

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant






5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

1 Very unattractive






Male28-31 years



3 Neither unimportant nor important 5 Very important 2 Partly unimportant 5 Very important

5 Very important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important




5 Very important


4 Partly important


4 High degree


4 Partly attractive


5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive




Female32+ years



5 Very important

4 Partly important



5 Very important




4 Partly important






5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive




Male28-31 years





5 Very important


5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important



4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

5 Very important

Large organizations (251+ employees) 2 Low degree


5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive


5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive




Female24-27 years



5 Very important


4 Partly important


5 Very important


4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important


4 Partly important



I don't think graduates are unemployed because they don't want the jobs available. We've just been through a long period of high unemployment, and the companies have had their choice of the litter, because so many well or over qualified people have been out of work. Now that the times have changed, and less people are out of work, it seems that the companies haven't really followed the times. They still think they can find the same over qualified


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive



4 Partly attractive



5 Very interested

Graduate programs and position should not only be offered by large companies. I'm sure smaller businesses could arrange their own graduate programs without having large budgets or whatever it seems to take. It's a great opportunity for companies, large or small, to really shape and train they employees to fit their business and needs.

Yes, my email is:


Female24-27 years



4 Partly important


5 Very important


5 Very important



1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

4 Partly important



4 High degree


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive

1 Very unattractive



Female24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 5 Very important 4 Partly important 2 Partly unimportant 5 Very important

4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important


4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important






5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

1 Very unattractive

4 Partly attractive

1 Very unattractive



Female20-23 years

Eastern Europe (such as Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine) Yes Humanities


3 Neither unimportant nor important 5 Very important 4 Partly important

5 Very important


4 Partly important

5 Very important


4 Partly important




4 Partly important



5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very interested

Yes, my email is:


Male24-27 years




5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant




5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive




13









































Samlet status

Female28-31 years






5 Very important

5 Very important

5 Very important

5 Very important

5 Very important



1 Very unimportant


1 Very unimportant

5 Very important





5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

1 Very unattractive


Female24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 4 Partly important 4 Partly important 4 Partly important 5 Very important

5 Very important


4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important




4 Partly important


5 Very important



5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive




Male28-31 years




4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important





5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive


Male28-31 years Outside of Europe

From Denmark, writing thesis in Tanzania Yes Social Sciences

I had an interest in the chosen field of study / There was a labor shortage within the chosen field of study 5 Very important 4 Partly important 4 Partly important 5 Very important

5 Very important


4 Partly important

4 Partly important

5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important


4 Partly important


5 Very high degree




5 Very attractive



5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive


Female32+ years



4 Partly important


5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important




4 Partly important


4 Partly important




4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly interested

I wish my University (Aarhus) took more interest om our job possibilities, No Gennemført

Male24-27 years



I had an interest in the chosen field of study / There was a labor shortage within the chosen field of study 5 Very important 5 Very important 4 Partly important 5 Very important

5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important






4 High degree


5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive


5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly interested

Yes, my email is:


Female28-31 years





5 Very important


4 Partly important




4 Partly important


4 Partly important


5 Very important


4 High degree

Der er høj arbejdsløshed blandt biologer, derfor føler jeg heller ikke, at jeg kan være alt for kredsen med det sted, jeg kommer til at arbejde. Det vigtigste for mig er, at jeg kommer til at arbejde indenfor et område, jeg har interesse for.


5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive

5 Very interested

Yes, my email is:


Female28-31 years Outside of Europe

United States Yes IT and Design


3 Neither unimportant nor important 4 Partly important 4 Partly important

4 Partly important

5 Very important

5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

5 Very important






4 High degree

How easy is it to find meaningful roles and apply? What kind of clients/tech/work will I get exposure to? How well does the company communicate their own unique value and purpose in existing and does that align with the impact I want to make?


4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive


5 Very attractive



5 Very interested

Yes, my email is:


Female28-31 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study / You are well paid after you graduate a Master’s degree within in the chosen field of study 5 Very important 5 Very important 5 Very important 5 Very important

5 Very important

5 Very important

5 Very important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important

5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 High degree


5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive


Female20-23 years




4 Partly important


5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important



1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important


1 Very low degree



5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive



4 Partly attractive




Female24-27 years




5 Very important


4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

1 Very unimportant




5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive



5 Very interested

Yes, my email is:


Female24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 5 Very important 4 Partly important 5 Very important


4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

4 Partly important



4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant





5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive



5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive


Male32+ years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study / You are well paid after you graduate a Master’s degree within in the chosen field of study 5 Very important


4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important


2 Partly unimportant 5 Very important

1 Very unimportant


1 Very unimportant

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important




1 Very unattractive

1 Very unattractive




4 Partly attractive

1 Very unattractive

1 Very unattractive


Female24-27 years

Northern Europe (such as Channel Islands, Denmark, Estonia, Faeroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, UK, Åland Islands) Yes Other

Business communications


5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important

5 Very important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important




4 High degree


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive



5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive



Male24-27 years



4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important

4 Partly important

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important


5 Very high degree


5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive



5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive


Male32+ years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 5 Very important 4 Partly important 4 Partly important 4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important

4 Partly important




In terms of the last questions, I would see it as part of my responsibility to help elevate the company's visibility. That is partly why it is not an urgent factor when starting the position.


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive


4 Partly interested

Yes, my email is:


Female28-31 years



5 Very important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important






4 Partly important




5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive



4 Partly interested

Yes, my email is:


Female20-23 years



5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important



4 Partly important


5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important






4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive


Female24-27 years Outside of Europe Brazil Yes Other

Culture and Global Studies

I had an interest in the chosen field of study 5 Very important 4 Partly important 4 Partly important 5 Very important

5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important


5 Very important


5 Very important


4 Partly important


4 High degree

It is preferable that the work I do or the company values are in some way aligned with my own personal values or aspirations. The job needs to be meaningful.


5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive

5 Very interested

Yes, my email is:


Female28-31 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 4 Partly important 5 Very important 5 Very important 5 Very important

5 Very important

5 Very important

5 Very important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important



1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important



5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive



5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive

4 Partly interested

Yes, my email is:


Female20-23 years



4 Partly important


4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important



5 Very important





4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive



5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive


Female24-27 years








4 Partly important

4 Partly important




4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 High degree



4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive



4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive



14









































Samlet status

Male24-27 years




5 Very important

1 Very unimportant



4 Partly important



1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important






4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive


5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly interested

Yes, my email is:


Female24-27 years

Eastern Europe (such as Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine) Yes Humanities


5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important


5 Very important


5 Very important


4 High degree


4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive


Female20-23 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 5 Very important 4 Partly important 4 Partly important 5 Very important

5 Very important

5 Very important



5 Very important


5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

1 Very unimportant

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important




5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly interested

Yes, my email is:


Female24-27 years



5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important

4 Partly important

5 Very important


5 Very important




4 High degree



5 Very attractive



5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive


5 Very interested

Yes, my email is:


Female24-27 years




4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important



1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

4 Partly important




It should be easy to get to work.

The employees should be appreciated by providing a nice workingspace,good canteen to affordable prices.


5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive


5 Very attractive


1 Very unattractive

4 Partly interested

Yes, my email is:


Female24-27 years



3 Neither unimportant nor important 2 Partly unimportant


4 Partly important


4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant




1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important


4 Partly important



5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive



4 Partly attractive


5 Very attractive

5 Very interested

Yes, my email is:


Male28-31 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 2 Partly unimportant 5 Very important 4 Partly important 4 Partly important

4 Partly important



4 Partly important


4 Partly important



4 Partly important





I mostly like girls but sometimes I think I also like boys and this one time I saw a penis and it kinda turned me on and I did not know how to feel about it.


5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive


Female24-27 years




5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important

4 Partly important



4 Partly important



4 Partly important

4 Partly important




4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

1 Very unattractive

4 Partly attractive


Male28-31 years




5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important




4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important


5 Very important


4 High degree


5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive



5 Very attractive




Female24-27 years




4 Partly important

4 Partly important

5 Very important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important


4 High degree


5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive


5 Very attractive




Female24-27 years




4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant


1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important






5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly interested

Yes, my email is:


Female28-31 years



4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important









4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive


Female24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 4 Partly important 5 Very important 5 Very important 4 Partly important

4 Partly important

5 Very important

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important




5 Very important


4 Partly important


4 High degree


5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive


Female24-27 years

Eastern Europe (such as Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine) Yes Social Sciences


5 Very important

5 Very important

5 Very important


4 Partly important

4 Partly important

5 Very important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important




4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

1 Very uninterested

Yes, my email is:


Female24-27 years



3 Neither unimportant nor important 2 Partly unimportant




4 Partly important




1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important







5 Very attractive



5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive


Female24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 2 Partly unimportant 5 Very important


5 Very important


5 Very important


5 Very important


4 Partly important


5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important


4 High degree


5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive



5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive


Male24-27 years





5 Very important


4 Partly important



4 Partly important


1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important


4 Partly important




4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive



5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive


Male24-27 years




4 Partly important

5 Very important

4 Partly important



4 Partly important


1 Very unimportant



4 Partly important Other

First 3 above



5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very interested

In this period there are not so many graduate programs No Gennemført

Female24-27 years



5 Very important


5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important


5 Very high degree



4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive


5 Very attractive




Yes, my email is:


Female24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 2 Partly unimportant 2 Partly unimportant 2 Partly unimportant


1 Very unimportant



4 Partly important




4 Partly important


4 Partly important



4 High degree









4 Partly attractive


Female24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 4 Partly important 5 Very important 2 Partly unimportant 4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important




5 Very important


5 Very important


4 High degree


5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive



5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive


Female24-27 years



5 Very important


4 Partly important

5 Very important


5 Very important


5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important


4 High degree





4 Partly attractive

1 Very unattractive

4 Partly attractive

1 Very unattractive

5 Very attractive


Female24-27 years





4 Partly important



1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important




5 Very important

1 Very unimportant





4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive



5 Very attractive


5 Very attractive



15









































Samlet status

Male24-27 years




5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important


5 Very important




4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive


5 Very attractive





Male24-27 years




4 Partly important


4 Partly important

5 Very important

4 Partly important




4 Partly important


4 Partly important


4 High degree


5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive

5 Very interested

Yes, my email is:


Female20-23 years

Northern Europe (such as Channel Islands, Denmark, Estonia, Faeroe Islands, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, UK, Åland Islands) Yes Law

I had an interest in the chosen field of study / You are well paid after you graduate a Master’s degree within in the chosen field of study 4 Partly important 5 Very important 4 Partly important 5 Very important

5 Very important

5 Very important

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important


4 Partly important


5 Very important


4 Partly important




5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive


Male28-31 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 4 Partly important 2 Partly unimportant 4 Partly important 4 Partly important

5 Very important


4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important


5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important







4 Partly attractive




5 Very attractive



4 Partly interested

Yes, my email is:


Female24-27 years



4 Partly important

4 Partly important




4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important





5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive


Male24-27 years



I had an interest in the chosen field of study / You are well paid after you graduate a Master’s degree within in the chosen field of study 4 Partly important 5 Very important 4 Partly important 5 Very important

5 Very important


5 Very important


4 Partly important


4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important






5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive



Male24-27 years






4 Partly important


4 Partly important


1 Very unimportant

1 Very unimportant

4 Partly important






4 Partly attractive




4 Partly attractive

1 Very unattractive



Male24-27 years



5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important


5 Very important

4 Partly important

5 Very important


5 Very important


4 Partly important


4 High degree


4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive



5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive


Male24-27 years

Southern Europe (such as Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Gibraltar, Greece, Holy See, Italy, Kosovo, Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain) Yes Humanities


5 Very important

4 Partly important


5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important

1 Very unimportant





4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive

4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive




Female20-23 years



5 Very important

4 Partly important




4 Partly important


4 Partly important


5 Very important




5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive

5 Very attractive



4 Partly attractive


5 Very attractive


Male24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study / You are well paid after you graduate a Master’s degree within in the chosen field of study 2 Partly unimportant 4 Partly important 2 Partly unimportant 4 Partly important

4 Partly important


4 Partly important





1 Very unimportant






4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive



4 Partly attractive


4 Partly attractive


Female24-27 years


I had an interest in the chosen field of study 4 Partly important 4 Partly important 5 Very important 4 Partly important

5 Very important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

4 Partly important

5 Very important




4 Partly important


5 Very important




4 Partly attractive

5 Very attractive

4 Partly attractive



4 Partly attractive




Female28-31 years





5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important


5 Very important

1 Very unimportant

5 Very important

1 Very unimportant









1 Very unattractive




1 Very uninterested

I WOULD ONLY TAKE THESE GRADUATE POSITIONS IF THE SALARY WOULD BE AS HIGH AS MY NORMAL POSITION. No Gennemført


16

B.InterviewGuidePracticalities:Thetwointerviewswereconductedinordertohelpansweringtheresearchquestionsofthisthesis.The interviewswith thedifferentCEO’sof the two smallerDanishorganizations areconducted via face-to-facemeeting at the respective organizations, andproceed for around30-40minuteseach.Duringtheseinterviews,theresearcheractedastheinterviewerwitharole as moderator and observer, but without interruptions, influence, corrections, or anyopiniongiving.Onlywhereitisappropriate,theinterviewerisabletoclarifyorgiveanyaddi-tionalinformationtotheinterviewees.AstheintervieweesarebothDanes,theinterviewsareaccomplished in Danish, but the interview guide (i.e. the particular questions) have beentranslated into an English version in order to clarify the interview process (see AppendixB.2.).Belowalistoftheinterviewees,theirtitleorfunctionandtheirorganizationalbackgroundisgiven.Theintervieweeswerechosenbasedontheirorganizationalbackground,asrepresent-ativesforsmallerDanishorganizations(fordetailedinformationseeSection2.3.2.).

Interviewee Title/Function Organization

CarlGustavLehmann CEO BangsA/S

Location:Vedbæk(Copenhagen,DK)

Yearfounded:1878Companysize:2-10employees

Areaofbusiness:Business-to-Business

Specialties:Food&Beverages

ClausFinderupGrove CEO KonsolidatorA/S

Location:KongensLyngby(Copenhagen,DK)

Yearfounded:2014Companysize:2-10employees

Areaofbusiness:Business-to-BusinessSpecialties:ComputerSoftware


17

B.1.InterviewQuestions–DanishVersion

1. HvormangemedarbejdereerIiorganisationen?

2. HarIenbredvifteafmedarbejdere,fraforskelligeuddannelsesmæssigebaggrunde?

• Veddu,hvilkebaggrundemedarbejdernekommerfra?

3. HarIiøjeblikketansatte,derharafsluttetenkandidatgrad?

• Hvordanbegyndtedeivirksomheden?(Startededef.eks.somelev/traineeelleri

ennormalstilling,etc.?)Idaghørerviofteomenøgetkonkurrenceomkringansættelseafnyuddannedetalenter/kandidater.

4. Serduenfordel/ulempeiansættelsenyuddannedekandidater?

• Hvorfor?

5. HvorofteansætterInyuddannedekandidatstuderende?

• HarI/harItidligerehaftproblemermedrekrutteringafnyuddannedekandidater?

6. Hvadkannyuddannedetilbydejeresvirksomhed,foratblivemereinteressanteogat-traktiveforjer?

• Villenyuddannedeværemereinteressante,hvisdestartedeienoplærendetrainee

/graduatestilling,fremforennormalstilling?

• HarI/harItidligerehafttrainee/graduatestillingerivirksomheden?

o HarItænktpåatstarteettrainee/graduateforløb?o HvorfortilbyderIikkelængeredenformforstilling?o hvilkenbetydninghardetforvirksomhedenatItilbyderdenformfor

stilling?Detsigesofte,atstørrevirksomhederhardetlettereiforbindelsemedrekrutteringafnyemedarbejdere,fordideofteharenhøjereawareness(bevidsthed)endforeksempelmindrevirksomheder.

7. Hvordanerjeresawareness(bevidsthed)generelt?

• Hvordanpromoverer(fremmer)Ijeresvirksomhed?


18

• HarIarbejdetmedbegrebet’employerbranding’(promoveringafvirksomhedensomarbejdsgiverog–pladsoverformedarbejdereognyepotentiellemedar-bejdere)før?

8. Hvordanpromoverer(fremmer)Inyejobstillinger?

• AnvenderIsocialemedier,somf.eks.LinkedInellerFacebook,oghvisjahvorfor?

9. Hvordanvildudifferentierejerfrastørrevirksomheder?

• Erdernoget,Ikantilbydejeresmedarbejdere,somstørrevirksomhederikkekan?

• Hvaderjeresstørstestyrkesomenmindrevirksomhed?


19

B.2.InterviewQuestions–EnglishVersion

1. Howmanyemployeesareyouintheorganization?

2. Doyouhaveawiderangeofemployees,fromdifferenteducationalbackgrounds?

• Doyouknowwhatbackgroundstheemployeesarefrom?

3. Doyoucurrentlyhaveemployees,whohavecompletedamaster'sdegree?

• Howdidtheystartinthecompany?(Didtheystartforexampleasastudent/

traineeorinanormalposition,etc.?)Today,weoftenhearaboutanincreasedcompetitionintherecruitmentofnewlyeducatedtalents/graduates.

4. Doyouseeanadvantage/disadvantageinrecruitingnewlyeducatedgraduates?

• Why?

5. Howoftendoyourecruitgraduatestudents?

• Doyou/haveyoupreviouslyhadproblemsrecruitingnewgraduates?

6. Whatcannewlyeducatedgraduatesofferyourorganization,inordertobecomemoreinterestingandattractivetoyou?

• Wouldnewlyeducatedbeofmoreinteresttoyouiftheystartedinatrainee/

graduateposition,ratherthananormalposition?

• Doyou/haveyoupreviouslyhadatrainee/graduatepositionintheorganization?

o Haveyouthoughtaboutstartingatrainee/graduateprogram?o Whydoyounolongeroffersuchposition?o Whatimportancehasitfortheorganizationthatyouoffersuchposition?

Itisoftensaidthatlargerorganizationshaveiteasierregardingrecruitmentofnewemploy-ees,becausetheyoftenhaveahigherawareness,thanforexamplesmallerorganizations.

7. Howdoyouseeyourawarenessingeneral?

• Howdoyoupromotetheorganization?

• Haveyoupreviouslyworkedwiththeconceptof'employerbranding'(promotingtheorganizationasanemployerandworkplaceforcurrentemployeesand/ornewpotentialemployes)?


20

8. Howdoyoupromotenewjobs?

• Doyouusesocialmedia,suchasLinkedInorFacebook,ifyeswhy?

9. Howwouldyoudifferentiateyourorganizationfromlargerorganizations?

• Istheresomethingyoucanofferyouremployeesthatlargerorganizationscannot?

• Whatisyourbiggeststrengthasasmallerorganization?


21

C.TranscriptionofInterviewsPracticalities:The two interviewswere transcribedusinga simple form,as theprimary focuswason thecontentofthetwointerviews,ratherthanthediscourse.Therefore,interruptions,overlapintalketc.arenotcomprisedinthetranscriptions.However,ifwhatwassaidintherecordingswasunclearfortheresearcher,ithasbeenmarkedas[inaudible]inthetranscriptions.Addi-tionally,aneditornotehasbeenaddedininsertedbracketsifitisnotobviouslywhatthein-terviewee is referring to. In the transcriptions all names except of the interviewee and theparticularorganizationhavebeenanonymized,alsoinbrackets.Inthetranscriptions,thenamesoftheintervieweeandtheInterviewerhavebeenabbreviat-edto‘I’forintervieweeand‘C’forCamilla(i.e.interviewer).


22

C.1.BangsA/S

C:Detallerførstespørgsmåljeghardeterforligeatfåbekræftetatierenmindrevirksomhed,1såsådanhvormangeansatteerirentfaktisk?2

I:Vierligenuerviseksansatte.Viharsatvirksomhedenopsådansåvioutsourcerhvorvikan,3sådansåalttilbageiværdikædenfraledelseogsalgdetproduktiondetharvioutsourcet.4

C:Detharioutsourcet5I:Ja,vikøreraltvoresproduktionigennemløntapperiogdetvilsigeatvikommeopmed6

opskriftenideentilproduktetogsåkontaktervisådeleverandørerviharsamarbejde7medhøreromkanilavedetherproduktforos.8

C:Okay9I:Sådesourcerpåemballageogråvareroglaverproduktetforos.Ogsåbestillervidetsåhjem10

detomfangviskalbrugedet.Ogsåerdetsåharvietlagerhotelhvorviogsålejerosind11ogderbestillervisåvarerhjemtil.Ogderfradistribuerervisåudtilkunderne.12

C:Okay.Ogioutsourcertil?13I:VIoutsourcerproduktion,lagerløsningerogegentligogsåsalg.Altsåvoressælgeredeterså14

etbureauderspecialiserersigiatværeudeogsælgeforvirksomheder.Ogsåerde15sælgerneansatteaferbureauhvorvisålejerdehersælgereher.Påbasisaltsåpå16månedsvisikke.Såvibetaleroghyrerhvermånedikke.Mensåslipperviforselvfølgelig17atsørgerforatfåderigtigemenneskerrekrutteretogaltsådannogetderikke.Plusvi18skalikkehavebilerogcomputerogtelefonerogsådannoget.Ogsåkanvialtidopjustere19ellernedjusterealtefteromhvornårviharbrugfordet.Foreksempel20sommerferieperiodenher,dererdetsådanlidtstilleikke.Såjusterervisånedikke.Det21kanduikkerigtigtgøremednogleansattehvormanligesomkansigeopogså….Deter22enløsningforos.Omvendtsåkosterdetogsådetmerekanmansigeikke.Menvisåer23dersåmegetandethovedpineviikkeskaldøjemed.24

C:Jadeterselvfølgeligrigtigt.Såibundoggrunderihvormangeansatte?25I:Jaforatsvarepåspørgsmåletsåervinumåjegseviermig,minfar,minmor,minstorebror26

ehmogsåervifireogsåervi[anonymized],[anonymized],[anonymized]…Vierseks,syv27stykker,minmorkommersådanafogtil.[inaudible]deersådanvedatgåpåpension28ikke.29

C:Erdetdemderharstartetdet?30I:Minfarhankøbtevirksomhedentilbageiår2000dahandrevsådanenenkeltmands31

virksomhedogjegstartedesåsomdenførsteansatteiseptember2014.Ogsåerdet32ellerstagetfartderfra.Ja.Ognuerminstorebrorstartetherfordetvartilbageimartsat33hanstartede.Så34

C:Sådetergåetretstærkt35I:Jadetergåetretstærkt.Deterdetja36C:Menjeghavdefåetdetindtrykatdetvarsådanenvirksomhedderhavdeeksisteretilangtid37


23

I:Dethardetogså,altsåBangshareksisteretsiden1878medskiftendesuccesikke.Det38startedeindepåNørrebromedfamilien[anonymized]ogdetersåkørtigennem39generationermedskiftendesucces.Ogdaminfarkøbtedetdervardetetlillevarelager40ogto[inaudible]iKøgeikke.Ehmhvorminmorogfarpendledefremogtilbageforatstå41ogproduceremarmeladeogsælge.Ogdergikdetligesomopforminfarathanikke42kunnedrivedenvirksomhedhvishanogsåskulleproducerealtmarmeladen.Dervar43simpelthenikkenoktimeridøgnettildet.Såvarmanjonødttilatprioritereogder44prioriteredehansåatværeudeatsælge,detsyneshanvarsjovest,ogsåsørgeforat45findeenpartnerderkunneproduceretildenkvalitethangerneville.46

C:Mendetersåændretidagsideniharsælgereudeibureauer?47I:Ja,mendeterjofordivierkommetudogfåetflerekunderogerblevetstørreogderskal48

flereressourcertil.VisælgerjomådetilTysklandogtilPolenogtilIslandog.Såkanman49sedetermåskemereengrossistvirksomhed,hvordeterosderejerprodukterneikke.50Ogbrandet.Ja.51

C:Okay,mencirkasyvansatte52I:Jacirkasyvja53C:Ogsåkunnejeghøredeterogsåmegetfamilie54I:VierermegetfamilievirksomhedmedstortFikke.Sådeterogsåbådepågodtogondtikke.55C:Ogdeterikkesåmangeforskelligeuddannelsesstedervierhennemedansatte?56I:Jodetervi.AltsåvoresmarketingmanagerhunharenuddannelsefraKEA,ogfra57

Københavnsuniversitet,såhunermarketingsuddannetikke.IkkesåCBS.JegerfraCBS,58minstorebrorhanerogsåCBSermenhanharenCand.merc.dat59

C:SåIharogsåenkandidat.60I:Minstorebrorerkandidat,jegerkandidatminfarerkandidat,[anonymized]erkandidat,Line61

somsiddermedmodtagelseafordreogfaktureringogbogholderijegeritvivlomhvad62hunharafuddannelsefaktiskdetkanjegikkehuske.[anonymized]somervoreseksport63managerhanharogsåenkandidaterjegretsikkerpå.Jegmåindrømmejegkanfaktisk64ikkehuskedet.65

C:Mendererivhertfaldetparstykker66I:Dererenovervejendeaf,majoritetenharkandidatgraderja,hvisikkedemallesammen67C:Ja,mendeterikkesådanaltnårIerstartetivirksomhedensåeriikkestartetsomelever68

ellertrainees,ellersådangraduatesierbarestartethårdtpå69I:Ja70C:okay71I:altsådetvi…Vistarterikkemedelevernej.Altsåvihavdetopiccolinerfornogettidsiden,72

mensåskulledeneneimiliogdenandenskulleudatrejseogsådannogetikke,også73lavedevinoglestrukturændringerogsåvardersimpelthenikkebehovfordet.Så74prioriteredevianderledes.75

C:Jaokay.Mensåharjegskrevethermedfordeleogulemperiforbindelsemednyuddannede,76mennusigerduathendeiharimarketingathunerdirektefraskolen.77

I:Korrekt78C:Hvaderderaffordeleogulemper?79


24

I:Ehvedattageennyuddannetiforholdtilenderharværetifagetinogettid?Jamendeterjo80atdeikkekanlandeløbende.Altsådeskaljohavenogetoplæring,ikke.Deskalførst81sættesigindiarbejdslivetikke,deternogleandrerutinernårdukommerfraskolenog82indienhverdaghvorduskalgåpåarbejdeikke.Ehmsådererlidttilvænningder.Men83detfølerjegegentligikkeerenudfordringisærlighøjgradfordioftesåernyuddannede84megethookedpåatkommeudogarbejdeogprøvedetfordideharjoværetpåstudieti85sålangtidogdeterligesom,alterhelestudieforløbetherhardegåetogventetpådet86øjeblikhvordekankommeudpåarbejdsmarkedet87

C:Sådeterenforløsning88I:Deterenstorforløsningfordemikke.Sådevilmegetgernelære,determegetåbneogdeer89

ikkesårædfornyeopgaverogsådannoget.Såaltsådeharantennerneudeikkeogdeter90jorigtigpositivtikke.Hvorimodenderererfaren,harsinerutinerogdetvilsigeatham91kanduikkeformepåsammemådesomdukanmedennyuddannet.92

C:Nejdeterklart93I:Såderersådanlidtplusserogminusservedbeggetoikke,mentilgengældsåskaldusåder94

ermangeflerespørgsmål,duskalværemegetmereindeoverennyuddannetperson95fordideselvsagtskallæresopidetdeskalsiddeoglaveikke.96

C:Såmuligvisdekenderteorierneogsådannogetfraaltmuligtfancymensådanrentpraktisk97såskaldelærehvaddetegentligeratdeskalsiddeoglave.98

I:Imegethøjgrad,måskeerdetnokmereminegenopfattelse,menimegethøjgradder99brugermanmåskeikkesåmegetdeternokmereformigselvmenjegbrugteikkemit100studiealtsådetjeglærteogdetderstodibøgernedetbrugtejegikkesærligmeget,hvis101overhovetimitarbejdsliv.Detjegharlærtogdetjegbrugerrigtigmegetframitstudie102deterdenstrukturjegharfåetvedatstudereoggådenmådejeggårtilværkspå103opgaverne.Deterdetjegmåskeharfåetmestudafiminstudietid,atjegarbejdermere104struktureret.Atjegsåiforvejenikkeerenretstruktureretperson,detersånogethelt105andet.Menjeggårmerestrukturerettilværksnårjegbliverstilletoverforenopgave106ikke.107

C:Okay108I:Sådetermåskeikkeisammegradfor[anonymized],forhunharlærtatarbejdemednogle109

værktøjeriformafillustratorogaltsåforskelligeprogrammerpåcomputeren.Såhunhar110noglekundskaberdersomjegikkeharsomhunbrugerisinhverdag.111

C:Erdetfordiiermeresådanjegdetvedjegikkealtsåerhendesenkandidatuddannelse?112I:Ja,altsålige[anonymized]altsådenmarketingsansvarlige?113C:Jafordinusnakkerduomprogrammerogsådanomdeternogethunharlærtpå114

universitetetelleromdeternogethunharlært115I:Deternogethunharlærtpåuniversitetetsimpelthen.Ja,derharhunlærtatbrugedeher116

programmerherikke117C:Okay.Sådetgiverengodfordel118I:Jadetgørdetjomendukansåsigeathvisdufinderenudevedderharerfaringensåkande119

ogsådetjoikke.Detvarligesometkravforatkommeindipositionendervaratdukunne120siddeogarbejdeidetherprogrammerogdet.Altsåhunsidderjoogermedtilatsætte121etiketteropogtegneogaltsådetskalhunjokunneikke.DetkanenCBSerelleren122cand.merc.solaltsåenderharsiddetmedstrategijoikkeforeksempel.Ehmsådetvaret123krav.124


25


26

C:Okay.Sånåristårogskalansætteerdetsåoftestdemmederfaringellerdenyuddannede?125I:Jamenhvisviskalkiggetilbageivorestilfælde,såervigåetmereefterfolkmederfaring.126C:Ja127I:Ogdetvarnokdetsomjegogsåsagdeovertelefonenfordivierenlillevirksomhedsåvihar128

megetundervingerne,detharpersonerne,deharmangearbejdsopgaverundervingerne129ogderforerdetvigtigtbådeatmankanlandeløbende,ogatviikkeharressourcernetil130atdererenderstårogkiggerdigovernakken.Såmankanarbejdemereselvstændigt.131

C:Okay.Sådenenesteduligesådannukannævnedeter[anonymized]somsiddermed132marketingsomkommerdirektefraskolen.133

I:Jadeterdenenesteviharderkommerdirektefraskolen134C:Okaysåiharikkesådantidligerehaftproblemermedatrekrutterenyuddannede135I:Nejdetharviikke.136C:Okay.137I:Detharviikke.Ogviharoftealtsåjegharansatgennemmitegetnetværk.138C:Erdernogenforskelpånårdeternyuddannedeomdeharnogetekstradekantilbydejer?139I:Eh140C:Ellererdernogetekstradekunnegøreforatværemereinteressanteoverforjer?141I:Jamendetersomsagtjegsynesdetinteressantevednyuddannedeerfordetførsteatdeer142

billigere,deterenstorfactorforenlillevirksomhedsomosdeterhvadkanvibudgettere143medtilennyansatikke.Ehm,sådeterenstorfactorsommanikkeskalunderkende.Og144atdukanformedemaltså,detlydersåbrutaltikkemenatdukan,altsådekommerikke145indmednogleforudantagedemåderhvorpåtingeneskalgøres.Ehmherkandufortælle146demhvadderpasserindidinmådeellerdenstrukturderalleredeerivirksomheden.De147tilpassersigihøjeregradendpersonerdermåskeharværetibranchenilangtid.148

C:Okay,mendetgiverogsågodmening149I:ehmogellershvaddereraffordele,deharmåske,deermere,altsådeterlidtdetsamme150

medaltsådekommerikkemednogenaltsåhvismansidderogsnakkeromenopskrift151elleromhvordanenplakatskaldesignessåhendespladedenerrenikke,såhunkommer152måskemednogleinputsibådeøstogvestikkeognordogsyd.Ogdeterjoengodmåde153atgøredetpå,såerdermåskemereskalkasseresikkementilgengældsåbliverderogså154nogetmereindpåbordet155

C:Sånyeøjne156I:Nyeøjneja.Hvorimodenderharsiddetmedudviklingafetiketterilangtidhunharmåske157

dannetsigenstilikkehvadhungodtkanlideDeterbareeteksempeliforholdtil158udviklingafetiketterikkemendererjoaltmuligtandetogsåikke.Sådetmåskeden159størsteværdiiennyuddanneterathunkommermedencleanplatealtså.160

C:Ja,okay161I:Detsynesjegogdeter162C:Villedetværemereinteressantforjermedennyuddannethvisdeligesomstartedeien163

oplærendetraineestillingelleridenstil?164I:Ja,viharbareikkeressourcerneogstrukturentilatunderstøttedet.Detskalværeenlidt165

størrevirksomhed166C:Okay.Ogiharhellerikketidligerehaftdet?167I:Nej168C:Okay.Ogdeterrentressourcemæssigtatdetsimpelthenikkekanladesiggøre.169


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I:Jamenviharjoikkesådandykketmerenediomdetkanladesiggøreellerej,menaltsåder170eraltsåogsånoglefysiskerammerderertilhinderfordet.Detgørjoatduskalhave171nogleflereansatteikkealtså.Somsagthavdevidehertonyekollegaerogdetfungerede172egentligretfintikke,mendeterheltdererfaktiskmangespørgsmålikke.Såjegtrorikke173atjegereneomdether174

C:Detersådanlidtfortidskrævende175I:Deterenheldelmeretidskrævendeja(elevellerpiccoline).Deerikkesåselvkørendevel?Jo176

yngredeer,jomereskalmanværeoverdem,jomerekommerdemedspørgsmål,detør177ikkesåmegethvorimodennyuddannet(færdiguddannet)deharsådannokstyrpådettil178atdegodttørprøvelidtafikke.Altsådeerselvstændigenok.Hvorimodenelevelleren179piccoline,deerikkeretselvstændigevel.Deterikkementpåenondmåde,mendeter180debareikke.181

C:Deterdeikkenej.Okaynåmenetlidtandetspringså,ehmdettrorjegogsåatjegnævntei182telefonendavisnakkedesammenfaktiskmendethermedatofteresåsesdetogsålidt183lettereforstørrevirksomhederogmedrekrutteringogsådanfordidemåskeharetstørre184brandogkendskabenerlidthøjreogsådan,menhvordanopleveridetoghvordanmed185jeresawarenessogsådan186

I:Jegtrorligesådanligemedvoresvorestilfældederharvijonogleprodukterudepåhylderne187påsupermarkedernesådererikraftafdeterderjoetbrandawarenessikke,fordetikke188iligesåhøjgradsomCocacolaellerkraftfoodellerHeinzketchupogsådannoglebrands189velmenviharnoglebrandsellernogleproduktersomstårudepånoglehyldersom190forbrugereserikkesåderernogetbrandawarenessdersåviliderikkeunderdetderi191sammegradsommåskeenellerandenteknologivirksomhedsomharnogle192komponenterietellerandettelefonetellerandetstedsomforbrugerenikkesernogettil193vel.Ehmnårdetsåersagtsåerderheltsikkertenudfordringder,ehmatdeikkekender194osisammegrad.Dererjolavetdetkenderdujosikkertdererlavetendelstudieromat195studerendehellerevilindidevirksomhederdekenderehmogdeterjolidtdetmanlider196undersomlillevirksomhedogdetmåmanjoogsåbareanerkendeogsåløbereforatfå197derigtigemedarbejdere.Mendeterheltklartetdilemmaaltsåfordeterogsået198spørgsmålompengemanvilbrugepåatgåudogfindedenyeikkealtså.Enheadhunter199dekræverjoen[inaudible]ellertregangeenmånedslønellerhvaddetnueraltefter200hvemdusnakkermedikke.Mendeterheltklartetdilemmadetdermenviersåheldige201atværeidenbranchehvoratvoresbranddeterderudeikkeellervoresprodukterer202derude.203

C:Okay.Mennuførdersnakkedeviforeksempelomatdaiansatte[anonymized]dervardet204igennemnetværk.Sågenereltsådanhvisnåriharennystillingenhvordankommeriud205meddenhvordanpromovereiligesomatdenerder206

I:Jaaltsåvisnakkeriførsteomgangmednetværkogsåslårvidenegentligoppåjobnetog207linkedin.Detersåsteptoikke.Forderplejeratkommerimeligmeget.208

C:Jadetkunnejegforestillemig209I:Ja.210C:Mendetvilsigeierogsåindeovermedsocialemedierogsådannoget211I:Deterviihøjgradja.212


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29

C:Jaharlavetenundersøgelseblandtnyuddannedesådanmedspørgeskemaogdererrigtig213mangedersådansigeratdevedsimpelthenikkehvordeskalfindedemindre214virksomhedersommåskeogsåerlidtmindrekendteogdekiggernemligpådeherjobnet215ogjobindexoghvadderellerser.Mendesynesikkeatderermangeafdesådansmå216virksomheder217

I:Nej.Mendeternokfordimangeafdesmåvirksomhederdeansættergennemnetværk.Og218dettrorjegatdegøraftogrunde,deterétforatsparepenge,ogtofordiatmanjoføler219mankanstolemerepåsitnetværknårman,altsåsåerreferencenlidtalleredetagetikke.220Sådanathvisjegspørgereftermitnetværkatviharbrugfordenherprofilher,kenderdu221nogen,jadetgørjeg.Såfremsenderdejoikkeensomdeikkekanståindefor.222

C:Okay.Menførdersnakkededuogsåomatnuhavdeiselvfølgeligprodukterneudeogsåder223fikiselvfølgelignogetawarenessgennemdetmenellervardetogsånogetsomsådan224ikkeligevarderivillebrugeressourcerneogkastepengeefterathvadskalmansigeøge225awareness226

I:Altsåomkringjobopslageteller?227C:nutænkerjegbaresådangenereltpåvirksomhedenogsåiforholdtilatværemerekendti228

nyemedarbejderesøjnehvisdeter.229I:Jamendeterjolidttosiderafsammesagfordivibrugerrigtigmangeressourcerpåligesom230

atøgekendskabtilvoresvirksomhed.Mendetgørvijoprimærtfordivigernevilhaveat231folkkøbervoresproduktermendetenedetunderstøtterjodetandet.Ehmivores232tilfældeikke.Såjomankansigevibrugermangepengepådetmenvigørdetikkefordivi233viltiltrækkenyemedarbejderevigørdetfordivigerneviltiltrækkenyeforbrugere.234

C:Såforeksempelbegrebetemployerbrandingdeterikkenogetisomsådanhararbejdetmed235I:Nej236C:Nejogdeterikkenogetsådanitænkerfremadrettetkunneværeinteressant?237I:Jodetkunnedetdagodtmen,ehmdetkunnedetdagodtaltsåjegtroratdetaltsådumener238

iforholdtiltiltrækningafnyeressourcerellerhvad?239C:Ja240I:Ja.241C:Nustårisåikkeogmanglernoglenye242I:Vistårikkeogmanglernoglenejmenviharegentligikkehaftdestoreproblemermedat243

findekandidater244C:Medreferencetilbagetilatdetfungerermegetgodtmednetværk245I:Ja246C:Okay,fint.Så247I:detilfældehvordetikkefungererharvisåslåetdenoppåjobindexogderersåkommetret248

mangeansøgere.249C:Okay.OgLinkedIn250I:Ja.251C:Kaniseforskelpånårdeterforeksempeljobnet,jobindexellernårdetersådanmeresocial252

LinkedIn?253I:JaaltsåLinkedIndetermeretungereprofilerjobindexdetersådanlidtmerealmindeligt.254C:Okay.Ehmsådanheltgenereltnårvisnakkerawarenesserdersådanellermåskeikkeså255

megetawareness,menmeregenereltforjeresvirksomhederdersåetellerandetsom256differencerjerbassaltfrastørrevirksomheder?257


30

I:Iforbindelse…prøvligeatuddybe258C:Hvisbaresomsådanmindrevirksomhederdersånogetitænkeratdetervilangtbedretil259

fordivinetoperlilleendstørrevirksomhederer?260I:Dutænkeriforbindelsemedtiltrækningafkandidaterellertænkerdugenerelt?261C:Detkangodtværejaladosbaresigeformedarbejderegenerel262I:Ja.Jamendetkanvijoheltsikkertaltsåikraftafatvierenlillevirksomhedsåharduogsåen263

megetstørreberøringsflademedandreområdernunormaltikkevilarbejdemed.Jo264størrevirksomhedenbliver,jomerebliverdinearbejdsopgaversatiboxellerbåseller265hvadduvilkaldedet.Altsåduarbejdermerestruktureretdetermaskeetdårligtord,266menhvisduarbejderienstorvirksomhed,såharduikkesåstorenberøringsflademed267heleprocessen.Ladostageeteksempelhvisiproduktudviklingdervilduienvirksomhed268somvoressiddemedheleværdikædenfraidéfasentilnårproduktetstårudepåhylden269ogmåskesågarogsåellerfaktiskogsåmedatarbejdemedkampagne.Ienvirksomhed270somOrklaellerUnileversomersammebranchesomvoressomermegetmegetstørre271virksomhedderarbejderdumåskemedproduktudviklingikkefraAtilZsomdugørher272hosBangsmenmåskefraAtilFogdetkanværeatsåskalduslippeproduktetefterdu273harudvikletetikettenforeksempelsåerderenandendertagerprocessenoverikkeog274skalfindeudafhvilketglasduskalhaveproduktetskalværei.Ogsåskaldenså275overlevereproduktetnårdetkommerudogskalståpåhylden.Såenmedarbejderkan276godt,deterjoikkealle,mendeflestekangodtlideatmanfølgersinbabyhelevejenud277tilhyldenogfaktiskogsåarbejdermeddetpåhyldenfordidetersjovt.Sådestore278virksomhederdehardenudfordringatdubliversatmereibåshvordemindre279virksomhederderfårduenbredereberøringsfladeogduermegettætterepå280beslutningstagerneidemindrevirksomhederogduspillerenstørrerolleikraftafatdu281ikkeersåmangemedarbejderesådufårlovtilattagenoglebeslutningerselvikke282

C:Sådufårmereansvar283I:Ja,medandreord.284C:Ogduharmindrehvadkanmankaldedetsamlebåndsarbjede285I:Ja286C:Jaokay287I:Ogdeterendeterenvigtigfactornårduskaludogvælgearbejdehvadvildusiddeoglave288

ikkealtså.Såviharikkedestoreudfordringernårviskaludogrekrutterefolkfordivikan289givedemenmasserentarbejdsmæssigt,menderhvorvikommertilkorteratviikkekan290betaleligesåstorelønninger.Omvendtsådestorevirksomhederdetiltrækker291medarbejderemdenstørreløncheckhvilketerhalvdelenafdetarbejdedetaltsådet292spillercirka50%293

C:Iforholdtilarbejdsopgaver294I:Iforholdtilatvælgeetjobdeterokayjamenhvorstorenrolleskallønnenoghvorstoren295

rollespillerarbejdsopgaverne.Fornoglekandetvære75lønog25arbejdsopgaver,alt296efterhvordusidderhenne.297

C:Okay,såhvisduskalsigejeresstørstestyrkesomenmindrevirksomhed298I:Jamenvoresstørstestyrkeeratvikantilbydevoresmedarbejderemereansvarog299

beslutningsjaaltsåatdekantagebeslutninger.300C:Okay.Såharjegfaktiskikkesåmangeflerespørgsmål.301I:Jamendetvardejligthurtigtså302


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32

C:Jadetvardet303I:Deterjoperfekt304C:Dusvaredenærmestpådemallesammenløbende305I:Jamendetvardagodt.Ellerskandubareskrive,såskaljegnokgivelyd.306C:Erdernogetdusådantænkerdugernevilafmedherpåfalderebet?307I:Nejaltsådeterderfaktiskikke.Deterderikke,jegharsagtdetjegskalsige.308C:Perfekt.Jamensåslukkerjeg.309


33

C.2.KonsolidatorA/S

C:Altsåligeforatkommeheltgodtfrastart,såviljeggernehøreligeforatfåafklaretatIeren1lillevirksomhed,sådanhvormangeIrentfaktisker?2

I:Vier5ansatteogto,trestuderende.3C:Trestuderende?4I:Jatotrestykkersådancirka.5C:Okay,såIersådan?6I:5fuldtidsansatteigenogtotrestuderendesomerderaltid.7C:Sådeterlidtenbredviftebådeerfarendeogikkesåerfarende?8I:Jadetviljegsige.De5ansattedeerfulderfarende,deternoglemedrigtigmangeårs9

erhvervserfaringhvordenyngsteeristartenaf40erne.Sådeteraltsammennoglemed10mindst20årserfaringafde5,ogdetotrestykkerdetsvingerlidtmed,ligeiøjeblikketer11defaktisktostuderendeogdetertoCBSstuderende.12

C:Okay.13I:Enfir.ogenling.merc.’er.14C:Jaokay.SånårIhellerikkeerflere,såvedduheltpræcishvilkenbaggrunddekommerfra15

kanjeghørenupådigmeddenyuddannede,mendemisærdererfastansatte,defem,16hvorkommerIsådanfra?17

I:Vierensoftwarevirksomhed,såvihartoprogrammører,sådeterprogrammører,hardcore18koder,sådekommerfraCBSellerITpåuniversitet.19

C:Okay20I:Ogvitreandreermedøkonomiogrevisorbaggrunde,såvierCFO’erogrevisorer,såhvisdet21

errevisorer,såerdetcand.merc.aud’ersomrevisorogjegselvercand.polit.ogkommer22fraKøbenhavnsUniversitet.23

C:Okaysåenbredskare.24I:Meddemallesammen.Kandidatenaltså.25C:Deteralligevelmegetinteressant.26I:NokikkesåoverraskendenårduerpåDTU,viljegsige.Deteraltså,deterrelativthøjt,ja.27

Deterfaktisketkravforatboher,atmanskalhaveentekniskbaggrund.28C:Okay.29I:Deterenafkravene,foratkommeindher,ja.30C:Jaokay.Nå,spændendealligevel.31I:Somvirksomhedja.32C:SånuhvorjegharetspørgsmålomIharkandidatansatte,såkanjegjoroligtsigejadetharI.33I:Viharikkeandetnej.34C:Nej.35I:Sådanmådetogsåværeifremtiden.Ligenusøgervidenhertilkommunikationogmarketing36

ogdersøgervicand.ling.merc.’erogcand.com.’er,såogsånogenmedenkandidat.Og37jegskalogsåtilatsøgenogensælgereogdeterogsånogenderentenharen,derharen38kandidatbaggrund,somentenharværetrevisorerellerogsåsåhardeværet39økonomicheferellerregnskabscheferellerenellerandenmedenrelativhøjstillingefter40dereskandidatuddannelser.Sådergårlangtidførvifårikke-kandidatudannedefolk.41

C:SådeterlidtnærmestetkriterienårIsøger?42


34

I:Jaikkepågrundafuddannelsen,mendenerfaring.Nårviskaltilatsøgeforeksempel43sælgeretilatimplementerevoressoftware,såkræverviatdeharen,bådeen44uddannelseindenforregnskabogsåogsåatdeharnogeterhvervserfaring.Såmanvil45ikkeseretmangeunder,altsåunderdeder2,3,4,35år,detersværtatforestillesig.46

C:NuhvordusigernårIskaltilatimplementere,hvornyervirksomhedenrentfaktisk?47I:Detnokmerenyekunder.48C:Okay.49I:Altså,virksomhedenerfra2014,hvorvivartredergikigangmedatkodedethersoftware50

somvisælgerogdettoghalvandetår,derhavdeviogsåfuldtidsarbejdevedsidenaf,så51dettoggodthalvandetår.Den01.01.2016havdevivoresproduktfærdigtoggikigang52medatsælgedet.Såviharsolgtiknapttreår2016,17og18snarttreårharvisolgt53produktetognårjegsigerimplementere,såerdetnårvifinderennykunde,såskal54softwarenimplementereshoskundenogforatkunneimplementere.Dererikkenogetat55implementere,viersoftwaretilservice,sådeterbaremedatlogpåenwebbrowserog56såerduigang.Forattilpassetdensoftwaretildinvirksomhedsåskalderværeen57implementering.Ogdemderskalforetageimplementeringenfraosafskalhavenoget58regnskabstekniskkunnen.DuskalikkehaveIT-mæssigerfaringforatimplementeredet,59menduskalhaveregnskabstekniskforståelsepåetrethøjtniveauogderforerdetikke60realistiskatvitagerenheltnyuddannet.Mennuerdetligepræcisindenfor61statsautoriseretrevisorerdeterjoenuddannelsesamtidigmedatmanarbejder,sådu62kanfaktiskværefuldstændig.Hvisduerfærdiguddannetsomentencand.merc.audeller63statsautoriseretrevisorsåharduallerede10årserhvervserfaring,såpådenmådekandu64godttageennyuddannetforsåhardeallerederelativmegeterfaring.65

C:Okay.MennårIligesomsøger.HvorsøgerIsåhenne?66I:Hvilketmedie?67C:ja.68I:Jobindex.69C:Hovedsageligtjobindex?70I:DetbliverdetiDanmark.Viskalogsåtilatsøgeiudlandet,såbliverdetselvfølgelignogle71

andre.MeniDanmarkerdetiJobindex.72C:Okay.Menaltsåiforholdtildethermednyuddannedesåhørermanbaretitnuheromat73

dererenøgetkonkurrenceatligesomfåfatidegodetalenter,menserdufordeleeller74ulemperiatdeternyuddannede?75


35

I:Jegkangodtlideatarbejdemedungemennesker.Heltklart.Jegkangodtlide,atdeunge,de76kommermedenandenmankangodtsigefriskhed,mendeharjofærrebarrierer.De77kommermegetmeremedsådanharjegaltidgjort,detliggeriatværeung,sådereren78andenenergiogenandenmådeatsetingenepå.Såviharansatenpå62,hamervi79supergladefor,menjegkanrigtiggodtlideatfåungeind.Dereringentvivlom,atde80næsteviskalhaveansatdebliveryngre,hvisdegideratværehosos.Deteraltidsværtat81fåfatidenførsteunge,fordivierallesammenover40,detskaldejogide.Viharingen82kvinderforeksempel,vivilgernehavekvinderogvivilgernehaveunge,foratfådenher83bredteivoresforhæng,deterjoklartnårvikunerfemmennesker,såerdetbegrænset84hvorbreddemankanvære,derkanmanikkebådehaveungeoggammeloginternational85ogkvinderogmænd.Altså,deterjoselvfølgeligsværtnårvikunerfemmennesker,men86dereringentvivlomidenherkommunikation,marketingogkommunikationderharvi87fået53ansøgere,ungoggammel,mændogkvinder,dergårjegefterenungkvinde.Jeg88harogsåbådeældreogmændtilsamtale,forselvfølgeligskalvihavedenbedste89kandidat,menstårderen,altandetligesåviljeghelsthaveenungekvinde,ogdenher90diversitet.Deterheltklart.Ogsåja,såtrorjegdenæsteansættelserdetbliversådan91noglerelativtungeogmedrelativtmenerjegdeerstadigvækover30.92

C:Ogsåtrordudeterenfordel,fordideeropenminded?93I:ja.94C:Okay.Menaltsåtidligere,harIderhaftproblemermednyuddannede?Nusigerdu,atdeter95

sværtnårIfølerjerlidtgamleeller?96I:Overhovedetikke.Jegtrorvoresstuderendeharværetsupergladforatværehernetopfordi97

desomstuderendeharfåetmegetmegetstortansvar,fordivierenlillevirksomhed.Så98dehercand.ling.merc’ersomviharhaftansatmensdeharværetstuderende,deharjo99faktiskværetmarketingschefer.Selvomdestadigvækerstuderendefordideligesomde100kom.Ja,jegtrordetharværetnoglesjovestudenterjobs,fordimanfårretstortansvarog101manfårihvertfaldnogetsommanselvkanskrivepåCV’et.102

C:Ja.Nå,ejdetvillejegdaogsågernehavehaftset.103I:Derbrugervidethergraduateland.Erdetikkedetdethedder?104C:Jo,derernogetderheddergraduateland.105I:Dettrorjeg.Igen,denherstillingsannoncesomdererlagtoppåjobindex.Detvarstuderende106

derharlavetden.107C:Okay,jegharkunsetpåLinkedInatIhavdeganginoget.108I:ja,dervardenherjobstillingdervarlagtoppåJobindexogsåharvismidtdenoppålinkedIn.109

Detvarenstuderendederharlavetden.Sådestuderendeharhaftretmegetfripladstil110atudfoldesig,fordideikkevedsåmegetomdet,sånårdeforeslognogetsåhardefået111lov.Såpådenmådesåtrorjegselvomvigamleiforhold,såerderetgladeforvierher,112jegerherdetvirkersådan.113

C:Menerdernogetsomdenyuddannedeligesomkantilbydejersomvirksomhed?114


36

I:Jaklart,specialtmedkommunikationogmarketing,ogdigitaleværktøjer.Altsåjegkanikke115mailchimp,jegkanikkefacebookboost,jegkanikkealledederting,altsåjegkanlære116dem,mennuharjegjosåenandenrolleivirksomheden.Jegkanikkealledetingherog117problemet,nårjegoverhovedetikkekenderdem,såkanjegikkeenganganbefaledetog118sigeIskalgøresådan.Forjegvedatdeteksisteredeførdekommerogfortællermigatde119eksisterer,atmankanogsågøresådan.Ogjegbrugeroftedetordsprogsomsiger:”Hvis120manved,manikkeveddet,sålærermandet.Menhvismanikkeved,atmanikkeved121det,kanduikkegørenoget.”122

C:Nej.Deterrigtigt.123I:Ogsådanerderrigtigmegetformigindenforkommunikationogmarketing.Jegvedikkehvad124

dererafmulighederogderforkanjegogså,sånårderernogenderfortællermigom125googleadwordsogomSEOogviskalSEO-optimeresåkanjeggodtforstådet,menjeg126kanikkesigehvadjegskalgøre.Javiskalhavenogetbedre’content’,okay,menhvader127bedre’content’,detvedjegikkeengang,såjegskalhavenogen.Derskaljegvirkelig128hjælpes.Nårdersåkommerenstuderendeogsiger,jegsyntesviskalgøresådan.1,jeg129harikkenogetargument,forikkeatgøresådan.Ogdeterogsårigtigfint,sådeharfået130relativt.131

C:Såhvisdeargumenterergodtforderessag,såhvorfor?132I:Debehøvesikkeengangatargumentere.Deskalbarekommemedenideogsåskaldeprøve133

detaf.134C:SådererIogsåmegetåbene?135I:Meget.Fordivikanikkebedreselv,menselvhvisdetsåikkeerengodide,såharvisålærtaf136

det,kanmansige.137C:Deterjosåogsåenstorfordelfordenyuddannedeiforholdtilatprøvehvaddelæreraf.Nu138

kanjegsåsammenlignedetmeddentidligerevirksomhedjegharværeti.Deturdeikke139såmeget,såerdetrigtigrigtigsværtatkommeudogrampendem.Sådetermegetfedt140atIeråbne.141

I:Detforstårjeggodt.Specielthvismanerigenlidtældresommig,såermansimpelthennødt142tilatanerkendeatderermegetviikkevedogsåblivermansimpelthennødttilattageud143pådendertyndeisogprøvenogletingafogsehvadpokkerdersker.Altså,dukanikke144baresiddetilbageogsige,”detderdeterutryktformig,ogjegkenderdetikke,såjeg145blivervæk”.146

C:Oghåbepåatdinemedarbejdereogsåvildetbedsteforvirksomheden.147I:Ja.Detvilallejo.Detsyntesjegikkemanbehøvesværesåbangefor,såja.148C:Meniforholdtilnyuddannede.Nusigerdudetkræveralligevelatdeharlidterfaringellerat149

deihvertfaldkanselvlærerikontekst,hvismankansigedetsådan.Vildenyuddannede150væremereinteressanteforjersomlillevirksomhed,hvisdestartedeienformafpraktik151ellertraineeellerelevellerhvadmankalderdet?152

I:Nej.Deterbareudad.153C:Såhvisdeharhaftetstudiejobellernogetpraktikløbende,såerdemereværdendhvisde154

starterienoplærendestilling?155


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I:Ja.Vedmindrevirksomhederfungereroplærendestillingerikke,fordidufåretmegetmeget156stortansvar.Dererjoikkenogenafosderhartidtilellerevnertilatgåogværementor157forentrainee,ellergåogopvarte,altsåhvismangernevilsådannogetsåmåmanien158storvirksomhed.Altså,ismåvirksomhederderkommerduudogsåfårduligemåskeet159kvartersintroduktionogsåerdetbareigang.Ogsåfinderduselvudafhvor160kaffemaskinenstår,oghvadfornogleabonnementermanskalbrugeoghvordanmangør161tingene.Detfinderman…,altsåmanspørgerjoselvfølgelig.Deteregentligogsåenting162somjegtrorermegetvigtig,attagemedtiljerungeder,deterpersonlighedmeget163mere.AltsåIskalhavejeresværktøjskasseiordendetskalallejo,sådanerdet.Men164derudoverpersonlighedogdertrorjegmanskalgøresigklart,fordiviharjoallesammen165forskelligepersonligheder.Dettrorjegmanskalgøresigklart,”harjegenpersonlighedtil166atværeismåmindrevirksomhederellerharjegenpersonlighedsommereerrettetmod167destørrevirksomheder”.Denhelthelt…jegkommerfraA.P.Møller,såjegharværetien168afdestorevirksomheder,ogdenheltheltstoreforskelerhvordanmanblivertageti169armen,ihåndenogguidet.Istorevirksomhederkommerduindiderescorporate170programmerogblivertrænetogguidet,ogrygerpåengelskkursusogpåhandelskursus171ogderudafogbliverfuldstændigpakketindogfuldstændigguidet.Ogpådenmådefår172manjoselvfølgelighellerikkedensammestoreselvstændighed,menblivertilgengæld173trænetogguidet.Hvorimodidesmåvirksomheder,dererdetbarederudaf,dergår174mansimpelthenbareigangogsåstartermanmedatarbejdeogsåtagermandenderfra.175

C:Ogsåkanmansige,sålærermanogsåmereundervejspåenellerandenmåde,fordiman176sigerjooftedethermedhvismanfårlovat”fejle”ellerfaldeellerligemærkeatmaner177pådybtvand,sålærermanmereafdetikke?178


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I:Manlærernogetandet.Jegvilhelleresigemanlærernogetandet.Jegvilværeblegforat179sigeat,jegvilmene,ogdeterogsådetjegsigertilvoresstuderende.Denperfekte180karrierevejuansetommanvildestoreellerdesmå,deter,startienstorvirksomhed.Det181ersværtatgådenandenvejrundt.Startienstorvirksomhed,fordimanfårnogen182redskaberiforlængelseafsinkandidatgradellerkandidatuddannelse,atmanfårnogen183værktøjer.DetjegfikoglærtehosA.P.Møllerdetbrugerjegstadigvæk,selvomjegeri184eniværksættervirksomhedelleropstartsvirksomhed.Såjegsyntesdererrigtigmange185fordelevedatstarteidestorevirksomheder,ogsåfånogleværktøjerder,ogsåkanman186såfindeudafhenadvejenommansyntesdeterforuselvstændigtogatdeterfor187bureaukratiskogdeterforsværtatkommeigennemmedsineideerogmansyntesdeer188forkonservativeogdetingder,oghvismanfølermanbliverbegrænsetfordet,såkan189manhoppeudinogetmindre.Deterbaresværtnårdustarteridesmå,dufårikkede190herværktøjerdukommerikkepådetherhurtigeudvekslingskursus,dufårikkedet191engelskkursusogaldeherforskelligekurser.Sådanfungererdetbareikkeidehersmå192virksomheder,hererdetaltsåbareudogfåhændernenedidejenmeddetsamme.Så193detertomegetforskelligetypermåderatarbejdepå-dublivermegetmegetbredafat194arbejdeidesmåvirksomheder.Fordialtså,tagerdunuf.eks.voreskommunikationog195marketing.DeterjohelepallettenmednyhedsbreveogmedLinkedInogFacebookog196hjemmesideogsamtidigogsåeninternationalstrategiforhvordanskalvibrandeosselvi197heleverdenenoghvordanskalvilavekampagneiSchweizogmåskeansættenogeniet198bureauiLondonogaltså,sådeterjohelepaletten.Hvorhvisdueransatienstor199virksomhed,jamensåstårdumåskeforethjørneafenhjemmesideogsåsiddemeddet200ogikkeandet.201

C:Mensåkanmanogsåsigedererdetjoogsånetopfordikommunikationogmarketingerså202bredt,sværtatfindeenmereellermindregeneralistderkanværemedpådethele,fordi203netopatderernogenderermerespecialiseretiforeksempeldenonlinedelellerSEO204ellerhvaddetnuendmåttevære,hvorderkandetigenværedethermedstrategiensom205erenhelandenboldgadeogbranding,ogimageudadtilogemployerbrandingindadtil206oghvadvedjeg.JegkangodtforstånårdusigerIharbrugfornogenmederfaring,fordi207deskalkunnedethele.208

I:Ja.Deterderkaningen.209C:Nejmensådanbredtsagt.210


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I:Jegerfuldstændigenigmedhvaddusigerogdeterogsåderforjegkommerlidttilbagetil211personlighed,fordidererikkenogenderkanfavnedethele,ogogsåselvomduhar25års212erfaring.Deterdersimpeltheningenderkan.Sådethandlerogsåomdetdermed213personprofilen,omhvordanhåndtererdudetdermedduikkeharekspertiseeller214erfaringi.Sådetskaljostadigvæklavesogsåerdetsåhvorduheletidenmågåpå215kompromis,entensålaverjegdetselvmeddenbegrænseterfaringjeghar,ellerogsålige216præcispådetområde,søgervisånogeteksternekspertise.Mankanjostadigvækbruge,217entenstuderende,ellermankanbrugenogleeksternebureauer.Foreksempel.Ligei218øjeblikketmeddennekommunikationsogmarketingspersonjegsøger,dererjegmeget219fokuseretpådetsproglige.Såkandejoikkedetvisuelle,deterjotypiskenmodsætning.220Mendeterfordiviharetbureaueksternt,somligesomharlavetvoresvisuelleidentitet221ogdetbureaumårigtiggernefortsætte,detviserpersonenskalikkeværeekspertpådet222visuelle,mensåskalmantilgengældhaverelationentildethereksternebureau.Såman223fårstadigvækansvaretforenmegetbredpalletteogsådeområdermanikkeselvkan224ellerharerfaringi,dermåmansåhvadhedderdet,brugenogeteksterntassistance.225

C:Okay.226I:Derblivermanenformforkoordinator.Hvormanskalkoordinereså.227C:Megetinteressant.Nå,mensåiforholdtildethermedstørrevirksomhederdeofteharlidt228

letteremedatrekrutteringiformafdemåskeermerekendteogisærogsånårvisnakker229nyuddannedehvissmåvirksomhederikkeersågodetilatellerdemåskeikketænkerså230megetoverdetoghvisawarenessikkeersåhøj,hvordanfårmansåfatinogensomikke231rigtigvedmaneksisterer?HvordanserIjeresawarenessiforholdtilstørrevirksomheder?232Serinogenudfordringerellerhvordan?233

I:Ja,altsåklart.Menhvadhedderdet,dethandleromkommunikation.Altså,jegmenerhvisdu234er,altsåhvisdukankomme,kanmansige,fåbudskabetud,såkanvijotilbydenogethelt235heltandetendA.P.MøllerellerNovoellerCarlsbergellerPandora.Vikanjotilbydenoget236heltheltandet,fordivierenlillevirksomhed.Såfordenretteprofilervijomarkantmere237interessantendatarbejdehosPandora.Fordi,hvisdugodtkanlidedethermedatvære238megetselvstændigoghaveheleansvaretogvirkeligsiddetætpåledelseogduvirkelig,”239det-du-siger-i-dag-det-gør-vi-i-morgen-agtigt”,dukansimpelthenfålovtilatboldredig240kanmansige,ogprøvealledeherforskelligeredskaberaf,somduharlærtpåskolen241ellersomdubrænderforelleretellerandet,ikke.Såfordenretteprofilsåervijomeget242megetsjovere.Mendetskalviselvfølgeligudogfortælle,fordidererikkenogender243kenderKonsolidator,menallekenderPandora.Altså,detsigerselvfølgeligsigselv,sådet244handlerigenomkommunikation,ognukanjegjose,nufordijegfikdenherannoncesat245opafenkommunikationsstuderende,gjordejoatviharfået63ansøgere.Sidstegangvi246lavedeenansøgningderfikvijo8ansøgereellersådannogetder.247

C:Oghvorlagdeidenop?248I:OgsåJobindex.Sådetsigerjolidtom,jegvedikkeomdetpga.dengrønnefarveeller,Idont249

know.250C:Ellersproget,hvadderbliverskrevetiselveannoncen?251


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I:Ja.Sådethandlermegetomkommunikation.Derernogenderervirkeligvirkeligsvære,og252deterklartnårvikommertilprogrammører,såkandetheltklartgodtblivesværtogdet253måviså,altså.Dentypestillinger,fordiderertilgengældmegetmegetbegrænset254ressourcerogderkandettitbareblivelønogsåskalmanudogkonkurrererpålønogder255erMicrosoftlønførendeogsådannogenting,sådetkanseriøstgodtbliveenudfordring,256menmåvijotagedettildentid,såkandetgodtværevimåhaveprogrammørertilat257siddeiudlandet.Menpåsådannoglealmindeligesælgereogmarketing,kommunikation258ogsådannogentingder,derbørværerigeligtattageafiDanmark.Detmenerjeg.259

C:Okay.Medhensyntiljeresegenbrandawareness,hvordangørIopmærksompåjerselv?260I:Forlidt,detvedjegselv,så,menvibrugerLinkedIn,ogvibrugerfagblade,hvorviannoncerer261

ifagblade.262C:MendeterogsåenlillenicheIhargangi?263I:Jadeterdet.Sådetherbrandrecognition-vilvimegetmegetgernehaveenmegethøj264

brandrecogntionindenforvoresmålgruppe,ogdenmålgruppeermegetmegetsnæver.265DererfaktiskfemtiltitusindpersoneriDanmarkderbehøveratkendeos,såharvien266brandrecognitionpå100.Mereerdersådansetikke.267

C:Mendeterjofedt.268I:Ja.Ogdeernavngivne,såvikanbaresendeenmailtildem,sådeterrelativtsimpelt.Men269

detændrerikkemereved,atdetskalgøres,ogdetbliverikkegjortidag.Menellerssåer270detrigtigmegetdirect,altså,etafvoresheltstorebrandingområder,deterfirestore271revisionshuse:Deloitte,PwC,KPMG,Ernst&Young–ogdetersimpelthenkaffe-møder.272Jegdrikkerrigtigmegetkaffe.Sådetersimpelthenatinvitererosselvpåbesøgog273spørgeromdukanfåenkopkaffe.Deternokvoresmestanvendtebrandingogdemvi274harstørstsuccessmed.Deneregentligtrigtiggoddenmetode,problemetvedden275metode,deteratdenfungererkuniDanmark,denfungererikkeiEuropa.Såskalmani276hvertdrikkemegetkaffe,sådenfungererkunheriDanmark,såviskalpåenelleranden277mådefindeudafhvordanvifår.Deterenafdeting,somblivervigtigtherfordenher278kommunikationsmedarbejder,detbliveratfindeudafhvordanviskalerervoresbranding279tilEuropa.Detbliveropgavenummer1.280

C:Sådetvilsige,ligenuderhar,altsåfølerI,atIharstyrpådetdanskemarkedoggernevilud?281I:Ja.DererrimeligmangederkendertilDanmarkogdererflerederkendertilLondontrorjeg.282

Sådererdetenudfordring.283C:OgsåtænkerIEuropaiførsteomgang?284I:VieriDanmarkogvieriSchweizogviersmåtiEngland,menviskalhavemegetmeretrykpå285

Schweiz.OgviskalhaveogsålidtmeretrykpåEngland.Sådetersådandeførste,deter286faktiskogsåderforvisøgerendergodtkantysk.MensåEnglandogSchweizskalder287trykkesmerepåogligesåsnartviharfåetsatdetigang,såerdetSverigeogNorgeog288Benelux.Detersimpelthenfordivikiggerhovedsagligtpådelandesomvifølerermest289IT-savvy,altsåmestIT-modne.Detgårviefter,fordiatvoresprodukt,deteregentligtet290produktdererstatterExcel[inaudible],sommanalleredeidaglaveriExcel.Detskalman291sålaveindeivoresprodukt.OgdelandederermestITmodne,deterderhvorvihar292lettestmedatkommeigennemmedvoresbudskaber.Såvistartermeddelandeognår293delandesåersatigang,kanmansige,sågårvivideretilSpanien,Frankrigogså294begyndervisåatkiggepåentenUSA,ellerMellemøstenogAsien.Sådeteregentligt295globaludspredelse,visådansatsemod,mensådaniroligtempi.296


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C:Jaokay.Nå,menspændendealligevel.Meniforholdtildethermedpromoveringafegen297virksomhed,harIlært,sådannuvedjeggodtIikkeerså,Iharikkesådanmegamangeår298påbanen,menharihafttænktoverellerkiggetpåellerenddaarbejdetmeddether299konceptmedemployerbranding,iforholdtilatfåmereawarenessogfåfolktilatblive300interesseretivirksomheden?301

I:Jegvedikkeenganghvaddeter.302C:Okay.303I:Teachme.304C:Employerbrandingerdethermedatdurentbrandingmæssigtarbejderrigtigmegetmed305

identitetogimageivirksomheden.Hvoridentitetdeteratdugårindogkiggerpå306virksomheden,hvemervigenerelt,hvemvilvigernehaveviselvassociererosmed,som307virksomhed.Hvoratimagedetersådanudadtil,sånårdurentfaktiskkommunikererdet308ud,hvordantagerstakeholderesåimoddether,bådemedpåvirkningframedierog309andrestakeholderetilvirksomheden,hvordanaltligesomspillerindudefra,310samfundsmæssigtoghvadvedjeg.HvordanbliverdetIgernevilsyne,hvordanbliverdet311tagetimod,iforholdtilbådeatspredeawarenessomhvemIer,menogsåatgørejer312attraktivesomemployer.Giverdetmening?313

I:Ja.Dettrorjegnokegentligvihartænktoveralligevel,vividstebareikkedetheddet.Men314altsådukanjosige,viertrefoundereogtoafoserudehoskunderogvihardasnakket315omhvaderdetforen,altså,hvaderdetforenudstråling,hvaderdetvikommermed.316Menvierjobaresomvier,altsåvierjoærlige,altsåviharikkeprøvetatomskoleosselv,317vikommerbaresomdepersonervier.Ogdekunderviharfået,dethardegodtkunnet318lideogdekundervisåikkeharfået,dethardesåikkekunnetlide.Detersådanmeget,så319detblivernoknogetdersådanligesomlidtmereskalsættesinogenkasser,inogen320rammer,måskedefineres,nårvibegynderatfåmedarbejdere.Såskaldejoligesomfinde321udaf,okay,hvisdenandenfoundersomhedder[anonymized],såhvisogjeg,altså,og322hvisdeandrepåenellerandenmådeskalværeled,altså,hvisvipåenellerandenmåde323skabedenidentitet,såskaldenidentitetjoskabeslidtomkringdenmådevierpå,kan324mansigeikke?325

C:DeterjodetIvinderpåogdethermednårmedarbejdernekansehvaddetegentligerman326stårforogdetogsåerdetderligesombliverafspejletudadtil,ogdetskaljosåogså327gerneværedetdertiltrækkernyemedarbejdere,atmangernevilarbejdeidetmiljø.328

I:Såjegkanjogodtse,atvinårvibegynderatfånogleflerefolkpå,såskalvidefinerehvadvi329renter.Detharvijoikkedefineretvedbareatværeosselv,ogdeterjosådefinitionen330påos,kanmansige,fordivijobareerosselv.Mennårderkommerflerepå,såskalvijo331prøveatseomde[inaudible],mendeterjoklart,altså,viharjoenidentitet,altsåderer332joingentvivlomathvisvigårudtilallevoreskunderogrevisorerneogspørger,”Hvader333Konsolidatorforentypevirksomhed?”Jamen,såvildesåsvareetellerandet,ogjeganer334ikkehvaddevillesvare.Mensåvildejosvareetellerandet.Altså,bådepositivtog335negativt,ogsådanerdetjo.Og,detersådenmådevierpå.336

C:MendeterikkenogetIsomsådanreelthararbejdetmedendnu?Iharselvfølgeliggjortjer337nogletankeromkringdet,men?338


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I:Detkanmansådansetsige,menderhvorderergjortrigtigmangetankeromkringdet,derer339atvileverrigtigmegetpåtroværdighed.Altsådeterjoregnskabstingvilaver,såvi,for340eksempelharvialdrignogensindepromoveretossomiværksættervirksomhed,fordi341voreskunderdetersådannogenrelativtstorevirksomheder,ogderklingerdetbareikke342sågodtatsige...Detklingerikkesågodt,såviharaldrignogensindeudpensletatvieren343opstartsvirksomhedelleriværksættervirksomhed,detbliveraltidnedtonet,ogsåprøver344viatpusteoslidtopindeni.Viprøveratgøreoslidtstørre,altsånårfolkspørgerhvor345mangeansattevier,ikke,såpuhadetvilvihelstikkesvarepå,fordivierjokun5,ikke.Så346istartenbrugervinoglekundersomreferencer,menså,pådenmådeharvigåetopi347hvaderdetfornoglesignalervisenderudikke?.Såviharsådanprøvetatpusteoslidtop348oggjortoslidtstørreendvireeltharværet,forligesomatskabetroværdighedomkring349os.FordiogjegmedvoresCVogmedvoresbaggrund,fremtræderrelativttroværdigt.Vi350harselvprøvetatværeCFO’erogviharselvprøvetatværerevisorer,såvivedhvaddet351erfornogleproblemerdesiddermed.Vikommerikkesomsoftwaresælgere,f.eks.Vi352kommermednogen,derharetstykkeværktøjtilnoglefolk,somviselvharværeteller353er.Altså,viselvhardenbaggrund.Såsompersonerharvirimelighøjtroværdighed,men354somvirksomhedharvisådanskulletpusteoslidtop.355

C:Ja.Mensjovtalligevel,fordijegsynesjodetermegaspændende,mensjovtatIikkerigtig356sådantænkeroverdet,menalligevelgørnogetderhenaf.Mendetkanmansige,det357blivermanjoogsånødttil.358

I:Ja.Altsåja,manlærerjohurtigt,nårmanikkevednogetomkommunikation,somjegikkegør359pådetfagligeplan,såfindermanjohurtigtudaf,atmankanikke,ikke-kommunikere.360Detkanikkeladesiggøre.361

C:Althvaddugør,blivertagetimodjo.362I:Præcis,ja.Så,nårmanfinderudafderhermedatmankanikke,ikke-kommunikere,såfinder363

manudaf,okaysåkommunikererjeg.Selvfølgelig,såblivermanjonødttilpåenanden364måde,atfindeudafhvaderdetfornogen.Altså,hvordan,hvaderdetfornoglesignaler365mansenderoghvordanmodtagerfolkdetsommaner.366

C:OgigenkanmansigeIhar,dererdetjoogsåvirkeligvigtigtnårIsåsnakkerforeksempel367socialemedier,fordidukan,somduselvsiger,dukanikke,ikke-kommunikere.Såselvom368dupersonligtikkeertilstedepåsocialemedier,nårmenhvisnogensåerutilfredseeller369etellerandetmedvirksomheden,jamensåskaldenokfåkommunikeretud,uansetom370manertilstedeellerej.Sådeternæsten,jegvillesige,deterenfejlhvisnogenikkeer,371fordisåkanduhellerikkeholdeøjemedhvisderernogetfolksigerafnegativt.372

I:Nej.373C:Ogdeterjoretniceatværepåforkantmedkanmansige.374I:Ja,heltsikkert.375C:Jegerfaktisknåettiletafminesidstespørgsmål.Iforholdtildethermedstørre376

virksomheder,hvordanvilIsådifferentierejerselvfradem?Duharværetlidtindepå377noget.378

I:Dutænkerpåansættelseellerfindekunder?379C:Ansættelse.380


46

I:Jamendetermedatslåpånogleafdefordelederervedatværeenlillevirksomhed.Forder381erheltklartnoglefordele.Mensomjegogsåsagdetidligere,såforheltnyuddannede,så382viljeganbefaledeflesteatsøgemodstørrevirksomheder,idetmanfårnogleretgode383redskaberhosdestørrevirksomheder.Så,menellersigendehertretilfemårserfaring384somjegsøgerligenu,jamenaltsåvikantilbydenogetheltheltandetogetmarkantmere385interessantjobfårdenretteprofil.Ogmanskalselvfølgelighavedenprofilderhedder,at386mansyntesdeterfedtatværerelativtaleneogståpåegnebenogsyntesdetersjovere387atspillepåhelepladenogarbejdemegetmegetselvstændigtmeddetogikkefåret388megethjælpnogenstederfra,andetenddenhjælpmanselvhentereksterntellerfra389netværkellerselvfølgeligfraos.390

C:Menhvordanerdetsåforeksempel,hvisnu,visnakkedeomføratdeteralligevelenret391bredpalette,hvissåderkommerennyuddannetindenfor,ladossigeden,hvisvideler392detopihøjreogvenstreogdenkommerfravenstreside,ogvedmegetbasaltomhvad393derskerpådenhøjreside,menharikkeerfaringmeddet,menvedpræcishvordanman394foreksempelskalfåmereinfoomdetellerfindeudhvordan,ogkastesigudihvordan395manalligevelskalkommeigennemdet?396

I:Detsomjegikkekanbrugetilnoget,deterhvisfolksigerdekannoget,somdesåreeltikke397kan.Ogsigermanikke,”jegvedikkerigtigtnogetomSEO,forjegerdygtigtilbareat398skrive,jegvedikke,jegharikkearbejdetmedSEOfør,detvedjegikkenogetom”.Det399kanmanforholdesigtil,ogdetmåvisåfindeudaf.Okay,hvadsåhvisvisåbrugeret400eksterntbureautilathjælpedigellertilatkommeigang,ogsåstilleogroligtfårdulært401nogetafdet.Deterjoheltfint.402

C:Ellerethands-onkursus.403I:Etellerandet,ja.Såmåvijofindeudaf.Deterderingenproblemi.Jegellerviskriverogså,404

atvigernevilhavenogenderharentyskbaggrund.Detbetyderpåingenmåderatvi405frasortererfolkderikkekantysk.Detenestejegikkekanbruge,deteratderkommer406nogendersigerdekantyskogsåkandeikkeengangbestilleencurrywurstellersådan.407Så,detkanjegikkebrugetilnoget.Derblivermansimpelthennødttilat,altsåduer408megetafhængigafismåvirksomheder,menselvfølgeligogsådestore,atduerrelativ409ærlig,hvadkanmanoghvadkanmanikke.Ogdet,altså,dererjoikkenogenderkandet410hele,såfolkdersigerdekandethele,såbliverdefrasorteret,fordetpasserihvertfald411ikke.412

C:Ejdetvilleværesvært.413I:Såerdetmegetbedreatsige,”jegerdygtigtildetkommunikative,jegkanikkedetvisuelle”.414

Eller”Jegharaldrignogensindearbejdetmedhjemmesider,jegkanikkenogetsomhelst415indenpåenhjemmeside”.Okay,jamensåmåvijoentenfindeudafsammenom,erdet416nogetdukunnetænktedigatlære,ellererdetnogetvikonstantskaloutsource.417

C:Sådervediogsågodt,atpalettendenerretbred,ogdererIretåbneomkringdet?418


47

I:Ja,detervi.Ogja,deterden,denerbredismåvirksomheder,dererpalettenbarebred.Og419

derkommerviogsåtilbagetil,atdetskalmansyntesersjovt.Detskalmanvirkeligsyntes420

ersjovt,fordideterklart,dufårikkelovtilatsiddeognørdenedietlillebitteområde,421

somdugørienstorvirksomhed.Såigen,tildenretteprofil,derervisjove,altså,menfor422

denikkeretteprofil,såskalmanikkeværehososelleriandremindrevirksomheder,det423

skalmanikke.Så,ogdeterjoogsåmedpensionsordningogkantineordningeroghvis424

printerengåristykkersåringermannedtilit-afdelingenogsådannogleting.Det425

fungererikke,sådanerdetbareikkeidesmåvirksomheder,dumåselvfindeudafdet.426

Altså,ogigen,detskalman,dethandlermegetmereompersonen,personlighed.Hvader427

detforenpersonlighedmanhar?428

C:Såhvismanforeksempelsyntesellerhavdeentankeom,atenellerandengangkunnedet429

væreniceatstarteselvstændigt,såvillesådanetjobsomdetItilbydernuværeenfed430

mulighed?Fordideterlidt,deterfaktisknæstendetsammejo.Dukommerjotilatstå431

meddethele.432

I:Ja,fuldstændigt.Deterdet.Altså,hvisduharsådaneniværksætterdrøm,såfordetførsteså433

harjegaltidsagt,hvismanskalværeiværksætter,såskalmanigenligehaveen5-10års434

erfaringsåduharnogetattilbyde,kanmansige.Detersådanmegetgodt,mensåforat435

prøvedet,såerdetgodtatkommeindisådanentypevirksomhedsomos,derfårman436

set,hvaddetvilsige.Ognårmankommerindivoresvirksomhed,selvomviertreår437

gamle,såervijostadigvæknye,såmankommermedpådenrejse,såmanser,hvaddet438

erfornogleudfordringerderervedatstarteselv.Fordi9udaf10439

iværksættervirksomhederdeteretrigtiglangtsejttræk.Altså,forståetpådenmådeatvi440

startedefor3årsidenogvifiktokunderidetførstehalveårogsåfikvi5kundermere.441

Altså,detgårvirkeliglangsomtogvirkeliglangsomt.442

C:OgerInødttilathavenogetandetvedsidenaf?443

I:Nejsådansetikke,menfordetførstesåskalduselvfølgelighaveenkapitalpåenelleranden444

måde.Duskalgøredetklart,kandugåudenlønietårellerto,ellerskaldernoglepenge445

indudefra,fraeninvestoreller,detskalmanfordetførstefindeudaf.Menderudoverså446

skalmansimpelthenhaveentålmodighed,dettagerbarelangtid.Demder,derlaverde447

derApps,ogtroratdeethalvtårefter,såerdeenmilliardtrilliardværd,altsåja,deter448

ligesomatvindeiLotto.Derernogenmegetfådergørdet,mendeter1udaf100eller449

sådannoget.Ogdetbehøvermanhellerikke,altså.Altsåman,detlange,detskalmanjo450

havetålmodighedentilogdetharungemenneskerikkealtid.451

C:Nej,dermåjegsåbaresigeformitpersonligesynspunkt,dersyntesjegogsådeterendelaf452

detfede,atmanseogfølgemedirejsen.Atduer,duermedtil,duharsygtmeget453

ansvarogduharselvfølgeligogsånogetatleveoptil,altså.Mennårdetsågårgodt,såer454

detogsåbareenekstrakado,såblivermanjoheltvildt.455

I:Detervirkeligtfedt.Nårduførstharfåetdetherunderhuden,altsåsåerderikkenogenvej456

tilbageigen.Altså,jegkanaldrignogensindefåetalmindeligtjobienalmindelig457

virksomhedigen.Nårmanførstharprøvetdetheriværksætterlivher,og458

opstartsvirksomhed,ogdenfriheddetgiver,hårdtarbejde,mendenfriheddetgiver.Det459

erfantastisk,virkeligfantastisk.460

C:Detkanjeggodtforstå,detmåværefedt.461

I:Deterdetogså.462

C:Nåmenjegslukkerdenherigen.463


48


49

D.InitialCodingTemplatesforInterviews

D.1.FirstVersion

• SmallerB2Borganizationvs.Largerorganization

o Smallerorganization

§ Familyownedorganization

§ Employees

§ Overallorganizationalfocus

§ Conditionsforemployees

o Largerorganization

§ Employees


• Recruitment

o Ownnetwork

o Socialmedia

o OnlineJobsites

• Newlygraduatesvs.Experiencedemployees

o Newlygraduates

§ Advantages

§ Disadvantages

o Experiencedemployees

§ Advantages

§ Disadvantages

• GraduatePosition

o Advantages

o Disadvantages

o Checkofactualpossibilities

• ImportanceofEmployerbranding

o Lowvs.Highorganizationalawareness

§ Lowawareness

§ Highawareness


50

D.2.SecondVersion

• SmallerB2Borganizationvs.Largerorganization

o Smallerorganization

§ Oldfamilyownedorganizationvs.Newlyestablishorganization

• Oldfamilyownedorganization

• Newlyestablishorganization

§ Overallorganizationalfocus

• Newcustomersvs.Potentialemployees

• Resourcesaving

• Development


• Morecontactwithdifferenttasksandassignments

• Moreresponsibility

• Closertothedecision-makers

• Lesstrainingandintroduction

o Largerorganization


• Morepigeonholedworktasks

• Lesscontactwithdifferenttasksandassignments

• Provideshighersalaries

• Providestrainingandintroduction

• Globalcompetitionfornewtalents

o Recruitment

§ Ownnetwork

• Savesmoney

• Increasedcredibility

§ Socialmedia

• LinkedIn

o Heavyprofiles

§ OnlineJobsites

• Jobnet/Jobindex

o Normalprofiles

• Graduateland

o Studentworkers


51

o Employment

§ Newlygraduatesvs.Experiencedemployees

• Newlygraduates

o Advantages

o Disadvantages

• Experiencedemployees

o Advantages

o Disadvantages

§ Personalityvs.Experience

• GraduatePosition

o Advantages

o Disadvantages

o Checkingforactualpossibilities

• ImportanceofEmployerbranding

o Lowvs.Highorganizationalawareness

§ Lowawareness

• Lowerapplicationratefromnewlygraduates

§ Highawareness

• Higherapplicationratefromnewlygraduates

Documents

The Paradox of Hiring Newly Graduates: Employer Branding ... · The Paradox of Hiring Newly Graduates: Employer Branding Upside-Down According to the study regulations, the maximum