Abstract
The objective of this study was to identify job hunters' strategic goals by doing a content analysis of post-factum reports on the recruiting activities of 315 male and 95 female university seniors and master course graduate students. The preliminary analysis gave us 9 categories: eagerness, self-esteem, autonomy, preparation, self-control, straightforwardness, self PR, responsiveness, and luck. We then conducted a correspondence analysis of the scores obtained by content analysis of these categories, and did a cluster analysis of the individual reports. The results showed that there were three different strategic goals for self-presentation. Namely, the applicants try to give the impression that either they meet the hiring party's demands; or that they have good interview skills; or that they are open and sincere. Applicants seem to select and implement behaviors to foster one of these specific images. A discussion of the implications of these findings for future research follows.
