The Job Search Experiences of HRM Graduates

Abstract

Following the global economic crisis of 2008 which ushered in a period of high unemployment, the job search plight of university graduates has received much attention both in the scholarly community and the popular press. Despite the increased attention given to job search as an area of scholarly interest, there is a paucity of in-depth longitudinal qualitative studies examining the experiences of graduate jobseekers as they unfold over time. Through the analysis of interview data from 29 Human Resource Management (HRM) graduates we explored how their search experiences evolved over a three-month period. The unique contribution of this study is that it represents a move toward a more robust understanding of the job search experience. It also adds paradigmatic diversity to our understanding of graduates’ job search experiences by using a qualitative methodology. In addition, by allowing interviewees to talk about their experiences ‘in their own words’, it provides, what Denzin (2001) calls “thick descripti...