Recruitment in a multicultural society

The project seeks to promote knowledge about psychological mechanisms in recruitment that may hinder an accurate and fair judgment of the qualifications of applicants in a multinational setting, and subsequently reduces immigrants? chances of entering int o the Norwegian labour force. Our working hypothesis is that the accuracy of evaluations can be hindered as a result of cultural/national differences in norms for applicant behavior. An extensive comparative and multi-methodological project is proposed, i n which data is collected from applicant populations and from decision-makers in organizations. A series of three subprojects is outlined: (a) Subproject 1 will expand previous studies to identify cultural/national differences in self-presentation and wor k values among applicants by collecting and comparing data from last-year students from nine different countries in on how they would act to increase their chances of being hired .during a job interview. (b) Subproject 2 aims to determine how immigrant gr oups in Norway evaluate efficient self-promotion in employment settings with focus on the interview situation, and how these evaluations compare to those of ethnic Norwegians. Also, the proposed research will evaluate how individual attributes (acculturat ion strategies and self monitoring) impact on the job application skills of the immigrants. (c) Subproject 3 aims to gain knowledge on how the self-presentation, work values and acculturation strategies of job applicants may influence their chances of bei ng hired. Managers and professional recruiters will be asked to judge aspects of applicant behavior in terms offavorability, and these ratings will be compared to data from subproject 1 and 2 to identify biases in recruitment against nationalities and imm igrant groups. An experimental design will also be used in which respondents are presented hypothetical candidates and asked to range them according to a job description.