미국 화이트칼라 취업과 커리어 셀프 헬프

A Study on the Career Self-help Advice in White-collar Job Searching in the U.S.

This paper examines career self-help practices and discourses, and how they shape and characterize white-collar job search experiences in the U.S. It presents an indications of what it takes to get a white-collar job in the changed economic context. The influence of the career self-help industry on white-collar job search can be best assessed by looking at the question of interpersonal fit of a potential employee with an organization in a white-collar hiring decision. Thus, the paper first examines the significance of interpersonal fit in white-collar job hiring decisions. It then looks at major career self-help advice that counsels job seekers on how to present themselves to demonstrate they are a good fit with the prospective employer. The paper also shows how career self-help advice affects and mediates white-collar job searching and examines the problematic nature of career self-help advice, particularly how such advice shifts the job searching responsibility solely to job seekers.