Online Self-Disclosure Behaviour of Young Prospective Job Applicants

Abstract

The factors that lead to a positive self-presentation of prospective job candidates provide an important means for evaluating job applications. The paper aims to determine which type of online self-disclosure behaviour leads to a positive self-presentation. An online questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data during the winter semester of the academic year 2019/2020 among 101 university students in the field of human resources and personnel management. Binary logistic regression showed that it is the effort to build new relationships (NRB) which leads to positive self-presentations. The study extends the research on online self-disclosure and the applicability of the reliability and validity of the ascertained information in the process of employee selection. Second, it expands the knowledge about generation and gender influence on online self-disclosure. It also has several implications and also social media screening HR practitioners. First, it should be noted that information published on social media should be taken with caution in order to serve as a basis for recruitment decision-making. Second, legal aspects should also be considered before using social networking information.