Istanbul Management Journal 2619-9254 Istanbul University 10.26650/imj.2023.95.1386466 Human Resources Management İnsan Kaynakları Yönetimi Potential Employees’ Impression Management Tactics and Human Resource Management Professionals’ Perspectives https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7786-2309 Bakanoğlu Yağmur Yıldız Technical University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5753-3252 Esen Emel Yıldız Technical University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1802-5452 Karaca Varinlioğlu Selin Turkish-German University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences 12 26 2023 95 53 64 11 05 2023 12 13 2023 Copyright © 1975, Istanbul Management Journal 1975 Istanbul Management Journal

This research aims to determine the impression management tactics used by potential employees that are important to employers in the job market, particularly in their curriculum vitaes (CVs) and interviews during the application process, and to identify which tactics are the most important to human resources (HR) specialists. The study has employed within its scope semi-structured interviews that allow a thorough examination of the participants’ feelings, attitudes, and thoughts with 45 potential employees and eight HR professionals. The study findings reveal that potential employees mostly prefer the tactics of building a favorable image, self-promotion, and supplication, whereas they use exemplification tactics less. Similar to these results, HR professionals also highlighted the tactics of building a favorable image, self-promotion, and supplication in recruitment interviews. The study results are expected to be beneficial for creating a more positive image of potential candidates in the labor market, both during the recruitment interviews and the job application stage.JEL Classification : M1 , M10 , M12

 impression management self-presentation human resources potential employees job application TUBITAK This project is supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) within the scope of 2209-A University Students Research Projects Support Program. Andrews, M. C., & Kacmar, K. M. (2001). Impression management by association: Construction and validation of a scale. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 58(1), 142-161. DOI: 10.1006/jvbe.2000.1756 google scholar Boudt, K., & Thewissen, J. (2019). Jockeying for position in CEO letters: Impression management and sentiment analytics. Financial Management, 48(1), 77-115. google scholar Chen, C. C., Wen-Fen Yang, I., & Lin, W. C. (2010). Applicant impression management in job interview: The moderating role of interviewer affectivity. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 83(3), 739-757. doi:10.1348/096317909x473895. google scholar Ellis, A. P., West, B. J., Ryan, A. M., & DeShon, R. P. (2002). The use of impression management tactics in structured interviews: A function of question type?. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(6), 1200-1208. DOI: 10.1037/0021-9010.87.6.1200 google scholar Giacalone, R. A., & Rosenfeld, P. (Eds.). (1989). Impression management in the organization. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. google scholar Gioaba, I., & Krings, F. (2017). Impression management in the job interview: An effective way of mitigating discrimination against older applicants? Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 770. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00770 google scholar Goffman, E. (1959), The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, Doubleday, Garden City, NY. google scholar Hammarberg, K., Kirkman, M., & de Lacey, S. (2016). Qualitative research methods: when to use them and how to judge them. Human Reproduction, 31(3), 498-501. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dev334 google scholar Jones, E. E. (1964), Ingratiation, Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York, NY. google scholar Jones, E.E. and Pittman, T.S. (1982), “Toward a General Theory of Strategic Self-Presentation”, Suls, J. (Ed.), Psychological Perspectives on the Self, Vol. 1, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, pp. 231-262. google scholar Knouse, S. B., Giacalone, R. A., & Pollard, H. (1988). Impression management in the resume and its cover letter. Journal of Business and Psychology, 3(2), 242-249. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01014492 google scholar Leary, M. R., & Kowalski, R. M. (1990). Impression management: A literature review and two-component model. Psychological Bulletin, 107(1), 34-47. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.107.1.34 google scholar Long, D. M. (2016). A method to the martyrdom. Organizational Psychology Review, 7(1), 36-65. doi:10.1177/2041386616663816 google scholar Peck, J. A., & Levashina, J. (2017). Impression management and interview and job performance ratings: A meta-analysis of research design with tactics in mind. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 201. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00201. PMID: 28261135 google scholar Risavy, S. D. (2017). The resume research literature: where have we been and where should we go next. Journal of Educational and Developmental Psychology, 7(1), 169-187. DOI:10.5539/jedp.v7n1p169 google scholar Roulin, N., Bangerter, A., & Levashina, J. (2014). Interviewers’ perceptions of impression management in employment interviews. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 29(2), 141-163. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-10-2012-0295 google scholar Schlenker, B. R. (2003). Self-presentation. In M. R. Leary & J. P. Tangney (Eds.), Handbook of self and identity (pp. 492-518). The Guilford Press. google scholar Siibak, A. (2009). Constructing the Self through the Photo selection - Visual Impression Management on So-cial Networking Websites. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 3(1), article 1. http://cyberpsychology.eu/view.php?cisloclanku=2009061501&article=1 google scholar Stevens, C. K., & Kristof, A. L. (1995). Making the right impression: A field study of applicant impression management during job interviews. Journal of Applied Psychology, 80(5), 587-606. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.80.5.587 google scholar Swider, B. W., Barrick, M. R., Harris, T. B., & Stoverink, A. C. (2011). Managing and creating an image in the interview: The role of interviewee initial impressions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(6), 1275-1288. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024005 google scholar Ozsozgun Caliskan, A. & Emel, E. (2018). Readability of Corporate Reports and Impression Management. PressAcademia Procedia, 7(1), 300-302. google scholar Van Iddekinge, C. H., McFarland, L. A., & Raymark, P. H. (2007). Antecedents of impression management use and effectiveness in a structured interview. Journal of Management, 33(5), 752-773. 752-773. DOI: 10.1177/0149206307305563 google scholar Varma, A., Min Toh, S., & Pichler, S. (2006). Ingratiation in job applications: Impact on selection decisions. Journal of managerial psychology, 21(3), 200-210. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940610659551 google scholar Waung, M., McAuslan, P., DiMambro, J. M., & Miçgoc, N. (2017). Impression management use in resumes and cover letters. Journal of Business and Psychology, 32(6), 727-746.. DOI: 10.1007/s10869-016-9470-9 google scholar Wayne, S. J., & Kacmar, K. M. (1991). The effects of impression management on the performance appraisal process. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 48(1), 70-88. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90006-F google scholar Wilhelmy, A., Roulin, N., & Wingate, T. G. (2021). Does it take two to tango? Examining how applicants and interviewers adapt their impression management to each other. Journal of Business and Psychology, 36, 1053-1076. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-020-09720-5 google scholar