ERIC Number: EJ1247234
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1479-0718
EISSN: N/A
'Selling the Self': Packaging the Narrative Trajectories of Workers for the Labour Market
International Journal of Multilingualism, v17 n1 p30-45 2020
Based on ethnographic observations in a programme on job search training in Fribourg, Switzerland, I discuss the regimentation that is expected from job seekers on how to 'sell the self' in the labour market, i.e. on how to successfully manage a job interview. I will show how in attempting to narratively package their trajectories, the coaches' focus lies on a particular register that is aimed at the 'art of getting liked'. The job seekers are instructed in bodily and communicative behaviour that puts an emphasis on affect, positivity, and agency. In this, these practices can be understood as concurrent with neoliberal principles that involve techniques of the self as well as the activation of the individual. Yet, as a result, the potentially mobile and multilingual trajectories of the job seekers become mainstreamed in the monolingual environment of officially bilingual Fribourg, in which French is the dominant language.
Descriptors: Labor Market, Self Concept, Employment Interviews, Nonverbal Communication, Interpersonal Communication, French, Multilingualism, Bilingualism, Ethnography, Job Search Methods, Program Descriptions, Foreign Countries, Coaching (Performance), Neoliberalism, Employment, Monolingualism, German, Interpersonal Attraction
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Switzerland
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A