Table A2. mples of the coding structure...

Table A2.

mples of the coding structure and of the interview excerpts

Category	Subcategory	Interview excerpts
Job search activities and job awareness	Social network sites	“[LinkedIn] it is a way for me to be aware of some vacancies, and in fact, there are certain opportunities every week.” (Interviewee 5, 24-year-old); “LinkedIn Jobs was also where I looked for opportunities.” (Interviewee 6, 23-year-old); “Sometimes I also looked at a few pages on Facebook where companies had pages for careers - for example, Nestlé Careers.” (Interviewee 4, 23-year-old); “I'm on Facebook in a group of my Masters class, where people sometimes place opportunities.” (Interviewee 6, 23-year-old); “[Facebook] I put a like in certain pages, for example, in the ekonomista.pt, which sometimes launched publications with job offers.” (Interviewee 10, 23-year-old)
	Company websites	“Being companies that I recognised as being good companies to work for – this was interesting, as they seemed to fit in with what I was looking for – a more innovative and dynamic company. Knowing the names of these companies, I decided to search or them directly.” (Interviewee 2, 24-year-old); “Sometimes, I would sporadically go to a company to see whether there were any open opportunities (such as L'Oréal), and I’d try and search, as these are companies that mean the most to me.” (Interviewee 5, 24-year-old); “This was my first reaction, so to speak, as I didn’t know where to look. So there it is, I mean to say, I wanted to see if the companies with a better reputation had something that interested me, or whether they offered a job that I wanted and which I could obviously apply for.” (Interviewee 11, 24-year-old)
	Personal contacts	"I frequently ask if there are vacancies and they then tell me ‘yes’ and they send me the job specification.” (Interviewee 5, 24-year-old); “People talked about opportunities and I would see what it was and then apply for it if it was in my interest.” (Interviewee 6, 23-year-old); “ I talked to my friends who were in the companies and asked: Look, do you guys need anyone?'” (Interviewee 12, 24-year-old).
	Job fairs	"I went to the ISEG [Lisbon School of Economics and Management] job fair, which was of value to better understand what was available in the job market. I think that taking notice of the vacancies that exist is one of the options.” (Interviewee 1, 23-year-old); “Often the people themselves [employees] were not aware of the vacancies that their company had, and it seemed more a matter of brand awareness than properly publicising the company as a place to go to work.” (Interviewee 4, 23-year-old); “I went to a job fair once at ISCTE [University Institute of Lisbon]. By the way, I also went to one at ISEG once – mainly just to be aware of the companies that were in contact with universities.” (Interviewee 5, 24-year-old)
	Higher education institution	"In my ISEG institutional email I received alerts of what companies were looking for.” (Interviewee 1, 23-year-old); “The first thing I did was to look at the university platforms, both of ISCTE and NOVA [Universidade Nova de Lisboa]. This is where I began to explore and discover what currently existed in the market.” (Interviewee 4, 23-year-old)
	Job centres	"At the moment I am registered at the Job Centre as unemployed, in case something appears.” (Interviewee 8, 23-year-old); “For example, I always worked in stores and customer service and there was a time when I received a proposal for a training course that had to do with aesthetics.” (Interviewee 7, 26-year-old); “In terms of helping to find a job, it does not help at all.” (Interviewee 12, 24-year-old)
Information collection	Internet search engines	"At this stage, prior to applying for a job, I just looked for the location of the company on Google, which is an important factor for me in a job search.” (Interviewee 1, 23-year-old); “I knew what the business was, but I did not know whether the business would be just that, or whether it had more areas. I searched a little bit more about the history, location, mission, and values of the company.” (Interviewee 10, 23-year-old)
	Company websites	"if we're talking about a company that I do not really know, for example, there was a particular case of a small consultancy, then I would search the name of the consultant before applying. … What does it do? … for as I did not know the company – I had never heard of it; I went direct to the company's website.” (Interviewee 5, 24-year-old); “There were other companies where I saw a job, but I did not know the company, and then I would search what the company did, to see if it was in my interest. By looking at the website it was more or less easy to judge whether it was great, or whether it was not great, and whether it could be good for working in Human Resources – or not.” (Interviewee 6, 23-year-old); “I looked and went to the website - I was literally searching everything – as well as anything else there was to find on the website.” (Interviewee 12, 24-year-old)
	Social network sites	“In these cases, what I tried to do was – which is another important feature of LinkedIn – to see whether there was anyone who works there whom I knew – which I might not have knowledge about, due there being a recent change.” (Interviewee 2, 24-year-old); “Especially LinkedIn, and sometimes also the Facebook page of companies – to see whether they were dynamic companies, or if they had events. ….” (Interviewee 4, 23-year-old)
	Personal contacts	"I think that if we have a friend or relative who works for a company and who really gives us a very positive perspective on what it's like to work in that company, then we can be influenced by that person.” (Interviewee 2, 24-year-old); “When my closest friends started working, I wondered if they liked being at their company, based on the conditions they had.” (Interviewee 3, 23-year-old); “ If I knew someone who worked for the company, I would sometimes ask them for some kind of feedback …” (Interviewee 4, 23-year-old)
Evaluation and shortlist of possible jobs	Continuous assessment	"I would see the vacancy, and if I was interested, I would apply for it immediately. I did not collect information on all of the vacancies, but rather chose the ones to which to send my application …. No, I sent it immediately.” (Interviewee 13, 23-year-old); “As I look at a vacancy, I evaluate it – and then apply for it …. or not. I do not make a comparison by job offer” (Interviewee 4, 23-year-old); “I made such an assessment, but this was done, as I was applying for various things and looking for opportunities.” (Interviewee 2, 24-year-old)
Evaluation and shortlist of possible jobs	Evaluation criteria	“I did not separate the issue of candidate and consumer – I was much more interested about the consumer issue.” (Interviewee 1, 23-year-old); “Perspectives of the future, in other words, whether to stay in the company, the opportunity to know the company, and to be able to perceive what is going on in the company, rather than being merely fixed in an area.” (Interviewee 2, 24-year-old); “The balance between work and personal life – as I think a job from nine to six is a bit outdated.” (Interviewee 3, 23-year-old); “At this time, there is no doubt that it is financial security – and the ability to progress.” (Interviewee 5, 23-year-old)
Application’ intention	Pre-application	"Having a pre-application contact to clarify any issues was important …. This was important, as it would give you a sense of a certain interest in the company by the candidates and also demonstrated taking some care with regard to the candidates.” (Interviewee 1, 23-year-old); “This is important, as we often have an idea of a job vacancy, or internship, or even of the company itself that is not correct – for if we had prior contact we could make an evaluation which we tend to only do after an interview.” (Francisca Mendonça, 23-year-old); “I think it would be beneficial to know the company a little bit more – for then we can ask questions without having to wait for a first interview – to see if we identify with the vacancy, or not.” (Interviewee 12, 24-year-old)
	Application	“In the case of José de Mello [company], after hearing that they had opened applications through ISEG's institutional e-mail, I then went to their website to submit my application.” (Interviewee 1, 23-year-old); “In the case of Playstation [company], I sent my application through the ISEG job search application.” (Interviewee 1, 23-year-old); “I also applied for some vacancies through LinkedIn.” (Interviewee 2, 24-year-old); “In the case of Samsung [company], I sent my application directly to a university colleague by email.” (Interviewee 2, 24-year-old); “Companies usually have their own email address for receiving applications.” (Interviewee 7, 26-year-old)
	Post-application	"Most consultants have a ‘no-reply’ email, where they tell me: Thanks for your application. Please do not reply to this email. We are going to review and then get in touch with you. Therefore, you more or less have the notion that your application has been received.” (Interviewee 5, 24-year-old); “The answer is very important, even if it is automatic – just for the person to know that their curriculum has reached its destination.” (Interviewee 6, 23-year-old); “By e-mail they told me that they had received my application, and that they were going to analyse it and that they would soon give me feedback.” (Interviewee 13, 23-year-old)
Persuasion	Selection tests	"I prefer this to be done online, because I think it's a good way for them to do a sort, which takes up little time and also turns out to be a facilitator.” (Interviewee 2, 24-year-old); “From my point of view, I'd rather the test was online – as we are a little more intimidated in person, and are more nervous, and we ended up not showing what we really should have shown.” (Francisca Mendonça, 23-year-old); “I think there is no need to go directly to the company just to do tests that can be perfectly done online – at home.” (Interviewee 12, 24-year-old)
	Interview	“I think this is another kind of contact, for a company when having face-to-face contact, is showing that she has more time to dedicate to you.” (Interviewee 4, 23-year-old); “Psycho-technical tests, or is that, or is not … now in the interview I think that being face-to-face makes it possible for the person who is interviewing to get to know you better and also enables me and the candidates to explain themselves better, to express them better.” (Interviewee 6, 23-year-old); “In-person – because it allows us to know better the opportunity itself and also allows us to create more empathy with the recruiter.” (Interviewee 12, 24-year-old)
	Contact during the phases	“I think it is important that we have access to a company contact during the selection tests, in order that the candidates can see where the recruitment is, or to learn about information that we forgot to ask about at the time of the interview.” (Interviewee 1, 23-year-old); “I think this is important, as I may have some questions, or could fail to ask them during the interview, or decide later that there is a need for further explanation.” (Interviewee 4, 23-year-old)
Outcomes	Being selected	"When I am the selected candidate, I think that it makes more sense to be informed by a ‘phone call, as this is a closer and more personal contact with a company when a person starts.” (Interviewee 1, 23-year-old); “An email is a more impersonal thing – which can be used to establish another type of relationship.” (Interviewee 4, 23-year-old); “By telephone, because it is more personal and it is better to start having this contact as we are going to have to integrate with the company.” (Interviewee 7, 26-year-old); “I think that being selected should be done with greater proximity, so to speak. When I say more proximity, I means maybe by telephone.” (Francisca Mendonça, 23-year-old)
Outcomes	Non-selection	"I think companies should always give feedback. I would say that feedback is never negative, as it is always positive. I think it is always helpful for the person knowing why it did not go well.” (Interviewee 2, 24-year-old); “In the case of Mobipium [company], the fact that I did not have an answer at all, influenced me to never apply for a vacancy there.” (Interviewee 2, 24-year-old); “They can send me an email saying that I was not selected, but what I want is feedback, as I care about why I was not selected.” (Interviewee 4, 23-year-old); “If they do not tell me anything, it's very unlikely that I'll ever re-apply to the company.” (Interviewee 6, 23-year-old)

Category	Subcategory	Interview excerpts
Job search activities and job awareness	Social network sites	“[LinkedIn] it is a way for me to be aware of some vacancies, and in fact, there are certain opportunities every week.” (Interviewee 5, 24-year-old); “LinkedIn Jobs was also where I looked for opportunities.” (Interviewee 6, 23-year-old); “Sometimes I also looked at a few pages on Facebook where companies had pages for careers - for example, Nestlé Careers.” (Interviewee 4, 23-year-old); “I'm on Facebook in a group of my Masters class, where people sometimes place opportunities.” (Interviewee 6, 23-year-old); “[Facebook] I put a like in certain pages, for example, in the ekonomista.pt, which sometimes launched publications with job offers.” (Interviewee 10, 23-year-old)
	Company websites	“Being companies that I recognised as being good companies to work for – this was interesting, as they seemed to fit in with what I was looking for – a more innovative and dynamic company. Knowing the names of these companies, I decided to search or them directly.” (Interviewee 2, 24-year-old); “Sometimes, I would sporadically go to a company to see whether there were any open opportunities (such as L'Oréal), and I’d try and search, as these are companies that mean the most to me.” (Interviewee 5, 24-year-old); “This was my first reaction, so to speak, as I didn’t know where to look. So there it is, I mean to say, I wanted to see if the companies with a better reputation had something that interested me, or whether they offered a job that I wanted and which I could obviously apply for.” (Interviewee 11, 24-year-old)
	Personal contacts	"I frequently ask if there are vacancies and they then tell me ‘yes’ and they send me the job specification.” (Interviewee 5, 24-year-old); “People talked about opportunities and I would see what it was and then apply for it if it was in my interest.” (Interviewee 6, 23-year-old); “ I talked to my friends who were in the companies and asked: Look, do you guys need anyone?'” (Interviewee 12, 24-year-old).
	Job fairs	"I went to the ISEG [Lisbon School of Economics and Management] job fair, which was of value to better understand what was available in the job market. I think that taking notice of the vacancies that exist is one of the options.” (Interviewee 1, 23-year-old); “Often the people themselves [employees] were not aware of the vacancies that their company had, and it seemed more a matter of brand awareness than properly publicising the company as a place to go to work.” (Interviewee 4, 23-year-old); “I went to a job fair once at ISCTE [University Institute of Lisbon]. By the way, I also went to one at ISEG once – mainly just to be aware of the companies that were in contact with universities.” (Interviewee 5, 24-year-old)
	Higher education institution	"In my ISEG institutional email I received alerts of what companies were looking for.” (Interviewee 1, 23-year-old); “The first thing I did was to look at the university platforms, both of ISCTE and NOVA [Universidade Nova de Lisboa]. This is where I began to explore and discover what currently existed in the market.” (Interviewee 4, 23-year-old)
	Job centres	"At the moment I am registered at the Job Centre as unemployed, in case something appears.” (Interviewee 8, 23-year-old); “For example, I always worked in stores and customer service and there was a time when I received a proposal for a training course that had to do with aesthetics.” (Interviewee 7, 26-year-old); “In terms of helping to find a job, it does not help at all.” (Interviewee 12, 24-year-old)
Information collection	Internet search engines	"At this stage, prior to applying for a job, I just looked for the location of the company on Google, which is an important factor for me in a job search.” (Interviewee 1, 23-year-old); “I knew what the business was, but I did not know whether the business would be just that, or whether it had more areas. I searched a little bit more about the history, location, mission, and values of the company.” (Interviewee 10, 23-year-old)
	Company websites	"if we're talking about a company that I do not really know, for example, there was a particular case of a small consultancy, then I would search the name of the consultant before applying. … What does it do? … for as I did not know the company – I had never heard of it; I went direct to the company's website.” (Interviewee 5, 24-year-old); “There were other companies where I saw a job, but I did not know the company, and then I would search what the company did, to see if it was in my interest. By looking at the website it was more or less easy to judge whether it was great, or whether it was not great, and whether it could be good for working in Human Resources – or not.” (Interviewee 6, 23-year-old); “I looked and went to the website - I was literally searching everything – as well as anything else there was to find on the website.” (Interviewee 12, 24-year-old)
	Social network sites	“In these cases, what I tried to do was – which is another important feature of LinkedIn – to see whether there was anyone who works there whom I knew – which I might not have knowledge about, due there being a recent change.” (Interviewee 2, 24-year-old); “Especially LinkedIn, and sometimes also the Facebook page of companies – to see whether they were dynamic companies, or if they had events. ….” (Interviewee 4, 23-year-old)
	Personal contacts	"I think that if we have a friend or relative who works for a company and who really gives us a very positive perspective on what it's like to work in that company, then we can be influenced by that person.” (Interviewee 2, 24-year-old); “When my closest friends started working, I wondered if they liked being at their company, based on the conditions they had.” (Interviewee 3, 23-year-old); “ If I knew someone who worked for the company, I would sometimes ask them for some kind of feedback …” (Interviewee 4, 23-year-old)
Evaluation and shortlist of possible jobs	Continuous assessment	"I would see the vacancy, and if I was interested, I would apply for it immediately. I did not collect information on all of the vacancies, but rather chose the ones to which to send my application …. No, I sent it immediately.” (Interviewee 13, 23-year-old); “As I look at a vacancy, I evaluate it – and then apply for it …. or not. I do not make a comparison by job offer” (Interviewee 4, 23-year-old); “I made such an assessment, but this was done, as I was applying for various things and looking for opportunities.” (Interviewee 2, 24-year-old)
Evaluation and shortlist of possible jobs	Evaluation criteria	“I did not separate the issue of candidate and consumer – I was much more interested about the consumer issue.” (Interviewee 1, 23-year-old); “Perspectives of the future, in other words, whether to stay in the company, the opportunity to know the company, and to be able to perceive what is going on in the company, rather than being merely fixed in an area.” (Interviewee 2, 24-year-old); “The balance between work and personal life – as I think a job from nine to six is a bit outdated.” (Interviewee 3, 23-year-old); “At this time, there is no doubt that it is financial security – and the ability to progress.” (Interviewee 5, 23-year-old)
Application’ intention	Pre-application	"Having a pre-application contact to clarify any issues was important …. This was important, as it would give you a sense of a certain interest in the company by the candidates and also demonstrated taking some care with regard to the candidates.” (Interviewee 1, 23-year-old); “This is important, as we often have an idea of a job vacancy, or internship, or even of the company itself that is not correct – for if we had prior contact we could make an evaluation which we tend to only do after an interview.” (Francisca Mendonça, 23-year-old); “I think it would be beneficial to know the company a little bit more – for then we can ask questions without having to wait for a first interview – to see if we identify with the vacancy, or not.” (Interviewee 12, 24-year-old)
	Application	“In the case of José de Mello [company], after hearing that they had opened applications through ISEG's institutional e-mail, I then went to their website to submit my application.” (Interviewee 1, 23-year-old); “In the case of Playstation [company], I sent my application through the ISEG job search application.” (Interviewee 1, 23-year-old); “I also applied for some vacancies through LinkedIn.” (Interviewee 2, 24-year-old); “In the case of Samsung [company], I sent my application directly to a university colleague by email.” (Interviewee 2, 24-year-old); “Companies usually have their own email address for receiving applications.” (Interviewee 7, 26-year-old)
	Post-application	"Most consultants have a ‘no-reply’ email, where they tell me: Thanks for your application. Please do not reply to this email. We are going to review and then get in touch with you. Therefore, you more or less have the notion that your application has been received.” (Interviewee 5, 24-year-old); “The answer is very important, even if it is automatic – just for the person to know that their curriculum has reached its destination.” (Interviewee 6, 23-year-old); “By e-mail they told me that they had received my application, and that they were going to analyse it and that they would soon give me feedback.” (Interviewee 13, 23-year-old)
Persuasion	Selection tests	"I prefer this to be done online, because I think it's a good way for them to do a sort, which takes up little time and also turns out to be a facilitator.” (Interviewee 2, 24-year-old); “From my point of view, I'd rather the test was online – as we are a little more intimidated in person, and are more nervous, and we ended up not showing what we really should have shown.” (Francisca Mendonça, 23-year-old); “I think there is no need to go directly to the company just to do tests that can be perfectly done online – at home.” (Interviewee 12, 24-year-old)
	Interview	“I think this is another kind of contact, for a company when having face-to-face contact, is showing that she has more time to dedicate to you.” (Interviewee 4, 23-year-old); “Psycho-technical tests, or is that, or is not … now in the interview I think that being face-to-face makes it possible for the person who is interviewing to get to know you better and also enables me and the candidates to explain themselves better, to express them better.” (Interviewee 6, 23-year-old); “In-person – because it allows us to know better the opportunity itself and also allows us to create more empathy with the recruiter.” (Interviewee 12, 24-year-old)
	Contact during the phases	“I think it is important that we have access to a company contact during the selection tests, in order that the candidates can see where the recruitment is, or to learn about information that we forgot to ask about at the time of the interview.” (Interviewee 1, 23-year-old); “I think this is important, as I may have some questions, or could fail to ask them during the interview, or decide later that there is a need for further explanation.” (Interviewee 4, 23-year-old)
Outcomes	Being selected	"When I am the selected candidate, I think that it makes more sense to be informed by a ‘phone call, as this is a closer and more personal contact with a company when a person starts.” (Interviewee 1, 23-year-old); “An email is a more impersonal thing – which can be used to establish another type of relationship.” (Interviewee 4, 23-year-old); “By telephone, because it is more personal and it is better to start having this contact as we are going to have to integrate with the company.” (Interviewee 7, 26-year-old); “I think that being selected should be done with greater proximity, so to speak. When I say more proximity, I means maybe by telephone.” (Francisca Mendonça, 23-year-old)
Outcomes	Non-selection	"I think companies should always give feedback. I would say that feedback is never negative, as it is always positive. I think it is always helpful for the person knowing why it did not go well.” (Interviewee 2, 24-year-old); “In the case of Mobipium [company], the fact that I did not have an answer at all, influenced me to never apply for a vacancy there.” (Interviewee 2, 24-year-old); “They can send me an email saying that I was not selected, but what I want is feedback, as I care about why I was not selected.” (Interviewee 4, 23-year-old); “If they do not tell me anything, it's very unlikely that I'll ever re-apply to the company.” (Interviewee 6, 23-year-old)

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