Young people’s career choices based on employer branding

Abstract

This article critically discusses the relevance of brands in young undergraduate students’ choices when looking for internships and jobs. The research is based on the debate around the modern concepts of employer branding, consumption and lifestyle, and prosumption and co-creation. Interviews were conducted with 18 students at the end of an undergraduate program in business administration at a public university in the south of Brazil. The main results show that younger students become prosumers of their employer’s brands and their careers are based on seeking to work for the best brands, which is associated to intermittent jobs and vulnerable work relationships. However, the employers do not seem to offer enough elements to retain young workers.

Keywords:
Labor; Consumption; Employer branding