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CHAPTER 15
Employability as Self-branding in Job Search 
Games: A Case of Finnish Business Graduates
Heli Mutanen, Maija Korhonen, and Päivi Siivonen
IntroductIon
In the complex and competitive graduate labour market, personal quali-
ties, social skills and other specific virtues such as appearance and behav-
iours and even personal values have become increasingly important in 
making oneself appealing to potential employers (Brown et  al., 2011; 
Siivonen et al., 2019). Something “extra”, an “edge” and “standing out 
of the crowd” are needed to convince the employers of a “good bargain” 
(McCracken et al., 2016; see also Burke et al., 2017). As a consequence, 
self-branding (Hearn, 2008; Vallas & Cummins, 2015) has become salient 
for performing one’s employability for potential employers.
By the concept of self-branding (Hearn, 2008; Whitmer, 2018), we 
refer to a “pervasive discourse” (Vallas & Cummins, 2015, p. 293) as a 
framework for negotiating employability in order to be able to stand out 
H. Mutanen (*) • M. Korhonen 
University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland
e-mail: heli.mutanen@uef.fi; maija.korhonen@uef.fi 
P. Siivonen 
Department of Education, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
e-mail: paivi.siivonen@utu.fi
© The Author(s) 2023
P. Siivonen et al. (eds.), Rethinking Graduate Employability in 
Context, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20653-5_15
320
in the labour market (Banet-Weiser, 2012; Whitmer, 2021). In this chap-
ter, we suggest that graduates need to perform their employability by 
adopting practices of self-branding, which has become a key means to 
enhance one’s employability, especially at the time of labour market entry.
Prior research on branding from students’ or graduates’ perspective has 
focused mostly on the benefits of branding when graduates seek to enter 
the labour market (see, e.g., Manai & Holmlund, 2015; Kushal & 
Nargundkar, 2021; Minor-Cooley & Parks-Yancy, 2020). However, criti-
cal research that focuses on self-branding of higher education graduates 
entering the labour market is quite rare (see Nicholas, 2018), and in 
Finland, virtually non-existing. Even less attention has been paid to self- 
branding as identity performance to enhance employability.
To fill this gap, we approach self-branding from the graduate identity 
point of view and use the discourse of self-branding as a lens to the con-
struction of employable identity. More specifically, we focus on discursive 
and narrative practices (Bamberg, 2011) by which graduates construct 
their identities in relation to the ideals and demands of self-branding dis-
course. We adopt an interaction-oriented narrative approach in which 
identities are seen as situational performances—made in real or imagined 
audiences in mind (De Fina, 2015). The analytical focus is on the posi-
tioning strategies used by narrators to accomplish, reaffirm or contest 
specific versions of selves performatively in contextualized interactions 
(De Fina, 2015).
To investigate graduates’ self-branding as identity performances around 
employability, we analysed interviews of 27 newly graduated or soon to be 
graduated Finnish business masters and focused especially on narratives of 
job search. We asked the following questions: (1) How business students/
graduates perform their identities in the framework of self-branding and 
hence aim to enhance their employability potential in the context of early 
job search? (2) What kinds of identity dilemmas as well as dilemmas of 
self-branding arise, and how graduates aim to solve these dilemmas? The 
chapter contributes to both critical research on self-branding and employ-
ability literature by introducing an interactionally oriented approach (De 
Fina, 2015) and a novel identity dilemma theory approach (Bamberg, 
2011) to self-branding and employability literature.
 H. MUTANEN ET AL.
321
Self-brandIng aS PerformanceS of emPloyable 
graduate IdentItIeS
There is a widening understanding that employability should be viewed as 
a processual phenomenon across time and multiple contexts referring to 
graduate identity (Holmes, 2001, 2013; Tomlinson, 2007; Tomlinson & 
Anderson, 2021). In this chapter, we approach self-branding as a lens to 
employable graduate identity in the context of job search.
Previous research on branding focusing on higher education students 
has examined business students’ self-marketing brand skills as a new 
employability skill type (Manai & Holmlund, 2015). Prior research has 
also addressed employer-oriented personal branding techniques, which 
benefit graduates in job search (Kushal & Nargundkar, 2021) and early 
career job seekers’ perceptions of the importance of branding on employ-
ability (Minor-Cooley & Parks-Yancy, 2020). Some prior research has 
compared the brands of the university and of the students (Holmberg & 
Strannegård, 2015). We take a different, critical approach and understand 
self-branding as a commodifying discourse associated with goal-oriented 
practices to promote oneself to gain superiority and “stand out” in the job 
market (Pagis & Ailon, 2017; Vallas & Cummins, 2015; Whitmer, 2021, 
p.  143). Furthermore, we understand self-branding as a framework for 
graduate identity construction, which is negotiated interactionally in nar-
rative contexts where business graduates need to perform employability to 
themselves and to an audience consisting of other graduates, recruiters 
and employers.
We suggest that job search forms a particularly interesting narrative 
context to scrutinize identity construction around employability. Studies 
on employers’ expectations of graduate employability have shown that 
especially in recruiting situations and job interviews, recruiters often pay 
attention to applicants’ behaviours, appearance and overall performance as 
“impression management”—or as self-branding—instead of formal, base-
line requirements such as education and work experience (Lepistö & 
Ihantola, 2018, p. 112). Accordingly, if the employers are open to the 
applicants’ “impression management”—that is self-branding—graduates 
seeking a job are incited to market themselves and, in other words, brand 
themselves to signal both their uniqueness and authenticity and also dif-
ference from other candidates in the eyes of the employers.
In the discourse of self-branding, uniqueness and authenticity are the 
core concepts which constitute a special brand value (Banet-Weiser, 2012; 
15 EMPLOYABILITY AS SELF-BRANDING IN JOB SEARCH GAMES: A CASE… 
322
Gershon, 2016; also Whitmer, 2021). The uniqueness and authenticity of 
the brand are associated with one’s “true self”, which supersedes skills, 
experiences, assets and alliances. Paradoxically, however, in the neoliberal 
logic, the true self must be constantly enhanced and cultivated (Gershon, 
2016). Besides uniqueness and authenticity, for personal brands, it is, 
thus, equally important to focus on “differentiation” and “parity”, which 
stem from practices that allow a person to “stand out” from competitors 
and “fit in” with the expectations of the field and the occupation being 
pursued (Parmentier et al., 2013, p. 375; Keller et al., 2002). To “stand 
out” and to “fit in” entails a certain kind of “curation of the self” (Banet- 
Weiser, 2012; Duffy & Pooley, 2017), which highlights the performative 
nature of self-branding that incites the actors to “tune” their brand always 
in accordance to the audience. Furthermore, signalling “stand out” grad-
uate employability includes narrating a personal brand (Anderson & 
Tomlinson, 2021, p. 688).
Narratives are sites where business graduates perform and negotiate 
graduate identities in relation to employability interactionally with an 
“audience” in mind. In job search situations, employers constitute the 
principal audience for self-branding (Anderson & Tomlinson, 2021) and 
graduates’ employability performances. Following de Fina’s (2015) view 
of an interactionally oriented approach, we analyse identities as perfor-
mances and view identities as situational accomplishments (De Fina, 
2015). Thus, identities are intentional projects and meaning making of 
how individuals want to be understood in the eyes of others (Bamberg, 
2011; Georgakopoulou, 2007). Identities as interactional performances 
can be seen—and studied—as constant acts of positioning (Bamberg, 
2011; Davies & Harré, 1990), where individuals aim to construct, affirm 
and contest specific versions of the self (De Fina, 2015).
Our theoretical approach is novel in the field of recent graduates’ 
employability and graduates’ self-branding studies. We approach interac-
tional graduate identity performances through the theory of identity 
dilemmas introduced by Michael Bamberg (2011). The dilemmas revolve 
around (a) constancy and change in time and place, (b) difference and 
sameness regarding others and (c) agency and control concerning whether 
“I” is a subject in control versus “I” as an undergoer to the situation and 
world. In this chapter, we aim to focus on the dilemma of difference and 
sameness, which has proved to be central to self-branding, both in terms 
of difference (a conceptual analogue to differentiation and “standing 
 H. MUTANEN ET AL.
323
out”) and sameness (a conceptual analogue to parity and “fitting in”) 
(Keller et al., 2002; Parmentier et al., 2013).
By scrutinizing the identity dilemma of difference and sameness, we are 
able to analyse graduates’ identity navigation within job search by explor-
ing how they deal with the question, “Who do I think I am and who 
should I be vis-à-vis the other graduates and employers’ expectations, the 
occupation pursued and the business labor market in general?”. The 
dilemma is particularly pertinent in the consideration of new graduates’ 
negotiation of employable identities as they aim to present themselves as 
employable graduates for potential employers.
methodologIcal ISSueS
Participants
The data set of this study consists of 27 interviews conducted in 2019 as a 
part of a larger research project on graduate employability and social posi-
tioning in the labour market (HighEmploy, 2018–20221). The field of 
business was selected as an exemplary case, partly because it is a generalist 
field that does not prepare graduates for any specific professions and 
enables many kinds of career options and partly because it is one of the 
high-status fields, typically leading to well-paid positions (Isopahkala- 
Bouret & Nori, 2021). The interviewees of this data set were aged between 
24 and 30. Fourteen of them were men and 13 women. Twenty-four of 
the interviewees had graduated in 2018–2019 and three were about to 
graduate in 2019–2020 from the university with a master’s degree. They 
represent a relatively privileged group of young adults in terms of their 
social background: most of them come from middle-class but not neces-
sarily academic families.
The interviewees were selected on the basis that they were relatively 
young, finishing their first university degree and were entering their early 
career positions as newly or soon to be graduated. They all had been 
recently searching for their first jobs in their professional field and there-
fore had recent experience of looking for a job. Almost all the interviewees 
had a job which corresponded with their field and level of education at the 
1 In the project’s qualitative sub-study, altogether 76 HE graduates with degrees in busi-
ness and administration were interviewed in 2019 for the first time, and 44 of them in 2020 
for the second time. The interviewees were recruited from 4 universities.
15 EMPLOYABILITY AS SELF-BRANDING IN JOB SEARCH GAMES: A CASE… 
324
time of graduation. Business administration and economics, the study field 
that we focus on in this study, is an example of a field where students enter 
the labour market before graduation. At the time of the interviews, the 
interviewees worked in business organizations with titles such as assistant 
controller, HR specialist/coordinator, business consultant, project man-
ager, IT advisor, data engineer and campaign specialist.
The duration of the interviews varied from around 1 to 3 hours. The 
interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. They were conducted 
and analysed in Finnish. The interview quotes presented in this article 
were translated into English by a professional. Ethical approval for the 
study was obtained from the University of Eastern Finland Committee on 
Research Ethics. The names of the interviewees are pseudonyms.
Method and Analysis
As described above, our method of analysis is narrative, and we investigate 
the ways by which the interviewees perform themselves in narrative inter-
action. In the first phase of analysis, we read through the transcripts to 
identify the episodes/narratives, where dilemmatic meanings related to 
constellations of employable identity were negotiated. The episodes inter-
twined around open questions presented by interviewer like: “Could you 
tell about applying for early career job positions?” or “How have you 
promoted yourself in job search and interview situations?” or “How is it 
possible to gain a ‘competitive edge’ over other graduates, if possible?” 
The episodes were plotted narratives or fragments of talk, that is “small 
stories” (Bamberg & Georgakopoulou, 2008). Following the interac-
tional approach to narratives (De Fina, 2015), we paid attention to the 
real or imagined audience, that is, other higher education graduates, 
recruiters, and other gatekeepers of the early career institutions and busi-
ness labour market.
Second, the analysis was organized around the interviewees’ navigation 
of the identity dilemma of difference and sameness (Bamberg, 2011). In 
practice, we focused on the variety of identity related dilemmas con-
structed via self-branding (what I am, what I am not and what I should be 
in terms of constructing employable graduate identity), keeping in mind 
the concepts of “authenticity”, “fabrication”, “parity” (fitting-in) and 
“differentiation” (stand-out) as well. We also examined the ways of the 
interviewees’ positioning and how the related identity performances reso-
nated with the discourse of self-branding.
 H. MUTANEN ET AL.
325
reSultS
In the following sections, we conduct detailed narrative analysis of the 
various ways by which business graduates performed their identities in the 
framework of self-branding discourse. Our analysis revealed that the iden-
tity dilemma of difference and sameness, in particular, actualized when the 
graduates reflected on themselves in the context of job search. Business 
graduates aimed to solve this dilemma, first, by performing difference to 
other highly educated and more traditional modest job seekers in terms of 
their personal attributes and qualities. They presented themselves as tacti-
cal and unique job seekers compared to average highly educated job seek-
ers. Second, the business graduates strived to solve the identity dilemma of 
difference and sameness by negotiating their lack of work experience. In 
doing so, they dealt with the demands and expectations of the occupa-
tional field and performed themselves as “same enough” compared to 
more experienced job seekers and the actual or imagined employees in 
organizations. They performed themselves as credible young applicants 
who fit in the organization and can bring equal value to it despite their 
lack of work experience. Solving the identity dilemma of difference and 
sameness also produced a specific dilemma of self-branding, that is, the 
dilemma of authenticity versus fabrication to be negotiated. Next, we 
present our results according to the ways by which graduates aimed to 
solve the identity dilemma of difference and sameness and, through this, 
also characterize the dilemmas of self-branding.
Performing Difference to Other Job Seekers
The interviewees aimed to solve the identity dilemma of difference and 
sameness, firstly, by performing their positive uniqueness compared to 
other job seekers. They seek to “stand out” from other job seekers and 
stressed their personal “skills”, characteristics and attributes, appearance 
and behaviours, tastes and even personal values, which were harnessed as 
one’s own unique competitive unique selling point in job seeking.
 The Tactical and Unique Job Seeker Versus the Average Highly Educated 
Job Seeker
All the interviewees had some experience in job search and preparing 
themselves for the related practices and situations, such as job applications 
and interviews. In their narratives, they performed themselves as different 
15 EMPLOYABILITY AS SELF-BRANDING IN JOB SEARCH GAMES: A CASE… 
326
from—and superior to—other job seekers by highlighting their personal 
attributes and qualities “beyond degrees”. In the following example, 
Miika positions himself as both different and same compared to others. 
He performs himself as a tactical and unique job seeker—an interperson-
ally skilful actor who has the ability to convince employers and tolerate 
stress and pressure (“grilling”) in job interview situations. In his interpre-
tation, these skills enable him to stand out from the competitors who are 
“at the same level” in terms of formal competence and degree.
Miika: When I get to a job interview, I’m in a position of strength. If I get 
a chance to influence something face-to-face, I know I’m good at it and I 
like it. I’d say I enjoy job interviews. They’re not only exciting situations, 
but I find it fun to be interviewed, grilled. (…) It’s one of my advantages. 
But whether I stand out on paper, my certificates from the first three years 
of study, for example, are identical to those of 99 per cent of others.
Miika’s example illustrates how the similarity with other job seekers—
the average highly educated—in terms of formal qualifications did not add 
value to one’s employability. Instead, academic qualifications were per-
ceived as the foundation from which to begin to build a respectful and 
competitive brand, and the difference in the sense of positive uniqueness 
was performed by relying on one’s individual uniqueness and its success-
ful, situation-relevant representation.
Business graduates also reflected the demands of real and imagined 
employers in their meaning making and aimed to answer to these demands 
with their identity performances. In the following quotation, Sara posi-
tions herself and other graduates in her field as agile and “keeping one’s 
finger on the pulse” labour market actors who are aware of the changing 
wishes and requirements of employers. However, she also aims to con-
struct difference from traditional, old-fashioned job seekers.
Sara: In my trade, people are pretty well aware of the criteria. And that’s 
surely why I stood out in the interview or also in the application phase. I had 
an individual kind of CV rather than a white piece of paper with some text 
on it. I have kept my finger on the pulse about what the requirements of a 
CV are these days. I knew which questions were likely to be asked.
Business graduates also performed themselves as different from other 
job seekers by positioning them as “true selves” and by harnessing their 
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327
own personal values as a brand. For example, Sara—like many other inter-
viewees—positioned herself towards the negatively associated stereotypi-
cal image of a business graduate. She performed herself as an atypical 
business graduate by referring to her personal life values, which emphasize 
soft and ethical values instead of business values. Thus, the interviewees 
aimed to differentiate not only from other (highly educated) job seekers 
or traditional job seekers, but also from other business students and 
graduates.
Sara: Maybe in a way I think about being my true self and that being genu-
ine is a factor. I want to believe that it makes me stand out.—Then again, I 
don’t think I’m the most typical business graduate. Maybe having a wide 
range of environmental values is another factor that makes me stand out.—
It’s maybe a separating factor. (…) I believe it might be an emerging trend.
Performing Sameness Enough
The interviewees also aimed to solve the identity dilemma of difference 
and sameness, by performing “sameness enough” to the demands of the 
job being pursued as well as the actual or imagined expectations of employ-
ers, business organizations and the graduate labour market in general.
 Good Novice Employee “on paper” Versus Credible by Experience
The interviewees also negotiated the identity dilemma of difference and 
sameness in terms of work-related experience. They reflected on whether 
they are good novice employees “on paper” or credible by experience. 
Business graduates dealt with their lack of work experience due to young 
age, which forced them to perform themselves as good and competent in 
relation to more experienced job seekers and the actual or imagined 
employees in the targeted organization. Business graduates justified why 
they “fit in” as credible young applicants and candidates to the organiza-
tions to which they apply for a job, while performing “sameness enough”.
As we have illustrated before, in job search games, sameness with other 
job seekers—just as being “on the same line” in terms of formal qualifica-
tion and degree—appeared to be avoidable. However, when looking at 
employers’ expectations about work experience, “sameness enough” in 
terms of “fitting in” within the organization became a virtue with which 
young novices were able to compensate for a lack of work experience and, 
thus, build their brand.
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328
The interviewees performed “sameness enough” by addressing the 
equal value (parity) they can bring to the organizations they were target-
ing—albeit through different means and virtues than through occupation 
and field-related work experience. They differentiated themselves posi-
tively from more experienced applicants and professionals by emphasizing 
their personal qualities and capacities related to youthfulness (Farrugia, 
2018), such as passion and drive, problem-solving skills and the ability  
to learn quickly (see also Korhonen et  al., 2023, also Hinchliffe & 
Jolly, 2011).
In the following examples, Joakim and Otso perform “sameness 
enough”, aiming to convince that they are just as good “fits” for the orga-
nization as more experienced candidates and professionals in future early 
career organizations:
Joakim: Well, it probably depends a little on which position I’m apply-
ing to. If you think about it, I don’t have that much work expe-
rience yet. It’s a factor that does not make me stand out if I’m 
applying to a position where more extensive experience is 
required. At that point, I think there must be another way for 
me to prove that I’m highly capable, that I’m a very quick 
learner, or that my persona is well-suitable. Things such as these.
Otso: It’s a bit fifty-fifty whether it’s worthwhile to employ a relatively 
young candidate with a shorter career as they may not have suf-
ficient skills or capacity. On the other hand, I’ve heard that (…) 
young people fresh from the oven or school. They are driven, 
full of ideas and inspired to bring something new especially to 
teams with more senior employees.
In their meaning making, Joakim and Otso address the problem of 
employability (“am I capable, good enough, do I manage”)—and the 
problem of differentiation from other job seekers—posed by a lack of 
work experience due to young age. Both perform themselves as intellectu-
ally curious and creative employees, thereby highlighting elements of the 
graduate identity that have been recognized as being valued by organiza-
tions (Hinchliffe & Jolly, 2011, p. 577).
The interviewees also aimed to perform themselves as same enough in 
terms of work experience gained during university studies. For example, 
Rebecca (soon to be graduated) talks about the compulsion to gain work 
experience at the end of the bachelor’s phase. In her interpretation, 
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329
“sameness enough” means that in terms of acquired work experience, you 
are on the “same line” as other graduates when there is competition for 
jobs. Rebecca, however, unlike Joakim and Otso, does not emphasize the 
competitive edge of her persona. Rather, she positions himself as a job 
seeker who, in a way, has to accept “lower”-level jobs in order to acquire 
sufficient experience to succeed in postgraduation job search.
Rebecca: When applying [for work], it’s quite certain (…) that your offset is 
different to that of other graduates if you have no work experience. I know-
ingly made such choices. (…) I think I’ve also been aware that the competi-
tion can be very tough in marketing, for example, and that I have to learn 
something new and start from a lower position. (Rebecca)
Birgitta also accounts for the lack of work experience, however, in a 
very different manner. Due to the lack of work experience—other or field 
specific—Birgitta positions herself as an inferior job-applicant. Lack of 
“learning about the job” (Hinchliffe & Jolly, 2011, p. 577) downplays the 
worth of knowledge acquired during studies and prefers knowledge and 
skills acquired through work experience resulting in knowledge or skills 
not necessarily being of required standard in the eyes of employers.
Birgitta: I was a bit scared that it might weaken my chances to be employed 
in the future. I pondered whether I’m an inferior job applicant as I didn’t 
work while studying.
The Self-branding Dilemma of Authenticity Versus Fabrication
 Boundaries of Authenticity Versus Fabrication
Difference and sameness actualized the self-branding dilemma of authen-
ticity versus fabrication in business graduates’ narrative practices. When 
the graduates performed themselves as tactical and unique job seekers (vs. 
average highly educated) and aimed to stand out from others, they had to 
respond to the demand for authenticity associated with a good employable 
brand (see Gershon, 2016). Moreover, they had to negotiate the right 
kind of authenticity, that is, how to distinguish from the “mass” and be 
unique enough without falling into fabrication associated with self-serving 
competitiveness, for example. In doing so, they thus reflected on the limits 
of socially and morally acceptable versus inacceptable forms and practices 
of self-branding. Authenticity within the discourse of self-branding 
15 EMPLOYABILITY AS SELF-BRANDING IN JOB SEARCH GAMES: A CASE… 
330
involved the performing of the authentic self, which was perceived as hon-
est, genuine and true to oneself but also true to the expectations of the 
occupation/work being pursued.
In the following examples, Tea and Katriina negotiate the discrepancy 
between their true self and the ideal of self-branding.
Tea: How hard it is to highlight your skills, and what this certain 
kind of modesty means. (…) It has been really difficult to mar-
ket yourself like “Hey, I really am a competent and sociable 
person with good problem solving skills.” In a way I’m afraid 
that it might feel artificial and fake (…), and on one other hand 
I’m limited in that I can’t be good in everything. On the other 
hand, as everyone is part of the same great mass, I should con-
sider my skills and capabilities and remind myself of them. I 
have completed the same degree as others, but they make me 
stand out.
Katriina: When you sit at a job interview for an hour, your skills become 
obvious without having to fabricate or exaggerate things. I 
don’t know (…) whether people exaggerate things, but I’m an 
honest person, so I couldn’t even do it.
Tea and Katriina position themselves as an inherently modest person, 
which has historically been a central virtue of work among Finns and con-
front authenticity with fabrication. Although Tea encourages herself to be 
rightly and courageously proud of her abilities and understands the obvi-
ous necessity of branding by means of “bringing out personal talents”, the 
demand for self-promotion appears potentially pretentious and leading to 
false expression and, therefore, poor job search success.
On the other hand, reflecting on the claim of authenticity also fuelled 
self-doubt, especially in the sense of weighing up one’s true competence 
and value, as the following quotation illustrates:
Tea: Being assessed or scrutinised gives rise to this certain kind of uncer-
tainty in me. (…) I recognise the concept of impostor syndrome. Am I fool-
ing myself or am I really as good as I say?
The right kind of authenticity in job search was strictly regulated also 
because it was associated with the virtues of both relaxed spontaneity as 
well as careful and tactical preparation. In the following extract, Sara 
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331
positions herself as an honest person and employee, and honesty refers to 
a sustainable professional identity and acting in accordance with the pro-
fession. However, honesty is reflected also vis-à-vis the obvious require-
ment to “do your homework” in order to prepare oneself for a job 
interview and, at the same time, stay true/perform spontaneity and 
“true self”.
Sara: Of course being prepared to the questions—(…) Even though you 
prepare yourself for the interview, your responses should be authentic rather 
than similar to something written on a paper. They shouldn’t be too thor-
oughly considered. (…) In my opinion, it’s important to be honest rather 
than try to pretend something more than you are because you’ll be in trou-
ble if you can’t deliver the things you promised. Or people may get an incor-
rect idea about who you really are.
The self-branding dilemma of authenticity versus fabrication also 
occurred when the business graduates performed themselves as same 
enough compared to other employees. In this case, the dilemma of authen-
ticity versus fabrication was dealt in terms of bodily appearance, and a 
comparison was made with other business graduates, in particular. The 
interviewees constructed stereotypical images of business students and 
graduates as self-confident professionals with the right kind of (middle- 
class) “tastes” and dress codes. In the following quotation, Sara positions 
herself as a ”generally neat” business graduate who inspires confidence 
with her appearance but is, however, not inauthentic or fabricated:
Sara: Of course, being altogether presentable but still yourself. Authenticity. … 
being a genuine person instils trust in others.
Secondly, business graduates delt with the self-branding dilemma of 
authenticity versus fabrication when they aimed to prove their credibility 
as young novices and their equal value in early-career business organiza-
tions. Some interviewees, like Sakari in the extract below, performed 
themselves as being older than their age, which was considered as a sort of 
learned tactic or practice of self-branding—a way to act according to the 
expectations of occupation pursued.
Sakari: Maybe it does not play such an important role at this stage as I’m 
getting closer to my 30s. But earlier it did. Getting used to being a bit older 
has clearly had its advantages, too. It adds to my credibility. (…) If you put 
15 EMPLOYABILITY AS SELF-BRANDING IN JOB SEARCH GAMES: A CASE… 
332
on a suit as a 25-year-old who knows nothing about anything, the suit just 
covers the fact that you have no skills.
As Sakari’s example shows, the presentation of age had to be skilful and 
authentic enough and stay within the proper limits, although Sakari is test-
ing and stretching the boundaries of fabrication. Fabricating age (and 
experience) to “fit in” with the expectations of the employers, for exam-
ple, by performing a certain style outwards and dressing like a “business-
man” was seen to reveal a young employee’s incompetence in the eyes 
of others.
Finally, Julia positions herself as a well-known actor in job search games 
and speaks in a guiding tone to other job seekers when she argues that 
eligibility for successful job search requires in-depth knowledge of your-
self, which is a key resource for both the job seeker and the companies 
themselves.
Julia: I don’t think you should excessively polish your image. (…) Certain 
kind of self-confidence shows without having to highlight it. (…) I’d say to 
people that you should explore your inner self and only then apply for work. 
(…) If you don’t know yourself, you can’t help the company nor yourself.
According to Julia’s interpretation, “self-confidence” as a job seeker’s 
virtue and competitive asset is visible to the employer as if by nature with-
out having to emphasize it. In this way, Julia’s interpretation builds a cer-
tain virtue of modesty.
 Boundaries of the “curated self”
In addition to performing themselves as authentic selves and drawing 
boundaries for the right kind of authenticity, business graduates negoti-
ated the boundaries of fabrication. In doing so, they aimed to justify fab-
rication within acceptable limits, as fabrication is defined culturally 
undesirable—especially in relation to Finnish work values which empha-
size modesty and honesty as employee virtues (Rintamäki, 2016). In 
branding literature, the “curated self”, that is, “tuning” your own brand 
for different audiences (Duffy & Pooley, 2017), refers to “a minor self- 
polishing” from the point of view of the job you are looking for. The 
“curated self” can be interpreted as stretching the boundaries of the 
dilemma of authenticity and fabrication. Honesty and being yourself are 
once again the subject of negotiations. On the other hand, the need to 
 H. MUTANEN ET AL.
333
appear in the right light is recognized, which is probably culturally 
accepted, as long as you stay close to the truth.
Emil and Miro, for example, position themselves as conscious of the 
logic of job-seeking games, aware of the need for “sane” fabrication and 
the necessity/“probability” of finding a job in job-seeking situations. Emil 
justifies suitable fabrication by being able, if necessary, to use the skills 
advertised in the job application. However, he interprets that it is not 
appropriate to write “anything” in the application, that is, to invoke the 
limits of permissible fabrication. Miro also argues that it is necessary to 
present the “most affordable version” of himself when looking for a job, 
although in his interpretation he hints that recruiters do note excessive 
“lying”. Both Emil and Miro also, in a way, normalize and justify the “tun-
ing” of the self.
Emil: In my opinion a job application (…) is about bolstering yourself one 
way or another. It’s never easy for Finns, but when you do it reasonably with 
solid grounds (…) and you can argue why you are capable of something, 
I’m fine with it. I won’t write just anything there.
dIScuSSIon
In this chapter, we have explored how newly or soon to be graduated 
young people with a business degree perform themselves as employable 
labour market actors in terms of self-branding in the context of early career 
job search. We have utilized self-branding discourse as a lens to identity 
construction around employability and adopted an interaction-oriented 
narrative approach to identities where identities are seen as situational per-
formances—made with real or imagined audiences in mind (De Fina, 
2015). Furthermore, the analytical focus has been on the positioning 
strategies used by the narrators to accomplish, reaffirm or contest specific 
versions of themselves in relation to self-branding.
Our results show that the business graduates aimed to solve the identity 
dilemma of difference and sameness by performing their positive unique-
ness and superiority (standing out)—beyond degrees—compared to other 
job seekers. They did it by stressing their personal characteristics and attri-
butes, appearance and behaviours and even personal values, which were 
harnessed as one’s own unique competitive advantage in job seeking. In 
sum, the business graduates performed themselves as tactical and unique 
actors in job search games compared to the average highly educated. 
15 EMPLOYABILITY AS SELF-BRANDING IN JOB SEARCH GAMES: A CASE… 
334
Second, they solved the identity dilemma of difference and sameness by 
negotiating their lack of work experience and performing themselves 
“same enough” than more experienced job seekers and other employees. 
They reflected on whether they were good novice employees “on paper”, 
credible by experience or fit in the organization due to their other poten-
tial and valuable personal qualities. In their meaning making, the business 
graduates aimed to respond to the demands of the job being pursued as 
well as the expectations of employers, business organizations and the grad-
uate labour market.
Finally, the dilemma of difference and sameness actualized the self- 
branding dilemma of authenticity versus fabrication. The graduates had to 
respond to the demand for authenticity associated with a good employable 
brand (see Gershon, 2016). Moreover, they had to negotiate the right 
kind of authenticity, that is, how to distinguish from the “mass” and be 
unique enough without falling into fabrication. In doing so, they thus 
reflected on the limits of socially and morally acceptable versus unaccept-
able forms and practices of self-branding and negotiated the boundaries of 
“curating self”.
In sum, self-branding, when analysed in terms of graduate employable 
identity performances, seems to emphasize the cultivation of the person 
on the one hand, and the importance of work experience on the other. In 
contrast, academic degrees acquired through higher education and skills 
and competences associated with a business degree are not seen as things 
that bring value to oneself in the entry to the labour market.
The article contributes to the prominent literature on graduate employ-
ability and self-branding, first, by conceptualizing self-branding as a cen-
tral manifestation of the discourse of employability and, second, by adding 
a narrative practice approach and identity dilemma perspective (Bamberg, 
2011) to analyse how self-branding is displayed in narrative identity per-
formances. This perspective addresses employable graduate identities as 
socially and culturally mediated. From the sociocultural point of view, the 
study shows that the various ways the interviewees position themselves 
embody both the labour market ideals of employability and the discourse 
of self-branding. However, although the ideal of self-branding, that is 
engaging in purposeful marketization of the self to gain success in the 
labour market, is strongly echoed in the business graduates’ interpreta-
tions, their identity performances invoke also different kinds of ideals, 
such as honesty and modesty that are attached to Finnish work values 
(Rintamäki, 2016). Overall, the chosen methodology is a particularly 
 H. MUTANEN ET AL.
335
fruitful tool to analyse how graduates aim to achieve, contest or reaffirm 
specific employable identities in terms of self-branding. To conclude, 
although the graduates embrace the topical language of self-branding and 
rely on it to present themselves as credible labour market actors, they also 
strive to solve the moral dilemmas associated with self-branding in the 
context of Finnish working life.
On a more local level of social surroundings, the interaction-oriented 
narrative analysis enables to show that self-branding as a narrative practice 
has situational and contextual functions, and certain kinds of contexts and 
environments encourage, nourish or even prohibit certain kinds of narra-
tives (see De Fina & Georgakopoulou, 2012, p. 124). Graduates’ identity 
performances can be understood as purposeful responses to the demands 
and expectations of job search games, employers and organizations. 
However, newly graduated young people do not embrace and repeat 
blindly the ideals around them: they are actively making moral judgements 
about what is presented as desirable and what is rejected in terms of self- 
branding. Engaging in self-branding entails looking at oneself as well as 
others from many different perspectives that might be contradictory. The 
demand to solve a wide range of (moral) dilemmas and negotiate the vir-
tues and demands of both academic degrees and the labour market that 
are in tension with each other speaks interestingly about the demands of 
the self-branding phenomenon. There seem to be very personal issues to 
be tackled and, therefore, the sense that if you don’t live up to the ideals 
you are a potential loser.
On the basis of the results and drawing on Vallas and Cummins’ (2015, 
p. 309) study, we argue that the larger share of the criticisms should be 
pointed at the principled concerns (moral obligation to engage oneself in 
self-branding) of branding instead of the practical considerations (how to 
be trained to brand effectively). If we reflect upon the results in terms of 
what has been argued above, the main concern should be that graduates 
seem to have a (moral) duty to engage themselves in the dilemmatic dis-
course of self-branding in the entry to the labour market. If employability 
is viewed as branding the “self” beyond degrees, it is worth asking in line 
with Handley (2018, p. 252): “what higher education can possibly do to 
enhance the job prospects of their graduating students, if degrees are as a 
mere signal of eligibility for graduate jobs”.
The findings of this study are subject to some limitations. First, the 
research focuses on the perspective of a unique (perhaps elite) group of 
business graduates, which offers a purposeful sample and a lens through 
15 EMPLOYABILITY AS SELF-BRANDING IN JOB SEARCH GAMES: A CASE… 
336
which we can increase our understanding of the generalist degrees and 
challenges in entering a business labour market where degrees are not 
enough (Tomlinson, 2008). Second, the narrative approach and a pur-
poseful sample do not afford generalization to other professional disci-
plines, such as medicine or law, but rather aim to elicit deep insights to 
personal and shared experiences and to larger cultural narratives and dis-
courses. Finally, future research could assess whether graduates’ identity 
performances in terms of self-branding change when they proceed in early 
career organizations. Therefore, follow-up data with the same participants 
could provide a longitudinal perspective and the possibility to study iden-
tity construction around self-branding within early career organizations 
and beyond. In addition, questions of social class and gender in terms of 
self-branding need further investigation.
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