If Unemployed, Hold Out for a Good Job Says NBER Study

If Unemployed, Hold Out for a Good Job Says NBER Study Unemployment is often accompanied by feelings of despair, anxiety, and crippling uncertainty about the future. When the flow of money stops suddenly, people are understandably tempted to jump at the first job that comes their way, even if it’s beneath their level. It’s like that age-old dating dilemma: wait for Mr. Right, or settle for Mr. Right in Front of You? According to a new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, settling is a bad career move. Economists Till Von Watcher, Henry Farber, and Dan Silverman sent out 8,000 fake resumes to 2,400 actual job postings for administrative white-collar positions and recorded the callback rates. Since the 8,000 resumesâ€"which used women’s names to control for gender biasâ€"represented a broad variety of ages, employment dates, and job characteristics, they were able to provide a solid, data-driven answer to this dilemma of the unemployed. “Taking an interim job significantly reduces the likelihood of receiving a callback,” the study concludes. That runs counter to the conventional wisdom that a hiring manager might interpret an interim job as a hallmark of a motivated and hardworking person. “It appears that an unemployed worker is better off remaining unemployed and searching for work rather than being employed in a low-level job while searching.” However, the researchers note a compromise that may be the most attractive to job seekers: simply not listing the temporary gig on your resume. In addition to noting the disadvantage of an interim job, the study made two other noteworthy observations: people over the age of 50 are much less likely to get a callback, and a period of up to a year between jobs doesn’t affect hiring. While the confirmation of ageism isn’t any secret to anybody, the acceptability of gaps on a resume is welcome news for anyone who has or wants to take time off to raise children, travel, or work on other projects. Unless, of course, you turn 50 during your time off. Video Player is loading.Play VideoPlayMuteCurrent Time  0:00/Duration  0:00Loaded: 0%Stream Type  LIVESeek to live, currently playing liveLIVERemaining Time  -0:00  SharePlayback Rate1xChaptersChaptersDescriptionsdescriptions off, selectedCaptionscaptions settings, opens captions settings dialogcaptions off, selectedAudio TrackFullscreenThis is a modal window. This video is either unavailable or not supported in this browser Error Code: MEDIA_ERR_SRC_NOT_SUPPORTED Technical details : No compatible source was found for this media. Session ID: 2019-12-31:d0497fea70da8755972995e Player Element ID: jumpstart_video_1 OK Close Modal DialogBeginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.TextColorWhiteBlackRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-TransparentBackgroundColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyOpaqueSemi-TransparentTransparentWindowColorBlackWhiteRedGreenBlueYellowMagentaCyanTransparencyTransparentSemi-TransparentOpaqueFont Size50%75%100%125%150%175%200%300%400%Text Edge StyleNoneRaisedDepressedUniformDropshadowFont FamilyProportional Sans-SerifMonospace Sans-SerifProportional SerifMonospace SerifCasualScriptSmall CapsReset restore all settings to the default valuesDoneClose Modal DialogEnd of dialog window.PlayMuteCurrent Time  0:00/Duration  0:00Loaded: 0%Stream Type  LIVESeek to live, currently playing liveLIVERemaining Time  -0:00  Playback Rate1xFullscreenClose Modal DialogThis is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.Close Modal DialogThis is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button.