Abstract:Due to the prevalence and important consequences of student work, the topic has seen an increased interest in the literature. However, to date the focus has been solely on measuring the effect of student employment on later labour market outcomes, relying on signalling theory to explain the observed effects. In the current study, we go beyond measuring the effect of student work and we examine for the first time what exactly is being signalled by student employment. We do this by means of a vignette experiment… Show more
“…The remaining manipulated dimensions were (4) student work experience, (5) hobbies, (6) achievement in tertiary education and (7) applicant’s perception of their mother tongue. Following Van Belle and colleagues [ 33 ], we made the following distinctions in (4) student work: ‘none mentioned’, ‘student work in the weekends’ and ‘student work during the holidays’. Hobby (5) categories included ‘none mentioned’, ‘team sports’ and ‘volunteering’, which were based on multiple earlier hiring experiments [ 32 , 33 , 39 ].…”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Following Van Belle and colleagues [ 33 ], we made the following distinctions in (4) student work: ‘none mentioned’, ‘student work in the weekends’ and ‘student work during the holidays’. Hobby (5) categories included ‘none mentioned’, ‘team sports’ and ‘volunteering’, which were based on multiple earlier hiring experiments [ 32 , 33 , 39 ]. Achievement in tertiary education (6) was distinguished by ‘none mentioned’, ‘graduated cum laude’ and ‘international experience’.…”
The analysis of hiring penalties due to spelling errors has been restricted to white-collar occupations and error-laden resumes. Moreover, the mechanisms underlying these penalties remained unclear. To fill these gaps, we conducted a scenario experiment with 445 recruiters. Compared to error-free resumes, hiring penalties are inflicted for error-laden resumes (18.5 percent points lower interview probability) and resumes with fewer errors (7.3 percent points lower interview probability). Furthermore, we find heterogeneity in penalties inflicted. Half of the penalty can be explained by the perceptions that applicants making spelling errors have lower interpersonal skills (9.0%), conscientiousness (12.1%) and mental abilities (32.2%).
“…The remaining manipulated dimensions were (4) student work experience, (5) hobbies, (6) achievement in tertiary education and (7) applicant’s perception of their mother tongue. Following Van Belle and colleagues [ 33 ], we made the following distinctions in (4) student work: ‘none mentioned’, ‘student work in the weekends’ and ‘student work during the holidays’. Hobby (5) categories included ‘none mentioned’, ‘team sports’ and ‘volunteering’, which were based on multiple earlier hiring experiments [ 32 , 33 , 39 ].…”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Following Van Belle and colleagues [ 33 ], we made the following distinctions in (4) student work: ‘none mentioned’, ‘student work in the weekends’ and ‘student work during the holidays’. Hobby (5) categories included ‘none mentioned’, ‘team sports’ and ‘volunteering’, which were based on multiple earlier hiring experiments [ 32 , 33 , 39 ]. Achievement in tertiary education (6) was distinguished by ‘none mentioned’, ‘graduated cum laude’ and ‘international experience’.…”
The analysis of hiring penalties due to spelling errors has been restricted to white-collar occupations and error-laden resumes. Moreover, the mechanisms underlying these penalties remained unclear. To fill these gaps, we conducted a scenario experiment with 445 recruiters. Compared to error-free resumes, hiring penalties are inflicted for error-laden resumes (18.5 percent points lower interview probability) and resumes with fewer errors (7.3 percent points lower interview probability). Furthermore, we find heterogeneity in penalties inflicted. Half of the penalty can be explained by the perceptions that applicants making spelling errors have lower interpersonal skills (9.0%), conscientiousness (12.1%) and mental abilities (32.2%).
“…Schambach and Dirks (2002) mention several potential benefits for students doing an internship, such as applying learnt knowledge in practice and reinforcing that knowledge, raising awareness of key soft skills such as communication or teamwork, and clarifying career paths and marketable job skills (experience). Van Belle et al (2019) use a vignette study to determine what student jobs actually signal to employers, and find that employers assume those with jobs to have better work attitudes, larger social networks, and show more responsibility, motivation, and maturity. To sum up the anecdotal evidence, an internship combines the acquisition of soft skills and experience, thereby enhancing employability and facilitating the transition from tertiary education into the labor market.…”
Section: Theoretical Background and Hypothesesmentioning
This paper analyzes whether and how attending an internship during tertiary education affects income. We address endogeneity with an IV approach that exploits information regarding whether the internship was a mandatory component of the study. We further address selection into programs with mandatory internship by using the share of mandatory internships at the closest university, exploiting the low mobility of Swiss students. The results show that internships increase graduates’ incomes. We explore potential mechanisms for the effect of internships on income, finding that general human capital is the main mechanism rather than firm- or field-specific human capital, signaling, or screening. These results indicate that students should continue to invest in internships and that mandatory internships have a place in university curricula because they improve the quality of education.
“…Following Van Belle et al (2020), we made the following distinctions in (4) student work: 'none mentioned', 'student work in the weekends' and 'student work during the holidays'. Hobby (5) categories included 'none mentioned', 'team sports' and 'volunteering', which were based on multiple earlier hiring experiments (e.g., Baert & Verhaest, 2021;Sterkens et al, in press;Van Belle et al 2020). Achievement in tertiary education (6) was distinguished by 'none mentioned', 'graduated cum laude' and 'international experience'.…”
Section: Table 2 [Table 2]mentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Caveat: among the different errors implemented, we could not make a perfect distinction between a participant's evaluation of an error as either typographical in nature or as a result of incorrect knowledge of spelling. dimensions' relevance in recruiters' decision-making (Cole et al, 2009;Piopiunik et al, 2020;Van Belle et al, 2020). 4 Note that manipulating fewer relevant dimensions could have led to an overestimation of the spelling-error penalty inflicted by recruiters because (mimicking) a real-life hiring decision also requires recruiters to combine different sources of information.…”
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