What Do Student Jobs on Graduate CVs Signal to Employers?

Eva Van Belle, Ralf Caers (), Laure Cuypers, Marijke De Couck, Brecht Neyt, Hannah Van Borm () and Stijn Baert
Additional contact information
Ralf Caers: KU Leuven
Laure Cuypers: Ghent University
Marijke De Couck: Free University of Brussels

No 12431, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

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 in which we ask 242 human resource professionals to evaluate a set of five fictitious profiles. Whereas all types of student work signal a better work attitude, a larger social network, a greater sense of responsibility, an increased motivation, and more maturity, only student employment in line with a job candidate's field of study is a signal of increased human capital and increased trainability.

Keywords: hiring chances; signalling; student employment; vignette study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C91 I21 J22 J24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39 pages
Date: 2019-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-hrm and nep-lma
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

Published - revised version published in: Economics of Education Review , 2020, 75, 101979

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Related works:
Journal Article: What do student jobs on graduate CVs signal to employers? (2020)
Working Paper: What do student jobs on graduate CVs signal to employers? (2019)
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