Providing Advice to Job Seekers at Low Cost: An Experimental Study on On-Line Advice

71 Pages Posted: 19 Jan 2016

See all articles by Michèle Belot

Michèle Belot

University of Edinburgh

Philipp Kircher

University of Edinburgh

Paul Muller

University of Gothenburg

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: December 08, 2015

Abstract

Helping job seekers to identify suitable jobs is a key challenge for policy makers. We develop and evaluate experimentally a novel tool that provides tailored advice at low cost and thereby redesigns the process through which job seekers search for jobs. We invited 300 job seekers to our computer facilities for 12 consecutive weekly sessions. They searched for real jobs using our web interface. After 3 weeks, we introduced a manipulation of the interface for half of the sample: instead of relying on their own search criteria, we displayed relevant other occupations to them and the jobs that were available in these occupations. These suggestions were based on background information and readily available labor market data. We recorded search behavior on our site but also surveyed participants every week on their other search activities, applications and job interviews. We find that these suggestions broaden the set of jobs considered by the average participant. More importantly, we find that they are invited to significantly more job interviews. These effects are predominantly driven by job seekers who searched relatively narrowly initially and who have been unemployed for a few months.

Keywords: online job search, occupational broadness, search design

JEL Classification: D830, J620, C930

Suggested Citation

Belot, Michèle and Kircher, Philipp and Muller, Paul, Providing Advice to Job Seekers at Low Cost: An Experimental Study on On-Line Advice (December 08, 2015). CESifo Working Paper Series No. 5641, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2717421 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2717421

Michèle Belot

University of Edinburgh ( email )

Old College
South Bridge
Edinburgh, Scotland EH8 9JY
United Kingdom

Philipp Kircher (Contact Author)

University of Edinburgh ( email )

Paul Muller

University of Gothenburg ( email )

Box 640
Vasagatan 1, E-building, floor 5 & 6
Göteborg, 40530
Sweden

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