What do student jobs on graduate CVs signal to employers?

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.

Costly mistakes: Why and when spelling errors in resumes jeopardise interview chances

“…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 ].…”

“…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’.…”

Valuable Experience: How University Internships Affect Graduates’ Income

“…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.…”

Costly Mistakes: Why and When Spelling Errors in Resumes Jeopardise Interview Chances

“…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'.…”

“…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.…”