Job Searching

Today 4.7 million Americans have been unemployed for more than six months. In France more than ten percent of the working population is without work. In Israel it's above seven percent. And in Greece and Spain, that number approaches thirty percent. Across the developed world, the experience of unemployment has become frighteningly common - and so are the seemingly endless tactics that job seekers employ in their quest for new work. Job-Search Games delves beneath these staggering numbers to explore the world of job searching and unemployment across class and nation. Through in-depth interviews and observations at job-search support organizations, Ofer Sharone reveals how different labor-market institutions give rise to job-search games like Israel's resume-based "spec games" - which are focused on presenting one's skills to fit the job - and the "chemistry games" more common in the United States in which job seekers concentrate on presenting the person behind the resume. By closely examining the specific day-to-day activities and strategies of searching for a job, Sharone develops a theory of the mechanisms that connect objective social structures and subjective experiences in this challenging environment - and how these different structures can lead to very different experiences of unemployment.

This study examined adult resilience in the context of the adversity of unemployment. Seventy-seven unemployed job seekers completed a self-report survey containing the Resilience Scale (G. M. Wagnild & H. M. Young, 1993), Centre for Epidemiologic Studies-Depressed Mood Scale (L. S. Radloff, 1977), and the Assertive Job Hunting Survey (H. A. Becker, 1980). Product-term regression indicated that for those unemployed persons who had resilient qualities, less depression resulted even though they had been job searching for a long time (beta = -.359, p < .001). Length of time job searching was positively associated with depression (beta = .41, p < .01). When the outcome variable was job search assertiveness, only the main effect of resilience (beta = .492, p < .001) was significant, accounting for 25.8% of the variance. The inclusion of psychological interventions to foster resilience, along with standard job search training provided by job network services, is advocated.

Obtaining employment is one of the most difficult challenges for individuals released from prison. This research explores the strategies recently released male parolees employ in attempting to find work, with specific attention to the role of anticipated stigma from their ex-convict status. Through the use of in-depth longitudinal interviews, this research contributes to our understanding of returning prisoner's experiences in job searching. We find that although a majority of the sample anticipated stigma as a barrier to employment, those who did expressed an extreme self-reliance consistent with defensive individualism. This reluctance to draw on social networks may ultimately be counter-productive to the search for employment.

Work motivation is critical for successful school-to-work transitions, but little is known about its determinants among labor market entrants. Applying a social identity framework, we examined whether work motivation and job searching are social-contextually determined. We expected that some job seekers are more sensitive to contextual influence, depending on their personality. Mediation analyses on 591 Dutch vocational training students indicate that the perception of more positive work norms in someone's social context was related to higher levels of intrinsic motivation, which in turn predicted higher preparatory job search behavior and job search intentions. Multi-group analysis shows that perceived work norms more strongly predict work motivation among overcontrollers compared to resilients and undercontrollers. In conclusion, work motivation and job searching appear contextually determined: especially among those sensitive to contextual influence, people seem to work when they believe that is what people like them do.

This article explores the experiences and aspirations of offenders with histories of substance misuse in job searching. The analysis is based upon qualitative data from a localised study of 27 men and two women who were undertaking community-based court orders in Scotland. Their perspectives on job searching, job-readiness and aspirations for sustained employment including the role of self-employment are presented. The article concludes that with adequate support, greater tolerance and flexibility by employers and job searchers could contribute to reducing the vicious cycle of suspicion and dishonesty. Policy action needs to be sustained and possibly augmented to include enterprise training.

From the Publisher: Ready for a job that's perfect for you? Before you pound the pavement, surf the Net. More than just a list of Web Sites, Job Searching Online For Dummies explains how to scope out potential employers on the Internet, network online, create and send an electronic resume that really stands out, design your own self-promoting Web site, and get that ideal job. Inside, find helpful advice on how to Conduct a well-informed job search using online resources Build an electronic resume that best presents your skills Post and send your e-resume and cover letter successfully Network effectively in cyberspace -- and make contacts with peers and employers Create a dynamic Web page that really markets your talents Tour the top job databases and check out corporate culture online Keep your job search confidential and your personal information private

ABSTRACT Youth unemployment figures include large numbers of full-time students, yet student joblessness receives very little academic attention, especially at a qualitative level. Despite being relatively less deleterious than youth unemployment more broadly, we show that student unemployment remains an important site for the practice and reinforcement of social inequality. Using a Bourdieusian framework to analyse interviews with 27 undergraduate students who have been unsuccessful in term-time job searching, we expose some of the limits to the extent that social and cultural capital can be converted into positive employment outcomes. Importantly, the data reveal that it is (lack of) access to material and economic resources that is most significant in ensuring that both the experience of unemployment and, concomitantly, the experience of university, in yet another way, remain highly structured by social class. These divisions shape the imperative and timing of the need to work, and also underpin nuances in respect of desires and needs in how students talk about their motivations for part-time work. These should be important considerations if policy-makers want to create a genuinely meritocratic system or deliver equitable psychological and material well-being.

A burgeoning literature on white-collar unemployment and job searching has sought over the past two decades to explain why white-collar workers embrace neoliberal labor market restructuring, and why they often blame themselves for the failure of labor markets to provide stable, secure employment. Recent work, especially Sharone, has shown how neoliberal ideology is rooted in the details of American labor market institutions. More recently, however, U.S. employment relations have undergone a reconfiguration, punctuated by the Great Recession, raising new questions about self-blame and system-blame among white-collar job seekers. In this article, the authors draw on a unique data set of 43 white-collar job seekers interviewed in 2012 and 2013 and argue that, in the post-Great Recession period, what Sharone calls the chemistry game is now experienced as unwinnable, unplayable, and rigged. As a result, the authors find white-collar job seekers questioning neoliberalism in important ways and largely blaming structural factors—especially what they perceive as employers’ betrayal of the social contract—for negative labor market outcomes. The anger, disillusionment, and sense of betrayal among white-collar workers that the authors find in the post-Great Recession labor market, the authors suggest, has implications for Burawoy’s influential theory of employment games as well as relevance for the widespread decline in trust in American institutions.

This study provides the first empirical test of whether searching for jobs on the Internet can help people gain access to high quality jobs. Using new data from former welfare clients in Florida, we present results from a multivariate regression analysis of Internet job searching on wages and on a number of job benefits. On average, Internet job searchers receive better jobs than people who conducted more traditional job searches, net of numerous control variables. These findings suggest that welfare recipients have a great deal to gain from searching for their jobs on the Internet. Keywords: welfare; Internet; computer; job search ********** The remarkable increase in online recruiting and Internet job searching in the last decade has fundamentally transformed job searching and job allocation (Feldman & Klaas, 2002; Cappelli, 2001; Kuhn & Skuterud, 2000, 2004). The use of the Internet in job searching has the potential to lower unemployment and increase productivity to the economy as a whole (McConnell, Brue, & McPherson, 2002). However, Internet job searching and recruiting could also lead to an increase in labor market inequality, as employers may use the "digital divide" as a filtering technique (Cappelli, 2001). Firms often advertise on the Internet to screen out less desirable workers. Employers tend to view Internet applicants as better educated, more motivated and more resourceful (Niles & Hanson, 2003). Therefore, employers often use newspapers and print ads to recruit less-skilled employees, while using the Internet to target skilled workers to fill higher-level positions. By relying solely on traditional job search methods, a job seeker may be limiting her access to low-pay, low-quality jobs. This assertion, however, has yet to be tested empirically, as most researchers simply assume that people can convert Internet access into valued resources (Dimaggio, Hargittai, Neuman, & Robinson, 2001). Only recently have researchers begun to examine the relative effectiveness of Internet job searching, although these investigations have focused on unemployment duration rather than on job quality (Kuhn & Skuterud, 2004; Fountain, 2005). The potential for employment benefits from Internet job searching is greatest among vulnerable populations. Research on welfare recipients has focused on job matching processes and outcomes for former welfare clients (Lindhorst, Mancoske, & Kemp, 2000; Vartanian & McNamara, 2000; Anderson, Halter, Julnes, & Schuldt 2000) and on the importance of the direct intervention of welfare program managers to help clients find jobs (Livermore & Neustron, 2003; Wilson, Stoker, & McGrath, 1999). However, few have considered the Internet as a viable option for matching welfare clients to jobs. Internet job searching among former welfare recipients is comparable to Internet searching among unemployed workers in the general population (Crew and Lamothe, 2003; Kuhn & Skuterud, 2000, 2004). By tapping into the opportunities online, welfare recipients may be able to use the Internet as a bridge to stable, high quality employment. Data and Sampling Drawing from telephone survey data and administrative records on former welfare recipients in Florida, we provide the first empirical test of the extent to which Internet job searching results in the receipt of better jobs than traditional search methods. The sample was randomly selected from a list (provided by Florida's Department of Children and Families) of people who had been on welfare but did not receive a Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) check for two consecutive months at some point between January and September of 2001. The sample consisted mostly of women (about 90 percent). Florida State University's Survey Research Laboratory (SRL) conducted the interviews between April and July of 2003. Among eligible respondents that the SRL was able to contact, almost half completed the survey (cooperation rate COOP1 = 48%, AAPOR, 2004). …

This paper examines job searching among employed job seekers through the social networking sites. One hundred ninety survey questionnaires were distributed to employed job seekers who have used online social networking sites via the snowball sampling approach. The collected data were analysed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique via the Analysis of Moment Structure (AMOS 16) computer program. The results showed that perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment are positively and significantly related to the behavioural intention to use online social networking sites as a job search tool, whereas perceived ease of use is not positively and significantly related. The study implies that the developers of online social networking sites must provide additional useful functionalities or tools to help users with their job searches. These sites must also assure that they do not disclose individuals’ private and confidential information without the consent. The paper provides insight for employed jobseekers by using online social networking sites as a job search tool.