How do young workers find jobs in the internet age? Gender differences in search method

Although recent empirical research has established important behavioral differences between the sexes in many aspects of labor mobility such as participation rates, quit rates, search propensity, and the pecuniary returns to search, one aspect of the job search process that has received surprisingly little attention is the methodology utilized in job search activities.  For example, job search may consist of an active strategy such as contacting employers, filling out applications, or distributing resumes.  In other instances, the search strategy may consist of a more passive approach like reading the want ads in a newspaper or online.  There is some evidence that suggests a relationship between the type of search method used and the outcome of the search endeavor; in particular, certain methods are associated with a greater likelihood of a job offer and a higher offered wage.

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (NLSY97), this study explores the job search methods and strategies employed by young workers in the internet age.  One of the goals of this research is to ascertain how workers utilize the internet to facilitate their job search efforts.  Attention is limited to the 2008-2011 waves of the NLSY97 because the 2008 survey is the first to collect specific information on the method of search employed specifically via computer and the internet.  Since the NLSY97 also collects detailed information on the employment, family, and demographic characteristics of the respondents, one is able to construct measures of search method and intensity that can then be correlated to a rich set of control variables.

Preliminary results identify important differences in search methodology employed across sexes: not only are women less likely to engage in employed job search than are men, but women are less likely to use methods of job search predicted to produce more positive search outcomes.  If women systematically pursue methods of job search that are less successful and that have lower financial payoffs than those pursued by men, then these gender differences in search patterns could contribute to the gender wage gap.