Perceptions Of Unemployed Workers: Unemployment Duration, Volunteerism, And Age

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of unemploymentduration, volunteerism and age on perceptions of unemployed job candidates. Anexperimental design was employed in which participants judged fictitiousresumes of unemployed candidates. Wefound that candidates unemployed for 18 months were viewed as less qualifiedand would be less likely to be interviewed and hired than those unemployed for6 or 12 months at all age levels (30, 40, 50) studied. Candidates who hadperformed volunteer work (career- or non-career-related) would be more likelyto be interviewed and hired than those who had not volunteered. Implications of the findings were discussed.