By Rachel Emma Silverman
Being self-employed could hurt your chances of landing a corporate job, new research has found.
In a two-year field experiment, researchers found that self-employed individuals who sought company jobs scored significantly fewer interviews than peers who were employed by companies.
The researchers, from Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the University of Vienna and the Munich School of Management, sent pairs of fictitious resumes and cover letters to nearly 100 real job postings in the human-resources field in the United Kingdom.
In each pair of applications, the candidates’ job histories were virtually identical except for the applicants’ most recent position; one had worked most recently as an independent HR consultant, while the other had worked in a corporate HR department.
The researchers found that employers were far more likely to express interest in the applicant who had most recently worked in a corporate job.
Overall, the self-employed candidate received 63% fewer positive responses such as requests for salary expectations than the candidate with the corporate job. The disparity was particularly sharp for men, who were viewed more harshly than women if they came from a self-employed background, although the researchers are not yet sure why.
The researchers suggest that corporate employers, not surprisingly, prefer candidates with a similar corporate employment history, because larger firms may require different social skills than an entrepreneurial venture might.
Entrepreneurs “may be very able and productive managers themselves, as long as they don’t have a boss,” says lead author Philipp Koellinger, an associate professor of economics and entrepreneurship at Erasmus University. “Employers may attach that stereotype to everyone who was self-employed.”
The study also suggests that striking out on your own could adversely affect future employment in the corporate world.
“Having previously been self-employed is in itself a negative signal on the job market,” the researchers write. “The choice to become an entrepreneur can result in an involuntary lock-in, a factor that should be taken into account in planning one’s future career,” the researchers write.
The study will be presented in August at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, a consortium of management scholars.
source: http://blogs.wsj.com/atwork/2013/07/10/ ... -employed/
references:
back away from: 躲避，不愿意考虑
field experiment: 现场实验、实地实验，相对于实验室实验
score: to achieve or earn (something)
fictitious: assumed for disguise or deception: a fictitious name
sharp (as in The disparity was particularly sharp for men): clearly defined; distinct; clear
striking out on your own: 自雇，自己创业 strike out: to begin a course of action
involuntary: 不自觉的，不知不觉的
Questions:
Why are those with self-employed experiences not preferred in the job market?