Role of Online Social Networks in Job Search by Unemployed Individuals

The recent growth of online social networks has enabled job seekers to stay connected with all of their acquaintances. Thus the number of online connections – weak or strong – that an individual is able to manage has increased significantly. In this paper, we first examine if an individual’s online social network plays a role in driving her job search behavior. Secondly, we examine how the ties (weak and strong) and search intensity affect the job outcomes (job leads, interviews and offers) received from online social networks vs. those from other job search modes like career fairs & agencies, newspapers & magazines, internet, and close friends and family (offline). Using a survey data of 109 unemployed job seekers, we find that weak ties are especially helpful in generating job leads but it is the strong ties that play an important role in generating job interviews and job offers

Lifelong guidance policy and practice in the EU

A study on lifelong guidance (LLG) policy and practice in the EU focusing on trends, challenges and opportunities. Lifelong guidance aims to provide career development support for individuals of all ages, at all career stages. It includes careers information, advice, counselling, assessment of skills and mentoring

Job-search strategies of individuals at risk of poverty and social exclusion in Spain

In Spain, the issue of unemployment or precarious employment worsen with globalization, leading to an expansion of the so-called working poor in the labour market.According to previous literature, the economic poverty that is characteristic of this group may accompany poverty competency.In particular, the working poor resort to informal and poorly developed job-searchstrategies.This study addresses the job search methods used by people at risk of poverty and social exclusion. It provides evidence on the subject and serves as a basis for the adaptation of socio-labour intermediation programmes to this group.The hypothesis of this study is that people at high risk will predominantly use informal strategies that require a low level of job-searchs kills.A survey-based correlational study is conducted using a questionnaire completed by 279 people participating in socio-labourinter mediation programmes developed by the Action against Hunger Foundation(AaHF) in Spain.Information on poverty indicators and on job-search strategies is collected.Data are analysed through cluster analysis,which distinguish two groups of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion(high risk and low risk),followed by a comparison of means(t-test)with a subsequent calculation of effect size using Cohen’s d. Results show statistically significant differences with a medium effect size(between 0.45 and 0.50)for the typology of job-search strategies used,confirming the initial hypothesis.These results offer relevant information that should be considered when developing programmes aimed at improving social and labour issues for people at risk of poverty and social exclusion.Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO- Government of Spain)European Regional Development Fund (ERDF-FEDER

Social capital at work How family, friends and civic ties relate to labour market outcomes

This paper investigates the extent to which an individual's 'stock' of social capital relates to labour force outcomes, over and above more well established determinants. In particular, it examines how family and kinship networks, friends and neighbours relate to individual labour market outcomes, compared with the role of civic ties and institutional networks. Using data collected from a national random sample of 1500 Australians, the paper investigates the relative impact of trust, bonding, bridging and linking relationships upon labour force status and successful job search method.

Frictional Unemployment on Labor Flow Networks

We develop an alternative theory to the aggregate matching function in which workers search for jobs through a network of firms: the labor flow network. The lack of an edge between two companies indicates the impossibility of labor flows between them due to high frictions. In equilibrium, firms' hiring behavior correlates through the network, generating highly disaggregated local unemployment. Hence, aggregation depends on the topology of the network in non-trivial ways. This theory provides new micro-foundations for the Beveridge curve, wage dispersion, and the employer-size premium. We apply our model to employer-employee matched records and find that network topologies with Pareto-distributed connections cause disproportionately large changes on aggregate unemployment under high labor supply elasticity

The Network Picture of Labor Flow

We construct a data-driven model of flows in graphs that captures the essential elements of the movement of workers between jobs in the companies (firms) of entire economic systems such as countries. The model is based on the observation that certain job transitions between firms are often repeated over time, showing persistent behavior, and suggesting the construction of static graphs to act as the scaffolding for job mobility. Individuals in the job market (the workforce) are modelled by a discrete-time random walk on graphs, where each individual at a node can possess two states: employed or unemployed, and the rates of becoming unemployed and of finding a new job are node dependent parameters. We calculate the steady state solution of the model and compare it to extensive micro-datasets for Mexico and Finland, comprised of hundreds of thousands of firms and individuals. We find that our model possesses the correct behavior for the numbers of employed and unemployed individuals in these countries down to the level of individual firms. Our framework opens the door to a new approach to the analysis of labor mobility at high resolution, with the tantalizing potential for the development of full forecasting methods in the future.Comment: 27 pages, 6 figure

Careering through the Web: the potential of Web 2.0 and 3.0 technologies for career development and career support services

This paper examines the environment that the web provides for career exploration. Career practitioners have long seen value in engaging in technology and the opportunities offered by the internet, and this interest continues. However, this paper suggests that the online environment for career exploration is far broader than that provided by public-sector careers services. In addition to these services, there is a wide range of other players including private-sector career consultants, employers, recruitment companies and learning providers who are all contributing to a potentially rich career exploration environment.UKCE