Training Best Help for Women Re-entering the Workforce

Nation - Workplace TS-Si News Service ?? Monday, 26 September 2011 03:00 Woman at work from 9 to 5.Austin, TX, USA. Finding a job in today's economy is difficult in the best of circumstances, but many women are facing an even bigger challenge: returning to the workforce after a long absence.

Researchers recently looked at the characteristics on older women's resumes that received the most success in securing job interviews, finding that the top characteristic for middle-aged women seeking an entry level job was vocational or computer training.

According to a study in the Journal of Career Development (JCD), researchers looked at the effects of age, job-related experience, vocational training, outside activities, and length of gaps in work history. They sent varying resumes to more than 3500 employers in Boston and St. Petersburg, FL, and studied the responses from employers interested in conducting interviews with their candidates.

Employers represented various fields of industry and the jobs listed were all entry-level positions requiring up to one year of post-high school education and combined work experience. The employers focus almost exclusively on educational background in the entry-level jobs studied, wrote Emily Johnson of the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission, working with Joanna Lahey at Texas A&M University.

  • "The benefits of adding volunteer experiences, hobbies, or involvement in sports may help in some communities more than others, and while they may not hurt the potential for an interview."
  • "These activities do not guarantee an interview for an entry-level job position."

Some of the findings go directly against what today's career guides direct job seekers to do, but not the authors. For example, the lack of impact of outside activities did not carry the same importance as a lot of today's job manuals profess.
  • Johnson and Lahey hope their findings will impact the advice to middle-age women by career counselors, and encourage them to seek further education or vocational training to stay current with today's sought after skills.
  • "Job seekers may be helped in their decision making processes by knowledge of employer demand and specifically by knowledge of the items employers are looking for that could make employees more attractive."

Johnson and Lahey's results also confirmed a previous study that showed a negative correlation between age and hiring. CitationThe Resume Characteristics Determining Job Interviews for Middle-Aged Women Seeking Entry-Level Employment. Emily Johnson and Joanna Lahey. Journal of Career Development 2011; 38(4): 210-330. doi:10.1177/0894845310372772
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Abstract

Obtaining an entry-level job can be critically important for women with little education, particularly those who have taken time out of the labor force. This article uses archival data from a field experiment, called a resume audit study, to examine the characteristics of entry-level resumes that are important to potential employers. In accordance with earlier theory, post?high school education and training, such as from a community college or a computer training program, are primary factors in determining whether a woman receives an interview. For example, vocational training more than doubles the chance of an interview. Other factors are not as important for entry-level jobs, unlike what resume manuals aimed at college graduates suggest.

Keywords: resume, women, interview, entry-level.

busy Last Updated on Sunday, 25 September 2011 20:56

Source: http://www.ts-si.org/workplace/30992-training-best-help-for-women-re-entering-the-workforce

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