Job search methods: Internet versus traditional

Monthly Labor Review

Volumn 123, Issue 10, 2000, Pages 3-11

  Kuhn, Peter ^a   Skuterud, Mikal ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

^b MCMASTER UNIVERSITY   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0001875537     PISSN: 00981818     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Article

References (15)

1. For a list of the sites, see http://www.internetpost.com/ Internetpost/AlphaList.html (visited July 19, 2000).
2. The questions on Internet job search were part of a series of longer questions about general Internet use. The December 1998 CPS Computer and Internet Use Supplement questionnaire is available online at http://www.bls.census.gov/cps/computer/1998/smethdocz.htm (visited Oct. 5, 2000).
3. To be classified as an "active" jobseeker, the individual must report using at least one of the nine traditional search methods (see bulleted list on page 3).
4. See table 6, column 3. The small differences between Internet search (15.0 percent) and "placed or answered ads" (14.5 percent), and between Internet search and "friends and relatives" are not, however, statistically significant (t-statistics for a test of zero difference are 0.44 and 1.23 respectively). The four remaining differences are highly significant.
5. See Joseph R. Meisenheimer and Randy Ilg,"Looking for a better job: job-search activity of the unemployed," Monthly Labor Review, September 2000, pp. 3-14.
6. Carl Rossenfeld, "The extent of job search by unemployed workers," Monthly Labor Review, March 1977, pp. 58-62. See also "Looking for a job while employed," Bureau of Labor Statistics Report 97-14, November 1977.
7. Carl Rossenfeld, "The extent of job search by unemployed workers," Monthly Labor Review, March 1977, pp. 58-62. See also "Looking for a job while employed," Bureau of Labor Statistics Report 97-14, November 1977.
8. Matthew Black, "An Empirical Test of the Theory of On-the-Job Search," Journal of Human Resources, Winter 1981, pp. 129-40; C. A. Pissaridies and J. Wadsworth, "On-the-job search: some empirical evidence from Britain," European Economic Review, February 1994, pp. 385-401.
9. Matthew Black, "An Empirical Test of the Theory of On-the-Job Search," Journal of Human Resources, Winter 1981, pp. 129-40; C. A. Pissaridies and J. Wadsworth, "On-the-job search: some empirical evidence from Britain," European Economic Review, February 1994, pp. 385-401.
10. The actual numbers for 1990-95 are 4.96, 4.99, 5.06, 5.42, 5.57, and 5.46 respectively (see Statistics Canada, The Labour Force, 1990-1995). The figure for December 1995, which is most directly comparable with our December 1998 CPS data, is 4.84. Examination of long-term trends in this series shows a secular increase, from 2.24 percent in 1977, most of which however occurs before 1989. Further information may be found by researching various issues of Statistics Canada, The Labour Force, 1977-1995, catalogue no. 71-001.
11. Clearly, more recent U.S. data on job search by employed workers would constitute more convincing evidence on this point. We are not aware of any such data.
12. When discussing statistics for the employed in what follows, we refer (unless otherwise indicated) to the employed and "at work." In almost all cases, the employed but "temporarily absent" are very similar to the employed.
13. Contrary to what one might expect from a tightening labor market, this does not reflect a decrease in the number of methods used over the period in question. The average number of methods used, by year, were 1.76, 1.82, 1.82, 1.79, 1.75, and 1.71 from 1994 to 1999. Instead, large increases in the use of the two earlier methods seem to be counterbalanced by small decreases in all the rest.
14. Michelle Ports documents this cyclical pattern in chart 3 of "Trends in job search methods, 1970-92," Monthly Labor Review, October 1993, pp. 63-67.
15. Ibid, chart 2.