Factors Determining Callbacks to Job Applications by the Unemployed: An Audit Study

We use an audit study approach to investigate how unemployment duration, age, and holding a low-level interim job while applying for a better job affect the likelihood that experienced college-educated females applying for an administrative support job receive a callback from potential employers. First, the results show no relationship between callback rates and unemployment duration. Second, workers age fifty and older are significantly less likely to receive a callback. Third, taking an interim job significantly reduces the likelihood of receiving a callback. Finally, employers who have higher callback rates respond less to observable differences across workers in determining whom to call back.