Social Class Differences in Job Search Process and Employment Success

Abstract

This study examines the impact of a job seeker’s social class on their job search and employment success. We draw from a social cognitive perspective of social class to propose two dynamic mechanisms during job search process through which social class influences employment outcomes: goal persistence and compromising strategy. We followed 126 new job market entrants for up to 12 weeks when they searched for their first full-time jobs. We found that parent education was positively related to goal persistence, such that job search salary goal was more likely to fluctuate as perceived job search progress changed among job seekers whose parents had lower education whereas there was no significant relationship between perceived job search progress and job search salary goal among those whose parents had higher education. Goal persistence was, in turn, positively related to the number of job offers received. We also found that family income was negatively related to using a compromising strategy when making decisions about opportunities received in the job search process, such that job seekers from richer (versus poorer) families were less likely to accept job opportunities that they were dissatisfied with. Job seekers who used less compromising strategy were more likely to be employed in a satisfying job rather than stay unemployed until the end of their job search. Overall, our findings suggested that social class origins could influence new job market entrants’ employment success through their social cognitive tendencies during the job search process.