Underemployment of college graduates: is doing anything better than doing nothing? *
Résumé
Across low-income countries, limited prospects for high-skill employment and poverty push numerous college graduates into jobs which do not require a college degree. These types of experiences may be advantageous or detracting for the new graduates. In order to examine this issue, we conducted a field experiment in Burundi which elicited preferences of employers with respect to low-skill job experience of recent college graduates. The dataset we acquired through this experiment also allowed us to analyze gender discrimination in hiring. The experiment was supplemented with an employers' survey that aimed to investigate the underlying mechanisms at play. Results show that mentioning a low-skill experience on a resume increases the likelihood of being hired, and we did not find evidence of gender discrimination at the initial stage of the hiring process. Interviews with employers suggest that they perceive people with low-skill experience as persevering, hardworking and disciplined rather than persons facing financial difficulties or less competent compared to their classmates. These findings suggest that early graduates may gain an advantage in the hiring process by taking up and signaling their low-skill experiences.