Private Vacancy Filtering
RCTReview
Publicly listed job openings frequently attract high volumes of unqualified applicants, overloading hiring managers with resume screening costs and delaying recruitment.
Picture this
Instead of posting a help-wanted sign in a front store window where any passerby can hand over a resume, a business owner gives the job listing exclusively to a private recruiter behind closed doors who screens candidates before anyone gets the store address.
What the evidence says
Treatment increased the proportion of vacancies designated as private (hidden from public internet access) by 57% (0.030 increase over 0.053 control mean, p < 0.01), which mechanically reduced direct jobseeker applications by 39% (-2.67 applications, p < 0.01).
- Who was studied
- N = 1,825 permanent contract vacancies posted across 7,438 small and medium-sized French firms.
- How
- Inverse propensity weighted (IPW) regression within a randomized controlled trial analyzing vacancy visibility settings and applicant volumes.
What to do
Restrict public access to online job postings by making listings anonymous or private, routing all candidate submissions through designated screening intermediaries.
From the source
"With 'verification' the PES counselor could recommend that firms choose to have applicants apply only through the counselor by making the vacancy private (not publicly available online)... We see that treatment increases the proportion of vacancies that were made private by 57%..."
Are_Active_Labor_Market_Policies_Directed_at_Firms_Effective_Evidence.pdf