The Unemployed Job Seekers Seem to Get the Worst Offers

If unemployment wasn't enough of a challenge already, ongoing and published research reveals job seekers who are out of a job are less likely to receive a good job offer, or any offer at all. Find out what the numbers say about the odds unemployed persons face across a tough recruiting and hiring landscape.

Less Attractive Job Offers

Research from Columbia Business School and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that more than 60 percent of job offers that unemployed professionals receive come with no benefits, including basics such as retirement and health insurance. In stark contrast, the number of benefit-lacking job offers for employed workers is more than 20 percent lower. Unemployed persons are also putting up with lower-paying job offers. According to the same study, employed professionals get job offers with hourly pay averaging 48 percent higher than their unemployed counterparts

Fewer Callbacks for Some Unemployed Job Seekers

Depending on a few factors, certain unemployed job seekers are at a big disadvantage. For example, when compared to short-term unemployed job seekers, workers who've been unemployed for longer than a year are less likely to receive a callback, according to MarketWatch. After filling out a job application, professionals between jobs are also less likely to be contacted if they meet one of the following criteria: getting close to retirement age or are still in the early days of their career. However, there is some good news. In spite of these hurdles, unemployed job seekers are applying to more jobs and making up for their disadvantages. As a result, more unemployed job seekers receive a job offer in a month compared to employed job seekers.

Why Are Employed Job Seekers Faring Better?

There may be prejudice at work, as some employers may judge a worker's value based partly on employment status. But there are other reasons employed persons are getting such good offers. First, employed job seekers are more likely to negotiate their job offer. One reason may arise from current job security, which puts them in the ideal place to bargain. To rival this, unemployed job seekers should try to get more than one option on the line. If they make the potential employer aware of their alternatives, they gain some bargaining power.

People who are employed also have access to better professional networking opportunities and word-of-mouth recommendation and recruiting. Unemployed job hunters can use cutting-edge job search sites and attend open networking events for a similar boost.

Whatever the underlying reasons, there's no doubt unemployed job seekers face some big hurdles during the job hunt. Do you have some ideas for how unemployed professionals can increase their odds of scoring a good offer? Share them in the comments below.

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