Sequential versus non-sequential search among German employers – evidence from a job vacancy survey

ABSTRACT

In this note, we provide evidence on the extent and determinants of sequential versus non-sequential search among German employers. Using unique representative data on employers’ recruitment behaviour, we exploit direct information on whether employers first formed a pool of applicants from which they chose the most suitable candidate (Non-Sequential Search), or whether they hired the first suitable applicant (Sequential Search). We show that non-sequential search is the predominant search strategy, accounting for about 75 per cent of all successful hirings. Hirings by larger employers and those for high-skilled positions are disproportionately represented among the non-sequential search processes. We then proceed to decompose recruitment durations for non-sequential search into an application and a selection period and, for sequential search, into an information and combined application/selection period. With non-sequential search, the application period lasts, on average, about 18 days, whereas the selection period is 45 days long. Sequential search processes start with a very short period of about one day until the very first application arrives, followed by a rather long combined application/selection period of 57 days until a suitable applicant is found.

KEYWORDS:

• Employers’ search
• vacancy data
• recruitment durations

JEL CLASSIFICATION:

• J63
• J60

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ Note that in our case, the substantive meaning of the first period differs somewhat from Abbring and van Ours’ interpretation, as the authors’ data are confined to vacancies notified to the Dutch public employment offices.