Talking to role models: how experiences from previous job seekers can support occupational transitions

Last registered on January 09, 2026
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Talking to role models: how experiences from previous job seekers can support occupational transitions
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0010322
Initial registration date
October 27, 2022

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
October 31, 2022, 4:28 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Last updated
January 09, 2026, 3:10 AM EST

Last updated is the most recent time when changes to the trial's registration were published.

Locations

Country
Netherlands
Region

Primary Investigator

Name
Paul Muller
Affiliation
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Philipp Kircher
PI Affiliation
Cornell University
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PI Name
Michèle Belot
PI Affiliation
Cornell University
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PI Name
Bart de Koning
PI Affiliation
Cornell University
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PI Name
Sandra Phlippen
PI Affiliation
Erasmus University Rotterdam
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PI Name
Mario Keer
PI Affiliation
UWV
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PI Name
Yvonne Engels
PI Affiliation
UWV
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PI Name
Didier Fouarge
PI Affiliation
Maastricht University
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Additional Trial Information

Status
Completed
Start date
2022-10-28
End date
2024-04-01
Keywords
Labor
Additional Keywords
occupational mobility, role models, unemployment
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
We study the impact of a platform on which unemployed jobseekers can come into contact with `buddies’: former jobseekers who have recently transitioned from one occupation to another. The platform aims at facilitating conversations between the unemployed jobseekers and their buddies, so as to motivate the jobseekers to make a transition themselves. Jobseekers who are looking for work in occupations with poor labor market prospects will be invited to express their interest in the platform. Within those who express interest, we give a randomly selected group access to the platform. The others form the control group. The outcome measures of interest are employment status and earnings (both from administrative data), job search behavior (measured by activity on the public job search website), and characteristics of newly found jobs (measured using a survey).
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Belot, Michèle et al. 2026. "Talking to role models: how experiences from previous job seekers can support occupational transitions ." AEA RCT Registry. January 09. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10322-1.1
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Access to a buddy platform
Intervention (Hidden)
see pre-analysis plan
Intervention Start Date
2022-11-04
Intervention End Date
2023-03-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
1. Employment status in months 1 to 18 after enrollment in the study
2. Job stability: the likelihood at each month 1 to 18 of having found a stable job (defined as lasting at least 6 months with at least 16 hours per week)
3. Cumulative and current labor earnings in months 1 to 18 after enrollment
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
- distance between new occupation and initial search occupation
- search behavior on the public employment platform (saved vacancies and applications).
- search behavior measured from survey responses
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)
For search behavior measured from survey responses will we measure impacts on applications (per occupation), occupational breadth, willingness to consider other occupations, time spent searching, time spent exploring alternative occupations

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Job seekers who search in occupations with poor job finding prospects were recruited through email and were asked to express interest in joining the platform. 6048 job seekers received an email asking them to express interest. Out of those who did, a randomly selected subset will be offered access to the platform.
Experimental Design Details
The experiment will consist of matching job seekers who search in occupations with poor job finding prospects (identified by a low `job finding score’; a metric computed by the Dutch employment Office) with former job seekers who have successfully changed occupations, which we refer to as `buddies’. For this purpose, an online platform was designed and developed. Buddies were recruited through a survey that was part of a previous experiment (https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/7374) and LinkedIn. 40 buddies have registered on the platform as of the 27th of October, 2022. Recruitment is still ongoing.

Sample of job seekers: Job seekers were recruited through email and were asked to express interest in joining the platform if they met the following criteria
(1) Were registered to search primarily in one of 31 selected occupations with poor job finding prospects,
(2) Have completed their online resume,
(3) Have sufficient written and spoken Dutch language skills,
(4) Have at least 90 days of unemployment benefits rights left and
6048 job seekers received an email asking them to express interest in participating on the platform. Of this group, 353 job seekers have expressed interest as of the 27th of October, 2022. Recruitment is still ongoing.

Job seekers who have expressed interest form the sample for this experiment. Within this sample, a number of job seekers (50% of the sample, with a maximum of 5 times the number of buddies on the platform) will be randomly selected to receive a link to create an account on the platform. On the platform, job seekers will be able to search through a list of 7 randomly selected buddies.

The impact of platform access will be evaluated using (i) administrative data on job finding and earnings, (ii) job search activities on a public job search website, (iii) a pre- and a post-intervention survey on job search behavior and (iv) exit surveys on the occupation of the new job.
The administrative data (i) and the job search activities (ii) will be provided by the Dutch employment office. The pre-intervention survey will be sent to all individuals on the 28th of October 2022. The post-intervention survey will be sent to all individuals around 4 to 5 weeks after the start of the intervention. The exit surveys will be sent at 3-month intervals starting after the intervention is completed, to all individuals that have (according to the employment office’s records) found a new job.

Note: as the degree of use on the platform is still uncertain at the time of writing this preregistration, we may invite additional job seekers onto the platform. We will do this as long as the capacity of buddies has not yet been reached, up to the point where half of the sample is in the treatment group.
Randomization Method
Randomization is performed by the research team using a computer
Randomization Unit
individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
350
Sample size: planned number of observations
350
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
175 individuals in control group, 175 individuals in treatment group
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
see pre-analysis plan
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Research Ethics Review Board VU University Amsterdam, School of Economics and Business (SBE)
IRB Approval Date
2022-02-04
IRB Approval Number
20220324.1.pmr450
Analysis Plan

Analysis Plan Documents

Pre-analysis plan

MD5: 35693c44087f83644aaca7428e71f1d9

SHA1: 6111d7d14c0d93af9ab1d64cc5d6401e9f71958c

Uploaded At: October 27, 2022

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials