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Abstract
Using data collected with a factorial survey experiment in Norway and Switzerland, we analyze how employers react to unemployment spells when screening job applications. Our focus is on whether unemployment scarring varies depending on the applicants' level of education and the duration and timing of the unemployment spell. We find unemployment scars of similar size in the two countries. Interestingly, education moderates the strength of unemployment scarring: in the Swiss context, graduates from vocational education and training (VET) programs are the most severely affected by unemployment, even years after regaining employment; this is not the case in Norway. We contribute to the unemployment scarring literature and to comparative scholarship on school-to-work transitions by exposing a trade-off of dual VET systems, which are known to provide a safety net from unemployment. Our findings show that these same systems can cause scars that are particularly long-lasting to VET graduates who fall into unemployment.

Episodes of unemployment or deskilling work can signal low ability to employers and impede individuals' employment chances. In this chapter we analyse how the scarring effects of experiences of job insecurity vary across countries. We presented fictitious CVs integrated in an online survey to 1920 respondents recruiting for real jobs in five occupational fields in Bulgaria, Greece, Norway and Switzerland. Our findings show that unemployment scarring is strongest in Norway, followed by Switzerland, and is weaker in Bulgaria and Greece. Work experience in deskilling jobs as well as frequent changes of jobs (job-hopping) are also found to decrease applicants' chances. We interpret our findings with regard to different national economies (youth unemployment), employment protection legislation and education systems, arguing that these country-specific settings shape recruiters' perceptions of individuals' precarious job experience, which in turn influences their hiring decisions

Episodes of unemployment or deskilling work can signal low ability to employers and impede individuals' employment chances. In this chapter we analyse how the scarring effects of experiences of job insecurity vary across countries. We presented fictitious CVs integrated in an online survey to 1920 respondents recruiting for real jobs in five occupational fields in Bulgaria, Greece, Norway and Switzerland. Our findings show that unemployment scarring is strongest in Norway, followed by Switzerland, and is weaker in Bulgaria and Greece. Work experience in deskilling jobs as well as frequent changes of jobs (job-hopping) are also found to decrease applicants' chances. We interpret our findings with regard to different national economies (youth unemployment), employment protection legislation and education systems, arguing that these country-specific settings shape recruiters' perceptions of individuals' precarious job experience, which in turn influences their hiring decision.