LinkedIn Finds Women Apply to Fewer Jobs Than Men But Are More Likely to Get Hired

To what extent does gender plays a role in the way people seek jobs? A study published by LinkedIn finds that there are some big differences, and some of the most interesting ones are the chances men and women will apply and get hired.

The professional networking site concluded that men and women viewed the same number of job ads as one another, but here's the revelation. Women were 16% less likely to apply for a job they had seen.

There are two ways to interpret this:

1. Women could be less confident and therefore more easily put off by job ads that have too many requirements.

2. Women are just being more selective.

Women are more selective?

Women tend to apply for jobs for which they are specifically suited or about which they're most passionate. Moreover, there's another finding from the research that basically says: When women did apply for jobs, they were 16% more likely to be hired compared to men.

LinkedIn examined communications on its platform for the entirety of 2018. This research generated billions of data points from LinkedIn's 610 million users, spread over 200 countries.

Source: LinkedIn

It appears that each gender has its own particular behaviours. In another test, LinkedIn asked 450 members to highlight parts of a job description that they found interesting or important. When the researchers studied the results for gender, they found that women were more likely to concentrate on salary and benefits, with 68% highlighting those sections.

Only 58% of the men highlighted those sections. In advice to companies seeking to hire, the platform advised that information about “flexible working policies, parental leave, or healthcare is more significant for women,” and should be included in job postings if these companies are committed when it comes to gender equality.

Men are more likely to ask for referrals

What about job referrals? When it came to seeking endorsements, men were more likely to do so. LinkedIn has a function that lets members ask for a job referral if they have a connection to someone at the company doing the hiring. Men were 26% more likely than women to ask for a referral using that function.

Source: LinkedIn

Lastly, the research revealed an intriguing skew in how recruiters use the platform. Once they had seen a profile, recruiters were just as likely to send that person an email, does not matter whether the potential hire was a man or a woman. But recruiters were 13% less likely to look at a woman’s profile in the first place.

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Source: LinkedIn

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