The effect of post-baccalaureate business certificates on job search: Results from a correspondence study

Abstract This paper tests whether post-baccalaureate business certificates improve the job callback rates of applicants using a correspondence study. We randomly assign a post-baccalaureate certificate to fictitious resumes and apply to real vacancy postings for managerial, administrative and accounting assistant positions in several large cities on multiple large online job boards. We find no statistical relationship between having a certificate and the probability of receiving a callback, with the 95 % confidence interval being (−1.44, 0.50) percentage points with a baseline callback rate of 11.6%. Our results suggest that post-baccalaureate certificates may provide little value to job seekers, though it remains an unexplored question as to whether such certificates improve wage growth or promotions on the job.