Sociology Essay Example on Oreopoulos Methodology

Oreopoulos methodology involves distributing pseudo resume to various occupations and industries located in Greater Toronto area. The resumes were responding to different job posts obtained from the Internet. Oreopoulos had sent out the resumes to test whether employers would call back applicants based on names, experience, and education. His decision to claim that name was a major influential factor in helping an immigrant secure a job was due to his learning that a Canadian individual who also had an English name had a chance to be called by a company for a job interview. On the contrary, Oreopoulos found that foreign persons with foreign-sounding names were less likely to receive a call from an organization after sending their resume.

Additionally, Oreopoulos discovered that in addition to the foreign name, having a foreign degree and foreign experience reduced the chances of an immigrant to be called by an employer to attend an interview. Contrary to this is the fact that having a Canadian experience increased the chances of an individual receiving a call back by an employer to go for an interview. I believe that based on Oreopoulos findings, the majority of the immigrants fail to secure jobs in organizations because they lack the chance to get to an interview room and display their skills and expertise.

Oreopoulos claims that factors such as Canadian experience and language skills influence the decision of the employers to grant immigrants opportunities to work. He also claims that from the observations of the study, education does not seem to be a major influential factor in helping immigrants to obtain job positions. It is evident that Oreopoulos conclusions maintain that an immigrants chances of securing a job in a country like Canada are limited if they do not have an English sounding name, a Canadian experience, and competent language skills.

I choose to believe Oreopouloss deductions that the name and experience of an immigrant play a major role in securing a job in Canada. I believe that immigrants with English names have a chance to receive an invitation for an interview from an employer after sending their resume. On the contrary, I doubt that an individual with a foreign name is likely to be called for an interview by an employer. My decision to believe Oreopoulos conclusion culminates from the fact that language skills play a significant role in recruitment.

Oreopoulos claims that the language skills help an employer determine whether an applicant can communicate effectively and efficiently with the clients and the other workmates. As such, I trust that an immigrant with poor language skills is likely to have trouble communicating with customers with a distinct language. On the other hand, as Oreopoulos suggests, Canadian experience is also essential to an immigrant as it increases their chances of employment in an organization based in Canada.

I believe that Oreopoulos primary argument regarding the reason why immigrants struggle in the labor market is that they do not get the opportunity to attend an interview. Oreopoulos believes that the majority of the immigrants have limited opportunities to display their skills and expertise during an interview. The chances are minimal because the employers fail to callback immigrant applicants with foreign names and foreign experiences. Consequently, the immigrants struggle in the labor market to obtain jobs in various Canadian-based organizations.

References

Oreopoulosa, P. (2011). Why do skilled immigrants struggle in the labor market? A field experiment with thirteen thousand resumes. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 3(4), 148-171.