REACTIONS TO RESUMES AS A FUNCTION OF RESUME DETERMINATENESS, APPLICANT CHARACTERISTICS, AND SEX OF RATERS

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Abstract
Six male and six female personnel professionals were presented with resumes in which sex, age, marital status, and academic achievement were systematically varied. The study examined the hypothesis that resume determinateness is positively related to the evaluation given to the resume by prospective employers. The provision of ambiguous information was found to distort the evaluation process but not in a consistent manner. Married males and females were evaluated more positively than were those who were single. Also married females with high academic status were evaluated more positively than were married males with high academic status, although there were no differences for single males and females. Female raters showed a tendency to be more stringent than males in their evaluations, and this effect was pronounced for older, married applicants. The study examines the implications of these results and makes suggestions for future research.