School leavers looking for work often complain that employers refuse to hire them because of their lack of work experience. In this paper, using data on three recent cohorts of school leavers in Ireland, an attempt is made to assess the advantages in obtaining a job of having work experience. It is found that job seekers with work experience are at an advantage over those seeking a first job at times when the labour market is poorest. Some explanations are advanced to account for this finding, and some consequences for government sponsored work experience programmes are discussed.
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