The Impact of National Service on 

Employment Outcomes

Peter Levine

Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg

Jodi Benenson

Noorya Hayat

CNCS Research and Evidence Webinar Series

March 21, 2018
Acknowledgements

Research Team

Melanie Chapman

Hayley Cohen

Ben Costigan

Hannah Dardashti

Victoria Fahlberg

Caitlin Hall-Swan

Jeff Moyer

Kathy O’Connor

Oluchi Ogbu

Asad Siddiqui

Felicia Sullivan

Thomas Wilde Smith

Supported By
Background

• Previous research shows better odds of becoming employed if people volunteer 

(Spera, Ghertner, Nerino, & DiTomasso, 2015)

• Young people who participate in service-related programs have improved economic, 

academic, and psychosocial outcomes compared to peers (Dávila & Mora, 2007; 

Flanagan & Levine, 2010)

• Communities with higher levels of civic engagement recover from economic 

hardships quicker (Kawashima-Ginsberg, Lim, & Levine, 2012)

• Hiring managers see volunteering as relevant experience to consider when making 

employment decisions (Day & Devlin, 1998; Deloitte, 2016)
The Challenge

Much of the research in this area is based on surveys 

of managers who may say they want to hire volunteers 

even though volunteering may not actually matter in 

reality.
Study Aim

This study employs a randomized field experiment to answer the question:

What is the effect of listing AmeriCorps on one’s 

resume on receiving a callback for a job?

The outcome is the likelihood of being selected for an interview by a real 

hiring manager.
Methodology

• Randomly assigned resumes and cover letters based on 

national service and other factors (e.g., education, 

quality, race, gender) 

• Applied for 2,010 jobs in Boston and Chicago during two 

waves of data collection (summer 2016 and 2017)
Figure 1. Total Callbacks

20%

8%

72%

Total callbacks

Total rejections

Nonresponse

*Of the 20%: 86% interview requested, 10% low interest, 4% high interest; 20
Figure 2. Callbacks by Service and Other 

Characteristics

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

High

School

College For Profit Nonprofit Chicago Boston Admin Sales

Education Sector Metro Occupation

Callback %

Service No Service
Figure 3. Callbacks by Education

Significant at p < .001 with covariates Race, Gender, City Name, Sector and Occupation.

0.15

0.16

0.17

0.18

0.19

0.2

0.21

0.22

0.23

0.24

No Yes

Service Resume

Estimated Marginal Means

High School Bachelors
Trends by Race, Ethnicity, and Gender

• Gender

• Of callbacks received, higher for females than males 

• Race/Ethnicity

• Of callbacks received, highest for Latino, followed by Asian, White, and Black

• Gender and Race/Ethnicity

• Callbacks highest for Asian males and Latino females 

• Callbacks lowest for Black and Asian females and white males
Supplemental Study Methodology

• Hiring Manager Survey

• Employers of National Service (ENS) list + HR list purchased from private firm

• N=72 hiring managers across 26 states, 35=ENS and 37=non-ENS, 63% nonprofit sector 

and 37% for-profit sector

• In-depth interviews with hiring managers 

• N=13 (8=ENS and 5=non-ENS)

• Interviews recorded and transcribed 

• Conducted thematic analysis using NVivo

• Employers of National Service (ENS) field experiment

• 2 fictitious resumes and cover letters (one with service and one without service) sent to 

each ENS organization with open jobs

• Total resumes sent (N=147); Total ENS organizations (N=78)
Figure 4. Hiring Manager Survey

In your opinion, why do you think people choose to pursue a year of AmeriCorps service? 

(Percentage responses ranked 1 or 2)

0%

7% 8%

22% 26%

53%

68%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

they have been laid

off work and trying

to build a network

that can lead to a

job

they are mostly

young, affluent

people who have the

time and luxury to

engage in such a

program

they are young and

unemployed so it's

something to do

while looking for a

job

they can get money

to pay for their

education after they

complete their

service

they are mostly

young people trying

to boost their

resumes

they are young and

recent college

graduates who think

it's good to give back

to the community

they genuinely want

to help others, learn

about causes and

communities, and

grow as a leader
Figure 5. Hiring Manager Survey

In your opinion, which of the following options, do you believe best develops the 

competencies listed below for candidates like Jessica?

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Character

Interpersonal communication

Collaboration

Intercultural competence

Knowledge

Commitment

Responsibility

Skills

Diligence/Effort

Adaptability with work culture

Leadership

Accountability

Both AmeriCorps Volunteering Neither Not sure
In-depth Interviews

• Employers had a preference toward “somebody they don’t have to train”

• If hiring managers were familiar with AmeriCorps, it stood out to them:

• “...VISTA- brings training; routine; cohort building; more experience and accountability than 

the regular position; VISTA demands more autonomy and responsibility- richer experience 

for the same position.”

• Most nonprofit employers sought a cover letter and resume that showed more 

“personality” as well an application that highlighted certain skills skills (e.g., 

collaboration, communication, adaptability, leadership)

• A college degree was very important to employers
Figure 6. Employers of National 

Service Total Callbacks

13%

15%

72%

Total callbacks Total rejections Nonresponse
Figure 7. Employers of National 

Service Callbacks by Service

13%

17%

8%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

Total callbacks Service Resumes Non-Service Resumes
Implications for Policy and Research

• College degree is used as a “signal” for implicit qualities and earned skills

• Heavily used as a heuristic for filtering out potential candidates

• Very few job opportunities are visible in an online search for non-college youth, 

including national service alumni

• Building familiarity with national service through Employers of National Service opens 

employment pathways

• Further exploration needed around why and for whom national service experience 

boosts employment prospects
Thank you! 

Contact information:

• Peter Levine: Peter.Levine@tufts.edu

• Kei Kawashima-Ginsberg: Kei.Kawashima_Ginsberg@tufts.edu

• Jodi Benenson: jbenenson@unomaha.edu

• Noorya Hayat: noorya.hayat@tufts.edu

CIRCLE website: www.civicyouth.org
References

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•

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•

•

•

•

•

Ameri, M., Schur, L., Adya, M., Bentley, S., McKay, P., Kruse, D. (2015). The disability employment puzzle: A 

field experiment on employer hiring behavior. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), Working 

Paper No. 21560. Retrieved from: http://www.nber.org/papers/w21560

Bertrand, M., & Mullainathan, S. (2004). Are Emily and Greg more employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A 

field experiment on labor market discrimination. The American Economic Review, 94 (1), 991-1013.

Dávila, A., & Mora, M. T. (2007). An assessment of civic engagement and educational attainment. Medford, 

MA: Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement. 

Day, K. M., & Devlin, R. A. (1998). The payoff to work without pay: Volunteer work as an investment in 

human capital. The Canadian Journal of Economics, 31(5), 1179-1191. 

Deloitte (2016). 2016 Deloitte Impact Survey: Building leadership skills through volunteerism. Retrieved 

from: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/us-deloitte-impact-survey.pdf

Flanagan, C., & Levine, P. (2010). Civic engagement and the transition to adulthood. The Future of 

Children, 20(1), 159-179. 

Kawashima-Ginsberg, K., Lim, C., Levine, P. (2012). Civic health and unemployment II: The case builds. 

Washington, DC: National Conference on Citizenship. Retrieved from: http://ncoc.net/unemployment2.

Spera, C., Ghertner, R., Nerino, A., & DiTommaso, A. (2015). Out of work? Volunteers have higher odds of 

getting back to work. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 44, 886-907.
Step 1: Identified metro areas and industries

Resume Types

Metro Area Boston Chicago

Industry Administrative Sales Administrative Sales
Step 2: Defined resume and cover letter criteria 

Resume Templates

National 

Service Service No Service

Resume 

Quality High Quality Low Quality High Quality Low Quality

Education 

Level

High 

Education

Low 

Education

High 

Education

Low 

Education

High 

Education

Low 

Education

High 

Education

Low 

Education

*Also varied by race, gender, and zip code.
Step 3: Created resumes and cover letters

Cover letter and 

resume templates 

designed in Word

Qualtrics software 

survey features used 

to create 'fields' for 

each resume type

Qualtrics output 

downloaded in Excel 

and cleaned

Excel data merged 

into Word docs
Step 4: Created job search and application 

process

• Developed protocols with job 

search steps

• Indeed.com, CareerBuilder.com. 

SimplyHired.com, LinkedIn.com, 

Idealist.org

• Designed Access database 

to enter data and track 

callbacks

• Applied for 1,120 jobs 

between May-September 

2016, and 890 jobs between 

May-September 2017
The AmeriCorps Experience: 

Transformation Through Service

David Schlinkert, Policy Analyst
AmeriCorps

Programs

24 years of AmeriCorps programming:

Personal development

Professional development

Commitment to public service
2016 Arizona Study

82.7% of host sites hired at least one AmeriCorps 

member

More than half of positions were full-time (64.3%)

AmeriCorps employment pipeline through:

◦ AmeriCorps host sites

◦ Affiliated non-AmeriCorps organizations

◦ AmeriCorps Alum

AmeriCorps members made service improvements, 

created programs, provided fresh perspective, and 

served as trailblazers within organizations
2017 Study Expansion
This year, we wanted to 

explore the AmeriCorps 

program and identify:

Benefits

Challenges

Impact on employment

Recommendations
What we did
Key benefits for 

members

Transformative and rewarding

Personal and professional growth

New network of employment 

opportunities

Career exploration

Catalyst for continuing education

Giving back to community

Number of AmeriCorps Members Hired After Service Term

41.4% of sampled host sites hired their AmeriCorps members after 

their service term. Most hired two to three members.
Proportion of New or Replacing Positions

• Over half of the organizations that hired an AmeriCorps member after their 

service term created new positions specifically for those new hires 
Rewarding

“I wish that everyone had to do an 

AmeriCorps service term, because I 

think it's so good for people to get out 

of your comfort zone, meet people you 

never would otherwise meet, be a 

little bit poor for a year and just get 

out there and experience it ...

There's plenty of jobs out there that 

you could just make more money and 

you could be comfortable, but you 

wouldn't become a better person for 

it.”

– AmeriCorps member from Minnesota
Personal and professional 

development

Critical-thinking skills

Increased employment options

Professional comportment

Planning and organizing

Change of perspective
"Well, it [AmeriCorps] actually really kind of solidified my career goal. I 

was debating on if I wanted to go into social work after undergraduate, or 

if I wanted to get my degree in higher education in student affairs. And 

working with college students, specifically in first-generation, low-income 

college students, once you're in school, I realized how many issues they're 

having once they got there, acclimating. I'm a first-generation college 

student myself, and so, seeing kind of where the loopholes were, they 

were falling throughout the different public state and private state 

schools here in Washington, I decided to get my master's degree in higher 

education in student affairs. And I ended up, honestly, because of my 

AmeriCorps experience, at my employment that I have now."

- AmeriCorps member from Washington

"AmeriCorps really solidified my career goal. Working with college 

students, specifically in first-generation, low-income college students, 

I realized how many issues they're having once they got there.” 

“I'm a first-generation college student myself, and so, seeing kind of 

where the loopholes were, they were falling throughout the different 

public state and private state schools here in Washington, I decided 

to get my master's degree in higher education in student affairs.”

“I ended up, honestly, because of my AmeriCorps experience, at my 

employment that I have now."

- AmeriCorps member from Washington
Supervisors play a vital role in their AmeriCorps 

members’ post-service employment
Additional Supervisor Support:

• Networking for their member and 

helping them make professional 

connections

• Forwarding specific jobs and 

connecting them to employment 

opportunities

• Help with editing resumes

• References and/or help with 

graduate school applications

• Interview preparation help
Key benefits 

for host sites

Capacity building

Job creation

Committed workers

Program support
Organizational 

capacity building

Host sites would not be 

able to deliver services 

to communities without 

their AmeriCorps 

members. “As far as thinking about how integral Corps 

members are to our work, I mean, they are 

completely -- they are 100 percent the people 

who carry out the work that our organization is 

trying to do.”

- AmeriCorps supervisor from Washington
Admiration of AmeriCorps 

members

Supervisors admire member’s 

commitment to public service and 

hardworking demeanor.

“I think the caliber of AmeriCorps 

members has been terrific for us over 

the years. And a lot of them are 

extremely committed and go onto jobs of 

service-related positions.”

– AmeriCorps supervisor from Massachusetts
They want to see AmeriCorps 

members succeed...

“One of the big advantages that 

we have promoted for our 

AmeriCorps is the fact that, ‘Hey, if 

you do a good job here, we may 

not be able to hire you, but you can 

bet we’re going to help you find 

employment outside.” So that’s 

one of the really big (appeals) 

because we all know it’s who you 

know.” 

– AmeriCorps supervisor from Nevada
Supervisors 

prefer to hire 

AmeriCorps 

members

“AmeriCorps members are totally and 

completely dedicated to the AmeriCorps 

philosophy. For me, if I could find a prior 

AmeriCorps then that would be a perfect 

situation for us because they know what 

they’re getting themselves into before 

we even have a conversation with them.” 

– AmeriCorps supervisor from Nevada

Areas for Improvement: Alumni Feedback 

How can we make it better?

Encourage peer-to-peer collaboration 

networks

Increase stipends according to cost-ofliving

Facilitate direct communication 

between communities and State 

Commissioners
AmeriCorps:

We want to hear 

from YOU!

• Do these findings reflect 

your experiences?

• Are there other benefits or 

challenges that we did not 

address?
For more information...

For the full report and more information, please subscribe to our 

newsletter: MorrisonInstitute.asu.edu

Or email: david.schlinkert@asu.edu