Quantifying the Impact of Human Capital, Job History, and Language Factors on Job Seniority with a Large-scale Analysis of Resumes

TL;DR

This study analyzes a large dataset of resumes to empirically identify key factors influencing career advancement, highlighting the importance of experience and language features in achieving senior roles.

Contribution

It introduces a large-scale resume dataset and provides initial empirical insights into factors affecting job seniority progression.

Findings

Previous experience is the most influential factor.

Language features in resumes significantly impact career progression.

The analysis sets the stage for future NLP-based career trajectory studies.

Abstract

As job markets worldwide have become more competitive and applicant selection criteria have become more opaque, and different (and sometimes contradictory) information and advice is available for job seekers wishing to progress in their careers, it has never been more difficult to determine which factors in a r\'esum\'e most effectively help career progression. In this work we present a novel, large scale dataset of over half a million r\'esum\'es with preliminary analysis to begin to answer empirically which factors help or hurt people wishing to transition to more senior roles as they progress in their career. We find that previous experience forms the most important factor, outweighing other aspects of human capital, and find which language factors in a r\'esum\'e have significant effects. This lays the groundwork for future inquiry in career trajectories using large scale data analysis and natural language processing techniques.