College major, internship experience, and employment opportunities: Estimates from a résumé audit

• We present estimates from experimental data on the labor market for college graduates.
• Fictitious resumes are submitted to jobs in business-related categories.
• We find no evidence that business degrees improve job prospects.
• Internships improve employment prospects substantially.
• Internships appear to be signals of unobservables valued by employers.

We use experimental data from a résumé audit to estimate the impact of particular college majors and internship experience on employment prospects. Despite applying exclusively to business-related job openings, we find no evidence that business degrees improve employment prospects. By contrast, internship experience increases the interview rate by 14%. The returns to internship experience are larger for (a) nonbusiness majors and (b) applicants with high academic ability. Our data support signaling as the most likely explanation regarding the effect of internships on employment opportunities.