Seemingly every day,  new articles surface that pose fascinating questions about what traits we value in employees and how we evaluate those traits during the recruitment process.

One such article, “The Reason Entrepreneurs Have Trouble Finding Jobs,” reveals that candidates who were previously self-employed at some point in their career receive adverse treatment when attempting to re-enter the traditional job market.   The finding comes from a two-year experiment conducted by a team of researchers from the University of Erasmus in Rotterdam and two other European institutions of higher education.  In the experiment, the researchers sent in 192 job applications to 96 open positions offered by employers and recruiting agencies in the UK.  There were essentially two sets of applications, which were equal in terms of years of experience, education and professional affiliations; the only difference was that one group had periods of self-employment, while the other worked consistently for companies in wage positions.

Out of the 192 applications, 95 evoked no response and 75 evoked negative responses.  Of the 22 positive responses, only 6 were for applicants from the self-employed group while 16 were for wage earners.  For the scholars, the takeaways were clear:  “The choice to become an entrepreneur can result in an involuntary lock-in, a factor that should be taken into account in planning one’s future career.”

The researchers also concluded that the reason entrepreneurs weren’t assessed more favorably was because the traits associated with entrepreneurs—namely a bias for risk-taking—aren’t the same traits associated with success at larger, more traditional companies.

What’s surprising about these results (to us, at least) is that there are plenty of other traits associated with entrepreneurs—dedication, innovation, strong work ethic, passion—that one ought to consider highly valuable to a company competing in the fast-paced, ever-changing economy in which we currently operate.  Even risk-taking is increasingly necessary, no matter the size of the business.  Had the applicants been real, it would have been interesting to follow the careers of those hired to see what kind of impact the different candidates had on their respective companies.  Would the risk-averse, but dutiful wage earners actually outperform the former entrepreneurs?  Or would the more entrepreneurially-minded employees be the ones to push business into new, more prosperous territory?  Some companies might argue that it’s actually riskier to overlook the entrepreneur than it is to hire her!

Let us know what you think. Would former entrepreneurs have a place in your business?