Reaching for gold! The impact of a positive reputation shock on career choice

We analyze the causal influence of a positive reputation shock for a particular occupation on career choice. In the unpredictable event that a person from one's own country wins a (gold) medal in a particular occupation at the World Championship of Vocational Skills (WorldSkills), searches for apprenticeship vacancies increased significantly by around 7 %. Most importantly, the increase in searches for apprenticeship vacancies in the current year has also led to a 2.5 % increase in the number of contracts signed in the winning occupation, and there are indications that these apprenticeships have a better match between employers and employees.