With 4.7 million Americans currently who have been out of work for at least 27 weeks, new research done at Northeastern University suggests that employers will almost never consider hiring them.

As reported in Washingtonpost.com, when 4,800 fake resumes were sent in response to 600 job openings, the researcher found that employers would rather call someone with no relevant experience but who has only been out of work for a few months to interview than someone with more relevant experience who’s been out of work for more than six months.

This makes part-time, contract and temporary work even more vital because it keeps resumes current, demonstrates that skills and current job knowledge are not being lost and can provide permanent job-seekers with new contacts and additional areas of experience.