In this paper we look at school-to-work transitions in Spain. We distinguish between significant and non-significant jobs and show that educational investment enhances access to a first significant job compared to a non-significant one. We also find strong differences between men and women: education attainment provides a clearer differentiating device for women than for men, whatever field of education females choose. These results are tested and confirmed by a multinomial probit model of the probability of achieving both significant and non-significant jobs and by a discrete time duration model of the probability of achieving a significant job.

Key words: School-to-work transition, job search, youth labour market.
JEL Classification: J13, J60.