First, the 13 test persons who were employed by a second employer were asked to determine the year in which the work was started. They were then asked again to indicate how they remembered the date. TP 06 and TP 07 think of an event that is not directly related to their professional career:
- "I know this because I got married in 1988." (TP 08, answer: 1987)
- "In 1981 I came to Germany. In [19]82/83 I applied for an apprenticeship as a biology laboratory assistant. In 83/84 I started at company X." (TP 06, answer: 1983)
In addition, the majority of the test persons (TP 02, 03, 07, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15) follow a career path based on their school, training or university qualifications:
- "I took [19]85 exams, worked from 85-86 with one, then 86 to 90 with the other and 90-95 with the other.” (TP 07, answer: 1990)
- "After graduating from high school, I worked four months. I graduated in 2011 and then I worked there."(TP 11, answer: 2011)
- "Because I'm very sure. I know for a fact that I did the apprenticeship, three years of apprenticeship from 1960-63. [...] And then [after the apprenticeship] I changed to the next employer and then again. These data are stored." (TP 14, answer: 1963)
In contrast to this, some test persons state that they do not associate concrete thoughts with it. This is either justified on the basis of the short period of time:
"Because I still remember it. It wasn't that long ago." (TP 12, answer: 2014) or by the perceived importance of the event:
"You know that." (TP 05, answer: 1971).
The fact that it is difficult to remember the year of employment is illustrated by the number of activities carried out so far, as in the case of TP 09 (answer: 2004):
"Now it is difficult. I have no concrete ideas about who I have worked for whom. I have no idea. I can't get that together. I have been to various temporary employment agencies. I was practically a day labourer and I have no idea who I was hired by and for what. Actually, I've been working for temp agencies all the time since 2004." In addition, it is clear that only the contractual agreement to the temp agency can be assigned in terms of time. From this it can be concluded that the relationship between employer and employee or the nature and duration of the employment is an essential criterion that gives the event relevance and thus memory.
When asked about the reliability of the annual figures, nine test persons were "very sure" (TP 03, 05, 07, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15) and four "rather sure" (TP 02, 06, 08, 09). From this it can be deduced that, on the whole, the start of an employment relationship is well remembered.
