Self-Belief Updating and Directed Job Search
RCTReview
Job seekers often lack accurate information about their own relative skills and capabilities, leading to misaligned self-beliefs. This information gap results in misdirected job search efforts, where individuals apply for positions poorly suited to their actual competencies.
Picture this
Skill assessment feedback acts like a mirror and a GPS navigation tool for a job hunter. By showing workers their exact strengths compared to others, it stops them from walking down dead-end paths and guides them directly toward job opportunities where their specific skills are valued.
What the evidence says
Young job seekers in Johannesburg updated their beliefs about their abilities, redirected search efforts toward aligned sectors, and cumulatively earned 1.8 times more than program operating costs within 3.5 months.
- Who was studied
- Low-income young human job seekers in Johannesburg, South Africa and vocational trainees in urban Uganda.
- How
- Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) evaluating skill assessment coupled with search orientation workshops.
What to do
Combine objective numeracy and communication skill assessments with a one-day workshop to provide job seekers with clear performance rankings and guided search strategy training.
From the source
"In Johannesburg, South Africa, young job seekers from low-income backgrounds updated their beliefs about their skills and job prospects when provided with an assessment of their communication and numeracy skills coupled with a one-day job search workshop provided by a job search agency."
Improving_job_seekers_employment_and_earnings_through_credible_skills.pdf