Original source
Improving job seekers’ employment and earnings through credible skills signals (2024)
secondary policy synthesis · J-PAL Policy Insights
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Algorithmic Resume Writing Assistance
"Those who received algorithmic resume writing assistance were more likely than their peers to receive a job offer from an employer in their first month using the service, and researchers hypothesize this is because the AI assistance helped people more clearly signal their abilities."
Non-Cognitive Soft Skills Assessment
"In urban areas of Uganda, when participants of a vocational training program were given information about their soft skills after a skills assessment through the BRAC Job Placement Program, they shifted their expectations closer in line with reality about which jobs they could apply for."
Portable Vocational Certification
"In the long run, vocational trainees received more job offers and had higher rates of employment compared to firm-provided trainees. The researchers posit this is because vocational trainees could better certify their skills, and as a result received more job offers and could more easily find a new job after an unemployment spell than firm apprentices."
Public Skill Certification
"Those who received the public certificate were 5.2 percentage points more likely to be employed and increased hours worked by 20 percent three to four months after receiving the certificate relative to members of the comparison group, who did not receive a certificate."
Public Work History & Reputation Ratings
"In a study on oDesk, a large, global online marketplace where workers seek and perform jobs online as independent contractors, detailed public information about the worker's previous work experience increased earnings for strong performers."
Reputational Screening Workshops
"These job seekers were more likely to receive a formal and permanent job offer doing the same amount of job search as those in the comparison group."
Self-Belief Updating and Directed Job Search
"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."
Standardized Employer Reference Letters
"The young people who received the recommendation letters cumulatively earned US$1,349 more on average across four years relative to those who did not receive one."