Table A.1: Firms’ Use of Psychometric Assessments in Hiring

||||% of frms u|sing each pie|ce of inform|ation to sc|reen candidates||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|||Asse|ssment result|for|Career|Criminal|High school||
|Sector|#<br>frms|Communi-<br>cation|Concept<br>formation|Numeracy|aptitude<br>profle|record<br>check|graduation<br>certifcate|Reference|
|Hospitality|11|0.82|1.00|0.91|0.64|0.91|0.64|0.00|
|Retail|16|0.69|0.56|0.88|0.81|0.94|0.75|0.06|
|Corporate|6|1.00|1.00|0.83|0.33|1.00|0.00|0.00|
|Total|33|0.79|0.91|0.79|0.67|0.94|0.58|0.03|

Table shows use of assessment results and other information by 33 firms that have long-term recruiting relationships with Harambee. Firms are coded as using an assessment if they require candidates to reach a certain threshold score on the assessment to be eligible for interviews or training programs. Firms are coded as using other documents if they require these to be submitted with the candidates’ application packages. The criminal record check is a set of checks against government records that the candidate had no criminal record or bad credit history. We observe only what information these 33 firms request from Harambee for candidates whom Harambee shortlists for interview, not how firms use the information.

economics (Abebe et al., 2020b; Beaman et al., 2018). Scores on this assessment are correlated with interview ratings, technical scores and supervisor ratings in several South African firms (De Kock and Schlechter, 2009; Lopes et al., 2001; Taylor, 2013).

_Numeracy_ focuses on practical arithmetic and pattern recognition. We calculate a single numeracy score using the inverse variance-weighted average of two numeracy assessment scores. The more advanced assessment is developed by a large retail chain and used in their applicant screening process, as they believe it identifies some of the skills needed by cashiers. The simpler assessment was developed by a South African adult education provider (www.mediaworks.co.za) and assesses proficiency in arithmetic used in high school: comparing different types of numbers; working with fractions, ratios, money, percentages and units; and performing calculations with time and area.

_Communication_ captures English language listening, reading and comprehension skills. The assessment was developed by a South African adult education provider (www.mediaworks.co.za) and is designed to assess English proficiency for high school students. It evaluates both listening and written comprehension. It focuses on ability to identify and recall the main message of a text or passage, infer meaning of vocabulary through context clues, and infer meaning when information is not directly stated. Both numeracy and communication skills are correlated with educational attainment and wages in OECD countries (Heckman et al., 2006; Heckman and Kautz, 2012; Hanushek et al., 2015). There are also correlations between wages and numeracy (du Rand et al., 2011) and wages and English communication skills (Casale and Posel, 2011) in South Africa, conditional on education.

_Grit_ is a self-reported measure of a candidate’s inclination to work on difficult tasks until they are finished and whether they show perseverance to achieve long-term goals. This assessment is a validated self-reported 8-item psychological scale (Duckworth et al., 2007). Grit correlates with academic performance and workplace retention in the US (Eskreis-Winkler et al., 2014).

The assessment labeled _Focus_ on certificates captures inhibitory control, the ability to distinguish 39