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Comment by PaulDavisThe1st

3 months ago

Assumptions:

1. there is a test that is a decent proxy for job performance

2. the relationship between job performance and test score above some passing score is linear

These both sound "common sense", but I suspect fail for a huge number of real world scenarios.

According to the article they actually tested the first assumption and it was true.

The second assumption is not required. If people who score a 95 are only 5% better at the job than people who score a 70, all else equal you'd still pick the person who scored a 95 given the choice.

  • Non-linear doesn't mean "still monotonic". My experience has been that beyond a certain threshold on a given test, job performance is essentially uncorrelated with test performance.

    As for the article, it's not given me particular solid vibes, a feeling not helped by some of the comments here (both pro and con).

    • > Non-linear doesn't mean "still monotonic".

      Satisfying the first assumption means "still monotonic".

      Also, if you had a better test then you'd use it, but at some point you have 10 candidates and 5 slots and have to use something to choose, so you use the closest approximation available until you can come up with a better one.

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