Hella Klemmert, Nicolas Sander, Erik Sengewald & Dorothea Klinck
Abstract
The leading role of cognitive ability tests as the best job-unspecific predictors of training success is confirmed in a recent longitudinal study by the German Federal Employment Agency. Approximately 150,000 individuals who participated in the vocational aptitude test (Berufswahltest, BWT) as adolescents were interviewed approximately eight years later about their career paths, especially their vocational training and final grades. The participation rate was 23.3% (N = 35,006). Multilevel analyses accounting for grouping by profession show that cognitive abilities, as measured with the BWT, explain more variance in final grades than the other biographical and personal characteristics combined. Among these, conscientiousness and attained level of school education are particularly significant. Furthermore, professions can be clearly differentiated according to the intelligence distribution of their incumbents, allowing for valid predictions of job-specific success in individual counseling settings. This aspect receives little attention in research. The differentiation of professions based on their intellectual level emphasizes the importance of cognitive abilities for the prediction of career success.
Keywords: occupational aptitude assessment, prediction of vocational training success, required cognitive levels of different occupations, intelligence