Talia Bernhardt

Talia Bernhardt is a Research Associate at J-PAL Africa where she evaluates interventions to reduce unemployment and is currently working on a study titled "Can Matching on Soft Skills Using Phone-based Recruitment Yield Better Firm-Worker Matches?". Prior to joining J-PAL in 2025, she worked at South Africa's leading tech recruitment company, OfferZen, as a Talent Advisor, where she was responsible for helping software developers navigate the turbulent tech labour market. Talia holds a Bachelor of Social Science degree majoring in Psychology and Organisational Psychology and an Honours degree in Organisational Psychology, both awarded in the first class from the University of Cape Town. As part of the requirements for an MCom in Organisational Psychology, Talia is currently awaiting the results of her dissertation testing the efficacy of a training intervention to promote Personal Initiative among prospective graduates in South Africa