I'm not sure how the approach you're proposing addresses the example JackFr offers. One reason is that the exam still results in disparate outcomes -- it only

I'm not sure how the approach you're proposing addresses the example JackFr offers. One reason is that the exam still results in disparate outcomes -- it only tests basic skills -- even though it is not in its design or operation discriminatory. It is a good example of a system that has disparate impact simply as a reflection of some other factor, outside of its control. Your proposal is to combine the exam with a hiring evaluation that weights some factors besides scores on the exam, but "...given a basket of roughly equal candidates to a position..." is doing a lot of work in that proposal. Is that a given? Is that even likely? That depends on the underlying education system, again; and as long as those baskets of roughly equal candidates are rare, the system you propose would also have considerable disparate impact.