SELECTION AND PLACEMENT

OBJECTIVES
• Establish the basic scientific properties of personnel selection methods including
reliability, validity, and generalizability.

• Discuss how the particular characteristics of a job, an organization, or an applicant

affect the utility of any test.

• Describe the government’s role in personnel selection decisions, particularly in the

areas of constitutional law, executive orders, and judicial precedent.

• List the common methods used in selecting human resources.

• Describe the degree to which each of the common methods used in selecting
human resources meets the demands of reliability validity, generalizability, utility,
and legality.
A Summary of Personnel Selection Methods
METHOD RELIABILITY VALIDITY GENERALIZABILITY UTILITY LEGALITY

Interviews Low when unstructured Low if unstructured and Low Low, especially because Low because of
and when assessing non- non-behavioral of expense subjectivity and
observable traits potential interviewer
bias; also, lack of validity
makes job-relatedness
low

Reference checks Low, especially when Low because of lack of Low Low, although not Those writing letters may
obtained from letters range in evaluations expensive to obtain be concerned with
charges of libel

Biographical High test-retest, High criterion-related Usually job specific, but High; inexpensive way to May have adverse
information especially for verifiable validity; low in content have been successfully collect vast amounts of impact; thus often
information validity developed for many job potentially relevant data develop separate
types scoring keys based on
sex or race

Physical ability tests High Moderate criterion- Low; pertain only to Moderate for some Often have adverse
related validity; high physically demanding jobs physical jobs; may impact on women and
content validity for some prevent expensive people with disabilities;
jobs injuries and disability need to establish job-
relatedness

Cognitive ability High Moderate criterion- High; predictive for most High; low cost and wide Often have adverse
tests related validity; content jobs, although best for application across impact on race,
validation inappropriate complex jobs diverse jobs in especially for African
companies Americans, though
decreasing over time
A Summary of Personnel Selection Methods
METHOD RELIABILITY VALIDITY GENERALIZABILITY UTILITY LEGALITY

Personality High Low to moderate Low; few traits predictive for Low, although Low because of cultural
Inventories criterion-related validity many jobs, except inexpensive for jobs and sex differences on
for mot traits; content conscientiousness where specific traits are most traits, and low job-
validation inappropriate relevant relatedness in general

Work-sample test High High criterion and Usually job specific, but High, despite the High because of low
content validity have been successfully relatively high cost to adverse impact and
developed for many job develop high job-relatedness
types
Honesty test Insufficient independent Insufficient independent Insufficient independent Insufficient independent Insufficient history of
evidence evidence evidence evidence litigation but will
undergo scrutiny

Drug tests High High High Expensive, but may yield May be challenged on
high payoffs for health- invasion-of-privacy
related costs grounds
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