Human Resource Management

Basic Text : Human Resource Management (12th edition)

By Gary Dessler & Biju Varkkey

Course Facilitator
Dr. Anupam Kumar Das
Associate Professor
Department of Management
University of Chittagong
email : dasanupam@cu.ac.bd
Chapter: 4

Testing, Selection & Interview

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LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Why Selection is important for organization?
2. Explain the selection process
3. Explain how you would go about validating a test.
4. List eight tests you could use for employee selection and how you
would use them.
5. Explain the key points to remember in conducting background
investigations.
6. List the main types of selection interviews.
7. List and explain main errors that can undermine an interview’s
usefulness.
8. Explain and illustrate each guideline for being a more effective
interviewer.
9. List guidelines for interviewees.

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Selection

 Selection
 It is the mutual process whereby the organization
decides whether or not to make a job offer and the
candidates decides whether or not to accept it.
 The objective of the selection process is to choose
the individual who can successfully perform the job
from the pool of qualified candidates.
 Job analysis, HRP, and Recruitment are
necessary prerequisite to the selection process. A
breakdown in any of these processes can make even
the best selection system ineffective.

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Why Careful Selection is Important
 Why careful Selection is important
 Manager’s own performance always depends in part on his
subordinates.
 It’s costly to recruit and hire employees.

 It’s important because of the legal implications of

incompetent hiring.

The Importance of Selecting

the Right Employees

Organizational Costs of recruiting Legal obligations

performance and hiring and liability

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A Mutual Matching Process

Organization Individual

Job Requirements Qualifications

Rewards Motivation

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Avoiding Negligent Hiring Claims

 Avoiding negligent hiring claims means

taking “reasonable steps” to avoid hiring
employees with criminal records or other
problems who commit crimes or other acts
for which the employer can be held liable.

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 The Selection Process
Failed to meet minimum qualification
Initial Screening
Failed to complete application Passed
or failed to job specification
Completed Application
Passed
Failed test
Employment Test
Failed to impress interviewer Passed
or meet job expectation Passed Conditional
Comprehensive Interview Job Offer

Problems encountered
Background Examination
Reject Passed
Application Physical Examination
Unfits to do essential elements of job if required (conditional job
offer made)
Able to perform essential elements of job

Permanent Job Offer

Avoiding Negligent Hiring Claims

 Carefully scrutinize information on employment applications.

 Get written authorization for reference checks, and check
references.
 Save all records and information about the applicant.
 Reject applicants for false statements or conviction records
for offenses related to the job.
 Balance the applicant’s privacy rights with others’ “need to
know.”
 Take immediate disciplinary action if problems arise.

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Basic of Testing and Selecting Employees
 Reliability
 A reliable test is one that yields consistent scores when a person
takes two alternate forms of the test or when he or she takes the
same test on two or more different occasions.”
 Describes the consistency of scores obtained by the same
person when retested with the identical or alternate forms of the
same test.
 Are test results stable over time? (test-retest reliability)

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 Basic of Testing and Selecting Employees
 Validity
 Indicates whether a test is measuring what it is
supposed to be measuring.
 Does the test actually measure what it is intended to
measure?
Types of
Test Validity

Criterion validity Content validity Construct validity

Criterion validity involves demonstrating

Content validity is a demonstration that the A test that is construct valid is one that
statistically a relationship between scores on a
content of a selection procedure is demonstrates that a selection procedure
selection procedure/test (predictor) and job
representative of important aspects of measures a construct and that construct is
performance (criterion/outcome) of a sample of
performance on the job. important for successful job performance.
workers.

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Evidence-Based HR: How to Validate a Test
Steps in Test Validation

• Step 1: Analyze the job

 Predictors: job specification (KSAOs)
 Criterion: quantitative and qualitative measures of job success
• Step 2: Choose the tests
 Test battery or single test?
• Step 3: Administer the test
 Concurrent validation
 Current employees’ scores with current performance
 Predictive validation
 Later-measured performance with prior scores
• Step 4: Relate Test Scores and Criteria
 Correlation analysis
 Actual scores on the test with actual performance
• Step 5: Cross-Validate and Revalidate
 Repeat Step 3 and Step 4 with a different sample of employees.

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Examples of Web Sites Offering Information on Tests or
Testing Programs

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Test Takers’ Individual Rights and Test
Security
 Under the APA’s standard for educational
and psychological tests, test takers have
the following rights:
 The right to the confidentiality of test results.
 The right to informed consent regarding use of these results.
 The right to expect that only people qualified to interpret the
scores will have access to them, or that sufficient information will
accompany the scores to ensure their appropriate interpretation.
 The right to expect the test is fair to all. For example, no one
taking it should have prior access to the questions or answers.

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How Do Employers Use Tests at Work?

 Major Types of Tests

 Basic skills tests
 Job skills tests
 Psychological tests

 Why Use Testing?

 Increased work demands = more testing
 Screen out bad or dishonest employees
 Reduce turnover by personality profiling

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Types of Tests

What Different Tests Measure

Motor and physical Personality Current

Cognitive abilities
abilities and interests achievement

Cognitive tests include tests of
general reasoning ability
(intelligence) and tests of specific
mental abilities like numerical,
memory and inductive reasoning.
Motor abilities, such as finger
dexterity, manual dexterity, and (if
hiring pilots) reaction time, and
physical abilities, such as static
strength (such as lifting weights),
dynamic strength (pull-ups), body
coordination (jumping rope), and
stamina.
Personality tests measure basic
aspects of an applicant’s personality,
such as introversion, stability, and
motivation. It can be projective or
self-reported.
Some achievement tests measure
the applicant’s abilities; a swimming
test is one example. Achievement
tests measure what someone has
learned. Most of the tests you take in
school are achievement tests.

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Work Samples and Simulations

Measuring Work Performance Directly

Work Management Video-based Miniature job training

samples assessment centers situational testing and evaluation

A testing method based on measuring A simulation in which management

performance on actual basic job candidates are asked to perform realistic Work sampling and m-basket are Miniature job training and evaluation
tasks. tasks in hypothetical situations and are similar to situational testing. involves training candidates to perform
scored on their performance. It usually Additionally The video-based several of the job’s tasks, and then
Situational judgment tests are also involves testing and the use of simulation presents the candidate with evaluating their performance prior to
personnel tests “designed to assess an management games. several online or computer video hire.
applicant’s judgment regarding a situations, each followed by one or
situation encountered in the more multiple-choice questions.
workplace.”

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Background Investigations and Other Selection
Methods

 Why?
 To verify factual information provided by applicants
 To uncover damaging information
 To unearth previous criminal record

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Background Investigations and
Reference Checks

Criminal Records

Former Employers

Current Supervisors

Sources of Commercial Credit

Information Rating Companies

Written References

Social Networking Sites

Driving Records

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Limitations on Background
Investigations and Reference Checks

Legal Issues:
Defamation

Background Investigations
Employer Guidelines and Legal Issues: Privacy
Reference Checks

Supervisor Reluctance

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Making Background Checks More Useful

1. Include on the application form a statement for applicants to

sign explicitly authorizing a background check.
2. Use telephone references if possible.
3. Be persistent in obtaining information.
4. Compare the submitted résumé to the application.
5. Ask open-ended questions to elicit more information from
references.
6. Use references provided by the candidate as a source for other
references.

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The Polygraph and Honesty Testing
Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988
Generally prohibits polygraph examinations by all private employers
unless:
The employer has suffered an economic loss or injury.
The employee in question had access to the property.
There is a reasonable prior suspicion.

Private business exceptions:

Private security employees
Employees with access to drugs
Ongoing economic loss or injury investigations

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Honesty Testing Programs:
What Employers Can Do
Antitheft Screening Procedure:
Ask blunt questions.
Listen, rather than talk.
Do a credit check.
Check all employment and personal references.
Use paper-and-pencil honesty tests and psychological tests.
Test for drugs.
Establish a search-and-seizure policy and conduct searches.

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Physical Examinations
Reasons for pre-employment medical examinations:
 To verify that the applicant meets the physical
requirements of the position.
 To discover any medical limitations to be taken into
account in placing the applicant.
 To establish a record and baseline of the applicant’s health
for future insurance or compensation claims.
 To reduce absenteeism and accidents.
 To detect communicable diseases that may be unknown to
the applicant.

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 Improving Productivity Through HRIS:
Using Automated Applicant Tracking
and Screening Systems (ATS)

Benefits of Applicant Tracking Systems

“Knock out” applicants Allows employers to Can match “hidden

who do not meet job extensively test and talents” of applicants to
requirements screen applicants online available openings

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The Selection Process- INTERVIEW
Comprehensive Interview
 An Interview is a procedure
designed to obtain information
from a person through oral
responses to oral inquiries.
 Interviewers must be careful
about what sorts of traits they
try to assess.
 Interviewers must understand
the factors that undermine
interviews.

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Basic Types of Interviews

Selection Interview

Types of
Appraisal Interview
Interviews

Exit Interview

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Basic Types of Interviews
 Selection Interview
A selection interview is a selection procedure designed to predict
future job performance based on applicants’ oral responses to oral
inquiries.
 Appraisal Interview
 a discussion, following a performance appraisal, in which
supervisor and employee discuss the employee’s ratings and
possible remedial actions.
 Exit Interview
 When an employee leaves a firm, one often conducts an exit
interview.
 This aims at eliciting information that might provide some
insight into what’s right or wrong about the firm.

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Selection Interview Structure
We can classify selection interviews according to:
1. How structured they are
2. Their “content”—the types of questions they contain
3. How the firm administers the interviews

Selection Interview
Characteristics

Interview Interview Interview

structure content administration

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Selection Interview Formats

Interview Structure Formats

Structured
Unstructured (nondirective)
(directive)
interview
interview

“Tell me about yourself,” A printed form to ask a series of

“Why do you think you’d do a questions.
good job here?” and How was the person’s present
“What would you say are your job obtained?”
main strengths and “Has he/she shown self-reliance
weaknesses?” in getting his/her jobs?”

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Selection Interview Formats

 Unstructured (or nondirective) interview

 the manager follows no set format.
 A few questions might be specified in advance. Most
selection interviews fall in this category.
 Structured (or directive) interview
 the employer lists job-oriented questions ahead of
time, and possible predetermined answers for
appropriateness and scoring.

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Interview Content
We can also classify interviews based on the “content” or
the types of questions asked in the interview.
At work, situational, behavioral, and job-related questions
are most important.

Types of Questions Asked

Situational Behavioral Job-related Stress

interview interview interview interview
Ask a supervisory “Tell me about a time
“Which courses did Rude questions,
candidate how he or she you were speaking with
you like best in puzzle questions, and
would act in response to an irate person, and
business school?” ethical dilemma.
a subordinate coming to how you turned the
work late 3 days in a row situation around.”

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Interview Content
 Situational interview
 A series of job-related questions that focus on how the candidate
would behave in a given situation.
 Situational questions start with phrases such as “ Suppose
you were faced with the following situation …What would you
do?”
 Behavioral interview
 A series of job-related questions that focus on how the candidate
reacted to actual situations in the past.
 Behavioral questions might start with a phrase like, “Can you
think of time when …What did you do?”

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Interview Content
 Job-related interview
 A series of job-related questions that focus on relevant past job-related
behaviors.
 Interviewer asks job related questions such as “ Which courses did
you like best in business school?”

 Stress interview
 An interview in which the applicant is made uncomfortable by a series of
often rude questions .
 This technique helps identify hyper-sensitive applicants and those with
low or high stress tolerance.

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Administering the Interview
Employers also administer interviews in various ways: one-
on-one or by a panel of interviewers; sequentially or all at once;
and computerized or personally.

Unstructured
sequential interview

Structured Panel / Board

sequential interview interview
Ways in Which
Interview Can
Mass Phone
be Conducted
interview interviews

Computerized Video/Web-assisted
interviews interviews

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Administrating the Interview
 Unstructured sequential interview
 An interview in which each interviewer forms an independent
opinion after asking different questions.
 Structured sequential interview
 An interview in which the applicant is interviewed sequentially by
several persons; each rates the applicant on a standard form.
 Panel(board) interview
 An interview conducted by a team of interviewers who together
interview each candidate, and then combine their ratings into a
final panel score.

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Administrating the Interview
 Mass interview
 A panel interviews several candidates simultaneously.
 Phone and video interview
 Some interviews are done entirely by telephone and
videoconference.
 Computerized interview
 One in which a job candidate’s oral and/or computerized replies
are obtained in response to computerized oral, visual, or written
questions and/or situations.
 How would your supervisor rate your customer service skills?
a. outstanding c. average e. poor
b. above average d. below average

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Administrating the Interview
 Web-assisted interview
 Many firms use the Web to assist in the employee
interview process. Web-based “in-person” interview
use is widespread; about 18% of candidates took
such interviews in one recent year.

Cautious in Web-based Interview

●● Look presentable. It might seem silly sitting at home wearing a suit, but it could make a
difference.
●● Clean up the room. Do not let the interviewer see clutter.
●● Test first. As Career FAQs says, “Five minutes before the video interview is not a good time to
realize that your Internet is down…”
●● Do a dry run. Record yourself before the interview to see how you’re “coming across.”
●● Relax. The golden rule with such interviews is to treat them like face-to-face meetings.
Smile, look confident and enthusiastic, make eye contact, and don’t shout, but do speak clearly.

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Three Ways to Make the Interview Useful
The interview holds an ironic place in the hiring
process: If done poorly, it’s generally not too useful.
If done properly, then the interview can be a much
better predictor of performance than previously thought and is
comparable with many other selection techniques.

Structure the interview to

increase its validity

Making the Carefully choose what sorts of

Interview Useful traits are to be assessed

Beware of committing
interviewing errors

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What Can Undermine An Interview’s Usefulness?

Nonverbal behavior
First impressions (snap
and impression
judgments)
management

Interviewer’s Factors Affecting

Applicant’s personal
misunderstanding An Interview’s characteristics
of the job Usefulness

Candidate-order
Interviewer’s
(contrast) error and
inadvertent behavior
pressure to hire

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What can undermine an interviews usefulness?

 First Impression: one of the most consistent findings

that interviewers tend to jump to conclusions – make
snap judgments – about candidates during the first few
minutes of the interview or even before the interview
starts, based on test scores or resume data.
 Misunderstanding the Job: Interviewers who don’t know
precisely what the job entails and what sort of candidate
is best suited for it usually make their decisions based
on incorrect stereotypes of what a good applicant is.

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What can undermine an interviews usefulness?

 Candidate-Order (contrast) Error: an error of judgment

on the part of the Interviewer due to interviewing one
or more very good or very bad candidates just before
the interview in question.
 Impression Management: refers to one’s attempt to
project an image that will result in receiving a
favorable outcome.
 Effect of Personal Characteristics; Attractiveness,
Gender, Race: Some interviewers perceive male as
being more suitable for hire and more likely to advance
to a next executive level than equally qualified female.
 Interviewer Behavior: the interviewer’s behavior also
has an effect on the interviewee’s performance and
rating.

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How to Conduct a More Effective Interview

Being Systematic and Effective

1 Know the job.
2 Structure the interview.
3 Get organized.
4 Establish rapport.
5 Ask questions.
6 Take brief, unobtrusive notes.
7 Close the interview.
8 Review the interview.

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Suggested Supplementary Questions for Interviewing Applicants
1. How did you choose this line of work?
2. What did you enjoy most about your last job?
3. What did you like least about your last job?
4. What has been your greatest frustration or disappointment on your present job? Why?
5. What are some of the pluses and minuses of your last job?
6. What were the circumstances surrounding your leaving your last job?
7. Did you give notice?
8. Why should we be hiring you?
9. What do you expect from this employer?
10. What are three things you will not do in your next job?
11. What would your last supervisor say your three weaknesses are?
12. What are your major strengths?
13. How can your supervisor best help you obtain your goals?
14. How did your supervisor rate your job performance?
15. In what ways would you change your last supervisor?
16. What are your career goals during the next 1–3 years? 5–10 years?
17. How will working for this company help you reach those goals?
18. What did you do the last time you received instructions with which you disagreed?
19. What are some things about which you and your supervisor disagreed? What did you do?
20. Which do you prefer, working alone or working with groups?
21. What motivated you to do better at your last job?
22. Do you consider your progress in that job representative of your ability? Why?
23. Do you have any questions about the duties of the job for which you have applied?
24. Can you perform the essential functions of the job for which you have applied?

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Guidelines for Interviewees
 Preparation is essential
 Uncover the interviewer’s real needs
 Relate yourself to the interviewer’s needs
 Think before answering
 Remember that appearance and enthusiasm are important
 Make a good first impression
 Ask questions

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