Chapter 4
Employee Selection: Recruiting and Interviewing
RECRUITMENT
 attracting people with the right qualifications to
apply for the job
Internal Recruitment: promote someone from
within the organization
External Recruitment: hire someone from outside
the organization
IMPORTANT:
 To enhance employee morale and motivation, it
is often good to give current employees an
advantage in obtaining new internal positions
 Internal promotions can be a great source of
motivation, but if an organization always
promotes employees from within, it runs the
risk of having a stale workforce that is devoid
of the many ideas that new employees bring
with them from their previous employment
setting
Media Advertisements
 Newspaper Ads- common method of
recruiting employees
 Respond by calling: when an
organization wants to either quickly
screen applicants or hear an applicant’s
phone voice
 apply-in-person ad: when they don’t
want their phones tied up by applicants
calling
 Send-résumé ads: Applicants are asked
to send a résumé directly to the company
when the organization expects a large
response and does not have the
resources to speak with thousands of
applicants.
 Blind Box
 organization doesn’t want its name in
public
 might fear that people wouldn’t apply
if they knew the name of the
company
 on rare occasions, a company needs
to terminate an employee but wants
first to find a replacement
 Writing Recruitment Ads
 Ads displaying the company emblem
and using creative illustrations attract
the greatest number of applicants,
but ads that include the salary range
and a company phone number attract
the highest-quality applicants
 Ads containing realistic information
about the job, rather than information
that is “too good to be true” increase
applicant attraction to the
organization
 Ads containing detailed descriptions
of the job and organization provide
applicants with an idea of how well
they would fit into an organization
and result in positive thoughts about
it
 Ads containing information about
the selection process affect the
probability that applicants will
apply for a job.
 Electronic Media: 26% use
television and radio to advertise job
openings
 Situation-Wanted Ads
 placed by the applicant rather than the
organization
 these ads take a variety of forms: Some
list extensive qualifications, some give
applicants’ names, and some are
generally more creative than others.
Point-of-Purchase Methods
 Advertising principles used to market
products to consumers
 In employee recruitment, job vacancy
notices are posted in places where
customers or current employees are likely
to see them: store windows, bulletin
boards, restaurant placemats, and the
sides of trucks.
 Advantages: it is inexpensive and it is
targeted toward people who frequent the
business.
 Disadvantage: only a limited number of
people are exposed to the sign.
Recruiters
 Campus Recruiters: send recruiters to
college campuses to answer questions
about themselves and interview students
for available positions. Not surprisingly,
the behavior and attitude of recruiters can
greatly influence applicants’ decisions to
accept jobs that are offered
 Virtual job fairs: students and
alumni can use the Web to “visit” with
rescruiters from hundreds of
organizations at one time.
 Outside Recruiters: outside recruiting
sources as private employment agencies,
public employment agencies, and
executive search firms
 Employment agencies
 operate in one of two ways.
They charge either the company
or the applicant when the
applicant takes the job.
Alyssa Louise C. Cabije
BS Psychology
University of Mindanao
  The amount charged usually
ranges from 10% to 30% of the
applicant’s first-year salary.
 Executive search firms
 “head hunters”
 higher-paying, non–entry-level
positions
 always charge their fees to
organizations rather than to
applicants.
 fees charged by executive
search firms tend to be about
30% of the applicant’s first-year
salary.
 Public employment agencies
 designed primarily to help the
unemployed find work, but they
often offer services such as
career advisement and résumé
preparation.
 Employee referrals: current employees
recommend family members and friends for
specific job openings.
 Direct-mail
 an employer typically obtains a mailing list
and sends help-wanted letters or
brochures to people through the mail.
 especially useful for positions involving
specialized skills
 Internet
 Employer-based websites: an
organization lists available job openings
and provides information about itself and
the minimum requirements needed to
apply to a particular job.
 Internet recruiter: a private company
whose website lists job openings for
hundreds of organizations and résumés
for thousands of applicants.
 Job fairs
 used by 70% of organizations and are
designed to provide information in a
personal fashion to as many applicants as
possible.
 Incentives
 When unemployment rates are low,
organizations have to take extra
measures to recruit employees.
 offer incentives for employees to accept
jobs with an organization.
 Nontraditional Populations
 When traditional recruitment methods are
unsuccessful, many organizations look for
potential applicants from nontraditional
populations
 Recruiting “Passive” Applicants
 Because “the best” employees are already
employed, recruiters try to find ways to
identify this hidden talent and then
convince the person to apply for a job with
their company
EVALUATING THE EffECTIVENESS OF
RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES
 Number of Applicant
 Cost per applicant
 dividing the number of applicants by
the amount spent for each strategy
 Drawback: An organization might
receive a large number of applicants
at a relatively low cost per applicant,
but none may be qualified for the job
 Number of qualified applicants
 Cost per qualified applicant
 umber of successful employees
REALISTIC JOB PREVIEW (RJP)
 involve giving an applicant an honest
assessment of a job
 The logic behind RJPs is that even though
telling the truth scares away many applicants,
especially the most qualified ones, the ones
who stay will not be surprised about the job.
Because they know what to expect, informed
applicants will tend to stay
Expectation-lowering procedure (ELP)
 lowers an applicant’s expectations about work
and expectations in general
EFFECTIVE EMPLOYEE SELECTION TECHNIQUES
 Effective employee selection systems share
three characteristics:
 Valid: one that is based on a job analysis
(content validity), predicts work-related
behavior (criterion validity), and measures
the construct it purports to measure
(construct validity).
 Reduce the chance of a legal challenge
 Cost-effective
EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEWS
 Types of Interviews: 3 main factors
1. Structure
a) Structured interview: one in which (1)
the source of the questions is a job
analysis, (2) all applicants are asked the
same questions, and (3) there is a
standardized scoring key to evaluate each
answer.
b) Unstructured interview: one in which
interviewers are free to ask anything they
want are not required to have consistency
in what they ask of each applicant, and
may assign numbers of points at their own
discretion.
Alyssa Louise C. Cabije
BS Psychology
University of Mindanao
2. Style of an interview is determined by the
number of interviewees and number of
interviewers.
a) One-on-one interviews: one interviewer
interviewing one applicant.
b) Serial interviews: series of single
interviews.
c) Return Interviews: similar to serial
interviews with the difference being a
passing of time between the first and
subsequent interview.
d) Panel Interviews: have multiple
interviewers asking questions and
evaluating answers of the same
applicant at the same time
e) Group Interviews: multiple applicants
answering questions during the same
interview
3. Medium
a) Face-to-face interviews
i. both the interviewer and the applicant
are in the same room
ii. provide a personal setting and allow
the participants to use both visual
and vocal cues to evaluate
information
b) Telephone Interviews: used to screen
applicants but do not allow the use of
visual cues
c) Videoconferencce interviews
i. conducted at remote sites
ii. the applicant and the interviewer can
hear and see each other, but the
setting is not as personal, nor is the
image and vocal quality of the
interview as sharp as in face-to-face
interviews
d) Written Interviews: the applicant
answering a series of written questions
and then sending the answers back
through regular mail or through email
Advantages of Structured Interviews
 interviews high in structure are more valid
than unstructured interviews
 From a legal standpoint, structured
interviews are viewed more favorably by
the courts than are unstructured
interviews
 Though it results in less adverse impact,
they are not completely immune from
potential discrimination
Problems with Unstructured Interviews
 Poor Intuitive Ability
 Interviewers often base their hiring
decisions on “gut reactions,” or intuition.
 Lack of Job Relatedness
 questions are not related to any particular
job
 Primacy Effects
 first impression
 information presented prior to the
interview or early in the interview carries
more weight than does information
presented later in the interview
 Contrast effects
 the interview performance of one
applicant may affect the interview score
given to the next applicant
 Negative-information bias
 seems to occur only when interviewers
aren’t aware of job requirements
 job applicants are afraid of being honest in
interviews for fear that one negative
response will cost them their job
opportunities.
 Interviewer-Interviewee Similarity
 interviewee will receive a higher score if
he or she is similar to the interviewer in
terms of personality, attitude, or race
 Interviewee Appearance
 physically attractive applicants have an
advantage in interviews over less
attractive applicants and applicants who
dress professionally receive higher
interview scores than do more poorly
dressed applicants
 Nonverbal Cues
 use of appropriate nonverbal
communication is highly correlated with
interview scores.
Creating a Structured Interview
 To create a structured interview,
information about the job is obtained (job
a nalysis) and questions are created that
are designed to find out the extent to
which applicants’ skills and experiences
match those needed to successfully
perform the job.
1. Determining the KSAOs to Tap in the
Interview
 Some of the KSAOs can be
appropriately measured in an i
nterview; others will need to be
tapped through such methods as
psychological tests, job samples,
assessment centers, references,
background checks, and training and
experience ratings
2. Creating Interview Questions
a) Clarifiers: allow the interviewer to
clarify information in the résumé,
cover letter, and application, fill in
gaps, and obtain other necessary
information.
b) Disqualifiers: are questions that
must be answered a particular way or
the applicant is disqualified
Alyssa Louise C. Cabije
BS Psychology
University of Mindanao
 c) Skill-level determiners: tap an
interviewee’s level of expertise
d) Future-focused questions or
situational questions: ask an
applicant what she would do in a
particular situation
e) Past-focused questions or
patterned behavior description
interviews (PBDIs): differ from
situational interview questions by
focusing on previous behavior rather
than future intended behavior
f) Organizational-fit questions: tap
the extent to which an applicant will
fit into the culture of an organization
or with the leadership style of a
particular supervisor
3. Creating a scoring key for interview
questions
 Right/Wrong Approach: can be
scored simply on the basis of
whether the answer given was
correct or incorrect
 Typical-Answer Approach: create a
list of all possible answers to each
question, have subject-matter experts
(SMEs) rate the favorableness of
each answer, and then use these
ratings to serve as benchmarks for
each point on a five-point scale.
 Key-issues approach: SMEs create
a list of key issues they think should
be included in the perfect answer.
Conducting the Structured Interview
1. Build rapport; do not begin asking
questions until applicants have had time
to “settle their nerves”
2. Explain the process
3. Ask the questions
4. Provide information about the job and the
organization
5. End the interview on a pleasant note by
complimenting the interviewee and let her
know that she will be contacted for job
offers
6. At the conclusion, the scores from the
questions are summed and the resulting
figure is the applicant’s interview score
JOB SEARCH SKILLS
 Successfully Surviving the Interview
Process
 Scheduling the Interview
 If they arrive late, the score will be
drastically lower
 the interview can be scheduled for
any time of the day or week, but the
applicant must not be late!
 Before the Interview
 Learn about the company
 Dress neatly and professionally, and
adjust your style as necessary to fit
the situation
 During the Interview
 make use of the biases discussed
 Nonverbal behaviors should include a
firm handshake, eye contact, smiling,
and head-nodding.
 Desired verbal behaviors include
asking questions, subtly pointing out
how you are similar to the
interviewer, not asking about the
salary, not speaking slowly, and not
hesitating before answering
questions.
 first impressions are the most
important.
 If you want to appear similar to the
interviewer, look around the office
 After the Interview: thank the interviewer
through a short later
Writing Cover Letters
 Cover letters: tell an employer that you are
enclosing your résumé and would like to apply
for a job. Cover letters should never be longer
than one page.
1. Salutation: if possible, get the name of
the person to whom you want to direct the
letter. If you aren’t sure of the person’s
name, call the company and simply ask
for the name of the person (have it
spelled) to whom you should send your
résumé
2. Paragraphs
a) Opening paragraph: one or two
sentences long and communicate
three pieces of information:
i. the fact that your résumé is
enclosed
ii. the name of the job you are
applying for
iii. how you know about the job
opening (such as a newspaper
ad or from a friend).
b) Second paragraph: states that you
are qualified for the job and provides
about three reasons why. (4-5
sentences)
c) Third paragraph explains why you
are interested in the particular
company to which you are applying.
d) The final paragraph: closes your
letter and provides information on
how you can best be reached
3. Signature: Use words such as “cordially”
or “sincerely.” “Yours truly” is not advised,
and words such as “Love,” “Peace,” or
“Hugs and snuggles” are strongly
discouraged.
Alyssa Louise C. Cabije
BS Psychology
University of Mindanao
 Writing a Résumé
 Résumés
 summaries of an applicant’s
professional and educational
background
 may not predict performance partly
because they are intended to be
advertisements for an applicant

1. Views of Résumés
a) Résumés written as a history
of one’s life: tend to be long
and to list every job ever
worked, as well as personal
information such as hobbies,
marital status, and personal
health.
b) Résumés written as an
advertisement of skills: tend to
be shorter and contain only
information that is both positive
and relevant to a job seeker’s
desired career.
2. Characteristics of Effective
Résumés
 The résumé must be attractive
and easy to read
 The résumé cannot contain
typing, spelling, grammatical, or
 factual mistakes.
 The résumé should make the
applicant look as qualified as
possible— without lying.
3. Types of Résumé
a) Chronological résumés: list
previous jobs in order from the
most to the least recent.
b) Functional résumé: organizes
jobs based on the skills required
to perform them rather than the
order in which they were
worked.
c) Psychological résumé:
contains the strengths of both
the chronological and functional
styles and is based on sound
psychological theory and
research
i. Priming: preparing the
reader for what is to come
ii. Primacy: early impressions
are most important
iii. Short-term memory
limits: the list should not be
longer than seven items

Three impression-management rules should be

used:
Relevance
Unusualness
Positivity

Alyssa Louise C. Cabije

BS Psychology
University of Mindanao