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Full download Strategic Staffing 3rd Edition Phillips Solutions Manual all chapter 2024 pdf
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Chapter 9: Assessing External Candidates
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
TAKEAWAY POINTS
4. The assessment plan describes which assessment methods will be used to assess
each of the characteristics upon which applicants will be evaluated, in what
sequence the assessments will take place, and what weight each assessment will
receive in determining a candidate’s overall score. The importance of each
characteristic to job performance is also identified, as is whether each
characteristic will be evaluated or trained for after a candidate is hired.
1. When should employers reassess the assessment methods they use in hiring?
The advantages of structured interviews are their standardization and the existence of
answer keys, which allows candidates’ answers to be scored and compared. They are
also highly job related, which increases their validity compared to unstructured
interviews and creates favorable candidates’ reactions. Unstructured interviews might be
preferred by hiring managers who believe they have developed effective questions and
assessment methods, but they are less valid and their lack of standardization makes
candidate comparisons difficult.
Because assessments greatly increase the probability that true positives and true
negatives will occur. Without valid assessments, candidates are being hired almost
randomly which will result in average hires rather than hiring people who best fit the job
and organization. The return on the investment in a valid assessment method can be quite
large in terms of lower turnover, higher job performance, and more talent in the internal
leadership pipeline.
4. What do you feel are the least effective external assessment methods? Why?
Answers tend to focus on assessment methods that are not job related, such as
graphology. Credit checks are also commonly named. Personality tests are sometimes
discussed despite their modest validity because of their perceived unrelatedness to job
performance. This can be a good springboard for a discussion of how personality tests
are best used when related to specific job requirements.
Students generally feel that if it is necessary or relevant for the job being filled, then this
information is acceptable if it is kept private. Jobs requiring employees to visit customers
at their homes, such as cable TV installer, are often identified as relevant for background
checks, as are jobs in the security industry (police, security guard, etc.). Credit histories
are often perceived to be relevant for positions requiring money handling, money
management, or travel requiring car or hotel rental that a person with bad credit might
not be able to do. It is important to point out that disparate impact can be a problem with
credit checks, as minorities have been found to have lower credit scores on average than
whites.1
EXERCISES
1. Strategy Exercise: There are many consulting firms that specialize in candidate
assessment and selection.
Johnson & Johnson is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly based manufacturer
of health care products. J&J pursues a business strategy of serving the consumer,
pharmaceutical, and medical devices and diagnostics markets with a focus on research-
based, technology-driven products.2 The company’s credo prioritizes its responsibilities
to its customers, employees, the community, and its stockholders in that order. Go to
www.jnj.com and learn more about Johnson & Johnson’s credo. Then answer the
following questions.
a. In what ways does J&J’s focus on its credo and hiring people who fit its credo
help the company perform well?
2. Develop Your Skills Exercise: This chapter’s Develop Your Skills feature gave you
some tips for writing an online résumé. Using this information, write your own résumé
that could be posted online. Exchange résumés with two classmates and give each other
feedback on how to improve each other’s résumés. [This exercise can be easily modified
to require students to develop a LinkedIn profile and critique the profiles of two other
students.]
Résumé content should parallel the content of the Develop Your Skills feature. Students
can e-mail their résumés to each other to save time, and track changes can be used to
record suggestions. Students generally appreciate the opportunity to improve their
résumés.
3. Develop Your Skills Exercise: Watch the video on this book’s companion website on
how NOT to conduct an interview. Then identify at least 5 things the interviewer does
wrong or should do differently, and explain why your suggestion is appropriate.
The interviewer is unprepared, eats during the interview, asks inappropriate questions,
behaves unprofessionally, does not control his body language or reactions to the
candidate’s answers, and does not communicate information that would help to persuade
the candidate that the job and organization are good fits for her. His questions are often
not job related and he clearly has a preference for a male hire.
4. Develop Your Skills Exercise: Develop a scoring key for each structured interview
question below and create a formula to combine the scores into an overall structured
interview score for a retail sales position at a high-end retailer focused on customer
service.
a. A disgruntled customer is returning a damaged suit jacket he bought the previous
week that he needed for an event that night. He is extremely upset. What do you
do?
b. A person walks into your store and mentions that she has just moved into the area
and that this is the first time she has visited your store. What would you do to
make her a customer now and a loyal customer in the future?
c. You’re working alone because two people called in sick. Suddenly, five
customers walk into your department at once. What do you do?
These include:
Listening skills
Communication skills
Social perceptiveness
Customer service orientation
Question 1:
A disgruntled customer is returning a damaged suit jacket he bought the previous week
that he needed for an event that night. He is extremely upset. What do you do?
Listening skills: 1 = doesn’t understand the question and doesn’t listen to
customer in answer. 10 = understands and interprets the question properly and listens to
customer in answer.
Communication skills: 1 = stammers or is unclear when responding. 10 = clearly
articulates and states response to situation.
Social perceptiveness: 1 = awkward or uncomfortable in response to interviewer;
unaware of customer’s needs in situation. 10 = responds and interacts with interviewer
appropriately; is aware of customer’s needs in situation.
Customer service orientation: 1 = does not understand or address the customer’s
concern. 10 = clearly empathizes with customer and takes the steps required to address
the customer’s concern.
Question 2:
A person walks into your store and mentions that she has just moved into the area and
that this is the first time she has visited your store. What would you do to make her a
customer now and a loyal customer in the future?
Listening skills: 1 = doesn’t understand the question and doesn’t listen to
customer in answer. 10 = understands and interprets the question properly and listens to
customer in answer.
Communication skills: 1 = stammers or is unclear when responding; fails to
communicate with customer. 10 = clearly articulates and states response to situation;
reaches out to communicate with customer.
Social perceptiveness: 1 = awkward or uncomfortable in response to interviewer;
unaware of customer’s needs in situation. 10 = responds and interacts with interviewer
appropriately; is aware of customer’s needs in situation.
Customer service orientation: 1 = does not understand or address the customer’s
needs. 10 = clearly empathizes with customer needs and takes the steps to meet them.
Information
Requested and Why
Interview Question Why Inappropriate it is Important Better Question
1. What religion It is important not To ensure candidate Are you able to
do you practice? to directly ask about can work during work our required
a candidate’s needed shifts or schedule?
religious beliefs times
2. What clubs or Can reveal To identify Are you a member
social groups do religious, national professional of any trade or
you belong to? origin, medical, and involvement and professional group
other information commitment in your field or in
that are not job our industry?
related
3.How many kids Can discriminate To identify if Will travel or
do you have? against women candidate will be working overtime
able to meet job on short notice be a
responsibilities problem for you?
5. How old are Risks age To identify if the Are you over the
you? discrimination candidate is of legal age of 18?
working age
6. How much Creates the To help predict if What are your
longer do you plan possibility for age the candidate will long-term career
to work before discrimination stay with the goals?
retiring? organization or be
likely to leave
earlier than the
organization would
like
a. Do you think it’s appropriate for Facebook to require candidates to write code on a
whiteboard during its assessment process? Why or why not?
Opinions differ, but because it is job related many students feel that this is appropriate.
Having to do it in person simulates what might happen when at work, and allows the
individual to demonstrate his or her skills and thought processes.
The disadvantages include the amount of time this can take and the possible disclosure to
non-hired candidates of what the company is currently working on. Advantages include
getting a very good look at the candidate’s skills and thought processes as well as
whether the user is put first as the company would like.
Responses vary, but might include small group discussions, written tests presenting a
scenario and asking the candidate to choose the best response or strategy (to get at smart
risk taking), and structured interview questions to assess innovation and smart risk
taking.
ADDITIONAL EXERCISE
Show the class the eight and a half-minute video “How Not to Conduct an Interview”
available on the Instructor’s Web site for this book. The video is an entertaining look at a
poorly conducted interview and sets the stage for the practice interview.
Then ask students to think of a job for which they would like to practice interviewing. It
should be a realistic job that they aspire to someday hold. They need to then pair up with
another student and exchange information about each other’s chosen job. Give the pairs
about 5 minutes to privately think up 3-4 behavioral or situational interview questions
related to their partner’s chosen job. The next 15-20 minutes should be spent with each
person being interviewed by the other, and each receiving feedback about how they did.
Their feedback to each other should include information about each other’s body
language, as well as the quality of the questions and student’s answers. Class discussion
afterward can include what was easy and what was difficult about both being the
interviewer and the interviewee, and what they learned about themselves from
participating in the exercise.
ADDITIONAL EXERCISE
Assessment Examples
The following can be handed out as examples of different types of assessments. Students do
not need to complete them, but the scoring key for the Big 5 is provided in case instructors
would like to conduct an exercise around students’ reactions to completing it in a job
context.
Please use the following list of common human traits to describe yourself as accurately as
possible. Describe yourself as you see yourself at the present time, not as you wish to be
in the future. Describe yourself as you are generally or typically, as compared with other
persons you know of the same sex and of roughly the same age. Please use the following
rating scale to make your ratings:
Neither
Very Moderately Accurate Moderately Very
Inaccurate Inaccurate nor Inaccurate Accurate Accurate
------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|--------------------|------→
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
_____ 1. Bashful
_____ 2. Bold
_____ 3. Careless
_____ 4. Cold
_____ 5. Complex
_____ 6. Cooperative
_____ 7. Creative
_____ 8. Deep
_____ 9. Disorganized
_____ 10. Efficient
_____ 11. Energetic
_____ 12. Envious
_____ 13. Extroverted
_____ 14. Fretful
_____ 15. Harsh
_____ 16. Imaginative
_____ 17. Inefficient
_____ 18. Intellectual
_____ 19. Jealous
_____ 20. Kind
_____ 21. Moody
_____ 22. Organized
SCORING INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Recode items 1, 3, 4, 9, 12, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 25, 27, 28, 29, 33, 34, 35, 37, 38, 40
1=5 2=4 (3 stays 3) 4=2 5=1
2. Using the new values, calculate 5 different scores:
Extroversion = 1, 2, 11, 13, 25, 28, 32, 40
Agreeableness = 4, 6, 15, 20, 27, 30, 38, 39
Conscientiousness=3, 9, 10, 17, 22, 24, 29, 31
Emotional Stability =12, 14, 19, 21, 26, 33, 34, 36
Openness = 5, 7, 8, 16, 18, 23, 35, 37
To help students interpret their scores in the context of others like them, the authors
administered the assessment to 624 undergraduate students from management,
communication, and psychology classes participating for class credit. The students’
average age was approximately 23. Here are the means and standard deviations from this
sample:
These items are similar to those on general cognitive ability tests such as the Wonderlic.
The short form of the Wonderlic has 50 questions and people have 12 minutes to answer
them. The problems become increasingly difficult, and people rarely finish all of the
questions.
1. Look at the row of numbers below. What number should come next?
12 9 6 3 ???
2. If pencils cost 10 cents each, how many can be bought for a dollar?
3. Paper sells for 23 cents per pad. What will 4 pads cost?
4. REAP is the opposite of (1) obtain (2) cheer (3) continue (4) exist, or (5) sow.
5. Assume the first 2 statements are true. Is the final one (1) true (2) false (3)
uncertain?
6. The girl plays soccer. All soccer players like to wear cleats. The girl likes to wear
cleats.
7. A car travels 30 feet in ½ second. At the same speed, how many feet will it travel
in 7 seconds?
8. Miner…Minor – do these words (1) have similar meaning, (2) have contradictory
meaning, (3) mean neither the same nor opposite.
9. What is the square root of 81 times the square root of 121?
The goal of the OSS Program during WWII is improved intelligence agent selection.
Assessment centers were first conceptualized by the German High Command in World
War I to select officers with exceptional command or military abilities.
The British Secret Service borrowed a page from Hitler’s book, maintaining an estate in
the English countryside for training and evaluating agents who would be sent to work
behind enemy lines. Camp X, their espionage school, provided a realistic setting for
training. The estate was staffed with native German-speakers, and potential agents were
given assignments requiring interaction with the staff. Potential agents’ ability to
maintain their cover while fulfilling their assignments was evaluated during their stay.
On June 13, 1941, President Roosevelt created the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) to
coordinate the U.S. intelligence effort against Nazi Germany. Roosevelt named William
“Wild Bill” Donovan, a Wall Street lawyer and World War I hero, to head the office with
a handful of agents. Because they had no experience in espionage, the Americans relied
on the British procedures and even trained at Camp X. Shortly afterward, the OSS
founded its own version of Camp X in the Virginia countryside, and named it Station S.
World War II Spy Assessment for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS)
It is 1940, and you are a selection specialist assigned to the Office of Strategic Services
(OSS). Your assignment is to work as a team with three to four other classmates to
develop a selection system to “identify operatives who could successfully undertake
hazardous intelligence-gathering missions behind enemy lines.” In other words, you are
to select spies who will work in Japan, Italy, or Germany.
Challenges
1. You have been given limited job information, no job description, KSAOs,
competencies, or performance criteria related to the position.
2. Since the advertisements for the job must be vague to maintain secrecy, they will
attract undesirable candidates, including people who are chronically bored,
pathologically adventuresome, neurotically attracted to danger, and so forth.
Therefore, you will need to include a process to weed out such individuals
3. You have no time to validate your assessment methods—they need to be
implemented immediately.
Task
In the time allowed, identify the important characteristics (aptitudes, competencies, and
so forth) a person needs to be a spy and develop three tests and simulations that will help
you identify successful spies. The selection procedure will occur over a three-day period
Assignment
The personnel at Station S were assigned the difficult task of selecting agents for a
variety of espionage assignments. The brightest psychologists of the period developed a
number of creative approaches to the selection problem. Spy candidates were brought to
the Station S assessment center and assigned a variety of individual and team tasks. Each
candidate was supposed to maintain a cover, or false identity, throughout the session
(unless given a specific command so they could respond “normally” to some
psychological tests). And, each candidate was asked to try to “break” the cover stories of
their classmates.
Recruitment/Screening
• Military background
• Ethnic background
• Foreign language ability
Simulations
• Map memory test
• Interrogation test
• Belongings test
• Leaderless group discussion
• Brook exercise: The candidates, in groups of six, would be taken to a shallow,
quiet stream whose banks were eight feet apart. On one bank was a heavy rock;
on the other a log. Various materials, such as logs, rope, a pulley, and barrel were
available. The candidates were told to move a delicate piece of equipment (the
rock) across this stream, leaving all materials on the opposite side when done.
Candidates were assessed on individual traits such as leadership, energy,
initiative, and physical ability.
• Wall exercise: Completed immediately afterward. The same group was required
to cross two barrier walls (Japanese prison camp), carrying their bazooka (the
same log).
• Obstacle exercise
• Mined road simulation
Stress Tests
• Construction exercise (“behind the barn”): Each candidate was assigned two
assistants and told he would be assessed on his leadership skills. But, the two
assistants, “Kippy,” and “Buster,” were shills and completely uncooperative.
Kippy was passive, sluggish, and easily distracted – he did virtually nothing
unless directly told. Buster was impractical and aggressive, criticizing the
candidate at every opportunity.
• Stress interview: Especially demanding. The stress interview was developed to
test the candidate’s capacity to “tolerate severe emotional and intellectual strain.”
The rationale for subjecting candidates to stress was that working behind enemy
lines was dangerous and that agents risked capture and interrogation by the
Gestapo. To test for stress tolerance, candidates were instructed to develop a
plausible and innocent cover story for why they were found going through secret
papers in a government office building. They had to maintain a coherent story
despite severe interrogation under difficult physical conditions.
• Post stress interview: The candidates had to be on guard even during “respites”
from interrogation, and when their questioners relaxed and switched to a post-
stress interview mode.
• Liquor test
Anecdotal evidence from the early German, British, American assessment procedures
suggest that those who passed through the assessment procedures also performed
successfully and excelled in a broad range of other activities. Recall “Wild Bill”
Donavan, a war hero turned spy master, or Julia Child, a famous graduate of the British
Camp X, who mastered cooking, book publishing, and television presentations. But recall
also, that these people were already successful before the assessment procedures began.
ADDITIONAL HANDOUT
Cut and paste the “Interviewing Tips” to a separate document to create a two-sided
handout.
Interviewing Tips
The interview is the most common way employers evaluate job applicants. The interview
is used to evaluate your fit with the job and with the company, and to give you an
opportunity to learn more about them. Here are some tips to help you interview more
effectively.
1. Be prepared! Learn as much about the company, its products, its strategy, and its
industry as you can. Be ready to communicate your knowledge through your answers to
the interviewer’s questions as well as the questions you ask.
2. Practice! Enlist the help of family and friends. Have them help you practice interview
questions and provide feedback on your answers and how you come across. You can
improve your performance if you identify strong answers to standard questions, learn
how to stop fidgeting, make more eye contact, and develop more confidence.
4. Dress for the job! Dress at the same level or slightly above the level you would be
dressing on the job. It is better to be overdressed than underdressed, and be sure that your
clothes are clean and ironed. Also, be sure that you smell nice, that you don’t smell at all,
or that you at least don’t smell bad. Brush your teeth or chew sugarless gum before the
interview (no gum at the interview, though!).
5. Be prompt! Arrive early so you don’t appear harried or late, and so that you have some
time to prepare yourself for the interview. Interviewers will notice if you breeze in at the
last second and appear to be frazzled or disorganized.
6. Monitor yourself! Pay attention to how you dress, how well you listen, and how
thoroughly you answer questions. Give a firm handshake. Don’t be afraid to pause for a
moment before answering a question to collect your thoughts and give a thorough and
professional answer. Remember to make eye contact, smile, and be as relaxed as you can.
Be positive and confident!
7. Give examples! The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, so be sure to
give brief examples of how you’ve handled similar past situations in your answers to
interview questions. Help the interviewer imagine you doing a great job in the position
being filled.
8. Add value! Organizations hire you based on what you can accomplish. Use your
answers as an opportunity to demonstrate what you know and how you can add value to
the firm.
9. Ask questions! Ask informed questions about the company’s plans for the future and
how your position fits into them. This is a good opportunity to demonstrate your
background knowledge about the company and its business strategy (see #1).
10. Listen! A common error that interviewees make is that they don’t listen enough.
Listen to the questions carefully, and if you ask questions, listen carefully to the answers.
Research has shown that good listeners are perceived to be likable and good
conversationalists.
11. Be sensitive! Be aware of the style of the interviewer. Also, be culturally adaptive. In
today’s world you may be interviewing with people from a wide variety of backgrounds
or businesses located all over the globe. You should be aware of basic issues of courtesy
and how behaviors are perceived differently depending on one’s cultural background
(e.g., strong eye contact can be considered aggressive in some cultures).
12. Be positive! Avoid making disparaging comments about past employers or managers.
Nothing derails a good interview faster than exhibiting a lot of negativity about oneself,
previous jobs, current managers, etc. If you have to talk about something negative, try to
13. Relate! Try to connect your responses to the interviewer and the organization.
Establish rapport.
14. Be prepared for phone interviews! Treat phone interviews as seriously as face-to-face
interviews. If the call is unexpected and comes at an inconvenient time, politely
reschedule it. Don’t complete a phone interview if you are not prepared or are flustered.
15. Choose your meal carefully! If you are at a meal interview, don’t select messy meals
(e.g., no spaghetti, lobster in the shell, etc.). Of course, use proper dining manners.
16. Be clear about what you want to accomplish! Know what you want to do in the
organization and where you hope to go over time.
17. Attend to your body language! Don’t slouch, cross arms and appear defensive, fidget,
etc.
18. Be prepared for behavioral interviews! Behavioral interviewing is based on the belief
that the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior. Questions usually begin with
something like “Can you a describe a situation in which you...” or “Was there ever a time
when you…”
19. Send a thank you note! It may not seem like much, but it is a simple gesture of
respect and appreciation that can help set you apart from other candidates. Keep it short,
remind the interviewer of your enthusiasm and fit for the position, and be sure to
proofread it!
ADDITIONAL HANDOUT
Cut and paste the “Résumé Tips” to a separate document to create a two-sided handout.
Résumé Tips
1. Focus on your achievements! State your experience as achievements rather than simply
stating the title and requirements of past jobs. Be honest and as specific as possible, using
numbers when you can.
Weak: Strong:
Maintained records for accounts receivable Worked directly with the CFO to manage over 500
and accounts payable accounts receivable and accounts payable
Responsible for waste reduction Reduced production waste by 20% over two months
2. Include your job and/or career objective! Tell the organization what you want to do
and what you intend to accomplish. They can’t place you in a position if you don’t know
where you want to go.
3. Sell yourself! Use your résumé to highlight areas not covered in the company’s online
application, including any language or technical skills, volunteer work, and professional
organization involvement relevant to the job. Use the job description to identify what the
company’s needs are and be sure you describe how you can fill those needs. Target your
résumé to each job to which you apply.
4. Tailor it! Match your résumé to the organization and specific job description. Don’t
use a generic “one-size-fits-all” résumé.
5. Think in terms of keywords! Many organizations get so many résumés that they need
to use key word searches to identify which applicants to consider further. Be sure your
résumé contains as many keywords as possible that a company might use in finding
someone to fit the job you’re looking for. Add a section near the bottom or top of your
résumé entitled “skills” or, even, “keywords” where you list as many keywords as
possible. Be creative, but be accurate. Include the standard job titles for your current and
previous jobs, particularly if a previous employer used non-standard titles. List any job-
specific, profession-specific, and industry-specific tools including software or hardware
that you use or are qualified to use. Include any industry and professional organizations
of which you are a member. Also include any common professional or technical
acronyms as well as the words that explain them. Use the job description or job
advertisement to identify additional keywords and abbreviations likely to be used to
screen résumés.
6. Attend to the details! Make sure your formatting and design are attractive and
consistently applied. Avoiding poor grammar and mispelings ( see?).
7. Use action words! Avoid passive tense and use high-impact words. Words like
accomplished, motivated, modernized, developed, enabled, and innovated better
demonstrate your capabilities.
8. Be secure! Attend to the security of your online résumé. Remove your standard contact
information, including your address, phone number, business e-mail address, and
personal address if it is associated with a detailed profile on you (as in AOL). Replace
this information with a Web-based e-mail address that is harder to trace to you
personally, like hotmail.com, Gmail, and MSN.
Recent Excavations.
They build a square tower one hundred and fifty paces, or rather
more, in length, and one hundred and fifteen or one hundred in
breadth. The foundation of this building is solid; when it reaches the
height of two men, a passage is left two paces wide on three sides,
and on one of the long sides steps are made until the height of two
more men is reached, and the edifice is throughout solidly built of
masonry. Here, again, on three sides they leave the passage two
paces wide, and on the other side they build the steps, and in this
way it rises to such a height that the steps total one hundred and
twenty or one hundred and thirty.
There is a fair-sized plaza on the top and from the middle [of it]
arise two other towers which reach the height of ten or twelve men’s
bodies and these have windows above. Within these tall towers stand
the Idols in regular order and well adorned, and the whole house
highly decorated. No one but their high priest was allowed to enter
where the principal God was kept, and this god had distinct names in
different provinces; for in the great city of Mexico he was called
Horchilobos (Huitzilopochtli), and in another city named Chuennila
(Cholula) he was called Quecadquaal (Quetzalcoatl), and so on in the
others.
Whenever they celebrated the festivals of their Idols, they
sacrificed many men and women, boys and girls; and when they
suffered some privation, such as drought or excess of rain, or found
themselves hard pressed by their enemies, or suffered any other
calamity, then they made these sacrifices in the following manner....
The court of this Temple was very large, almost two hundred
fathoms square; it was all paved, and had within it many buildings
and towers. Some of these were more lofty than others, and each one
of them was dedicated to a God.
The principal tower of all was in the middle and was higher than
the others, and was dedicated to the God Vitzilopuchtli
Tlacavepancuexcotzin.
This tower was divided in the upper part, so that it looked like two,
and had two chapels or altars on the top, each one covered by its
dome (chapitel) and each one of them had on the summit its
particular badges or devices. In the principal one of them was the
statue of Vitzilopuchtli, also called Ilhuicatlxoxouhqui, and in the
other the image of the God Tlaloc. Before each one of these was a
round stone like a chopping-block, which they call Texcatl, where
they killed those whom they sacrificed in honour of that God, and
from the stone towards the ground below was a pool of blood from
those killed on it; and so it was on all the other towers; these faced
the West, and one ascended by very narrow straight steps to all these
towers.
(Sahagun mentions seventy-eight edifices in connection with the
Great Temple, but it is almost certain that these were not all within
the Temple enclosure.)
Sahagun, Hist. de la Conquista, Book 12, Ch. XXII.
They [the Mexicans] ascended a Cu, the one that was nearest to the
royal houses [i. e. of Axayacatl], and they carried up there two stout
beams so as to hurl them from that place on to the royal houses and
beat them down so as to force an entry. When the Spaniards
observed this they promptly ascended the Cu in regular formation,
carrying their muskets and crossbows, and they began the ascent
very slowly, and shot with their crossbows and muskets at those
above them, a musketeer accompanying each file and then a soldier
with sword and shield, and then a halberdier: in this order they
continued to ascend the Cu, and those above hurled the timbers
down the steps, but they did no damage to the Spaniards, who
reached the summit of the Cu and began to wound and kill those who
were stationed on the top, and many of them flung themselves down
from the Cu: finally, all those [Mexicans] who had ascended the Cu
perished.
Hernando Cortés, 2nd Letter. (The attack on the Great Teocalli.)
We fought from morning until noon, when we returned with the
utmost sadness to our fortress. On account of this they [the enemy]
gained such courage that they came almost up to the doors, and they
took possession of the great Mosque[15], and about five hundred
Indians, who appeared to me to be persons of distinction, ascended
the principal and most lofty tower, and took up there a great store of
bread and water and other things to eat, and nearly all of them had
very long lances with flint heads, broader than ours and no less
sharp.
From that position they did much damage to the people in the fort,
for it was very close to it. The Spaniards attacked this said tower two
or three times and endeavoured to ascend it, but it was very lofty,
and the ascent was steep, for it had more than one hundred steps,
and as those on the top were well supplied with stones and other
arms, and were protected because we were unable to occupy the
other terraces, every time the Spaniards began the ascent they were
rolled back again and many were wounded. When those of the enemy
who held other positions saw this, they were so greatly encouraged
they came after us up to the fort without any fear.
Then I (seeing that if they could continue to hold the tower, in
addition to the great damage they could do us from it, that it would
encourage them to attack us) set out from the fort, although maimed
in my left hand by a wound that was given me on the first day, and
lashing the shield to my arm, I went to the tower accompanied by
some Spaniards and had the base of it surrounded, for this was easily
done, although those surrounding it had no easy time, for on all sides
they were fighting with the enemy who came in great numbers to the
assistance of their comrades. I then began to ascend the stairway of
the said tower with some Spaniards supporting me, and although the
enemy resisted our ascent very stubbornly, so much so that they
flung down three or four Spaniards, with the aid of God and his
Glorious Mother (for whose habitation that tower had been chosen
and her image placed in it), we ascended the said tower and reaching
the summit we fought them so resolutely that they were forced to
jump down to some terraces about a pace in width which ran round
the tower. Of these the said tower had three or four, thrice a man’s
height from one [terrace] to the other.
Some fell down the whole distance [to the ground], and in addition
to the hurt they received from the fall, the Spaniards below who
surrounded the tower put them to death. Those who remained on the
terraces fought thence very stoutly, and it took us more than three
hours to kill them all, so that all died and none escaped ... and I set
fire to the tower and to the others which there were in the Mosque.
Juan de Torquemada, Monarchia Indiana, Vol. II. Book 8, Ch. XI.
p. 144. [Giving a description of the Great Temple.]
This Temple was rebuilt and added to a second time; and was so
large and of such great extent, that it was more than a crossbow-shot
square.
It was all enclosed in masonry of well squared stone.
There were in the square four gateways which opened to the four
principal streets, three of them by which the city was approached
along the causeways from the land, [the fourth] on the east in the
direction of the lake whence the City was entered by water.
In the middle of this enormous square was the Temple which was
like a quadrangular tower (as we have already stated) built of
masonry, large and massive.
This Temple (not counting the square within which it was built)
measured three hundred and sixty feet from corner to corner, and
was pyramidal in form and make, for the higher one ascended the
narrower became the edifice, the contractions being made at
intervals so as to embellish it.
On the top, where there was a pavement and small plaza rather
more than seventy feet wide, two very large altars had been built, one
apart from the other, set almost at the edge or border of the tower on
the east side, so that there was only just sufficient ground and space
for a man to walk [on the east side] without danger of falling down
from the building.
These altars were five palms in height with their walls inlaid with
stone, all painted with figures according to the whim and taste of him
who ordered the painting to be done. Above the altars were the
chapels roofed with very well dressed and carved wood.
Each of these chapels had three stories one above the other, and
each story or stage was of great height, so that each one of them [of
the chapels] if set on the ground (not on that tower, but on the
ground level whence the edifice sprang) would have made a very lofty
and sumptuous building, and for this reason the whole fabric of the
Temple was so lofty that its height compelled admiration. To behold,
from the summit of this temple, the city and its surroundings, with
the lakes and all the towns and cities that were built in it and on its
banks, was a matter of great pleasure and contentment.
On the West side this building had no stages [contractions], but
steps by which one ascended to the level of the chapels, and the said
steps had a rise of one foot or more. The steps, or stairs, of this
famous temple numbered one hundred and thirteen, and all were of
very well dressed stone.
From the last step at the summit of this Temple to the Altars and
entrance to the Chapels was a considerable space of ground, so that
the priests and ministers of the Idols could carry out their functions
unimpeded and thoroughly.
On each of the two altars stood an Idol of great bulk, each one
representing the greatest God they possessed, which was
Huitzilupuchtli or by his other name Mexitli.
Near and around this Great Temple there were more than forty
lesser ones, each one of them dedicated and erected to a God, and its
tower and shape narrowed up to the floor on which the Chapel and
altar began to arise, and it was not as large as the Great Temple, nor
did it approach it by far in size, and all these lesser Temples and
towers were associated with the Great Temple and tower which there
was in this City.
The difference between the Great Temple and the lesser ones was
not in the form and structure, for all were the same, but they differed
in site and position [orientation], for the Great Temple had its back
to the East, which is the practice the large temples ought to follow, as
we have noticed that the ancients assert, and their steps and
entrance to the West (as we are accustomed to place many of our
Christian Churches), so that they paid reverence in the direction of
the sun as it rose, the smaller temples looked in the other direction
towards the East and to other parts of the heaven [that is to] the
North and South.
PLATE A.
Part of the City of Mexico from a modern Map.
TRACING A1.
After J. García Icazbalceta.
TRACING A2.
Suggested site of the Great Teocalli and enclosure.
PLATE B.
Suggested plan and section of the Great Teocalli.
PLATE C.
Plan by Padre Sahagun, after Dr. E. Seler.
PLATE D.
View of the Great Teocalli, after Ixtlilxochitl (‘Codice Goupil’).
PLATE E.
View of the Great Teocalli and enclosure, from ‘The Chronicle of
Mexico,’ 1576. (Manuscript in British Museum, No. 31219.
Additional.)
PRINTED BY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS,
RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.
Tracing A1