Employee Testing, Interviewing and Selection: Chapter 6-1

Employee Testing, Interviewing
and Selection
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education Chapter 6-1

Personnel Selection
Personnel Selection
• Personnel Selection: the process through which
organizations make decisions about who will or
will not be allowed to join the organization.
• Selection begins with the candidates identified
through recruitment. It attempts to reduce their
number to the individuals best qualified to
perform available jobs.
• It ends with the selected individuals placed in
jobs with the organization.
A Strategic Approach to Personnel Selection
• Organizations should create a selection

process in support of its job requirements-
resulted from job analysis.
• The selection process should be set up in a
way that it lets the organization identify
people who have the necessary KSACs- person
–job fit & person- organization fit.
Why Careful Selection is Important
First, your own performance always depends on your
subordinates.
Second, it is important because it’s costly to recruit and hire
employees. Time spent by employees equates to the costs of
not being productive in their jobs.
Person-job fit refers to identifying the knowledge, skills,
abilities (KSAs), and competencies that are central to
performing the job. Then we must match the KSAs to the
prospective employee’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and
competencies.
Person- Organization fit: compatibility between people &
organizations that occurs when they share similar fundamental
characteristics (values, needs, & interests)
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education
Steps in the Selection Process
Realistic Job Previews Many individuals know little about
companies before applying for employment. Consequently, when
deciding whether to accept a job, they pay particularly close
attention to the information received during the selection process,
including compensation data, work characteristics, job location, and
promotion opportunities. Unfortunately, some employers make jobs
appear better than they really are. Realistic job previews provide
potential employees with an accurate introduction to a job so that
they can better evaluate the employment situation.

Application Form

Application Forms
• Application forms are a good way to quickly collect
verifiable and fairly accurate historical data from the
job candidate.
• It ensures that the organization has certain standard
categories of information:
– Contact information
– Work experience
– Educational background
– Technical experience
– Memberships in professional or trade groups
Using Application Forms
Uses of Application
Information
Applicant’s Applicant’s Applicant’s Applicant’s

education and progress and employment likelihood of
experience growth stability success
10
Tests for employee selection, and
how you would use them

Employment Tests and Work Samples
Physical
Ability
Tests
Cognitive
Medical
Ability
Examination
Tests
Employment Job
Drug Tests Tests & Work Performance
Samples Tests
Honesty Work
Tests Samples
Personality
Inventories
Cognitive tests include testing general reasoning ability or
intelligence. Intelligence tests are tests of general
intellectual abilities. They measure a range of abilities,
including memory, vocabulary, verbal fluency, and
numerical ability. There are also measures of specific
cognitive abilities, such as deductive reasoning, verbal
comprehension, memory, and numerical ability.
You also might need to measure motor abilities, such as

finger dexterity, manual dexterity, and reaction time.
Interest inventories compare one’s interests with those of

people in various occupations. And, achievement tests
measure what someone has learned- measure person’s
existing skills & knowledge
Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education
Personality tests
Personality tests measure basic aspects of an applicant’s
personality, such as introversion, stability, and motivation. Some
of these tests are projective. The psychologist presents an
ambiguous stimulus (like an inkblot or clouded picture) to the
person. The person then reacts to it. Other personality tests are
self-reported: applicants complete them themselves. An expert
must analyze the test taker’s interpretations and make
conclusions about his or her personality, moreover, some doubt
exists as to whether self-reporting on a personality test can
predict performance correctly.
Graphology is the use of handwriting analysis to determine the
writer’s basic personality traits. Graphology thus has some
resemblance to projective personality tests, although
graphology’s validity is highly suspect.
2013 Pearson Education
https://measuringsel.casel.org/use-big-five-model-sel-assessment-framework/
Work Sample Tests: Designed to have high content validity through a close
relationship with the job.
Work Sample tests are based on the premise that the best predictor of future behavior
is observed behavior under similar situations. These tests require the examinee to
perform tasks that are similar to those that are performed on the job.
Advantages Disadvantages
https://hr-guide.com/Selection/Work_Sample_Tests.htm
• costly to administer; often can only be
• high reliability administered to one applicant at a time
• high content validity since work samples are • although useful for jobs where tasks and
a sample of the actual work performed on duties can be completed in a short period of
time, these tests have less ability to predict
the job performance on jobs where tasks may take
• low adverse impact days or weeks to complete
• because of their relationship to the job, • less able to measure aptitudes of an
applicant thus restricting the test to
these tests are typically viewed more measuring ability to perform the work
favorable by examinees than aptitude or sample and not more difficult tasks that may
personality tests be encountered on the job
• difficult for applicants to fake job proficiency
which helps to increase the relationship
between score on the test and performance
on the job
• Work Sample tests use equipment that is
the same or substantially similar to the
actual equipment used on the job
Work samples and simulations
Situational / behavioral tests require examinees to respond to
situations found on the job. It is designed to measure a person’s
judgment in work settings. The candidate is given a situation and a list
of possible solutions to the problem. The candidate then has to make
judgments about how to deal with the situation.
The basic procedure with work sampling is to select a sample of

several tasks crucial to performing the job, and then test applicants on
them.
A management assessment center is a 2- to 3-day simulation in

which 10 to 12 candidates perform realistic management tasks such as
making presentations. The behaviors of the candidates are observed by
experts who appraise each candidate’s leadership potential. Most
experts view assessment centers as effective for selecting management
candidates. However, they are quite costly in terms of money and time.
While perhaps no more valid than graphology, some firms still use the
polygraph (or lie detector) for honesty testing, “human lie
detectors.” These are experts who claim to be able to identify lying just
by watching candidates.
Once the employer extends the person a job offer, a medical exam is
often the next step in the selection process. In addition, many
employers conduct drug screenings.
List the main types of
selection interviews.
Basic Features of Interviews
• An interview is a procedure designed to obtain information from a
person through oral responses to oral inquiries. A selection interview (the
focus of this chapter) is a selection procedure designed to predict future
job performance based on applicants’ oral responses to oral inquiries.
Selection
Interviews
Interview
Interview Interview Administration
Structure Content (one to one,
(structured vs. (Situational, Behavioral, Panel, phone,
unstructured) Job-related, Stress) video, web-based)
21
In unstructured (or nondirective) interviews, the manager follows no
set format. In structured (or directive) interviews, the employer lists the
questions ahead of time. He or she also may even list and score possible
answers for appropriateness. Structured interviews are generally superior.
In structured interviews, all interviewers generally ask all applicants the
same questions. It’s clear the courts will look at whether the interview
process is structured and consistently applied.
In a situational interview, you ask the candidate what his or her

behavior would be in a given situation.
Behavioral interviews ask applicants to describe how they reacted to

actual situations in the past.
In a job-related interview, the applicants answer questions about

relevant past experiences.
In stress interviews, the applicant is made uncomfortable by a series of

often rude questions. This technique helps identify hypersensitive
applicants and those with low or high stress tolerance.
Administering Interviews
Employers also administer interviews in various ways. These include one-on-one
or by a panel of interviewers, sequentially or all at once, and computerized or
personally. In an unstructured sequential interview, each interviewer generally just
asks questions as they come to mind. In a structured sequential interview, each
interviewer rates the candidates on a standard evaluation form, using standardized
questions.
A panel interview is an interview conducted by a team of interviewers who

interview each candidate and then combine their ratings into a final panel score.
Employers do some interviews entirely by telephone. These can actually be more

accurate than face-to-face interviews for judging an applicant’s conscientiousness,
intelligence, and interpersonal skills.
Firms have long used the Web to do selection interviews. With iPad-type video
functionalities and the widespread use of Skype™, their use is growing.
A computerized interview is one in which a job candidate’s oral and/or

computerized replies are obtained in response to questions and/or situations.
Chapter 7-23
Use objective/job-related questions
Avoiding
Discrimination Standardize interview administration
in Interviews
Use multiple interviewers
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 7–24

Define a structured
situational interview

Designing & Conducting -Structured Interviews
STEP 1: Job Analysis- Write a job description with a list of job duties;
required knowledge, skills, and abilities; and other worker
qualifications.
STEP 2: Rate each job duty, say from 1 to 5, based on its importance to
job success.
STEP 3: Create interview questions for each of the job duties, with
more questions for the important duties.
STEP 4: Next, for each question, develop ideal (benchmark) answers

for good (a 5 rating), marginal (a 3 rating), and poor (a 1 rating)
answers.
STEP 5: Select a panel consisting of three to six members, preferably

the same ones who wrote the questions and answers. It may
also include the job’s supervisor and/or incumbent, and a
human resources representative. The same panel interviews all
candidates for the job, conduct the interview.
Give several examples of
situational questions,
behavioral questions, and
background questions that
provide structure

Situational Questions
1. Suppose a co-worker was not following standard work
procedures. The co-worker was more experienced than you
and claimed the new procedure was better. Would you use the
new procedure?
2. Suppose you were giving a sales presentation and a difficult
technical question arose that you could not answer. What
BOX 7-1 would you do?
Examples of Past Behavior Questions
Questions That 3. Based on your past work experience, what is the most
Provide Structure significant action you have ever taken to help out a co-worker?
4. Can you provide an example of a specific instance where you
developed a sales presentation that was highly effective?
Background Questions
5. What work experiences, training, or other qualifications do you
have for working in a teamwork environment?
6. What experience have you had with direct point-of-purchase
sales?
Job Knowledge Questions
7. What steps would you follow to conduct a brainstorming
session with a group of employees on safety?
8. What factors should you consider when developing a television
advertising campaign?
Note: These questions provide structure in so far as they are job-related, and the employer
28
can be consistent in asking them of all candidates.
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 were the circumstances surrounding your leaving
your last job?
5. Why should we be hiring you?
BOX 7-2
Suggested 6. What do you expect from this employer?
Supplementary 7. What are your major strengths and weaknesses?
Questions for
Interviewing
8. How can your supervisor best help you obtain your
Applicants goals?
9. How did your supervisor rate your job performance?
10.Which do you prefer, working alone or working with
groups?
11.What motivated you to do better at your last job?
12.Do you consider your progress in that job
representative of your ability? Why?
13.Do you have any questions about the duties of the job
for which you have applied?
29
The main errors that can
undermine an interview’s
usefulness

What Can Undermine
An Interview’s Usefulness?
Errors that Undermine Interviews
Non-Verbal Behavior
First Impressions
and Impression
(Snap Judgments)
Management
Interviewer’s Factors
Applicant’s Personal
Misunderstanding Affecting
Characteristics
of the Job Interviews
Candidate-Order Interviewer
(Contrast) Error and Behavior
Pressure to Hire
31
Perhaps the most consistent finding is that interviewers tend to
jump to conclusions—make snap during the first few minutes of
the interview. Sometimes this occurs before the interview starts,
based on test scores or résumé data.
Interviewers may not have an accurate picture of the job

requirements and what sort of candidate is best suited for it. If
that’s the case, they may make their decisions based on incorrect
impressions or stereotypes of what a good applicant is.
Candidate-order error means the order in which you see

applicants affects how you rate them. There is some indication
that the effects of primacy (who you interviewed first) or recency
(most recently interviewed) can impact your decisions.

The applicant’s nonverbal behavior can also have a surprisingly
large impact on his or her rating. Interviewers infer your personality
from your nonverbal behaviors in the interview. Clever candidates
capitalize on non-verbal behavior and impression management.
One study found that some used ingratiation to persuade
interviewers to like them. Psychologists call using techniques like
ingratiation and self-promotion “impression management.”
Unfortunately, physical attributes such as applicants’

attractiveness, gender, disability, or race also may distort an
interviewer’s assessments.
Interviewers may make numerous mistakes such as:

• Having favorable pre-interview impressions
• Playing as a psychologist
• Asking improper questions
• Being inept (inexpert)
Explain and illustrate each
guideline for being a more
effective interviewer

How to Conduct an effective Interview
There are 8 steps to conducting an effective interview
1- Make sure you know the job

Do not start the interview unless you understand the job and what
human skills you’re looking for. Study the job description.
2- Structure the interview

Base questions on actual job duties. Use job knowledge, situational,
or behavioral questions, and know the job to be able to evaluate the
interviewee’s answers. Use descriptive rating scales (excellent, fair,
poor) to rate answers. If possible, use a standardized interview form.
3- Get organized
Hold the interview in a private room where telephone calls are not
accepted and you can minimize interruptions.

How to Conduct an Effective Interview
4- Establish rapport
The main reason for the interview is to find out about the applicant. To
do this, start by putting the person at ease. Greet the candidate
and start the interview by asking a noncontroversial question,
perhaps about the weather or the traffic conditions that day. Also,
let the candidate know what the timeframe is for the interview.
Mention how much time you will likely use and how much time
he or she will have to ask questions.
5- Ask questions
Try to follow the situational, behavioral, and job knowledge questions
you wrote out ahead of time.

How to Conduct an Effective Interview
6- Take notes
Take brief, unobtrusive notes while conducting the interview.
Doing so may help avoid making a snap decision early in the
interview, and may also help jog your memory once the
interview is complete.
7- Close the interview

Leave time to answer any questions the candidate may have
and, if appropriate, to advocate your firm to the candidate.
8- Review the interview

After the candidate leaves, review your interview notes. Then
score the interview guide answers (if you used one), and make
a decision. Do this as quickly as possible so your thoughts and
perceptions are as fresh as they can be.

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.
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 7–38
Background Investigations

One of the easiest ways to avoid hiring mistakes is to check
the candidate’s background . Doing so is cheap and (if done
right) useful. There are two main reasons to check
backgrounds—to verify the applicant’s information and to
uncover damaging information.
Most employers at least try to verify an applicant’s position

and salary with his or her current or former employer by
phone. Others call the applicant’s current and previous
supervisors for information.

• Applicants’ social postings

More employers are Googling applicants or checking
social networking sites. Googling is probably safe
enough, but checking social networking sites raises
legal issues. Your best strategy to protect your company
(and yourself) is to advise a job candidate that your
policies require performing such checks.

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Employee Testing, Interviewing

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education Chapter 6-1

• Organizations should create a selection

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education Chapter 6-7

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education Chapter 6-8

Applicant’s Applicant’s Applicant’s Applicant’s

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education Chapter 6-11

You also might need to measure motor abilities, such as

Interest inventories compare one’s interests with those of

The basic procedure with work sampling is to select a sample of

A management assessment center is a 2- to 3-day simulation in

In a situational interview, you ask the candidate what his or her

Behavioral interviews ask applicants to describe how they reacted to

In a job-related interview, the applicants answer questions about

In stress interviews, the applicant is made uncomfortable by a series of

A panel interview is an interview conducted by a team of interviewers who

Employers do some interviews entirely by telephone. These can actually be more

A computerized interview is one in which a job candidate’s oral and/or

Use multiple interviewers

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 7–24

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education Chapter 7-25

STEP 4: Next, for each question, develop ideal (benchmark) answers

STEP 5: Select a panel consisting of three to six members, preferably

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education Chapter 7-27

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education Chapter 7-30

Errors that Undermine Interviews

Interviewers may not have an accurate picture of the job

Candidate-order error means the order in which you see

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education Chapter 7-32

Unfortunately, physical attributes such as applicants’

Interviewers may make numerous mistakes such as:

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education Chapter 7-34

1- Make sure you know the job

2- Structure the interview

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education Chapter 7-35

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education Chapter 7-36

7- Close the interview

8- Review the interview

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education Chapter 7-37

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education Chapter 6-39

Most employers at least try to verify an applicant’s position

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education Chapter 6-40

• Applicants’ social postings

Copyright © 2013 Pearson Education Chapter 6-41

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