EMPLOYEE SELECTION
With companies increasing their focus on the “human side of competitiveness,” greater attention
is being given to employee selection than ever before. In Chapter 6 we have endeavored to
provide the student with an understanding of the process and the many principles and procedures
involved in employee selection.
Because of the importance of reliability and validity in selection procedures, these concepts
CHAPTER LEARNING OUTCOMES
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Explain the objectives of the personnel selection process.
Explain what is required for an employee selection tool to be
reliable and valid.
LEARNING OUTCOME 2
LEARNING OUTCOME 1
LECTURE OUTLINE
I. OVERVIEW OF THE SELECTION PROCESS
Those who are responsible for making selection decisions should have adequate information
on which to base them. Use The Goal of Selection: Maximize “Hits” Figure 6.1 in the text to
discuss the fact that organizations try to maximize their accurate predictions (hits) and
minimize their inaccurate ones (misses).
A. Begin with a Job Analysis
Job analysis provides the basis for determining what types of information should be
B. Steps in the Selection Process
The number of steps in the selection process and their sequence will vary, not only with
the organization, but also with the type and level of jobs to be filled. Each step should
be evaluated in terms of its contribution to the process. The steps that typically make up
C. Obtaining Reliable and Valid Information
• Emphasize that there are various types of reliability.
• If data are not reliable, they are of little value. It is important to check for reliability
since it places an upper limit on how valid a test can be (see below).
74 Part 3: Developing Effectiveness in Human Resources
II. INITIAL SCREENING
Employers use many different pieces of information to try to determine if an applicant will
be successful on the job. The initial pieces of information for screening candidates include
résumés, cover letters, and applications, and often the Internet.
A. Cover Letters and Résumés
• Résumés and cover letters have been used for decades to assess the suitability of
B. Internet Checks and Phone Screening
• As you learned in Chapter 1, HR professionals and hiring managers will often
C. Application Forms
• It is quite common for employers to use application forms that are in violation of FEP
D. Online Applications
• Approximately 95 percent of Fortune 500 companies now accept online job
applications. Some companies list their job postings on their own Web sites; others
III. EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEWS
Traditionally, the interview has played a very important role in the selection process. Researchers,
however, have their doubts about its value. It nonetheless remains a mainstay of the
employee selection process.
Chapter 6: Employee Selection 75
A. The Nondirective Interview
• The nondirective interview allows maximum freedom to the interviewee to determine
the course of the interview.
B. The Structured Interview
• In response to EEO requirements and a concern for maximizing the validity of
C. The Situational Interview
• The situational interview is similar to a structured interview, but it gives applicants
a hypothetical situation and asks them how they would deal with it. As with the
D. The Behavioral Description Interview
• The behavioral description interview (BDI) is similar to a situational interview in
that it focuses on real work incidents. However, in this case, the applicant is asked
E. Panel and Sequential Interviews
• In the panel interview, the candidate meets with three to five interviewers who take
F. Phone Interviews
• Most interviews take place in person. However, under certain circumstances, phone
interviews can be effective and actually help expand a company’s pool of talent.
76 Part 3: Developing Effectiveness in Human Resources
G. Computer Interviews
• Some companies have begun using computer programs and online questionnaires to
H. Video Interviews
• Called virtual interviews, they have several potential advantages related to
flexibility, speed, and cost. As we explained earlier in the chapter, employers can
I. Guidelines for Employment Interviewers
• Use Figure 6.4: Variables in the Employment Interview to discuss with students
findings from research studies on the interview. Note that interviewer training has
been shown to dramatically improve the competence of interviewers.
J. Interviewer Training
Training has been shown to dramatically improve the competence of interviewers. If not
K. Diversity Management: Are Your Questions Legal?
• The subject of pre-employment questioning is complex. Direct or indirect questions
relating to race, color, age, religion, gender, national origin, or marital status can be
hazardous for the employer.
IV. POST-INTERVIEW SCREENING
A. Reference Checks
Mail, telephone, online, and fax are used to check references. Telephone checks
B. Background Checks
Chapter 6: Employee Selection 77
Following 9/11 and a rash corporate scandals, more employers are conducting
C. Credit Checks
Note special requirements when an investigative consumer report is used. Also note
V. PREEMPLOYMENT TESTS
A preemployment test is an objective and standardized measure of a sample of behavior
that is used to gauge a person’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics
(KSAOs) relative to other individuals.
A. Types of Tests
We will talk more about what the EEOC demands as far as the validity of
preemployment tests goes later in this section. First let’s look at the different types of
preemployment tests.
2. Work Sample Tests
• Also known as job sample tests, work sample tests are also a type of achievement
test that requires an applicant to perform tasks that are actually part of the job.
3. Assessment Center Tests
An assessment center is a process (not a place) used to evaluate candidates as they
4. Cognitive Ability Tests
• These tests measure mental abilities such as intelligence, verbal fluency, numer-
ical ability, and reasoning ability.
78 Part 3: Developing Effectiveness in Human Resources
• Point out that many experts believe that the validity of specific cognitive ability
5. Biodata Tests
Biodata tests collect biographical information about candidates that has shown to
6. Personality and Interest Inventories
• Personality tests measure a person’s dispositional characteristics, such as extro–
7. Honesty and Integrity Tests
• In response to the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, employers have
increased their use of paper-and-pencil tests to assess a person’s honesty and integrity.
• Discuss with students possible items or issues that could be included on an
integrity test. What confidence do students have in these types of tests?
8. Polygraph Tests
• While several states have had laws regulating the use of the polygraph, the
Employee Polygraph Protection Act of 1988 prohibits most private employers
Chapter 6: Employee Selection 79
9. Physical Ability Tests
• For potentially dangerous jobs such as firefighter, physical abilities tend to be
10. Medical Examinations
• About one-half of the employers reporting to a BNA survey indicated that they
give preemployment medical examinations.
11. Drug Tests
• Well over half of all U.S. companies use drug tests to screen applicants.
B. Determining the Validity of Tests
The Uniform Guidelines (see Chapter 3) recognizes and accepts different approaches to
validating tests: criterion-related validity, content validity, and construct validity.
1. Criterion-Related Validity
• Test scores, interviewer ratings, and so on are correlated with production records,
2. Content Validity
• Content validity is assumed to exist when a selection instrument measures a repre-
sentative sample of knowledge and skills needed to perform a particular job.
3. Construct Validity
• Construct validity is the extent to which a selection tool measures a theoretical
construct or trait. For example, a mechanical comprehension test consists of a
wide variety of tasks that are assumed to measure the construct of mechanical
comprehension. To use it in employment situations, one has to show that the test
80 Part 3: Developing Effectiveness in Human Resources
V. REACHING A SELECTION DECISION
A. Summarizing Information about Applicants
Use Figure 6.9: “Can–Do” and “Will–Do” Factors in Selection Decisions to emphasize
B. Decision-Making Strategy
The strategy used for making personnel decisions for one category of jobs may differ from
that used for another category. Discuss the six points in the textbook that are typical of
the types of questions that HR staffs must consider.
1. Clinical Approach—Point out the pitfalls of the clinical approach to decision making.
2. Statistical Approach—This is a more objective approach that permits combining
by statistical formulas the most valid information obtained in the selection process.
a. Compensatory model. With this approach, a person’s high score on one predictor
• Selectivity is usually expressed in terms of a selection ratio, the ratio of the number
of individuals selected to the total number of applicants. Emphasize the importance
of being selective and ask students to identify jobs for which it would be more or
less important to be selective.
• Selection ratio, validity, and proportion of persons judged successful by current selec-
C. Final Decision
• The most promising applicants are referred to departments having vacancies. Usually
line managers and supervisors make the final selection decisions.
Chapter 6: Employee Selection 81
and supervisors so their role in the selection process does not negate the work of
those in the HR department.
Designing Selection Criteria and Methods
The methods used to tap qualities will most likely vary with the type of job the
students choose. Students should choose methods that will offer valid information
ANSWERS TO END–OF-CHAPTER DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. The process should begin with a job analysis that yields a job specification. The number of
2. The term criterion refers to measures of job performance such as production records, supervi–
sory ratings, training outcomes, and other measures of job success. Students may give several
3. The major types of employment interviews described are nondirective, structured, situational,
behavioral description, panel, computerized or online, and video or digitally recorded
4. Job knowledge tests and job sample tests are often more acceptable to examinees because they
5. In the clinical approach, the decision maker reviews all of the data and makes a decision based
on an understanding of the job and experience in hiring personnel. The statistical approach involves
identifying the most valid predictors and weighing them through statistical methods. The statis–
tical approach has been found superior to the clinical approach. Its superiority is probably because it
82 Part 3: Developing Effectiveness in Human Resources
is objective, free from bias, and appropriate weight is given to the different predictor infor–
mation. Both methods are often used in selecting individuals for a particular job.
ANSWERS TO USING THE INTERNET ACTIVITIES
Internet Exercise #1, page 249
Kimstaff HR
Question:
Visit the Kimstaff HR website and conduct a search of lawful employment interview and
application guidelines. List the acceptable and unacceptable ways to phrase employment
application questions.
Answer:
The Kimstaff HR website provides a description of common job interview and application
questions, in both acceptable and unacceptable formats. For example:
Chapter 6: Employee Selection 83
Internet Exercise #2, page 268
Question:
Visit the Kuder Career Planning website and search for research-based assessments. Research the
main components of the assessments and provide an overview of what they provide to prospective
job seekers.
Answer:
84 Part 3: Developing Effectiveness in Human Resources
VIDEO CASE DISCUSSION GUIDE
1. It might be helpful to start this discussion by reviewing the definitions of reliability (the
degree to which interviews, tests, and other selection procedures yield comparable data over
2. Review the typical steps in the selection process with students as they are addressed in the
chapter: submission of resume, completion of application, interviews, reference and
3. This is a good opportunity to guide students in comparing and contrasting the various types
of interviews: nondirective, structure, situational, and behavioral description. As the
NOTES FOR END–OF-CHAPTER CASE STUDIES
Case Study 1: Job Candidate Assessment Tests Go Virtual
1. One chief advantage of a virtual simulation is that creates a unique impression among applicants
that makes National City Corporation stand out among its competitors as a cutting-edge
2. Although the virtual tryout has its pluses it must validated (either by content or criterion-
related validity). It may be that certain people who are perhaps more nervous in such a setting
3. Encourage students who have experienced job tryouts to respond to the question. Given the cost
Case Study 2: Cleaning Up the “Resu-mess”
1. The primary benefit is that the screening tools have freed up recruiters’ and managers’ time—
Chapter 6: Employee Selection 85
2. Because managers have to spend less time screening applicants, they have more time to spend
3. The process may not give applicants the feeling that they have had a chance to present
themselves accurately. Companies can counter these problems, however, by responding to