Chapter 6

Employee
Selection

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 Learning Outcomes
After studying this chapter, you should be able to
1. Explain what the objectives of the employee selection
process are, its steps, and why the information gathered
during the process must be reliable and valid.
2. Describe the tools used to screen applicants, the types
of employment interviews and methods to administer
them, and the post-interview screening tools firms use.
3. Compare the value of different types of employment
tests and how their validity and reliability are assessed.
4. Explain how firms evaluate the information they collect
on candidates and the decision strategies they use to
select employees.
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6.1 Overview of the Selection Process
 Selection – The process of choosing individuals
who are qualified to fill existing or protected job
openings

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Figure 6.1: The Goal of Selection:
Maximize “Hits”

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 6.1a Begin with a Job Analysis
 Job specifications help identify the competencies
employees need for success—the knowledge, skills,
abilities, and other factors (KSAOs) that lead to superior
performance.
 Managers then use selection methods such as interviews,
references, and preemployment tests to measure applicants’
KSAOs against the competencies required for the job.
 Complete and clear job specifications help interviewers
differentiate between qualified and unqualified applicants and
reduce the effect of an interviewer’s biases and prejudices.
 Applicants whose KSAOs are well matched to the jobs they are
hired for are also found to perform better and be more satisfied.

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 6.1b Steps in the Selection Process
 The steps in the selection process and their sequence
will vary, not only with the organization, but also with the
type of job being filled.
 Organizations gather information about applicants in a
number of ways:
 Résumés
 Applications
 Interviews
 Tests
 Medical examinations
 Background and other checks

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 Figure 6.2:
Steps in the Selection Process

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 6.1c Obtaining Reliable
and Valid Information
 Reliability – The degree to which an interview,
test, or other selection procedures result in
consistent information about a candidate
 Reliability also refers to the extent to which two or
more methods (e.g., interviews and tests) yield similar
results or are consistent with one another.
 Validity – The degree to which a test or
selection procedure actually measures or
predicts a person’s ability to do a job

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 6.2 Initial Screening
 Before you interview applicants for a job, you
first want to screen out people who aren’t
qualified for the job in order to save time and
money.

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 6.2a Initial Screening Methods
 Cover letters and résumés
 Internet checks
 Phone and video screening
 Video résumés – Short video clips that highlight
applicants’ qualifications beyond what they can
communicate on their résumés
 Application forms

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Figure 6.3: Application/Résumé
Assessment Grid

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 6.3 Employment Interviews
 Even though they are plagued by subjectivity
and have shown to be poor predictors of
performance, employment interviews are almost
always utilized in the selection process.
 Firms continue to use interviews because:
 They are practical when there are only a small number of
applicants.
 They serve other purposes, such as public relations.

 Interviewers trust their judgments when it comes to making

decisions about which candidates to choose.

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Figure 6.4: Variables in the
Employment Interview

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 6.3a Types of Interviews
 Nondirective interview – An interview in which the applicant is allowed the
maximum amount of freedom in determining the course of the discussion,
while the interviewer carefully refrains from influencing the applicant’s
remarks
 Structured interview – An interview in which a set of standardized
questions having an established set of answers is used
 Situational interview – An interview in which an applicant is given a
hypothetical incident and asked how he or she would respond to it
 Behavioral description interview (BDI) – An interview in which an
applicant is asked questions about what he or she actually did in a given
situation
 Sequential interview – A format in which a candidate is interviewed by
multiple people, one right after another
 Panel interview – An interview in which a board of interviewers questions
and observes a single candidate

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 6.3b Methods for
Administering Interviews
Video and Phone Interviews
 Video interviews – Interviews conducted via videoconferencing or
over the Web
 Video and phone interviews make it easier to interview people in
different geographic areas, thereby expanding the talent pool.

Computer-Administered (Automated) Interviews

 Computer-administered (automated) interview – Interviews in
which the questions are administered to applicants via computers.
The interviews can be conducted at a firm’s facilities, using kiosks,
online, or via phone
 Drawback:
 Recruiters and managers can’t immediately ask candidates follow-up
questions based on their answers.
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 6.3c Diversity Management: Could Your
Questions Get You into Legal Trouble?
 The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
discourages direct or indirect questions related to:
 Race
 Color
 Age
 Religion
 Sex
 Sexual orientation
 National origin
 Caregiver status
 In general, if a question is job related, is asked of everyone, and
does not discriminate against a certain class of applicants, it is likely
to be acceptable.

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 6.4 Post-Interview Screening
 After a candidate has been interviewed and
appears to be a good potential new hire,
information about the person’s previous
employment as well as other information
provided by the applicant is investigated.

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 6.4a Reference Checks
 Organizations check the references of
employees in a number of ways.
 Phone checks
 Former employers
 Prior to checking a candidate’s references, the
candidate must complete forms permitting
information to be solicited from former
employers and other reference sources.

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 6.4b Background Checks
 Negligent hiring – The failure of an organization to
discover, via due diligence, that an employee it hired had
the propensity to do harm to others
 To run background checks, firms must obtain clear and
conspicuous written consent from applicants beforehand.
 Applicants must also be told if the information uncovered
is going to be used to deny their employment; they must
be given a copy of the report(s), the right to dispute it
(them), and time to do so.

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 Video Highlight #1
Massachusetts officials say more than 10 percent
of people who applied to drive for ride-hailing
companies Uber and Lyft failed a required
background check, though the company and some
drivers call the process unfair. This news report by
WBZ-TV examines the issue.

“Thousands Fail Uber Background Check That

Some Call Unfair”

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 6.5 Preemployment Tests
 Preemployment test – An objective and
standardized test used to gauge a person’s
knowledge, skills, abilities, and other
characteristics (KSAOs) relative to other
individuals
 Drawback:
 They create the potential for legal challenges by
applicants claiming the tests they took were
discriminatory.

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 6.5a Types of Tests (slide 1 of 3)
Job Knowledge Tests
 Job knowledge tests are achievement tests designed to measure
people’s level of understanding, or knowledge, about a particular job.

Work Sample Tests

 Work sample tests, or job sample tests, require the applicant to
perform tasks that are part of the work required on the job.

Assessment Center Tests

 Assessment center test – A process by which managerial
candidates are evaluated at an assessment center as they
participate in a series of situations that resemble what they might
need to handle on the job
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 6.5a Types of Tests (slide 2 of 3)
Cognitive Ability Tests
 Cognitive ability tests measure mental capabilities such as general
intelligence, verbal fluency, numerical ability, and reasoning ability.

Biographical Data (Biodata) Tests

 Biological data tests (biodata tests) collect biographical information
about candidates who have shown to correlate with on-the-job
success.

Personality and Interest Inventories

 Personality tests have been found to be good predictors of
applicants’ motivation, such as their leadership efforts and
propensity to adhere to rules.
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Figure 6.5: Examples of Questions
on a Cognitive Ability Test

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 6.5a Types of Tests (slide 3 of 3)
Physical Ability Tests
 For some jobs, such as firefighters and police officers, employers need to
assess a person’s physical abilities.

Medical Examinations
 The law prohibits a medical examination being administered to an applicant
before he or she has been made a conditional employment offer and agreed
to undergo it.

Drug Tests
 Different states have different laws regarding drug testing.
 A candidate can refuse to take a drug test, but that is tantamount to turning
down the job.
 There are mixed results regarding the effectiveness of drug testing.

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 Discussion Starter #1

Like other organizations, the Marine Corp has had to ensure its physical
abilities tests are job related.
 Why is it important for companies to make sure physical ability tests are job
related?
 Provide three examples of jobs in which a physical ability test would be
necessary.
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 Video Highlight #2
This video shows what a physical ability test is like
for the Newport Beach Police Department.

“Physical Ability Test”

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6.5b Determining the Validity of Tests
(slide 1 of 2)

Criterion-Related Validity
 Criterion-related validity – The extent to which a selection tool
predicts, or significantly correlates with, important work behaviors
 There are two types of criterion-related validity:
1. Concurrent validity – The extent to which the test scores of current
employees correlate with their job performance
2. Predictive validity – The extent to which candidates’ test scores match
criterion data obtained from them after they have been hired and on the
job for a period of time
 Regardless of the method used, cross-validation is essential.
 Cross-validation – Verifying the results obtained from a validation study
by administering a test or test battery to a different sample (drawn from
the same population)

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Figure 6.6: Correlation Scatterplots

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6.5b Determining the Validity of Tests
(slide 2 of 2)

Content Validity
 Content validity – The extent to which a selection instrument, such
as a test, adequately samples the knowledge and skills needed to
do a particular job
 Content validity is the most direct and least complicated type of
validity to assess.

Construct Validity
 Construct validity – The extent to which a selection tool measures
a theoretical construct or trait
 Typical constructs are intelligence, mechanical comprehension, and
anxiety.

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 6.6 Reaching a Selection Decision
 There are various approaches you can use to
weigh all of the information about the candidates
so as to make a final decision.

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 6.6a Summarizing Information
about Applicants
 Summary forms and checklists can be used to
ensure that all of the pertinent information about
applicants has been included.
 Evaluating candidates on the basis of
information you have assembled should focus
on what the applicant can do and will do.

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 Figure 6.7:
Candidate Evaluation Form

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Figure 6.8: “Can-Do” and “Will-Do”
Factors in Selection Decisions

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 6.6b Decision-Making Strategy
(slide 1 of 2)

 The strategy used to make personnel decisions for one type of job
will differ from those used to make decisions for other types of job.
 The following are some of the questions firms must consider when
deciding on whom to hire:
 Should the individuals be hired according to their highest potential or
according to the needs of the organization?
 At what grade or wage level should the individual be hired?
 Should the selection be based on finding an ideal employee to match the
job currently open, or should a candidate’s potential for advancement in
the organization be considered?
 Should individuals who are not qualified but trainable be considered?
 Should overqualified individuals be considered?
 What effect will the decision have on the firm’s affirmative action plans
and diversity goals?

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 6.6c Final Decision
 In large organizations, managers or supervisors usually make the
final decision about whom to hire, and communicate it to the human
resources (HR) department, who then notify the candidate about the
decision and make a job offer.
 The HR department should confirm the details of the job, working
arrangements, hours, wages, and so on and specify a deadline by which
the applicant must reach a decision.
 For internal candidates, generally, the hiring manager contacts the
candidates personally and informs them of the decision.
 For both external and internal candidates, it is important to put the
offer in writing so there is no ambiguity or dispute about its terms.
 Organizations should not fail to notify candidates who are not
chosen for the position.

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