Selection Tests and Interview Techniques
Characteristics of Properly Designed Selection Tests
Standardization: Uniformity of the procedures and conditions related to administering tests.
Objectivity: Condition achieved when everyone scoring a given test obtains the same results.
Norm: Frame of reference for comparing an applicant’s performance with that of others.
Reliability: Extent to which a selection test provides consistent results.
Validity: Extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure.
Test Validation Approaches
Criterion-Related Validity: Test validation method that compares the scores on selection tests to some aspect of job performance.
Content Validity: Test validation method whereby a person performs certain tasks that are actually required by the job or completes a paper-and-pencil test that measures relevant job knowledge.
Construct Validity: Test validation method that determines whether a test measures certain constructs, or traits, that job analysis finds to be important in performing a job.
Employment Tests
Tests fall into one of two categories: aptitude tests and achievement tests.
- Aptitude tests: A test of how well a person can learn or acquire skills or abilities.
- Achievement tests: A test of current knowledge and skills.
Cognitive Ability Tests
Tests that determine general reasoning ability, memory, vocabulary, verbal fluency, and numerical ability.
Personality
Individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving.
Personality Tests
Self-reported measures of traits, temperaments, or dispositions.
Job Knowledge Test
A test designed to measure the candidate’s knowledge of the duties of the job for which he or she is applying.
Job Performance and Work-Samples
Tests that require an applicant to perform a task or set of tasks representative of the job are work-sample jobs.
An assessment center is a selection technique that requires individuals to perform activities similar to those they might encounter in an actual job.
Unique Forms of Testing
Genetic Testing
Tests given to identify the predisposition to inherited diseases, including cancer, heart disease, neurological disorders, and congenital diseases.
Graphoanalysis (Handwriting Analysis)
The use of handwriting analysis as a selection factor.
Polygraph Tests
Used to verify background information, one purpose of the polygraph was to confirm or refute the information contained in the candidate’s application.
Employment Interview
The employment interview is a goal-oriented conversation in which an interviewer and an applicant exchange information. Traditionally, interviews have not been valid predictors of success on the job.
General Types of Interviews
Unstructured Interview
Interview in which the job applicant is asked probing, open-ended questions.
Structured Interview
The interviewer asks each applicant for a particular job the same series of job-related questions.
Behavioral Interview
A structured interview in which applicants are asked to relate actual incidents from their past relevant to the target job.
Situational Interview
The situational interview creates hypothetical situations candidates would likely encounter on the job and asks how they would handle them.
Methods of Interviewing
One-on-One Interview
The applicant meets one-on-one with an interviewer. This method provides a better opportunity for an effective exchange of information to take place.
Group Interview
Several applicants interact in the presence of one or more company representatives.
Board (or Panel) Interview
Companies use the board interview to gain multiple viewpoints because there are many cross-functional workplace relationships in business these days.
Multiple Interviews
This approach permits the firm to get a more encompassing view of the candidate.