1. SCREENING TESTING AND
INTERVIEWING

2.  Selection is picking up right people for right jobs
 Selection is the process by which
an organization chooses the person(s)
who best meets the selection criteria
for the position available
 Selection programs try to identify applicants with the best
chance of meeting or exceeding the organization’s standards
of performance
 Selection is significant because
 it determines work performance
 heavy costs are incurred
Introduction

3. Selection: “An exercise in prediction”
 Selection Process
 The process of screening job applicants to ensure that the
most appropriate candidates are hired.
 What is Selection?
 An exercise in predicting which applicants, if hired, will be (or
will not be) successful in performing well on the criteria the
organization uses to evaluate performance.
 Selection errors:
 Reject errors for potentially successful applicants
 Accept errors for ultimately poor performers

4. Recruitment Vs Selection
• Recruitment is the process of searching the candidates for
employment and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the
organization WHEREAS selection involves the series of steps
by which the candidates are screened for choosing the most
suitable persons for vacant posts.
• The basic purpose of recruitments is to create a talent pool of
candidates to enable the selection of best candidates for the
organization, by attracting more and more employees to apply
in the organization WHEREAS the basic purpose of selection
process is to choose the right candidate to fill the various
positions in the organization.

5. Recruitment Vs Selection
 Recruitment is a positive process i.e. encouraging more and
more employees to apply WHEREAS selection is a negative
process as it involves rejection of the unsuitable candidates.
 Recruitment is concerned with tapping the sources of human
resources WHEREAS selection is concerned with selecting
the most suitable candidate through various interviews and
tests.
 There is no contract of recruitment established in recruitment
WHEREAS selection results in a contract of service between
the employer and the selected employee.

6. Selection Criteria
 Understanding the characteristics essential for high
performance
 The characteristics are identified during job analysis
 They must be reflected in the job specification
 The goal of any selection system is to:
 Determine which applicants possess the knowledge, skills,
abilities, and KSAOs dictated by the job
 The system must distinguish between characteristics that are:
 Needed at the time of hiring, acquired during training, and
developed on the job

7. Categories of Criteria
 Criteria for making selection decisions fall into
these broad categories:
 Education
 Experience
 Physical characteristics
 Other personal characteristics

8. SELECTION PROCESS

9. Step 1: Preliminary Screening
 The first step in most selection processes involves completing an
application form
 Application blanks vary in length and sophistication
 Nearly all ask for enough information to determine minimal
qualifications
 The application eliminates the need for interviewers to gather
basic information
 Application blanks are subject to the same legal standards as
any other selection method
 They generally limit questions that imply something about the
applicant’s physical health

10. Sample Application Blank
Name: _________________________________________________________________________
Address: _______________________________________________________________________
Phone Number (Res): _______________________
Education
College/University Attended: ____________ Highest Degree (a) BA/BSc/MA/MSc/MBA/MCom
(b) BE/BTech/ MTech
(c) Any other
High School Attended: _____________________________
Work Experience (List most recent jobs first)
Name of the Organisation:
Gross Salary: ______________ (annual; be sure to include any bonuses or commission earned)
Job Title: ________________________________________________________
Name of Last Supervisor: __________________________________________
May we contact this supervisor? Yes / No
Reason(s) for Leaving: ____________________________________________________________
Name of Organisation: ____________________ Date of Employment: _______ from to ____
Gross Salary: ___________ (annual; be sure to include any bonuses or commission earned)
Job Title: ________________________________________________________
Name of Last Supervisor: __________________________________________
May we contact this supervisor? Yes / No
Reason(s) for Leaving: ____________________________________________________________
Name of Organisation: ____________________ Date of Employment: _______ from to ____
Gross Salary: ___________ (annual; be sure to include any bonuses or commission earned)
Job Title: ________________________________________________________
Name of Last Supervisor: __________________________________________
May we contact this supervisor? Yes / No
Reason(s) for Leaving: ____________________________________________________________
Work skills
1. List any job-related languages you are able to speak or write: _________________________
2. List any job-related clerical (e.g., typing) or technical skills (e.g., computer programming) that you
have:
A . ___________________________________ B. ___________________________________
C. ___________________________________
Additional Information
In case of an emergency, please contact.
Name: __________________________________________
Address: _______________________________________
Telephone: ______________________________________
I understand that falsification of information is grounds for dismissal.
I understand that my employment at the company may be discontinued at any time for any reason
either by myself or by the company.
I agree to submit to a drug and/or alcohol test as a condition of employment.
Signature Date

11. Weighted application blank(WAB)
• It is a printed form completed by candidate wherein each item is
weighted and scored based on its importance as a determinant of job
success
• It helps a company to cross-compare candidates having more or less
similar qualifications and reject those not meeting the job criteria
strictly
• On the negative side, it is difficult to develop an appropriate WAB, the
exercise could be quite costly, and it needs frequent updating so as to
be in line with changing job requirements.

12. Step 2: Employment Tests
 An employment test attempts to measure certain characteristics, such
as:
 Aptitudes
 Manual dexterity
 Intelligence
 Personality
 It can be expensive to develop an employment test,
so many employers purchase existing tests

13. Selection Tests:
• Intelligence test
• Aptitude test
• Personality test
• Projective test
• Interest test
• Achievement test
• Simulation test
• Graphology test

14. Validity and Reliability
 Validity (of Prediction)
 A proven relationship between the selection device used
and some relevant criterion for successful performance
in an organization.
 High tests scores equate to high job performance;
low scores to poor performance.
 Reliability (of Prediction)
 The degree of consistency with which a selection device
measures the same thing.
 Individual test scores obtained with a selection
device are consistent over multiple testing instances.

15. Standards For Selection Tests
• Reliability: the ability of a selection tool to measure an
attribute consistently; When a test is administered to the
same individual repeatedly, he should get Approximately
identical scores.
• Validity: the extent to which an instrument measures what
it intends to measure; In a typing test, validity measures a
typist’s speed and accuracy.
• Standardization: norms for finalizing test scores should be
established Qualified people: tests demand a high level of
professional skills

16. Job Sample Performance Tests
 This test requires the applicant to do a sample of the
work that the job involves in a controlled situation
 Programming for computer programmers
 Auditions at an orchestra or ballet company
 Applicants are often asked to run the
machines they would run on the job
 The quantity and quality of their
work is compared with the work
of other applicants

17. Step 3: Employment Interview
• Formal , in-depth conversation conducted to
evaluate applicant’s acceptability for the job in
consideration.
• an important source of information about job
applicants.
• Several types of interviews are used ,
depending on the nature and importance of
the position to be filled within an
organization.

18. Types of Interviews
 Interviews vary along two important dimensions:
 How structured it is
 Whether it focuses on historical information or
hypothetical situations
 An unstructured interview has no predetermined
script or protocol
 Structured interviews are more reliable and valid than
unstructured interviews
 Standardization lowers the possibility that biases have
been introduced by the interviewer

19. Types Of Selection Interviews
• The nondirective interview: the recruiter asks questions as they come
to mind
• The directive or structured interview: the recruiter uses a
predetermined set of Questions that are clearly job-related
• The situational interview: the recruiter presents a hypothetical
incident and asks The candidate to respond
• The behavioral interview: the focus here is on actual work related
incidents and The applicant is supposed to reveal what he or she did in
a given situation
• Stress interview: the recruiter attempts to find how applicants would
respond to aggressive, embarrassing, rule and insulting (at times)
questions
• The panel interview: three or four interviewers pose questions to the
applicant and Examine the suitability of the candidate

20. Effective Interviewing
 Conducting an Effective Interview
 Planning the interview
 Controlling the interview
 Using proper questioning techniques
 Question types to avoid in interviews
 Yes/No questions
 Obvious questions
 Questions that rarely produce a true answer
 Leading questions
 Illegal questions
 Questions that are not job related

21. Step 4: Reference Checks
 When applying for a job, you may be asked for a list of references
 Rarely does someone knowingly include the name of a reference
who will give a negative impression
 This built-in bias is why references are criticized
 Equally important are concerns over the legality of asking for, and
providing, such information
 Giving out confidential information could be a violation of the
employee’s right to privacy
 Giving a negative recommendation opens the reference up to a
defamation lawsuit

22. Step 5: Physical Examinations
• After the selection decision and before the job
offer is made, the candidate is required to
undergo a physical fitness test.
• A job offer is contingent upon the candidate
being declared fit after the physical
examination.

23. Step 6 :Making the Job Offer
• Offer Guidelines
– Formalize the offer with a letter to the applicant
clearly stating the terms and conditions of
employment.
– Avoid vague, general statements and promises.
– Require return of a signed acceptance of the offer.

24. Selection of Managers
• The employment tests used vary with the type of employee being
hired
– Organizations frequently spend more time, effort,
and money hiring middle- to upper-level
executives
• Uses a variety of testing methods, including:
– Interviews
– Work samples and simulations
– Paper-and-pencil tests of abilities and attitudes

25. Organization Strategy HR and Staffing Strategy
Staffing Policies and Programs
Staffing System and Retention Management
Support Activities
Legal compliance
Planning
Job analysis
Core Staffing Activities
Recruitment: External, internal
Selection:
Measurement, external, internal
Employment:
Decision making, final match
Organization
Vision and Mission
Goals and Objectives
Staffing Organizations Model

26. Logic of Prediction:
Past Performance Predicts Future Performance
Previous job(s)
Current job
Nonjob
Past Situations
Attraction
Performance
Satisfaction
Retention
Attendance
HR Outcomes
New Situation (job)
Person
KSAOs
Motivation
Sample Predict

27. Nature of Predictors
• Content
– Sign: A predisposition thought to relate to performance
(e.g., personality)
– Sample: Observing behavior thought to relate to
performance
– Criterion: Actual measure of prior performance
• Form
– Speed vs. power: How many versus what level
– Paper / pencil vs. performance: Test in writing or in
behavior
– Objective vs. essay: Much like multiple-choice vs. essay
course exam questions
– Oral vs. written vs. computer: How data are obtained

28. Development of the Selection Plan:
Steps Involved
1. Develop list of KSAOs required for job
– KSAOs are provided by job requirements matrix
2. For each KSAO, decide if it needs to be
assessed in the selection process
3. Determine method(s) of assessment to be
used for each KSAO

29. Selection Sequence
Applicant Flow Stage
Applicants
Candidates
Finalists
Offer Receivers
New Hires
Initial
Assessment Method
Substantive
Discretionary
Contingent

30. Biographical Information / Biodata
• Personal history
information of
applicant’s background
and interests
– “Best predictor of future
behavior is past
behavior”
– Past behaviors may
reflect ability or
motivation
• Development of a biodata
survey
– Choose the criterion
– Identify criterion groups
– Select items to be analyzed
– Specify item response
alternatives
– Weight items
– Cross-validation
– Develop cutoff scores

31. Biographical Information:
Accomplishment Records
• Survey past accomplishments of candidates as
they relate to dimensions of work that are part of
effective performance
• Includes written statement of accomplishment,
when it took place, any recognition, and
verification
• Emphasis on achievements rather than activities
• Scoring Key Excerpt for an Accomplishment
Record

32. Evaluation: Biographical
Information / Biodata
• Test-retest reliability can be high: .77 to .90
• Predictive validity moderate: .32 to .37
• Issues
– Generalizability beyond first group?
– Although predictive validity exists, it is not clear
what these inventories assess
– Falsification can be a big problem
Suggestions to reduce faking?
Applicant reactions?

33. Reference Reports:
Letters of Recommendation
• Problems
– Inability to discern more-qualified from
less-qualified applicants
– Lack of standardization
Why are these of such limited use?
• Suggestions to improve credibility
– Use a structured form
– Use a standardized scoring key
Other suggestions?

34. Reference Reports: Reference Checks
• Approach involves verifying applicant’s background via
contact with
– Prior immediate supervisor(s) or
– HR department of current of previous companies
• Roughly 8 of 10 companies conduct reference checks
• Problems
– Same as problems with letters of recommendation
– Reluctance of companies to provide requested
information due to legal concerns
• Sample Reference Check

35. Reference Reports: Background Testing
• Method involves assessing reliability of applicants’
behavior, integrity, and personal adjustment
• Type of information requested
– Criminal history
– Credit information
– Educational history
– Employment verification
– Driver license histories
– Workers’ compensation claims
• Key issues
– Limited validity evidence
– Legal constraints on pre-employment inquiries

36. Evaluation of Reference Reports
• Predictive validity limited: .16 to .26
• Validity depends on source providing information
– HR department, coworker, or relative
– Supervisors
– What sources do you think work best?
• Cost vs. benefit of approach must be considered

37. Initial Assessment Methods
• Handwriting analysis
• Literacy testing
• Genetic screening
Discuss the value & limits of these methods

38. Initial Interview
• Characteristics
– Begins process of necessary differentiation --
“rough cut”
– Purpose -- Screen out most obvious cases of
person / job mismatches
– Limitation -- Most expensive method
of initial assessment
• Video and computer interviews
– Offers cost savings

39. Evaluation of Initial Interview
• Minimal evidence exists regarding usefulness
• Guidelines to enhance usefulness
– Ask questions assessing most basic KSAOs
– Stick to basic, fundamental questions suitable for
making rough cuts rather than subjective questions
– Keep interviews brief
– Ask same questions of all applicants

40. Choice of Initial Assessment Methods
• Criteria
– Use
– Cost
– Reliability
– Validity
– Utility
– Applicant reactions
– Adverse impact
Evaluate the following
•Education level
•GPA
•Quality of school
•Major field
•Extracurricular activity
•Training & experience
•Licensing/certification
•Weighted app. Blanks
•Biodata
•Letters of recommendation
•Reference checks
•Background testing
•Resumes, cover letters
•Initial interviews

41. Ethical Issues/Skill based/Discussion
• Issue 1
– Do you think employer have a right to check into
applicants’ backgrounds? Even if there is no
suspicion of misbehavior? Even if the job poses no
security or sensitive risks? Even if the background
check includes driving offenses and credit
histories?

42. TESTS

43. Testing. Meaning, definition, purpose,
advantages and disadvantages. Ability tests
• clerical ability test, mechanical ability test,
mental ability test, physical ability test,
• personality assessment test, typing test,
shorthand test, computer proficiency test

44. Mental or intelligence tests :
They measure the overall intellectual ability of a
person and enable to know whether the person has the
mental ability to deal with certain problems.
2. Mechanical aptitude tests :
They measure the ability of a person to learn a
particular type of mechanical work. These tests helps to
measure specialized technical knowledge and problem
solving abilities if the candidate. They are useful in
selection of mechanics, maintenance workers, etc

45. Intelligence test :
This test helps to evaluate traits of intelligence.
Mental ability, presence of mind (alertness),
numerical ability, memory and such other
aspects can be measured.
The intelligence is probably the most widely
administered standardized test in industry. It is
taken to judge numerical, skills, reasoning,
memory and such other abilities

46. Ability tests : -
Assist in determining how well an individual can perform tasks
related to the job. An excellent illustration of this is the typing
tests given to a prospective employer for secretarial job.
Also called as
‘ACHEIVEMENT TESTS’. It is concerned with what one has
accomplished. When applicant claims to know something, an
achievement test is taken to measure how well they know it.
Trade tests are the most common type of achievement test
given. Questions have been prepared and tested for such
trades as worker, punch-press operators, electricians and
machinists..

47. Ability Tests
• Measure what a person has learned up to that
point in time (achievement)
• Measure one’s innate potential capacity
(aptitude)
• Up to 50% of companies use some ability
testing

48. Ability Tests
• Mental (Cognitive) Ability Tests
• Mechanical Ability Tests
• Clerical Ability Tests
• Physical Ability Tests

49. Cognitive Ability Tests
- Main purpose: to determine one’s level of
aptitudes depending on setting
- Measure aptitudes relevant to the job
- short, group administration
- excellent predictor of job and training
performance

50. – Rate the validity of the selection method:
• Poor: validity coefficient = r ≈ .00
• Moderate: validity coefficient = r ≈ .25
• Good: validity coefficient = r ≈ .50
• Great: validity coefficient = r ≈ .75

51. Typical Cognitive Abilities
• Memory Span
• Numerical Fluency
• Verbal
Comprehension
• Visualization
• Figural Identification
• Mechanical Ability
• Conceptual Classification
• General Reasoning
• Intuitive Reasoning
• Logical Evaluation
• Ordering

52. Advantages of Cognitive Ability Tests
• Efficient
• Useful across all jobs
• Excellent levels of reliability and validity (.40 - .50)
– Highest levels than any other tests
– Estimated validity:
• .58 for professional/managerial jobs
• .56 for technical jobs
• .40 for semi-skilled jobs
• .23 for unskilled jobs
– More complex job = higher validity

53. Disadvantages of Cognitive Ability Tests
• Lead to more adverse impact
• May lack face validity
–Questions aren’t necessarily related to job
• May predict short-term performance better
than long-term
–can do vs. will do

54. Physical Ability Tests
• Most measure muscular strength, cardiovascular
endurance, and movement quality
• Areas of concern:
– Female applicants
– Disabled applicants
– Reduction of
work-related injuries

55. Comparison of Mental Ability Tests and
Other Selection Instruments
Biodata, structured interviews, trainability
tests, work samples, and assessment
centers have equal validity, less adverse
impact, and more fairness to the applicant,
but cost more
Mental ability tests have
high validity and low costs
compared to other methods

56. Clerical Ability Tests
Predominately measures perceptual speed
and accuracy in processing verbal and
numerical data
Examples:
Minnesota Clerical Test
Office Skills Test

57. Bennett Mechanical Comprehension
Test (BMCT)
• Relationship between physical forces and
mechanical issues
• Pictures depicting mechanical situations with
questions pertaining to mechanical issues
• Has 68 multiple choice questions , with 30
mins or less

58. - Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test
- 68 items
- 30 minutes
- Principles of physics & mechanics
- Operations of common machines, tools, & vehicles
- High internal consistency
- Good criterion validity w/ job proficiency & training

59. Minnesota Clerical
• First published under title Minnesota
vocational test, in 1933 for clerical workers
• 15 mins test
• 200 items to check mental and verbal ability
• Reliability 0.9 or 0.85

60. Clerical Tests
- Minnesota Clerical Test
- 2 subtests: number comparison & name comparison
- Long lists of pairs of numbers/names (decide if same)
- Strict time limit
- Reliable & valid for perceptual speed & accuracy
- Good face validity

61. • Personality Test :
The importance of personality to job success is
undeniable (patent). Often an individual who
possesses the intelligence, aptitude and experience
for certain has failed because of inability to get along
with and motivate other people.
It is conducted to judge maturity, social or interpersonal
skills, behavior under stress and strain, etc. this test is
very much essential on case of selection of sales
force, public relation staff, etc. where personality
plays an important role.
Personality tests are similar to interest tests in that
they, also, involve a serious problem of obtaining an
honest answer.

62. Work Sample Tests
• How do you perform job-relevant tasks?
• 2 characteristics:
–Puts applicant in a situation similar to a
work situation – measures performance on
tasks similar to real job tasks.
–Is it a test of maximal vs. typical
performance?
• Range from simple to complex

63. Work Sample Tests
–Examples:
•For telephone sales job, have applicants
make simulated cold calls
•For a construction job, have applicants
locate errors in blueprints

64. Work Sample Tests
• Advantages:
– Highest validity levels (r = .50s)
– High face validity
– Easy to demonstrate job-relatedness
• Disadvantages:
– Not appropriate for all jobs
– Time-consuming to set up and administer
– More predictive in short-term
– Cannot use if applicant is not expected to know job
before being hired

65. Measuring Personality
- Early research showed no validity
- Recent research: 3 of Big 5 are predictive
- Criterion validity: .15 - .25
- Susceptible to faking – does not affect validity in
predicting
- Useful when dependability, integrity,
responsibility are determinants of job success

66. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
• Dimensions of personality:
• Introversion  Extroversion: source of energy
• Intuition  Sensation: innovation vs. practical
• Thinking  Feeling: impersonal principles vs. personal
relationships
• Judging  Perceiving: closure vs. open options
–Validity: poor for selection; might be okay, if
carefully used, to help a team work better
together

67. The Big 5 Personality Dimensions
– Validity: typically moderate for selection (r ≈ .25 with
measures of overall job performance)
– But, validity of personality inventories is hard to
generalize
• Some dimensions of personality may correlate more
strongly with particular aspects of a particular job
• Extraversion → success in sales
• High conscientiousness & high openness to experience →
success in job training
• Low agreeableness, low conscientiousness, & low adjustment
→ more likely to engage in counterproductive work behaviors
(e.g., abuse sick leave, break rules, drug abuse, workplace
violence)

68. Advantages of Personality Inventories
• Intuitively appealing to managers (e.g.,
MBTI)
• No adverse impact
–Don’t show rates of differential selection
• Efficient
• Moderate reliability and validity
–Validity = .20 - .30

69. Disadvantages of Personality Inventories
• Response sets
–Lie or socially desirable responding
• All traits not equally valid for all jobs

70. Integrity Testing
• Why do it?
– Employee theft estimated between $15
and $50 billion in 1990’s
– Employee theft rate by industry: 5 to 58%
– 2% to 5% of each sales dollar charged to
customers to offset theft losses

71. Integrity Testing
– Purpose:
- theft is expensive
- also want to avoid laziness, violence, gossip
- Honesty may not be a stable trait
- Honesty testing is controversial
- May depend on the situation (perceived unfairness)
- Viewed as coercive and inaccurate
- Honesty is a strong value in our society