Chapter 5: Selection

5.1 The Selection Process

 Selection process- steps involved in choosing people who have the right qualifications to
fill a current or future job opening.
o Managers and supervisors responsible for hiring person
o HRM define and guide managers in the process itself
 Five aspects of the selection process:
o Criteria Development:
 Trained for interviewing, developing criteria, reviewing resumes,
developing interview questions, and weighing the candidates
 Determining which sources will be used and how they’re scored in the
 Discussing skills, abilities, and personal characteristics
 interview things like personality and cultural fit are relevant
 makes for a fair interview
o Application ad resume review:
 Computer programs can search for keywords in resumes
o Interviewing:
 Determined which meet min. criteria  selection for those to be
interviewed
o Test Administration:
 Drug, physical, personality and cognitive tests may be used
 Reference checks, background checks, etc.
o Making the offer:
 Offer via email or letter is the more formal part
 Compensation and benefits will be defined in offer
5.2 Criteria Development and Resume Review
 KSAOs- knowledge, skills, abilities, and other personal characteristics that make a person
successful on the job.
Criteria Development Considerations
 Specific guidelines are set by HRM for streamlined process
o Criteria and interview questions
o Setting criteria ahead of time gives clear picture of the qualifications
Validity and Reliability
 Validity- how useful the tool is to measure a person’s attributes for a specific job opening
 Biographical Info Banks (BIBs)- series of questions about a person’s history that may
have shaped his/her behavior
 Weighted application form- selecting an employee characteristic to be measured and then
identifying which questions on the application predict the desired behavior
  Reliability- the degree in which other selection techniques yield similar data over time
Fit Issues
 Co. and team culture
o Customer service and willingness of people to provide the best customer service
in all aspects of the business
 “hacker” characteristics or someone who finds ways around the constraints placed upon a
system
Reviewing Resumes
 Varies in performance
 Must be concerned with disparate impact and disparate treatment
o Disparate impact- Unintended discrimination
o Disparate treatment is one’s negative perception about the candidate’s age, race,
or gender
o Internal v. external candidates:
 Internal- someone who already works within in the org.
 External- someone who works outside the org.
 Generally, it’s best to go through formal interview process first because of
the bias of favoritism
5.3 Interviewing
 Unstructured interview- questions are changed to match the specific applicant
 Structured interview- set of standardized questions based on the job analysis, not on the
individual candidate’s resume
 Type of interview depends on the job in question
Types of Interviews
 Traditional- office setting with interviewer and candidate with a series of questions asked
and answered
 Telephone- used to narrow list of people down. Can determine salary req’s or other data
 Panel- several interviewers and one candidate. Most effective if necessary, to be
interviewed by multiple people
 Information- no specific job opening, but candidate exploring possibilities in given career
field.
o Adv  finding people ahead of a job opening
 Meal- more casual and over dinner/lunch
 Group- two or more candidates interviewed at same time.
 Video- like traditional with exception of tech being used and helps if distance is a
problem
  Nondirective (unstructured)- candidate “leads” discussion and very general questions are
planned ahead of time, but candidate talks more than the interviewer.
o Good chance to show abilities, but hard to compare potential candidates, because
questions are not set in advance.
Interview Questions
 Situational interview- candidate is given a sample situation and asked how he or she
might deal with the situation
 Behavior Description- candidate is asked questions about what he or she did in a variety
of given situations.
o Shows how a person has and hence will handle situations
 Illegal questions:
o National origin
o Age
o Marital status
o Religion
o Disabilities
o Criminal record
o Personal questions
o Specific questions about weight, height, gender, and arrest record
 Halo or reverse halo effect- interviewer becomes biased because of a positive or negative
trait a candidate has.
o Interview bias- assumptions made about a candidate
 Contrast bias- comparing candidates to others
 Gut feeling bias- relies on intuition
 Generalization bias- assumes that how someone behaves in an interview is
how they will always behave
 Cultural noise bias- candidate thinks he/she knows what the interviewer
wants to hear and answers accordingly
 Nonverbal behavior bias- sending nonverbal signals to candidate
 Similar to me bias- discriminatory; preference for a candidate because of
similar attributes
 Recency bias- remembering most recent candidates
Interview Process
 Direction and process:
o Recruit new candidates
o Establish criteria for which candidates will be rated
o Develop interview questions based on the analysis
o Set a timeline for interviewing and decision making
o Connect schedules with others involved in the interview process
 o Set up the interviews with candidates and set up any testing procedures
o Interview the candidates and perform any necessary testing
o Once results are back, meet with hiring team to discuss each candidate and decide
based on established criteria
o Put together an offer for the candidate
 Ensure everyone is trained on interviewing process
 Empathize candidate and try to ease them
 Be upfront and honest about the job
 Awareness of stereotypes and how they skew POV
 Body language awareness
 Stick to criteria
 Manage disagreement and determine a fair process if not everyone on the interviewing
team agrees on who should be hired
5.4 Testing and Selecting
Testing
 Cognitive ability test- reasoning, math, and verbal skills
o Aptitude test- ability to learn new skills
 Speed of typing or ability to use a program
o Achievement test- current knowledge
 Personality test- Meyers-Briggs test and/or Big Five test
 physical ability test
 job knowledge test- level of understanding about job
 work sample- show examples of work they have already done
 Reference checks, driving records, credit history can be done
o Many employers will not verify more than what can be verified in employment
record because of privacy laws
o Credit written notice req. and copy of the report and a copy of their rights under
the Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act (CCRRA)
o legality of these tests
o Honesty tests and drug tests

Selection Methods
 Clinical selection approach- decision makers review data and based on what they learn
from candidate and the info available, they decided who should be hired.
o Disparate treatment is disadvantage
 Statistical method- selection model is developed that assigns scores and weights on
various factors
o More fair process and limits disparate treatment
o May not limit disparate impact
 o Objective
o Types:
 Compensatory model- permits a high score in an important area to make
up for lower score in another
 Multiple cutoff model- min score level on all selection criteria
 Multiple hurdle model- applicants that allows only candidates with high
preset scores to go to the next stages of the selection process
5.5 Making the Offer
 Asking these questions can assist in qualifying candidates based on salary expectations
o “If we were to make a job offer today, when would you be in a position to
accept or reject the offer?” If the candidate answers “right now,” this indicates
they do not have other job offers on the table or if they do, you are their first
choice.
o “At what point, dollar wise, would you accept our job offer and at what
point, dollar wise would you reject the offer?” The advantage of using this
strategy is that it gets to the point of understanding the candidate’s expectations. If
the interviewee does not respond right away, you can clarify by asking, “I am
asking this question because I would like to gauge your interest level. Share with
me the ideal salary offer versus at what point you would be willing to walk away
from this opportunity.”
 Make offer as soon as the decision is made
o Waiting for too long can impact ability to hire first choice
o After narrowing after salary offers, narrow further based on KSAOs
o Don’t let candidate decision process be too long
 Can lose candidates if they ultimately reject offer
 Negotiations:
o Be prepared. Know exactly what you can and can’t offer
o Explain the career growth the organization can provide.
o Address the benefits of the candidate’s joining the organization.
o Discuss the entire offer, including other benefits offered to the employee.
o View the negotiation as a win-win situation.
o Be able to provide salary research of similar positions and competitors for the
same job title.
o Use the trading technique. For example, “I cannot offer you the salary you are
requesting right now, but what if we were able to review salary at your six-month
performance review, assuming ____ objectives are met?”
 Email or formal letter should follow if candidate accepts the offer
o Outlines details of the employment agreement
 Includes:
 Job title
 Salary
  Other compensation, such as bonuses or stock options
 Benefits, such as health-care coverage, 401(k)
 Vacation time/paid holidays
 Start date
 Noncompete agreement expectations
 Additional considerations such as relocation expenses
o Afterwards, clarify acceptance details in writing and receive confirmation of the
start date