Fundamentals of Human

Resource Management
Eighth Edition

DeCenzo and Robbins

Chapter 4
Foundations of Selection
 The Selection Process
The selection process typically
consists of eight steps:
1. initial screening interview
2. completion of the application form
3. employment tests
4. comprehensive interview
5. background investigation
6. conditional job offer
7. medical/physical exam
8. permanent job offer
The Selection Process
Initial Screening :
1. Involves screening of inquiries and screening
interviews.
2. Job description information is shared along with
a salary range.
 The Selection Process
Completing the Application Form:
Gives a job-performance-related synopsis of
what applicants have been doing, their skills
and accomplishments.
Legal considerations in application form:

1. Omit items which are not job-related; e.g.,

sex, religion, age, national origin, race,
color, and disability.
2. Includes statement giving employer the right
to dismiss an employee for falsifying
information.
3. Asks for permission to check work
references.
4. Typically includes “employment-at-will”
statement.
• Weighted application forms
– Individual items of information are
validated against performance and
turnover measures and given
appropriate weights.
– Data must be collected for each job
to determine how well a particular
item (e.g., years of schooling,
tenure on last job) predicts success
on target job.
Completing the Application Form: Key
Issues
• Successful applications
– Information collected on application forms
can be highly predictive of successful job
performance.
– Forms must be validated and continuously
reviewed and updated.
– Data should be verified through
background investigations.
 The Selection Process
Employment Tests:
Estimates say 60% of all organizations use
some type of employment tests.
Performance simulation tests:
Requires the applicant to engage in specific job
behaviors necessary for doing the job successfully.
Work sampling:
Job analysis is used to develop a miniature replica of
the job on which an applicant demonstrates his/her
skills.
3.Assessment centers:
A series of tests and exercises, including individual
and group simulation tests, is used to assess
managerial potential or other complex sets of skills.
4.Testing in a global arena:
Selection practices must be adapted to cultures and
regulations of host country.
5.Comprehensive
Interviews:
Interviews involve a face-to-
face meeting with the
candidate to probe areas
not addressed by the
application form or tests.
Interview Effectiveness :

1. Interviews are the most widely used selection

tool.
2. Often are expensive, inefficient, and not job-
related.
3. Possible biases with decisions based on
interviews include prior knowledge about the
applicant, stereotypes, interviewee order.
4.Impression management, or the applicant’s
desire to project the “right” image, may
skew the interview results.
5.Interviewers have short and inaccurate
memories: note-taking and videotaping
may help.
– Structured interviews use fixed questions
designed to assess specific job-related
attributes
– More reliable and valid than unstructured
ones.
– Best for determining organizational fit,
motivation and interpersonal skills.
– Especially useful for high-turnover jobs and
less routine ones.
Behavioral Interviews :
– Candidates are observed not only for what
they say, but how they behave.
– Role playing is often used.
Realistic Job Preview

1. RJP’s present unfavorable as well as favorable

information about the job to applicants.
2. May include brochures, films, tours, work
sampling, or verbal statements that realistically
portray the job.
3. RJP’s reduce turnover without lowering
acceptance rates.
Background Investigation:
Verify information from the application form

Typical information verified includes:

– former employers
– previous job performance
– education
– legal status to work
– credit references
– criminal records
Qualified privilege:

1. Employers may discuss employees with prospective

employers without fear of reprisal as long as the
discussion is about job-related documented facts.
2. One-third of all applicants exaggerate their
backgrounds or experiences.
3. A good predictor of future behavior is an individual’s
past behavior.
Internal investigation:
checks former employers, personal references and
possibly credit sources.

External investigation:
Uses a reference-checking firm which may obtain more
information, while complying with privacy rights.
Documentation,
including whom called, questions asked,
information obtained/not obtained, is
important in case an employers’ hiring
decision is later challenged.
Conditional Job Offers:

• Offers of employment made contingent

upon successful completion of
background check, physical/medical
exam, drug test, etc.

• May only use job-related information to

make a hiring decision.
Medical/Physical Examination

• Should be used only to determine if the individual can

comply with the essential functions of the job.

• Americans with Disabilities Act requires that exams

be given only after conditional job offer is made.
Job Offers :

1. Actual hiring decision generally made by the

department manager.
2. Candidates not hired deserve the courtesy of
prompt notification.