EXTERNAL SELECTION-II

Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 FLOW OF THE SESSION
2

Personality Job
Tests Knowledge Work Samples
Ability Tests Tests

Interest, Values Situational

And Preference Integrity Tests Judgment
Inventory Tests

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 WHAT IS SUBSTANTIVE ASSESSMENT METHOD?
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Organizations use initial assessment methods to make rough cuts among applicants,
weeding out those who are obviously unqualified

Substantive assessment methods are used to make more precise decisions about
applicants, these methods are used to predict which applicants meets qualifications for the
job & if hired, who will be the best performer

Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 HEWLETT PACKARD (HP): TALENT SELECTION ASSESSMENTS
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 HP uses depending on the specific job profile, one or more of the following
psychometric tests during their recruitment process:

 Numerical Reasoning
 Verbal Reasoning
 Presentations
 Group Exercises
 Case Study
 Personality Test

Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 PERSONALITY TESTS: BIG FIVE
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BIG FIVE model proposes that five basic

dimensions/traits underlie all others
and encompass most of the significant
variation in human personality

Conscientiousness, Emotional
Stability, Extraversion, Openness to
Experience, Agreeableness
(OCEAN/S)

Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 BIG FIVE PERSONALITY MODEL

Extroversion: One’s comfort level with relationships: talkative, outgoing,

Sociable, gregarious, and assertive
Agreeableness: One’s inclination to defer to others: Good-natured, cooperative,
warm, caring,. and trusting

Conscientiousness: One’s reliability regarding responsibility: Responsible,

dependable, persistent, and organized
Emotional Stability: One’s ability to withstand stress: Calm, self confident, secure
(positive) versus nervous, depressed, and insecure (negative)
Openness to Experience: One’s range of interests and fascination with novelty:
Imaginativeness, artistic, sensitivity, and intellectualism creative, curious

Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 MEASURES OF PERSONALITY TESTS
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Personal Characteristics Inventory (PCI)

Self-Report • NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI)
Surveys • Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI)

Paper-and-pencil
Administration • Interviews
Options • Online forms

Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 SAMPLE ITEMS: BIG FIVE PERSONALITY DIMENSIONS
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Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 IMPLICATIONS OF BIG FIVE PERSONALITY TRAITS AT WORK
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Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 CRITICISMS OF PERSONALITY TESTS
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Trivial Validities
• Correlations for any individual trait with job performance are typically low
(e.g. conscientiousness around r=.26)
• However, when all traits are used simultaneously, correlations are higher;
measure contextualization can also improve validity
Faking
• Individuals answer in a dishonest way
• However, tests still have some validity, and it may be that being able to
“act” conscientiously may be related to real job performance

Negative Applicant Reactions

• Applicants, in general, believe personality tests are less valid predictors of
job performance

Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 OVERVIEW: ABILITY TESTS
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Ability tests are measures that assess an individual’s capacity to function in a certain way
There are two major types of ability tests:

 Aptitude tests look at a person’s innate capacity to function

 Achievement tests assess a person’s learned capacity to function

Surveys reveal that between 15% and 20% of organizations use some sort of ability test in
selection decisions (Heneman et. al., 2009)

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 ABILITY TESTS
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 Cognitive: Perception, memory, reasoning, verbal, math, expression of ideas
 Psychological Corporation sells-Employee Aptitude Survey & Wonderlic Personnel test-NFL

 Psychomotor: Thought/body movement coordination

 Reaction time, arm-hand steadiness, control precision, and manual & digital dexterity

 Physical: Strength, endurance, movement quality

 Muscular strength, cardiovascular endurance, & movement quality; can avoid injuries

 Sensory/perceptual: Detection & recognition of stimuli of an external stimuli

 Job Knowledge Tests: Ability to comprehend job requirements
Increasingly, ability tests are being computer administered

Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 SAMPLE COGNITIVE ABILITY TEST ITEMS
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Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 PERFORMANCE TESTS AND WORK SAMPLES
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Performance tests are mechanisms to assess actual performance rather than underlying
capacity or disposition
They are more akin to samples rather than signs of work performance (e.g. repair a car,
typing or proofreading test, driving test etc.)

A “day in the life” simulation for executive-level positions by Hyundai & Mitsubishi

Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 TYPES OF PERFORMANCE TESTS
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 Types of tests should focus on relevant KSAOs

 Performance test vs. work sample (all or some)

 Motor vs. verbal work samples (action or thought)

 High- vs. low-fidelity tests (level of realism)

 Computer interaction performance tests vs. paper-and-pencil tests including

simulations (e.g., The Suntrust Bank)

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 All the above can have good validity (.54+) & acceptance
 SITUATIONAL JUDGMENT TESTS
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A situational judgment test is a hybrid selection procedure that takes on some of the
characteristics of an ability test (especially a job knowledge test) and some of the
aspects of a work sample

Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 DEVELOP EMPLOYEE SELECTION AND ASSESSMENT SYSTEM FOR A BANK
CASHIER/TELLER POSITION
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Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 DEVELOP EMPLOYEE SELECTION AND ASSESSMENT SYSTEM FOR
A BANK CASHIER/TELLER POSITION
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Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 DEVELOP EMPLOYEE SELECTION AND ASSESSMENT SYSTEM FOR
A BANK CASHIER /TELLER POSITION
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Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 INTEGRITY TESTS
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Integrity tests attempt to assess an applicant’s honesty and moral character

They are alternatives to other methods that attempt to ascertain an applicant’s honesty
& morality, such as the polygraph (i.e., a “lie detector”) test or interviewer
evaluations

Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 TYPES OF INTEGRITY TESTS
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 Clear Purpose/Overt
 Do you think most people would cheat if they thought they could get away with it?
 Do you believe a person has a right to steal from an employer if he or she is
unfairly treated?
 Have you ever stolen anything?

 Personality-based/Veiled or General Purpose

 Would you rather go to a party than read a newspaper?
 Do you almost always make your bed?

 Scores appear to reflect conscientiousness, agreeableness, & emotional stability

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 COMMONLY USED & CRITICISM OF INTEGRITY TEST
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The most commonly used clear purpose integrity tests are:
 Personnel Selection Inventory
 Reid Report, and the Stanton Survey

The most commonly used general or veiled purpose tests are:

 Personnel Reaction Blank
 PDI Employment Survey

Faking
(1) Can integrity tests be faked?
(2) Do applicants fake or enhance their responses to integrity tests? And
(3) Does faking harm the validity of the tests?; “perverse inversion occurs”

Misclassification and Stigmatization

Mamta Tripathi_External Selection
 INTEREST, VALUES, AND PREFERENCE INVENTORIES
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Interest, values, and preference inventories attempt to assess the activities

individuals prefer to do both on & off the job, rather than assess whether the
person can do the job

Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 INTEREST, VALUES, AND PREFERENCE INVENTORIES
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 Not often used in selection

 Can be useful for self-selection into job types

 The role of interests & values in the staffing process is to focus on person/organization
fit

 Types of tests:

 Strong Vocational Interest Blank (SVIB)

 Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI)

Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 SAMPLE ITEMS FROM INTEREST INVENTORY
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Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 STRUCTURED INTERVIEW
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 Questions based on job analysis

 Same questions asked from each candidate

 Response to each question is numerically evaluated

 Detailed anchored rating scales is used to score each response

 Detailed notes taken, focusing on interviewees’ behaviors

 Validity likely to be r=.31 or better

 Surprisingly uncommon in organizations

Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 FOUR DIMENSIONS OF STRUCTURE
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(1) Evaluation standardization,

(2) Question sophistication,

(3) Question consistency, and

(4) Rapport building

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 TYPES OF STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS
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Assess an applicant’s ability to project what his

Situational or her behavior would be in future hypothetical
situations

Job­related interviews assess past behaviors

Experience Based that are linked to the prospective job e.g.,
or Job Related Patterned Behavior Description Interview

Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 YOUR THOUGHTS
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Do you think adopting video interviews is

better & abandoning face-to-­face interaction
altogether is right decision?

E.g. HireVue

Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEWS
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 Relatively unplanned, & “quick and informal”

 Questions based on interviewer “hunches” or “pet questions” to assess applicants

 Casual, open-ended, or subjective questions

 Can contains obtuse questions

 Often contains highly speculative questions

 Interviewer often unprepared

 More potential for discrimination and bias

 Validity typically r=.23

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 DISCRETIONARY ASSESSMENT METHODS
31

 Discretionary assessment methods are used to separate those who receive job
offers from the list of finalists

 Factors other than KSAOs are evaluated

 Assess person/organization match

 Assess motivation level
 Assess people on relevant organizational citizenship behaviors

 Should involve organization’s staffing philosophy regarding EEO/AA

commitments
Mamta Tripathi_External Selection
 CONTINGENT ASSESSMENT METHODS
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 “We offer you this job contingent upon ….”

 Contingent methods not always used

 Depends on nature of job and legal mandates
 Example- a health clinic may verify that an applicant for a nursing position
possesses a valid license after a tentative offer has been made

 Two selection methods used exclusively for legal compliance

 Drug test results
 Medical exam results

Mamta Tripathi_External Selection

 DRUG TESTING
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 The average drug user:

 Was 3.6 times more likely to be involved in an accident

 Received 3 times the average level of sick benefits
 Was 5 times more likely to file a workers’ compensation claim
 Missed 10 times as many work days as nonusers
 31% of all fatal truck accidents were due to alcohol or drugs

 Drug testing has decreased in recent years because so few people test positive

 In India, the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, says that
drug (236 substances banned under NDPS) sale, possession & consumption
of any amount are criminal offences
Mamta Tripathi_External Selection
 MEDICAL EXAMINATION
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 Identify potential health risks in job candidates

 Must ensure medical exams are required only when a compelling reason exists
 Ensures people with disabilities unrelated to job performance are not
screened out

 Usually lack validity as procedures vary by doctor

 Not always job related

 Often emphasize short- rather than long-term health

 Exam should include job-related medical standards

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 35

Mamta Tripathi_External Selection