Employee Selection
Dr. İrem ÖZTÜRK ANABAL
• Employee selection model
• Early screening methods
+ Application / Resumes
+ References / Letters of recommendation
• Tests in selection
+ Test formats Outline
+ Test types
+ Effectiveness issues
• Final steps
+ Assessment centers
+ Interviews for hiring
Employee selection model
• Criteria
+ «Measures of job success typically related to performance.»
+ A criterion for a salesperson?
+ Success requires more…
+ KSAO’s
• Predictors
+ «Variables about applicants that are related to (predictive of) the
criteria.»
+ Measurement for predicting the job performance.
Employee selection model
• Criteria
+ Total sales revenue generated
+ Number of new clients acquired
+ Customer satisfaction ratings
• Predictors
+ Years of prior sales experience
+ Score on a sales skills assessment
+ Personality traits like extraversion and persistence
+ Academic performance in relevant coursework
Early Screening
• Application – Resumes
+ Education, experience…
+ Job related, non-biased
+ AI and gender-biased decisions
• References - Letters of Recommendation
+ History based on previous experience, character, performance etc.
+ Reliable?
+ Behavioral graphic rating forms
Tests for Selection
• Stereotype threat
• Self-fulfilling prophecy
Stereotype threat
• «The risk of confirming a negative stereotype about one's group.»
• The mere awareness of the stereotype is enough to trigger threat.
+ Worrying about stereotype
+ Self-doubt and anxiety
+ Disruption of performance
• Reducing stereotype threat can boost performance
+ identity-safe environments
• Participants: African
American and white
students
• Condition-1: Group was
told that the test they
were about to take was a
measure of their
intellectual ability
• Condition-2: "problem-
solving task" that did not
measure intelligence
• All participants took a
standardized test that was
challenging for both
groups.
Steele and Aronson (1995)
• African American students performed significantly worse when they
believed the test was a measure of their ability (the stereotype
threat condition).
• Their performance was similar to that of white students when they
were not reminded of the stereotype.
• Stereotype Threat: ‘‘As you may
know there has been some
Spencer et al. (1999)
controversy about whether there are
gender differences in math ability.
Previous research has sometimes
shown gender differences and
sometimes shown no gender
differences. Yet little of this
research has been carried out with
women and men who are very good in
math. You were selected for this
experiment because of your strong
background in mathematics.’’
• When the test was described as
producing gender differences and
stereotype threat was high, women
performed substantially worsethan
equally qualified men did.
Test formats
• Individual – Group
• Speed (time limit) – Power (quantity)
• Paper-pencil (online, written answer) – Performance
(physical, simulations)
Test types
• Biodata.
• Cognitive Ability Tests.
• Mechanical, Motor, and Sensory Ability Tests.
• Job Skills and Knowledge Tests.
• Personality Tests.
• Honesty and Integrity Tests.
Biographical Data
• Biodata. «Background information and personal
characteristics that can be used in employee
selection.»
• Behavioral examples provided by SMEs (traditional)
+ "How many books have you read in the last 6 months?«
+ "How often have you put aside tasks to complete another, more difficult assignment?"
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/assessment-and-selection/other-
assessment-methods/biographical-data-biodata-tests/
Biographical Data
• «Targeted biodata measure is often driven by SME-
generated behavioral examples relevant to the
specific behavior(s) of interest.»
• Example, Job Suitability – Predicting
counterproductive behaviors
https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/assessment-and-selection/other-
assessment-methods/biographical-data-biodata-tests/
Cognitive Ability Tests
• Otis Self-Administering Test of Mental Ability (Oris,
1929)
• Wonderlic Personnel Test (Wonderlic Cognitive Ability
Test; Wonderlic, 1983) (SAMPLE)
• General Intelligence Tests
• High predictive value – Job performance
Mechanical, Motor, and
Sensory Ability Tests
• Operating or repairing
machinery, construction,
engineering
• The Bennett Mechanical
Comprehension Test
• Crawford Small Parts Dexterity
Test
• Purdue Pegboard
• Snellen Eye Chart
Job Skills and Knowledge Tests
• Judd Tests - computer competence, including word
processing, spreadsheet pro-grams, and database
management
• Work sample tests – «Used in job skill tests to
measure applicants’ abilities to perform brief
examples of important job tasks.»
Job Skills and Knowledge Tests
• Work sample tests
+ Realistic job preview: «… providing applicants with a
good idea of what the job was all about.»
Work Sample Tests
• Group exercises
• Role plays
• Case study exercises
• Case interviews
• In-tray exercises (SAMPLE-IN-CLASS EXERCISE)
• Written exercises
https://www.psc.nsw.gov.au/workforce-
management/recruitment/recruitment-and-selection-guide/planning-a-
recruitment-and-selection-approach/capabilities-commonly-assessed-
using-work-samples-exercises
Personality Tests
• Hao is a young bank manager in Shanghai. He’s
received three promotions in the past 4 years and
makes no apologies for the aggressive tactics he’s
used. “My name means clever, and that’s what I am—I
do whatever I have to do to get ahead,” he says.
• Do you think that Hao would be a perfect-fit for a
multicultural leadership role? Yes or no.. and why?
Personality Tests
• Selection
• Promotion
• Job attitudes
• Job behaviors
• Performance
Personality Tests
• MMPI
• Big Five
• HEXACO
Personality Tests
• Big Five
+ Galton’s (1884) “lexical hypothesis,” which states that the frequency of the
type of words that people use to differentiate themselves and others reveals
personality traits.»
+ Allport & Odbert (1936) continued, to catalog words in the dictionary that are
expressive of character and personality
+ Cattell (1943, 1945) was the first to start the reduction process and
ultimately reduced the list to 35 factors.
+ Fiske (1949) was the first to identify five factors
+ Tupes & Christal (1961, 1992) named their factors: surgency, agreeableness,
dependability, emotional stability, and culture.
Bobek, Becky & Burrus, Jeremy &
Camara, Wayne & Casillas, Alex
& Hanson, Mary & Mattern,
Krista & O'Connor, Ryan &
Bulvermacher, Robert & Way,
Jason & Zhao, Ran. (2015).
Beyond Academics: A Holistic
Framework for Enhancing
Education and Workplace
Success.
Honesty and Integrity Tests
• Polygraphs - lie detectors
+ measure physiological reactions
+ respiration, blood pressure, or perspiration
• Integrity tests
+ predict counterproductive behaviors
• chronic tardiness
• extended work breaks
• ignoring or passing off assigned tasks
• organizational citizenship (or helping) behaviors
• task performance
Final Steps Before Decision
• Assessment Centers
• Interviews
Assessment Centers
• «A detailed, structured evaluation of job applicants
using a variety of instruments and techniques.»
• Oral and written communication skills; behavioral
flexibility; creativity; tolerance of uncertainty;
and skills in organization, planning, and decision
making.
• Tests, situational exercises, simulations, role plays
etc.
Interviews
• «An exchange of information between the interviewer
and the candidate, in which the interviewer questions
the candidate's job-related knowledge, skills, and
abilities, motivation, values, and reliability, with
the general workforce management goals of attracting,
selecting, and retaining a highly competent and
productive workforce."(Eder & Harris, 1999)
Unstructured Interviews
• Questions are based on job requirements and the
interviewers' preferences, leading to a subjective
process.
• High likelihood of individual biases influencing
decisions, resulting in potential errors (Anderson et
al., 2002). For example, a friendly interviewer may
help to relax a candidate
Unstructured Interviews
• Absence of planning and standardization allows
confounding factors from both interviewers and
candidates to affect the selection process.
• Interviewer characteristics (e.g., education level,
experience, communication skills) can impact the
interview outcome.
• Interactions between candidates and interviewers may
lead to various outcomes (Anderson et al., 2002).
Structured Interviews
• Behavior-based. (Experience-based)
+ grounded in the critical incident technique, which is one
of the job analysis methods (Flanagan, 1954).
+ Interview questions are structured to ensure that these
critical incidents are shared uniformly with each
candidate, allowing them to respond based on their past
experiences related to the events (Janz, 1982).
Structured Interviews
• Behavior-based. (Experience-based)
+ Questions in this type of interview focus on evaluating
past behaviors, based on the expectation that past
behaviors can predict future actions (Putzier & Baker,
2010).
+ An example of a question might be, "Have you ever calmed
down an angry customer? If so, can you describe how you
did it?" (Ellis et al., 2002).
Structured Interviews
• Behavior-based. (Experience-based)
+ candidates may provide overly detailed or off-topic
responses
+ STAR: Situation, Task, Action, Result (Bangerter et al.,
2023; Kessler, 2006)
+ Additionally, questions about resumes, technical
knowledge, experience, and self-assessment may be asked
prior to the questions about past behaviors (Guion,
2011).
Structured Interviews
• Situational interviews
+ based on Locke's (1968) Goal Setting Theory, which posits
that intentions are related to behavior.
+ The expectation is that individuals' responses regarding
how they will behave in various situations are linked to
their future behaviors (Latham et al., 1980).
Structured Interviews
• Situational interviews
+ The first step in situational content interviews involves job
analysis conducted using the critical incident technique, which
is future-oriented, in contrast to the behavior description
technique (Ellis et al., 2002).
+ In this format, candidates are presented with a brief scenario
describing a specific situation, and they are asked what they
would do if that situation were to occur. The candidate's
response can sometimes be rated using a numerical scoring scale
(Guion, 2011; Heimann et al., 2021).
Structured Interviews
• Multiple mini interviews (MMIs).
+ developed for use in student selection at McGill University’s
medical school (Razack et al., 2009)
+ highly standardized interviews that are free from bias and
error (Bergelson et al., 2022)
+ medicine, education, and psychology
+ to evaluate candidates’ problem-solving abilities, professional
conduct, and ethical reasoning—skills that are important for
future performance, beyond just technical knowledge or GPA
(Clark et al., 2020).
Structured Interviews
• Multiple mini interviews (MMIs).
+ short interview stations designed to align with specific
objectives
+ both behavioral questions related to past experiences and
situational questions, as well as cognitive assessments
(Pau et al., 2013)
Structured Interviews
• High-Level Structured Interviews.
+ based on detailed job analysis
+ questions can be tailored based on the purpose and
requirements of the interview
+ experience-based, situational, knowledge-based, or job
simulation questions
+ procedures applied consistently for each candidate
(Guion, 2011)
Structured Interviews
+ There is no established limit for how structured these
interviews can be to ensure standardization.
• ensuring that interviewers are the same for every
candidate
• maintaining the order of candidates
• presenting each question with a similar tone, facial
expressions, and body language
• refraining from interpreting candidates' responses
(Heimann et al., 2021).
Video-Based or AI Interviews
+ either structured or unstructured
+ asynchronous video interviews and the large companies
using them is on the rise (Arseneault & Roulin, 2024).
+ record their responses to pre-prepared questions both
audibly and visually
• international and broad candidate pool,
• eliminating barriers and costs associated with distance,
• addressing various factors that could lead to erroneous
evaluations during face-to-face interactions
Video-Based or AI Interviews
+ either structured or unstructured
+ asynchronous video interviews and the large companies
using them is on the rise (Arseneault & Roulin, 2024).
+ record their responses to pre-prepared questions both
audibly and visually
• international and broad candidate pool,
• eliminating barriers and costs associated with distance,
• addressing various factors that could lead to erroneous
evaluations during face-to-face interactions
https://share.synthesia.io/d6068cd4-6c35-4ab5-
88b1-c2527606b9c3
Factors that should be considered
• Heuristics in decision making
+ Modern approaches to decision-making move away from the
assumption that human decision-making behavior is entirely
rational (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974). Instead, they suggest that
it may be rational only within certain limits (Gigerenzer &
Goldstein, 1996) or ecologically rational (Todd & Gigerenzer,
2012). The dual-process model supports these views by proposing
two distinct social judgment processes.
Factors that should be considered
• Perception bias
+ Generalization (Halo effect)
+ Constrast
+ Similarity
+ Job-related questions
+ Discrimination, prejudice
+ Interview dishonesty
+ Predicting performance (what kind of questions?)
