Chapter 6

Employee Testing
and Selection

Part Two | Recruitment and Placement

Copyright 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. PowerPoint Presentation by Charlie Cook

publishing as Prentice Hall The University of West Alabama
WHERE WE ARE NOW

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LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Explain what is meant by reliability and validity.
2. Explain how you would go about validating a test.
3. Cite and illustrate our testing guidelines.
4. Give examples of some of the ethical and legal
considerations in testing.
5. List eight tests you could use for employee selection
and how you would use them.
6. Give two examples of work sample/simulation tests.
7. Explain the key points to remember in conducting
background investigations.

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 Why Careful Selection is Important

The Importance of Selecting

the Right Employees

Organizational Costs of recruiting Legal obligations

performance and hiring and liability

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Test Selection: Choosing Which Tests to
Administer
Test selection is the first and probably most
important step in implementing a pre-
employment testing program because it is
critical that organizations use tests that
measure job-related abilities and skills

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Certain types of tests that measure general
capabilitiessuch as critical thinking,
problem-solving, and learning ability are
likely to be "job-relevant" for many different
positions because they test traits that are
valuable for nearly every job type

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Once an organization has chosen which tests
to use for a given position, it will need to
decide at what stage of the hiring process to
test applicants. There may be many factors
that go into this decision, but it is generally
recommended to test applicants as early as
possible. Using tests early in the hiring
process is an efficient and reliable way to
gather objective data on candidates before
deciding which candidates should move on
to the next step in the process

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How Do Employers Use Tests at Work?
Major Types of Tests
Basic skills tests

Job skills tests

Why Use Testing?

Increased work demands

Screen out bad or dishonest employees

Reduce turnover by personality profiling

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Computerized and Online Testing
Online tests
Telephone prescreening
computer tests
Online problem-solving tests

Types of Tests
Specialized work tests
Numerical ability tests
Reading comprehension tests

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 Types of Tests

What Different Tests Measure

Personality Current
Personal skills Experience
and interests achievement

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Testing Programs:
What Employers Can Do
Screening Procedure:
Ask accurate questions.
Listen, rather than talk.
Do a credit check.
Check all employment and personal references.
Use paper-and-pencil .

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Physical Examinations
Reasons for preemployment medical examinations:
To verify that the applicant meets the physical requirements of
the position.
To discover any medical limitations to be taken into account .
To establish a record of the applicants health for future
insurance or compensation claims.

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KEY TERMS

reliability
test validity
criterion validity
content validity
expectancy chart
interest inventory
work samples
work sampling technique
management assessment center
situational test
video-based simulation
miniature job training and evaluation

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Printed in the United States of America.

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