Chapter Four

Testing and Selecting Employees

 --
• With a pool of candidates, your next step is to
select the best person for the job; there are
three tools to use :
- Tests
- Interviews
- Background checks
 Why selection is important?
1- first performance depend upon subordinates
2- Screening the undesirable applicant.
3- It’s issue of cost.
4- Courts will find employer liable when
employee commit a crime.
 Reliability and Validity
Before studying tests and interviews we have to
know that both of them must be valid and
reliable:
Reliability:
Refers to the test consistency, it’s the
consistency of scores obtained by the same
person when retested with the identical tests or
with equivalent form of test.
 Cont.
• There are 3 method to measure test reliability:
- Retest estimate.
- Equivalent form estimate.
- Internal comparison estimate.
Validity:
That the tests are measuring what they are
proposed to measure.
 Cont.
There are 3 types of validity tests:
- Criterion validity: those who perform well in
test perform well in job.
- Content validity: whether the applicant
sample is representative or not.
- Construct validity: whether the test measure
construct ( human traits like honesty).
 Notes
1- The test must avoid the biasness depend on race,
color, age, religion or gender.
2- The test must be related to the success or failure
of the job.
3- The applicant have the right of the confidentiality
of the test result and the purposes of using the
result.
4- The applicant have the right that only qualified
applicant who complete in the selecting processes.
 Cont.
5- Using tests is supplement step not all the
steps of selecting.
 A- Testing
Types of Tests:
1- Tests of Cognitive Abilities.
2- Tests of Motor and Physical abilities.
3- Measuring Personality.
4- Achievement test.
5- Situational Judgment tests
 1- Tests of Cognitive Abilities.

There 2 kinds of cognitive tests to be made:

1- IQ tests which is tests measure general
intellectual abilities including; memory,
vocabulary, verbal fluency, and numeric ability.
2- Aptitude tests measure aptitude for the job.
2- Tests of Motor and Physical abilities.

Measure physical abilities such as finger

dexterity , strength, manual dexterity, and
reaction time.
 3- Measuring Personality.

- Measuring the basic aspects of applicant’s

personality such as introversion, stability, and
motivation.
- Personality test is the most difficult to measure
and use, an expert must analyze the test taker’s
interpretations and reactions.
- Industrial psychologist often study the big five
personality dimensions: extroversion, emotional
stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and
openness to experience.
 Cont.
These indicators showed how the applicant
performance will be and how their ability for
training.
 4- Achievement test.

Basically measure what person has learned, they

measure your knowledge in areas such as
economics, marketing, or management.
Note : the achievement test can measure the
applicant ability in something like typing.
 5- Situational Judgment tests

Require candidate to answer questions about

situations actually found on the job.
 B- Interviewing
Types of interviews:
1- According to questions organization.
2- According to types of questions.
3- According to how administered.
4- According to the way of administration.
1- According to questions organization.

A- Structure or directive interview:

Questions are specified in advance.
B- Unstructured interview:
You ask questions as they come in mind.
 2- According to types of questions.

A- situational interview:
Questions focus on the applicant’s ability to project
hat his or her behavior would be in a given
situation.
B- Behavioral Interview:
You ask interviewees how they behaved in a
situation in the past.
C- company case interview:
To let the applicant identify how they address the
case client’s problems.
 3- According to how administered.

A- one-on-one: two people meet alone and one

interview the other by seeking oral response to
oral inquires.
B- sequential interview: several people interview
the applicant in sequence before making a hiring
decision.
C- Panel interview: the candidate is interviewed
simultaneously by a group or panel of
interviewers.
 4- According to the way of
administration.
A- By phone.
B- face to face
C- computerized
 Some notes
1- situational interview is more valid than
behavioral interview.
2- structured interview is more valid than
unstructured interview.
3- one-on-one interview more valid than panel
interview.
 common interviewing mistakes
1- Snap Judgment :
The interviewers jump to a conclusion during
the first few minutes of interview.
2- Negative emphasize:
To be more influenced with unfavorable than
favorable information.
3- Not knowing the job:
Don’t having enough information about the job.
 Cont.
4- pressure to hire
5- candidate order error:
Means the order in which you see the applicant
affect how you rate them.
6- influence of nonverbal behavior:
How the applicant look and how they are
behave such as eye contact, head moving,
smiling and similar behaviors.
 Cont.
7- Race:
Race also play a role in rating the applicant may
be the different racial groups take different
ratings.
 Guidelines for conducting the
interview
1- Plan the interview.
2- structure the interview.
3- Establish report.
4- what not to ask.
5- close the interview.
6- Review the interview.
 C- Background investigations
1- there are two key reasons for checking
background :
A- to verify facts provided by the applicant.
B- to uncover damaging background information
such as criminal records.
2- the mostly common verified background
areas are :
A- legal eligibility for employment.
 Cont.
B- dates of prior employment
C- military services
D- education and identification
E- criminal records ( motor vehicle records,
credit, licensing, social security number and
reference checks )