Recruiting

ASSESSMENT 4 CONTEXT

Several steps are usually undertaken for a hiring department interview. These would include:

· Reviewing resumes and applications for the required qualifications.

· Telephone screening interviews of qualified applicants.

· An initial interview with the HR department.

The newer concept of social networking has taken us into the world of privacy and applicant background screening. Organizations must take care not to let information from social media supplant more traditional forms of applicant screening, but it certainly can be used to supplement these methods.

After initial screening, some applicants make it to stage 2. Interviewing with the hiring department is usually a key factor at this stage. A simple single hurdle for entry-level jobs is where applicants participate in one interview (or test), and if they pass they are hired. 

Most jobs, however, require more information, so other available assessments are used. The multiple hurdle test is where an applicant must participate in several interviews and pass skills tests, drug tests, or similar assessments. Another method is the weighted, or compensatory, model, where one (or more) criterion is weighted more heavily than others to compensate for weaknesses in desired skills or experiences.

Any method used to screen candidates must be legally defensible. In other words, the method must be based on bona fide occupational qualifications and cannot discriminate against any protected group. Organizations must ensure that testing processes for both applicants and workers are fair.

The types of assessments used in the personnel selection process include:

· Reference checks.

· Ability tests.

· Personality measurements.

· Integrity tests.

· Interviews (including telephonic screening).

· Biodata.

· Work samples.

· Assessment centers.

· Background checks.

Psychological assessments, such as those used for police recruits, are very expensive. You might use this tool only to assess the final candidate so you are not wasting money on the applicants who will not make it through the interview process.

One proven strategy is reliable and valid measurement through testing. Any time one applicant is selected over another, it should be done using a means that is reliable, meaning it is consistent over time, and valid, meaning that it measures the trait it is supposed to measure and not something else. Reliability, for example, occurs when someone takes an intelligence test and scores 31, then on the same test six months later scores 32. An unreliable test would score a 31 today and a 17 six months later.

Validity is an issue where the test must measure what it is intended to measure. For example, intelligence tests tap into cognitive (thinking) ability. But if the tests do not really measure thinking but instead social upbringing and age by asking about 1970s TV shows, movies, and music, it is not a valid test for the intended purpose of measuring intelligence. Thus, someone who grew up in the 1990s would probably score poorly simply because of age.

In addition to using assessments to predict job success, organizations must also ensure that their newly hired employees will not harm other workers, vendors, or customers. Many organizations now conduct background checks as part of the candidate selection process.

Reflect on your own experiences as a job applicant. As you think back to the selection methods you have undergone when applying for various positions, would you assess them as being fair and relevant for the position? If you were designing a selection process for the position you currently have, how might it be different from the one you actually experienced?