Chapter 4: Employee Selection: Recruiting and Interviewing

JOB ANALYSIS

Job analysis (also called work analysis) is the foundation of nearly all human resource (HR) activities because it identifies the tasks employees perform, the working conditions, and the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other competencies (KSAOs) needed to perform the job effectively.

WRITING JOB DESCRIPTION

A job description is the written outcome of a job analysis; it usually consists of 2–5 pages summarizing job duties and responsibilities, working conditions, and required qualifications and competencies.

JOB ANALYSIS vs. JOB DESCRIPTION

Job analysis identifies the process of collecting job information; job description is the written document produced from the job analysis.

EMPLOYEE SELECTION

Job analysis identifies the qualifications and competencies required for successful job performance; this information helps HR develop appropriate interview questions, choose valid employment tests, and select applicants who have the necessary KSAOs.

HIGHLIGHT

Job analysis ensures that employee selection is based on the actual requirements of the job; not on personal opinions, stereotypes, or unrelated characteristics. This leads to fairer, more accurate, and more effective hiring decisions.

EMPLOYEE RECRUITMENT

Process of attracting qualified applicants for available positions.

MAIN RECRUITMENT SOURCES

External recruitment and internal recruitment. Internal sources include current employees and rehires; external sources include advertisements, employment agencies, school placement offices, and recruiters.

EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT

Attracts applicants from outside the organization; sources include advertisements, employment agencies, school placement offices, recruiters, Internet, and job fairs.

INTERNAL RECRUITMENT

Recruits from inside the organization; includes employee referrals and rehires; internal recruitment can provide applicants with more accurate information about the job; internal sources tend to produce employees with higher tenure and better performance.

MEDIA ADVERTISEMENTS

Recruitment advertisements can be used to reach potential applicants and can be designed according to how applicants should respond.

NEWSPAPER ADS

Traditional recruitment method used to reach potential applicants.

RESPOND BY CALLING

The applicant is instructed to call the organization; useful when the organization wants applicants to receive information or be screened by telephone.

APPLY IN PERSON ADS

Applicants are instructed to apply personally; allows the organization to obtain an initial impression of the applicant.

SEND RÉSUMÉ ADS

Applicants send a résumé, usually with a cover letter; résumé provides information about the applicant’s background and qualifications.

BLIND BOX

Advertisement does not reveal the name of the organization; applicants respond through a box number or other intermediary; applicants should respond promptly because blind boxes are generally available only while the advertisement runs.

WRITING RECRUITMENT ADS

Recruitment ads should provide enough information to attract qualified applicants; important information includes job title, job requirements, qualifications, information about the organization, and how to apply.

ELECTRONIC MEDIA

Electronic media can reach a large number of potential applicants and allows organizations to provide more information about the job, organization, and application requirements; Internet recruitment has become an important recruitment source.

POINT OF PURCHASE METHODS

Recruitment notices are placed where customers or current employees are likely to see them; examples include store windows, bulletin boards, restaurant placemats, and sides of trucks.

ADVANTAGES OF POINT OF PURCHASE METHODS

Inexpensive and targeted toward people who frequent the business.

DISADVANTAGE OF POINT OF PURCHASE METHODS

A limited number of people are exposed to the advertisement.

RECRUITERS

Organizations may use recruiters to attract applicants for available positions.

CAMPUS RECRUITERS

Recruiters are sent to college campuses to answer questions about the organization, interview students, and recruit applicants for available positions; campus recruiting can also occur through virtual job fairs.

OUTSIDE RECRUITERS

Organizations may use private employment agencies, public employment agencies, and executive search firms; private agencies and executive search firms operate for profit, while public employment agencies are operated by state and local agencies and are nonprofit.

EMPLOYMENT AGENCY AND SEARCH FIRMS

Employment agencies help organizations find applicants for available positions; executive search firms recruit applicants for higher

EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES

Help organizations find applicants for available positions; may charge the company or the applicant; especially useful when HR is overloaded or the organization lacks expertise in employee selection.

DISADVANTAGE OF EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES

Organization loses some control over recruitment and agency may provide undesirable applicants.

EXECUTIVE SEARCH FIRMS

Recruit applicants for higher level or executive positions; often used when organizations need applicants with specific qualifications or experience; search firms actively identify and approach potential applicants.

PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES

Operated by state and local public agencies; strictly nonprofit; help connect employers with people seeking employment.

EMPLOYEE REFERRALS

Current employees recommend potential applicants for job openings; applicants referred by employees often receive more information and more accurate information about the job; employee referrals can produce employees with higher tenure.

DIRECT MAIL

The organization sends mass mailings of information about job openings to potential applicants; can directly target people who may have the desired qualifications.

INTERNET

Internet recruitment commonly uses employer based websites, job boards, and social networking sites.

EMPLOYER BASED WEBSITES

Organization lists available job openings, information about itself, and minimum requirements; applicants may upload résumés, answer screening questions, take employment tests, and schedule interviews electronically.

EFFECTIVE EMPLOYER BASED WEBSITES

Should be detailed, credible, easy to navigate, aesthetically pleasing, and interactive; employee testimonials can provide information about the organization and its culture.

JOB BOARDS

Websites that list job openings from many organizations; advantages include reaching many applicants, covering a larger geographic area, and generally being less expensive than newspaper recruitment; can also be industry or skill specific.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Major social media recruitment sources include LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter; social media functions as employee referrals and networking on a larger scale.

RECRUITERS USING SOCIAL MEDIA

Recruiters can search profiles, post job openings, and contact people with desired skills and experience.

APPLICANTS USING SOCIAL MEDIA

Applicants can search for openings, contact professional connections, and learn about organizations and opportunities.

JOB FAIRS

Recruitment method in which several employers are available at one location so many applicants can obtain information at one time.

TYPES OF JOB FAIRS

Multiemployer, industry specific, campus based, and virtual.

SPECIAL RECRUIT POPULATIONS

Organizations may specifically recruit groups that are underrepresented in the applicant pool.

INCREASING APPLICANT DIVERSITY

Organizations may specifically recruit groups that are underrepresented in the applicant pool; recruitment strategies can be evaluated by examining the number of minorities and women who apply and the number who are hired.

NON TRADITIONAL POPULATIONS

Organizations can recruit applicants from nontraditional sources or populations; useful when traditional recruitment sources do not provide enough qualified applicants; can increase the size and diversity of the applicant pool.

RECRUITING PASSIVE APPLICANTS

Passive applicants are people who are not actively looking for a job; organizations may actively identify and contact people who have the desired skills and experience; Internet and social media make it easier to locate passive applicants.

EVALUATING THE EFFECTIVENESS OF RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES

Recruitment sources can be evaluated by number of applicants, cost, number of qualified applicants, number of successful employees, and diversity of applicants and hires.

COST PER APPLICANT

Cost per applicant = amount spent on recruitment campaign ÷ number of people who apply; measures the cost of generating applicants; low cost per applicant does not necessarily mean effective recruitment if applicants are not qualified.

COST PER QUALIFIED APPLICANT

Cost per qualified applicant = amount spent on recruitment campaign ÷ number of qualified applicants; more useful than simply counting applicants because it considers applicant quality.

SUCCESSFUL EMPLOYEES AS A RECRUITMENT MEASURE

Another strong measure is the number of successful employees generated by each recruitment source.

EMPLOYEE PROFILE

An employment profile is a detailed description of a job opening that provides applicants with important information about the position.

PURPOSE OF EMPLOYEE PROFILE

Helps applicants determine if they are qualified and decide if the job matches their skills, interests, and career goals.

MAIN COMPONENTS OF EMPLOYEE PROFILE

Job title, job description, job qualifications, compensation and benefits, and company information.

JOB TITLE

Name of the position being offered.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Duties and responsibilities of the position; answers: “What will I do if I get hired?”

JOB QUALIFICATIONS

Educational background, work experience, technical skills, certifications, and personal qualities.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Salary, incentives, health insurance, paid leave, and training opportunities.

COMPANY INFORMATION

Mission, vision, values, organizational culture, and work environment.

IMPORTANCE OF AN EMPLOYEE PROFILE FOR EMPLOYERS

Attracts qualified applicants, reduces unqualified applications, saves recruitment time, and improves hiring quality.

IMPORTANCE OF AN EMPLOYEE PROFILE FOR APPLICANTS

Understands the job before applying, checks if they meet qualifications, forms realistic expectations, and decides if the job fits their goals.

REALISTIC JOB REVIEWS

Realistic Job Preview (RJP) means applicants are told both the positive and negative aspects of a job.

REALISTIC JOB PREVIEW (RJP)

Applicants are told both the positive and negative aspects of a job; purpose is to give applicants an honest assessment of the job, allow applicants to know what to expect, and reduce unrealistic expectations.

EFFECTS OF RJP

RJPs may cause some applicants to withdraw, but those who remain are less likely to be surprised by the job; can result in lower turnover, higher job satisfaction, and better performance; effects are generally small.

WHEN ARE RJPs MOST EFFECTIVE?

RJPs are most effective when given orally and when they include career advancement information.

EXPECTATION LOWERING PROCEDURE (ELP)

ELP is a variation of the realistic job preview; used to lower unrealistic expectations about the job before employment; helps applicants develop more realistic expectations about the organization and job.

EFFECTIVE EMPLOYEE SELECTION TECHNIQUES

Effective employee selection systems share three characteristics: valid, reduce the chance of a legal challenge, and cost

EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEWS

Method of selecting employees in which an interviewer asks questions and makes an employment decision based on the answers and how the questions are answered; most commonly used method of employee selection.

TYPES OF INTERVIEWS

Interviews differ according to structure, style, and medium.

STRUCTURED INTERVIEW

Questions are based on job analysis; every applicant is asked the same questions; a standardized scoring system is used; highly structured interviews are more reliable and valid than less structured interviews.

UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEW

Interviewer is free to ask questions; applicants are not necessarily asked the same questions; no standardized scoring system; less structured interviews are generally less reliable and valid.

STYLE

One on one, serial, return, panel, and group.

ONE ON ONE

One interviewer and one applicant.

SERIAL

Applicant goes through a series of individual interviews.

RETURN

Applicant returns at a later time for another interview.

PANEL

Multiple interviewers evaluate one applicant at the same time.

GROUP

Multiple applicants participate in the same interview.

MEDIUM

Face to face, telephone, videoconference, and written.

FACE TO FACE

Interviewer and applicant are in the same room.

TELEPHONE

Often used to screen applicants; no visual cues.

VIDEOCONFERENCE

Interviewer and applicant are at remote locations but can see and hear each other.

WRITTEN

Applicant answers written questions and returns the answers.

ADVANTAGES OF STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS

More valid than unstructured interviews; can provide incremental validity when combined with cognitive ability tests; based on job analysis; more legally defensible; result in substantially lower adverse impact than unstructured interviews.

PROBLEMS WITH UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEWS

Poor intuitive ability, lack of job relatedness, primacy effects, contrast effects, negative information bias, interviewer–interviewee similarity, interviewee appearance, and nonverbal cues.

POOR INTUITIVE ABILITY

Interviewers often rely on their intuition and judgment; intuitive judgments do not always accurately predict job performance.

LACK OF JOB RELATEDNESS

Questions may not be based on job analysis; interviewers may ask questions that are unrelated to actual job performance.

PRIMACY EFFECTS

First impressions can have a strong influence on later judgments; early information may receive more weight than later information.

CONTRAST EFFECTS

The performance of one applicant can affect the interviewer’s perception of the next applicant.

NEGATIVE INFORMATION BIAS

Interviewers may give more weight to negative information than positive information; one negative characteristic can disproportionately affect the overall evaluation.

INTERVIEWER INTERVIEWEE SIMILARITY

Interviewers may favor applicants who are similar to themselves; similarity may involve background, interests, attitudes, or other characteristics; this can create bias unrelated to job performance.

INTERVIEWEE APPEARANCE

Physical appearance can affect interviewer judgments; selection decisions should be based on ability to perform the job, not physical attractiveness.

NONVERBAL CUES

Includes eye contact, posture, smiling, tone, pitch, speech rate, and pauses; appropriate nonverbal communication is related to higher interview scores; structured interviews are less affected by nonverbal cues than unstructured interviews.

CREATING A STRUCTURED INTERVIEW

Start with job analysis; identify the skills and experiences needed for successful job performance; create an interview form used for all applicants; include examples of good and bad answers to help score responses consistently.

DETERMINING THE KSAOS TO TAP IN THE INTERVIEW

Conduct a thorough job analysis and detailed job description; identify tasks performed, conditions under which tasks are performed, and competencies needed; determine which KSAOs should be measured through the interview.

NOT EVERY COMPETENCY CAN OR SHOULD BE MEASURED THROUGH AN INTERVIEW

Some are better measured using tests, job samples, assessment centers, references, or other methods.

CREATING INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Clarifiers, disqualifiers, skill

CLARIFIERS

Questions that clarify information in résumé, cover letter, or application; used to fill gaps and obtain necessary information.

DISQUALIFIERS

Questions in which a particular answer disqualifies the applicant; used when a job requirement must be met.

SKILL LEVEL DETERMINERS

Questions that determine an applicant’s level of knowledge or skill; used to verify claimed expertise.

FUTURE FOCUSED QUESTIONS

Ask applicants what they would do in a particular situation; also called situational questions.

SITUATIONAL QUESTIONS

Applicants are presented with situations and asked how they would handle each one; should be based on critical incidents; questions should be answerable using the applicant’s current knowledge.

PAST FOCUSED QUESTIONS

Focus on the applicant’s previous behavior rather than intended future behavior; based on the idea that past behavior can predict future behavior.

PATTERNED BEHAVIOR DESCRIPTION INTERVIEWS (PBDIS)

Past focused interview technique; focuses on previous behavior in situations related to the job; applicants describe what they actually did in previous situations.

ORGANIZATIONAL FIT QUESTIONS

Determine whether an applicant’s values, attitudes, and characteristics fit the organization; should remain related to characteristics important for successful performance.