Week 8: Employee Selection: References & Testing

Reference check

The process of confirming the accuracy of information provided by an applicant.

Reference

An expression of an opinion (oral or written) about an applicant’s ability, work habits, character, past performance, or future potential.

Letter of recommendation

A written opinion about an applicant’s ability, work habits, character, past performance, or future potential.

Résumé fraud

When applicants lie or exaggerate information about their education or work experience.

Negligent hiring

When an employer hires someone with a known risk history and that employee harms others while on the job.

Negligent reference

Failure of an organization to share important information about a former employee’s potential for legal/behavioral problems.

Validity coefficient

The correlation between a selection method score (e.g., test) and job performance. (Example: References have validity as low as .18 uncorrected)

Corrected validity

A validity coefficient statistically adjusted for errors and range restriction to estimate the “true” validity of a method.

Leniency (in references)

The tendency for reference writers to give overly positive ratings, since applicants choose their own references. (Example: Fewer than 1% of references are negative)

Defamation of character

False information given with malicious intent that harms an applicant’s reputation. (Slander

Conditional privilege

Legal protection allowing reference providers to share truthful opinion if based on reasonable belief.

Knowledge problem (references)

When reference writers do not know the applicant well or have not observed relevant job behaviors.

Reliability (of references)

Low consistency in ratings from different reference providers (typically around .22).

Extraneous factors (references)

Factors unrelated to performance that influence reference writing or reading (e.g., writing skill, relationship closeness).

Ethical guideline 1 (references)

State the relationship with the applicant.

Ethical guideline 2 (references)

Be honest and specific in details shared.

Ethical guideline 3 (references)

Allow applicant to review the reference and decline its use.

Education as predictor of performance

Higher education levels relate to better performance, more OCB, less absenteeism, and less substance abuse. (Example: Based on meta-analysis by Ng & Feldman, 2009)

Job knowledge test

A test measuring how much job-related knowledge an applicant already possesses. Example items: Making a martini (bartender); job analysis methods (HR); programming, electronics.

Ability test

A test measuring a person’s capacity to learn or perform job-related skills they do not currently know.

Cognitive ability

Mental capabilities including comprehension, reasoning, problem-solving, creativity, memory, and learning.

Cognitive ability test

Test designed to measure intelligence or knowledge level linked to job learning and decision-making.

Example: Wonderlic Personnel Test (12-minute group test, widely used)

Other common cognitive tests

Miller Analogies Test, Quick Test, Raven Progressive Matrices.

Siena Reasoning Test (SRT)

Cognitive test designed to reduce race-based score gaps by minimizing prior knowledge requirements.

Perceptual ability

Aptitude for spatial relations, form perception, and sensory processing such as vision, hearing, and speech.

Psychomotor ability

Skills involving coordination, dexterity, reaction time, and motor control.

Physical ability test

A test of physical strength, stamina, or physical skill through simulations or agility tasks.

Example: Firing a gun and chasing a suspect (police); swimming rescue (lifeguard).

Nine basic physical abilities

Dynamic strength; trunk strength; explosive strength; static strength; dynamic flexibility; extent flexibility; gross body equilibrium; gross body coordination; stamina.

Work sample

Applicant performs real job tasks to assess job skills and predict performance.

Advantages of work samples

High content validity; high criterion validity; applicants see clear job link (face validity); lower racial score differences.

Main limitation of work samples

Costly to design and administer.

Assessment center

Selection involving multiple job-related simulations observed by multiple trained assessors.

Requirements of assessment centers

Based on job analysis; behavioral dimensions defined; multiple methods; at least one simulation; multiple assessors; observed behaviors documented; combined evaluation.

Common assessment center exercises

In-basket; simulations; business games; leaderless group discussions; work samples.

In-basket technique

Simulation of daily managerial tasks to evaluate decision-making and prioritization.

Business game

Simulated organizational tasks involving strategy and marketing decisions.

Leaderless group discussion

Group exercise where applicants solve a problem together without an assigned leader.

Experience ratings

Scores based on amount, performance level, and relevance of prior work experience. (Experience alone is not enough—quality matters.)

Biodata

Application format including life history (education, military, community, work) that predicts performance and tenure.

Biodata faking issue

Responses can be socially desirable, so warnings, verifiable items, and elaboration reduce faking.

Personality inventory

Psychological assessment measuring traits related to job behavior. Less adverse impact compared to ability tests.

Tests of normal personality

Assess traits shown in daily life, such as extraversion, assertiveness, friendliness. Examples: Hogan Personality Inventory, CPI, NEO-PI, 16PF.

Big Five personality dimensions

Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Emotional Stability. Example: Conscientiousness predicts reliability and job performance.

Faking on personality tests

Possible but generally small impact on validity. Asking about work personality improves accuracy.

Dark Triad

Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy — linked to manipulation, self-centeredness, and low concern for others. Example: Higher counterproductive work behaviors.

Tests of psychopathology

Identify clinical disorders (depression, bipolar, schizophrenia). Rare in employee selection except public safety.

Projective tests

Unstructured personality measures with subjective interpretation. Examples: Rorschach Inkblot Test, TAT.

Objective tests

Standardized scoring tests for psychopathology. Example: MMPI-2 (most widely used objective psychopathology test).

Interest inventory

Identifies vocational interests for career satisfaction. Example: Strong Interest Inventory (325 like/dislike items).

Vocational counseling

Helping people choose suitable careers based on interests.

Integrity test

Predicts likelihood of theft or counterproductive behavior.

Polygraph

Physiology-based honesty test; mostly illegal in hiring except law enforcement/national security.

Voice stress analyzer

Measures vocal changes to detect deception; similarly restricted legally.

Overt integrity test

Measures attitudes toward theft and past theft behavior.

Personality-based integrity test

Measures traits linked to antisocial behavior (e.g., risk-taking, low conscientiousness).

Conditional reasoning test

Measures aggressive tendencies through implicit justification patterns.

Aggressive reasoning biases

Hostile attribution; potency; retribution; victimization; derogation; social discounting.

Credit history checks

Used because debt may increase theft risk; good credit linked to responsibility and conscientiousness.

Graphology

Handwriting analysis used to infer personality; low face validity and not job-related.

Drug testing rationale

Illegal drug users have higher absenteeism, accidents, health costs, turnover.

Drug test process

Initial screening → confirmatory test by medical review officer if positive.

Drug testing methods

Random testing; scheduled testing; testing after incidents (most legally defensible).

Psychological exam (in hiring)

After conditional offer, used to ensure applicant is not a safety risk — not to predict performance.

Medical exam

Physician checks if applicant can safely perform job duties based on job description.

Best predictors of job performance

Ability tests, work samples, biodata, structured interviews.

Weak predictors of job performance

Unstructured interviews, education alone, interest inventories, some personality traits.

High adverse impact methods

Cognitive ability tests, GPA.

Low adverse impact methods

Integrity tests, references, personality inventories.

Selection methods seen as most job-related (high face validity)

Interviews, work samples, simulations, résumés.

Selection methods seen as least job-related (low face validity)

Graphology, integrity tests, personality tests.

Rejection letters importance

Positive treatment maintains applicant goodwill and future application potential.

Effective rejection letter guidelines

Delay notification; be personable and specific; acknowledge qualifications; avoid naming contact person; include who was hired; state résumé will be kept on file; be honest.