2. Employee Selection, Recruitment, and Placement

Job Analysis

The systematic process of collecting information about a job’s tasks, responsibilities, and requirements.

Job Description

A written summary of a job’s duties, responsibilities, and tasks.

Job Specification

A description of the qualifications needed to perform a job.

Task

A distinct work activity performed as part of a job.

Task Analysis

Identifying job tasks and the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics needed to perform them.

Competency

A measurable characteristic associated with effective job performance.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Other Characteristics (KSAOs)

The qualifications and attributes needed to perform a job successfully.

Job Evaluation

Determining the relative worth of jobs within an organization.

Recruitment

The process of attracting qualified applicants for a position.

Internal Recruitment

Attracting applicants from within the organization.

External Recruitment

Attracting applicants from outside the organization.

Employee Referral

A recruitment method in which current employees recommend potential applicants.

Recruitment Source

The channel used to attract applicants, such as referrals, advertisements, or employment agencies.

Realistic Job Preview (RJP)

Providing applicants with honest information about both the positive and negative aspects of a job.

Employer Branding

Communicating an organization’s identity and reputation to attract potential employees.

Recruitment Yield Ratio

The proportion of candidates who move from one recruitment stage to the next.

Selection

Assessing applicants and choosing those most suitable for a job.

Placement

Assigning an employee to a position that fits their qualifications and organizational needs.

Person-Job Fit

The match between an individual’s characteristics and the requirements or rewards of a job.

Person-Organization Fit

The match between an individual’s values and characteristics and those of the organization.

Employment Interview

A selection method in which applicants answer questions about their qualifications, experiences, or behavior.

Structured Interview

An interview using standardized questions and consistent scoring criteria.

Unstructured Interview

An interview in which questions and their order may vary among applicants.

Situational Interview

An interview that asks applicants how they would respond to hypothetical work situations.

Behavioral Interview

An interview that asks applicants to describe how they handled situations in the past.

Structured vs. Unstructured Interview

Structured interviews standardize questions and scoring; unstructured interviews allow greater variation.

Situational vs. Behavioral Interview

Situational questions ask what an applicant would do; behavioral questions ask what the applicant actually did.

Interview Reliability

The consistency of interview ratings across raters or occasions.

Interview Validity

The extent to which interview results support accurate conclusions about job-related performance.

Reference Check

Obtaining information about an applicant from people familiar with their work or qualifications.

Letter of Recommendation

A written statement describing an applicant’s qualifications or suitability.

Biodata

Biographical information about an applicant used to help predict job-related outcomes.

Cognitive Ability Test

A test measuring mental abilities such as reasoning, verbal ability, or numerical ability.

Job Knowledge Test

A test measuring knowledge required for a particular job.

Work Sample Test

A test requiring applicants to perform tasks similar to those required by the job.

Assessment Center

A selection approach using multiple exercises and assessment methods to evaluate job-related competencies.

Personality Inventory

A standardized measure of personality characteristics that may be relevant to work behavior.

Interest Inventory

A measure of interests that can help assess occupational or career preferences.

Integrity Test

A test designed to assess honesty, dependability, or tendencies related to counterproductive behavior.

Psychomotor Ability Test

A test measuring coordination, reaction time, or abilities involving physical movement and control.

Physical Ability Test

A test measuring physical capabilities needed to perform a job.

Medical Examination

An examination used to assess whether an applicant meets legally appropriate medical requirements for a job.

Drug Testing

Testing for specified substances, subject to applicable law and policy.

Reliability

The consistency of a test’s measurements or results.

Test-Retest Reliability

Consistency of results when the same test is administered to the same people at different times.

Alternate-Forms Reliability

Consistency between different versions of a test intended to measure the same thing.

Internal Consistency

The degree to which items within a test measure a common construct.

Inter-Rater Reliability

The degree to which different evaluators provide consistent ratings.

Reliability vs. Validity

Reliability concerns consistency; validity concerns whether evidence supports the intended interpretation and use of scores.

Validity

The extent to which evidence supports the interpretation and use of test scores for a particular purpose.

Content Validity

The extent to which a test adequately represents important job tasks or job-related knowledge and skills.

Criterion-Related Validity

The extent to which test scores are related to a relevant criterion, such as job performance.

Predictive Validity

Criterion-related validity established by using test scores to predict a later outcome.

Concurrent Validity

Criterion-related validity established by comparing test scores with a criterion measured at approximately the same time.

Construct Validity

Evidence that a test measures the psychological characteristic or construct it is intended to measure.

Face Validity

The extent to which a test appears to measure what it claims to measure.

Content vs. Criterion-Related vs. Construct Validity

Content concerns representation of job content; criterion-related concerns relationships with outcomes; construct concerns the psychological attribute measured.

Criterion

An outcome or standard used to evaluate the usefulness of a selection method.

Criterion Contamination

A criterion includes influences unrelated to the performance it is intended to measure.

Criterion Deficiency

A criterion fails to include important aspects of the performance it is intended to measure.

Criterion-Related Validation

Examining whether selection scores are related to an appropriate job-performance criterion.

Cross-Validation

Testing a validity finding using a new sample to see whether the relationship holds.

Validity Generalization

Applying validity evidence from previous research to other settings when justified by the evidence.

Test Utility

The practical value of a test, considering its contribution to selection decisions and its costs.

Selection Utility

The value gained from using a selection method to improve hiring decisions.

Selection Ratio

The number of applicants hired divided by the number of applicants available.

Base Rate

The proportion of people who would be successful under existing conditions without the new selection method.

Multiple-Hurdle Selection

Applicants must pass each stage before advancing to the next stage.

Compensatory Selection

A high score in one area can compensate for a lower score in another area.

Multiple-Cutoff Selection

Applicants must meet minimum standards on several separate measures.

Top-Down Selection

Selecting applicants in order from the highest score downward.

Rule of Three

A selection approach in which decision-makers choose from the three highest-ranked qualified applicants, where the method is applicable.

Banding

Treating sufficiently similar test scores as equivalent within a defined score range for selection purposes.

Passing Score

The minimum score required to be considered qualified.

Selection Decision

A decision to accept, reject, or further evaluate an applicant based on available evidence.

Adverse Impact Ratio (Four-Fifths Rule)

A screening guideline that flags possible adverse impact when a group’s selection rate is less than 80% of the highest group’s rate; it is not a definitive legal test in every case.

False Positive in Selection

An applicant is selected but later fails to meet the expected performance standard.

False Negative in Selection

An applicant is rejected even though they would have met the expected performance standard.

Fairness in Selection

The extent to which selection practices are job-related, consistent, and free from unlawful discrimination.

Selection Cost-Effectiveness

Comparing the costs of a selection method with the value of the information or improvement it provides.