HRM: Chapter 6

Personnel Selection

The process through which organizations make decisions about who will or will not be invited to join the organization.

Reliability

The extent to which a measurement is free from random error.

Validity

The extent to which performance on a measure (such as a test score) is related to what the measure is designed to assess (such as job performance).

Criterion-Related Validity

A measure of validity based on showing a substantial correlation between test scores and job performance scores.

Predictive Validation

Research that uses the test scores of all applicants and looks for a relationship between the scores and the future performance of the applicants who were hired.

Concurrent Validation

Research that consists of administering a test to people who currently hold a job, then comparing their scores to existing measures of job performance.

Content Validity

Consistency between the test items or problems and the kinds of situations or problems that occur on the job.

Construct Validity

Consistency between a high score on a test and a high level of a construct such as intelligence or leadership ability, as well as between mastery of this construct and successful performance of the job.

Generalizable

Valid in other contexts beyond the context in which the selection method was developed.

Utility

The extent to which something provides economic value greater than its cost.

Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986

Federal law requiring employers to verify and maintain records on applicants' legal rights to work in the United States.

Aptitude Tests

Tests that assess how well a person can learn or acquire skills and abilities.

Achievement Tests

Tests that measure a person's existing knowledge and skills.

Cognitive Ability Tests

Tests designed to measure such mental abilities as verbal skills, quantitative skills, and reasoning ability.

Assessment Center

A wide variety of specific selection programs that use multiple selection methods to rate applicants or job incumbents on their management potential.

Nondirective Interview

A selection interview in which the interviewer has great discretion in choosing questions to ask each candidate.

Structured Interview

A selection interview that consists of a predetermined set of questions for the interviewer to ask.

Situational Interview

A structured interview in which the interviewer describes a situation likely to arise on the job, then asks the candidate what they would do in that situation.

Behavioral Interview

A structured interview in which the interviewer asks the candidate to describe how they handled a type of situation in the past.

Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

a software application that helps companies manage their hiring process, from posting jobs to selecting candidates

Panel Interview

A selection interview in which several members of the organization meet to interview each candidate.

Multiple-Hurdle Model

Process of arriving at a selection decision by eliminating some candidates at each stage of the selection process.

Compensatory Model

Process of arriving at a selection decision in which a very high score on one type of assessment can make up for a low score on another.

Applicant-Tracking System

An automated approach to the selection process that reviews electronically submitted résumés, matches them against company selection criteria, and allows hiring managers to track job candidate information and hiring outcomes.

Realistic Job Preview

Background information about a job's positive and negative qualities.