HRM634 Week 6 Responses

Directions

Respond to at least 2 peers. Include at least 2 outside sources in your postings for full credit.

Cynthia Reed

   The selection assessment I would recommend is the Job Knowledge Test.  “The Job knowledge test measures a candidates’ knowledge (often technical) required by a job” (Phillips, 2020, p. 367).  This assessment is very important when hiring for a job that requires specific knowledge to be successful.  For example, if a company is looking for a Controller for their firm and an applicant put that they are an Accountant with 10 years of experience and that they have a MBA with a 4.0 GPA, all of this sounds like this candidate would be a good fit for what the organization is looking for and that they would do well at the position however if given a knowledge test it was discovered this person didn’t even know what a balance sheet was, then the company would not hire them and thus  saving them money and time by not hiring a person who obviously could not do the job.  It is easy for a candidate to put things on their resume or application which makes them sound like they are a good fit but, they are not because they do not have the technical knowledge to successfully do the job. 

                Another reason this is a good choice for a selection assessment is that the candidate perceives that this is related to the job they are trying to get hired for and will do a better job on the test.  If the candidate for the Controller’s position has a test relating to accounting, they will perceive it as job related and do a better job whereas this candidate may see little value in doing a manual dexterity test for the job they are applying for and thereby not put any effort into it and thereby make the test unusable.  “Perhaps the most important attribute of an HR selection tool is perceived job relatedness and several independent studies have indicated that perceptions of overall fairness were more positive when a selection tool was perceived to be job related” (Forsberg & Shultz, 2009).

                The one assessment tool I would not recommend is graphology.  “Graphology includes any practice that involves determining personality traits or abilities from a person’s handwriting” (Phillips, 2020, pp. 275-276).  The biggest issue with this is that it is based on an opinion of the evaluator.  “Courts also tend not to like graphology because it can result in people with physical and emotional handicap being discriminated against “ (Phillips, 2020, p. 376). The other issues I can see is that it is hard to validate why the recruiter chose Person A over Person B, if all things being equal, and the last test was graphology.  This could lead to all kind of lawsuits. 

                The reason that using a job knowledge test is more legally defensible is that a person, regardless of age, sex, or race, either knows for example how the parts of a carburetor.  There can be no bias in choosing the answer, it is either right or wrong.  It does not discriminate and gives the recruiter a better idea if the candidate truly knows what they are talking about.  Using something as subjective as graphology can be hard to validate whereas job knowledge is easy.  However, the recruiter must make sure the questions really are related to the job and not a way to discriminate against a protected class. 

Ana Mendiola

1. Why do managers often prefer an unstructured interview to a structured interview? How would you convince the managers of the importance of implementing a structured interview?

Unstructured interviews are usually personable, there is no script and interviewers ask what they feel is appropriate, there is no scoring, no set questions, and usually not job related. This allows the interviewers to feel as they are good judges of character and without knowing it, it makes them bias. Structured interviews have a set of standardize questions, that are not personal and are solely job related. These questions are scored, and the candidate is given a score based on how they fare within the job they are applying. Managers prefer unstructured interviews because it allows to be themselves and they believe that based on their experience they can hire the best candidate by simply conversing with them. “An interview can be considered effective on the basis of four main criteria: 1) validity, 2) reliability, 3) compliance with the law and the organization’s policies, as well as legal defensibility, and 4) candidates’ reaction” (Pettersen, Durivage, 2008). Based on the interview criteria, the structure interview presents the best option to hire the best candidate. I would speak to the managers and explain to them the reasoning behind it and the organization goal is to find the best candidate based on 4 main criteria’s and while using an unstructured interview, is convenient, it may not be the most reliable one.