Employee Selection

Selection Instruments

Most organizations have a goal of identifying the best candidate or a capable candidate and use some sort of tool to help them evaluate a candidate and make decisions about whom to select. These tools may be what industrial psychologists consider a test, an objective and standardized sample of behavior. Generally, these would include traditional standardized paper-and-pencil tests or computer-administered tests, work samples, simulations, interviews, biographical data forms, personality instruments, assessment centers, and individual evaluations. However, many organizations collect information using tools that would not normally be considered tests, because the processes or instruments are either not objective or not standardized. Examples include résumé reviews, educational requirements, experience requirements, license or certification requirements, background investigations, physical requirements, assessments of past job performance, and interest inventories.

Selection procedures should measure job-related knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs). The KSAOs measured depend on the job requirements and the tasks performed by the job incumbents. Typically, selection procedures used in business settings include measures of cognitive abilities (e.g., math, reading, problem solving, reasoning), noncognitive abilities (e.g., team orientation, service orientation), personality (e.g., conscientiousness, agreeableness), skills (e.g., electrical wiring, business writing), or knowledge (e.g., accounting rules, employment laws). Selection procedures that involve assessments of education and experience are generally used as proxies to assess knowledge and skill in a particular area. For example, a college degree in accounting and 5 years of experience as an accountant may suggest that an individual has a particular level of knowledge and skill in the accounting field.

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