CHAPTER 5: EXPANDING THE TALENT POOL RECRUITMENT AND CAREERS

ABC Corporation needs a new CEO. What is an important advantage of getting this person externally? (A) It helps to promote outbreeding. (B) It helps the organization maintain a rich organizational culture. (C) It helps to lower initial pay, thus saving on compensation costs. (D) It helps the organization gain access to knowledge from previous employers.

It helps the organization gain access to knowledge from previous employers.

Which of the following is NOT a method generally used to improve the effectiveness of recruitment? (A) surveys (B) yield ratios (C) realistic job previews (D) employment testing

employment testing

Trade schools can be a good source for recruits for what types of positions? (A) entrepreneurial and managerial (B) managerial and executive (C) entrepreneurial and executive (D) entry level and highly skilled employees

entry level and highly skilled employees

Sarah is not actively looking for a job but she could be persuaded to take a new job if given the right opportunity. What is the term we used to describe Sarah? (A) reluctant candidate (B) job hopper (C) passive job seeker (D) active job seeker

passive job seeker

What is the first stage in the career stage model? (A) early childhood (B) organizational entry (C) preparation for work (D) early career

preparation for work

In identifying career opportunities and requirements within an organization, what is the vital first step? (A) preparing a competency or job analysis (B) preparing performance appraisals of existing staff in those positions (C) ensuring the job progressions within the organization are clear (D) identifying career paths

preparing a competency or job analysis

Which of the following sources of applicants is associated with temporary employees more than the other sources? (A) search firms (B) walk-ins (C) private employment agencies (D) job fairs

private employment agencies

What is the key reason why the quality of employee-referred applicants tends to be high? (A) Employees are hesitant to recommend applicants who might not perform well. (B) Employees train the applicants. (C) Employees tend to refer their friends and relatives. (D) Inbreeding improves the quality.

Employees are hesitant to recommend applicants who might not perform well.

Which of the following groups is most likely to respond to advertisements placed through social media? (A) Generation X (B) Generation Y (C) retirees (D) baby boomers

Generation Y

Learning in Development (LID) is a high-tech firm that specializes in applications for hand-held devices. It is looking for a cheap, fast, and effective way of recruiting new candidates. Which strategy would best suit LID? (A) Internet recruiting (B) executive search firms (C) labour unions (D) walk-in job applicants

Internet recruiting

Which of the following is a potential limitation when an organization practises promotion from within? (A) "inbreeding" (B) increased cost-per-hire by using the firm's job posting system (C) reduced employee morale (D) increased employee turnover

"inbreeding"

Luba is developing a mentoring program for her organization. She has put a great deal of effort into making sure that all protégés are matched demographically with their mentor (gender, race, etc.), educating participants about facts such as the reciprocal nature of the relationship, and that the relationship can be used for personal and professional development. In her plans, which myth about mentors has Luba fallen victim to? (A) A mentor has to be the same gender and race as the protégé. (B) Mentoring should focus on the professional and not the personal. (C) Although mentoring can be reciprocal, that is just a by-product. The focus should be on the protégé. (D) Highly profiled people make the best mentors.

A mentor has to be the same gender and race as the protégé.

Which of the following is an important limitation of using educational institutions for recruitment? (A) The education students receive is not relevant to the workplace. (B) Basing recruitment of candidates on grade transcripts is not a valid selection tool. (C) Recruitment is limited to sales and retail. (D) Candidates generally have limited full-time job experience.

Candidates generally have limited full-time job experience.

Which of the following is the most important disadvantage of using employee referrals for recruitment? (A) It makes human resource planning near impossible due to the unpredictable nature of the talent pool. (B) Training recruiters to recognize potential in candidates in this way is difficult and costly. (C) Discrimination may result because people tend to refer others from similar backgrounds. (D) It is likely that individuals will refer weak candidates in order to lessen internal competition for promotions.

Discrimination may result because people tend to refer others from similar backgrounds.

What is the most likely outcome of recruiting from within? (A) It would increase recruiting costs. (B) It would reduce employee motivation. (C) It would inhibit creativity. (D) It would increase an organization's technology.

It would inhibit creativity.

What is the most likely outcome of hiring an external candidate for a position in an organization? (A) It would lead to an increase in information about the market. (B) It would increase morale among executives. (C) It would lead to revitalization of the organization. (D) It would decrease creativity.

It would lead to revitalization of the organization.

Which of the following is the best example of a person with a boundaryless career? (A) When Deborah become pregnant with her third child, she decided that working less would be best for her family. She now shares her job with another person who also works part-time. (B) Yusef quit his job of 10 years to open his own business and work from home. He has the freedom of being his own boss and being flexible with his schedule. (C) Bill works in a creative role within an organization with a flat structure. In such an organization there are opportunities to contribute at all levels. (D) Sally has worked for three different organizations in five years. Each time she moves to a new organization, and usually a higher position, she takes with her the skills and abilities she learned in her previous role.

Sally has worked for three different organizations in five years. Each time she moves to a new organization, and usually a higher position, she takes with her the skills and abilities she learned in her previous role.

What is often the greatest criticism of search firms? (A) They allow for too much "inbreeding." (B) Their clients have to pay them even if the search is unsuccessful. (C) Their search is not sufficiently wide. (D) They attract too many lawsuits.

Their clients have to pay them even if the search is unsuccessful.

Which of the following best describes outplacement services? (A) They are useful methods of attracting individuals into a career. (B) They are designed to help terminated employees find a job elsewhere. (C) They are rarely given to executive employees. (D) They are vital parts of any career management system.

They are designed to help terminated employees find a job elsewhere.

Hamid is a professional engineer. He is not permanently in a management role, but is paid at management rate, and can choose to take up management roles without sacrificing his engineering role. How would you describe his career path? (A) complex career path (B) boundaryless career path (C) dual career path (D) divergent career path

dual career path

Which of the following best describes private employment agencies? (A) They commonly provide services only to college graduates. (B) They do not charge a fee for their services. (C) They are administered through the provincial governments. (D) They commonly specialize in providing services for a specific occupational area.

They commonly specialize in providing services for a specific occupational area.

If you are to offer advice to an employer for an effective newspaper advertisement, which of the following is NOT something that you should advise? (A) Overlook community newspapers or classified publications that target a specific market segment. (B) Try to be too creative. (C) Provide a lot of information about the position. (D) Mention that the company is an equal opportunity employer.

Try to be too creative.

Sukhi is an excellent engineer and has been promoted three times within her current organization-she is now at the top level of engineering. She loves being an engineer, but the organization has now offered her a very lucrative position as a manager. If she wants to continue to be promoted, the only way is to move into management, since there are no higher engineering jobs for her. Which of the following programs would benefit Sukhi? (A) a boundaryless career (B) competency analysis (C) dual career tracking (D) a structural career plateau

dual career tracking

Which of the following best captures the "Peter Principle"? (A) Through natural selection, incompetent employees tend to turn over. (B) When promoting based on past performance and seniority, employees will be promoted regularly until they are promoted to a position where they cannot perform well. (C) Incompetence breeds incompetence. (D) Managers who are incompetent tend to produce situations where there are more grievances, more voluntary turnover, more absenteeism, and more harassment.

When promoting based on past performance and seniority, employees will be promoted regularly until they are promoted to a position where they cannot perform well.

In order to identify qualified candidates for the job of "tennis teaching professional," Canmay Tennis Clubs have job candidates face a series of situations while they are observed, such as dealing with a series of emails from an unhappy club client in a difficult situation, role-playing a lesson, and a behavioural interview. Which method of identifying qualified candidates is Canmay using? (A) in-basket exercises (B) interviewing (C) a work sample (D) an assessment centre

an assessment centre

Which external recruiting source normally provides applicants who stay with the organization the longest? (A) newspaper ads (B) search firms (C) job fairs (D) employee referrals

employee referrals

Which recruitment method is more likely than the others to result in discrimination against members of protected groups? (A) executive search firms (B) social media (C) employee referrals (D) educational institutions

employee referrals

Organization W has had an opening in a key managerial role for three weeks, which is viewed as a long time. In situations like this in the past, Organization W has had to resort to hiring external to the organization, which is less preferable to the company, in order to fill the position in question. What is Organization W likely suffering from? (A) poor HR planning (B) a weak training and development program in the organization (C) a weak talent bench (D) a lack of value for promotions in the organization

a weak talent bench

Star Bright Consulting, a Canadian private employment agency specializing in IT staffing, has been successfully providing qualified IT employees to various firms in the Greater Toronto Area. Recently, the agency has been experiencing problems with its selection process. Primarily, the agency's clients are not happy with the length of time it takes to fill positions that become available. Even though Star Bright has been successful over the years, it is not fully leveraging technology to aid in its recruitment and selection efforts. Which of the following can be used to speed up the recruitment process while providing valuable information such as time and costs related to hiring? (A) quality of fill statistics (B) online software application (C) leveraging technology (D) applicant tracking system

applicant tracking system

When Mary was recruited for her position, she was evaluated in a series of situations that resembled what she would likely experience on the job. Which recruitment method was the employer using? (A) skills inventory (B) management talent inventory (C) assessment centre (D) performance appraisal

assessment centre

Beloitte Industries Inc. (BI Inc.) has been one of Canada's leading financial advisory firms for over 50 years. Staffed by roughly 4000 employees in most major cities across the country, BI Inc. prides itself on hiring recent graduates from renowned business schools and offering them competitive salaries, excellent benefits and perks, and limitless training and development opportunities. Employees also have the opportunity to work from home a couple days a week. Over the years, the company realized that while it has no problems recruiting top candidates to the firm, it is having a harder time retaining them. Exit surveys reveal that while employees appreciate all the perks, benefits, and top salaries that attracted them to the organization, they are not able to enjoy them due to six-day workweeks and 14-hour days, leaving very little time for friends and family. They did not know of these work situations when they were hired. Adopting a realistic job preview at BI Inc. can lead to which of the following? (A) turnover of employees who are more driven by the money (B) better job satisfaction and lower turnover (C) inaccurately reflecting the culture for which the candidate is signing up (D) negative effect on the socialization process

better job satisfaction and lower turnover

Star Bright Consulting, a Canadian private employment agency specializing in IT staffing, has been successfully providing qualified IT employees to various firms in the Greater Toronto Area. Recently, the agency has been experiencing problems with its selection process. Primarily, the agency's clients are not happy with the length of time it takes to fill positions that become available. Even though Star Bright has been successful over the years, it is not fully leveraging technology to aid in its recruitment and selection efforts. Which of the following tools can Star Bright use to promote the IT careers it offers? (A) blogs and articles in industry publications (B) chat lines in cyberspace (C) an intranet where positions can be quickly viewed and applied for (D) links to current employees' Facebook profiles

blogs and articles in industry publications

Linda has advanced through several roles with increasing responsibilities at ABC Corporation, including HR assistant, HR generalist, and HR manager. What is the term for this line of advancement? (A) line path (B) career line (C) job line progression (D) career path

career path

Which of the following is NOT a service generally offered by public employment agencies? (A) compensation surveys (B) evaluation programs (C) employment testing (D) apprenticeship programs

compensation surveys

ABC Corporation identifies the top 10 of its junior engineers and allows them to select a top executive to work with on their career development, including goals, expectations, and standards. How would you describe the resulting relationship between the executive and the junior engineer? (A) formal mentoring (B) controlled development (C) dual career planning (D) career networking

formal mentoring

Which of the following positions would most likely be filled by external candidates? (A) intermediate IT technicians (B) senior accounting clerks (C) supervisors (D) head coaches of professional sports teams

head coaches of professional sports teams

Which organizational situation is most likely to benefit from using realistic job previews? (A) in the financial industry where there are few jobs but the training is arduous and jobs are not very lucrative despite the promise of wealth in the long run (B) in creative organizations, such as symphony orchestras, where the work is not well paid and the training is intense (C) in a high-tech organization where despite being in a very competitive industry engineers are allowed to explore their creative side and are motivated financially to suggest innovative products (D) in a meat-processing plant where the work is very messy, the smell is strong and unpleasant, and a lot of expensive training is needed to do the job well

in a meat-processing plant where the work is very messy, the smell is strong and unpleasant, and a lot of expensive training is needed to do the job well

Which of the following is a characteristic of a tight labour market? (A) high unemployment (B) low unemployment (C) declining compensation rates (D) low productivity

low unemployment

What is a key factor in the success of any employee referral program? (A) measuring results (B) paying employees well for good referrals (C) increasing the visibility of the program (D) ensuring nepotism

measuring results

What is the practice of hiring relatives called? (A) insourcing (B) nepotism (C) favouritism (D) inbreeding

nepotism

Beloitte Industries Inc. (BI Inc.) has been one of Canada's leading financial advisory firms for over 50 years. Staffed by roughly 4000 employees in most major cities across the country, BI Inc. prides itself on hiring recent graduates from renowned business schools and offering them competitive salaries, excellent benefits and perks, and limitless training and development opportunities. Employees also have the opportunity to work from home a couple days a week. Over the years, the company realized that while it has no problems recruiting top candidates to the firm, it is having a harder time retaining them. Exit surveys reveal that while employees appreciate all the perks, benefits, and top salaries that attracted them to the organization, they are not able to enjoy them due to six-day workweeks and 14-hour days, leaving very little time for friends and family. They did not know of these work situations when they were hired. BI Inc.'s problems stem from which of the following? (A) not providing all the realities of the job when hiring (B) lack of flexibility for employees (C) too many unexpected surprises (D) providing unrealistic rewards

not providing all the realities of the job when hiring

Which of the following is NOT a factor included in a self-evaluation for successful career development? (A) your interests (B) academic achievement (C) academic aptitude (D) organizational opportunities for advancement

organizational opportunities for advancement

Sandeep has been fired from his managerial position. His organization provides services to help him become employable and find a suitable position elsewhere. What are these services called? (A) coaching (B) mentoring (C) outplacement (D) relocation

outplacement

Beloitte Industries Inc. (BI Inc.) has been one of Canada's leading financial advisory firms for over 50 years. Staffed by roughly 4000 employees in most major cities across the country, BI Inc. prides itself on hiring recent graduates from renowned business schools and offering them competitive salaries, excellent benefits and perks, and limitless training and development opportunities. Employees also have the opportunity to work from home a couple days a week. Over the years, the company realized that while it has no problems recruiting top candidates to the firm, it is having a harder time retaining them. Exit surveys reveal that while employees appreciate all the perks, benefits, and top salaries that attracted them to the organization, they are not able to enjoy them due to six-day workweeks and 14-hour days, leaving very little time for friends and family. They did not know of these work situations when they were hired. Which of the following is helpful in achieving retention at BI Inc.? (A) highlighting only the positive aspects of the job when hiring (B) not providing a tour of the working facility during the recruitment process (C) providing a recruitment package that covers desirable and undesirable attributes (D) discussion of how to compensate for any negative consideration

providing a recruitment package that covers desirable and undesirable attributes

Company A sometimes recruits employees from its network of past employees/alumni. What is this process called? (A) retiree recruiting (B) re-recruiting (C) network recruiting (D) employee leasing

re-recruiting

Star Bright Consulting, a Canadian private employment agency specializing in IT staffing, has been successfully providing qualified IT employees to various firms in the Greater Toronto Area. Recently, the agency has been experiencing problems with its selection process. Primarily, the agency's clients are not happy with the length of time it takes to fill positions that become available. Even though Star Bright has been successful over the years, it is not fully leveraging technology to aid in its recruitment and selection efforts. Which of the following is not useful in assisting Star Bright with efforts to improve its recruitment and selection process? (A) yield ratio (B) time to fill a position (C) realistic job preview (D) cost per hire

realistic job preview

When Mark applied for a job as an engineer in a small town in Northern Canada, he was told that the pay was good, but that it can be very lonely and cold in the winter. Which of the following approaches to recruiting is the employer using? (A) realistic job preview (B) balanced scorecard (C) balanced recruiting (D) negative/positive job assessment

realistic job preview

Some organizations that want to focus on their core functions, including small businesses that lack time or HR personnel, sometimes use outside firms for their recruiting functions. What is this process called? (A) delegation of recruiting (B) core function planning (C) recruitment channelling (D) recruiting process outsourcing

recruiting process outsourcing

What determines the effectiveness of a computerized record system (such as SAP and PeopleSoft) for locating qualified internal job candidates? (A) the extent to which data in the system is kept current (B) the extent to which the system is "user-friendly" (C) the costs for updating the system (D) the availability of the system to line personnel

the extent to which data in the system is kept current

Which of the following refers to those artificial barriers based on attitudinal or organizational bias that prevent qualified individuals from advancing upward in their organizations into management positions? (A) artificial barriers (B) the glass floor (C) the job plateau (D) the glass ceiling

the glass ceiling