PSYCH180 Chapter 4 (Employee Selection: Recruiting and Interviewing)

noncompetitive promotions

"career progression" positions, get position with gains in experience and knowledge

when is an employment agency useful?

1. HR department is too busy 2. no one has skills/experience needed to select employees

ways to conduct job fairs

1. many organizations have booths at same location 2. many organizations in same field in one location 3. organization holds own job fair

cover letter paragraphs

1. opening, saying 1. resume is enclosed, 2. name of job you are applying for, 3. how you know about job opening 2. why you are qualified 3. why you are interested in company 4. closes letter, how you can be reached

types of ads

1. respond by calling 2. apply in person ads 3. send resume ads 4. blind box

parts of the cover letter

1. salutation 2. paragraphs 3. signature

expectation-lowering procedure (ELP)

a form of RJP that lowers an applicant's expectations about the various aspects of the job

resumes

a formal summary of an applicant's professional and educational background, but may not predict performance

cover letters

a letter that accompanies a resume or job application

face to face interviews

both interviewer and applicant in same room, personal setting, participants can use both visual and vocal cues

interviewer-interviewee similarity

interviewee usually receives higher score if they are similar to interviewer in personality, attitude, gender, race

poor intuitive ability

interviewers often base hiring decisions on "gut reactions" or intuition, but intuition and clinical judgment are inaccurate predictors

videoconference interviews

interviews conducted at remote sites

structured interview

interviews in which questions are based on a 1. job analysis, 2. every applicant is asked the same questions, and there is a 3. standardized scoring system so that identical answers are given identical scores

group interviews

multiple applicants answering questions during same interview

organizational-fit questions

a type of structure-interview question that taps how well an applicant's personality and values will fit with the organizational culture

skill-level determiner

a type of structured interview question designed to tap an applicant's knowledge or skill

disqualifier

a type of structured interview question in which a wrong answer will disqualify the applicant from further consideration

future-focused question

a type of structured interview question in which applicants are given a situation and asked how they would handle it

clarifier

a type of structured interview question that clarifies information on the resume or application

past-focused question

a type of structured-interview question that taps an applicant's experience

public employment agencies

an employment service operated by a state or local gov., designed to match applicants with job openings, no cost to applicants

unstructured interview

an interview in which applicants are not asked the same questions and in which there is no standard scoring system to score applicant answers

employment agency

an organization that specializes in finding jobs for applicants and finding applicants for organizations looking for employees, operates by 1. charging company or 2. applicant when applicant takes job, but company loses some control over recruitment

written interviews

applicant answers series of written questions and send answers to interviewers

psychological resume format

begins with summary of strengths, relevant education/experience information, including positive unusual information when possible, lists only the best positive activities and accomplishments

campus recruiters

behaviour and attitude of recruiters influence applicant decisions to accept job offer, but expensive

executive search firms

employment agencies, often also called headhunters, that specialize in placing applicants in high-paying jobs, private -> profit, public -> strictly non-profit

differences between employment agencies and search firms

executive search firms 1. represent higher-paying, non-entry level positions 2. always charge fees to organizations, not applicants 3. fees charged tend to be ~30% of applicant's first-year salary

nonverbal communication

factors such as eye contact and posture that are not associated with actual words spoken, affects unstructured interviews

interviewee appearance

in general, physically attractive applicants and those who dress professionally have an advantage, extends to weight

point of purchase methods

job vacancy notices posted where customers or current employees are likely to see them, are inexpensive and targeted at frequent visitors, but have limited exposure ex. receipts, paper placemats

special recruit populations

many organizations make special efforts to recruit underrepresented groups such as women and minorities

lack of job relatedness

most common questions asked by interviewers are not job related and so do not predict future employee performance; some questions asked are illegal

panel interviews

multiple interviewers asking questions and evaluating answers of the same applicant at the same time

interview style

number of interviewees and number of interviewers

telephone interviews

often used to screen applicants, do not allow use of visual cues

one on one interviews

one interviewer interviewing one applicant

employer-based websites

organization lists avail. job openings and provides info about itself and min. reqs. needed for job

job board

private company's website lists job openings for hundreds or thousands of organizations and resumes for millions of applicants, advantage is cost and reaches larger demographic

right/wrong approach

questions that can be scored simply on basis of whether answer was correct/incorrect; may disqualify candidate

advantages of electronic media

reaches many audiences, Americans watch 3.7 hrs TV and listen to radio 2.3 hrs a day

recruiting passive applicants

recruiters try to find ways to identify hidden talent and convince the person to apply for a job with their company

external recruitment

recruiting employees from outside the organization

internal recruitment

recruiting employees from outside the organization

respond by calling

recruitment ads in which applicants are instructed to call rather than to apply in person or send resumes

send resume ads

recruitment ads in which applicants are instructed to send their resume to the company rather than call or apply in person

apply in person ads

recruitment ads that instruct applicants to apply in person rather than to call or send resumes

blind box

recruitment ads that instruct applicants to send their resume to a box at the newspaper; neither name or address of company is provided

serial interviews

series of single interviews

competitive promotions

several applicants compete for a limited number of high positions

return interviews

similar to serial interviews, passing of time between first and subsequent interview

benchmark answers

standard answers to interview questions, the quality of which has been agreed on by job experts, increasing number to a question increases reliability

cost per applicant

the amount of money spent on a recruitment campaign divided by the number of people that subsequently apply for jobs as a result of the recruitment campaign

cost per qualified applicant

the amount of money spent on a recruitment campaign divided by the number of qualified people that subsequently apply for jobs as a result of the recruitment campaign

primacy effect

the fact that information presented early in an interview carries more weight than information presented later

negative information bias

the fact that negative information receives more weight in an employment decision than does positive information, occurs when interviewers aren't aware of job requirements

applicant yield

the number of applicants through a certain recruitment method

recruitment

the process of attracting employees to an organization

contrast effect

when the performance of one applicant affects the perception of the performance of the next applicant

nontraditional populations

when traditional recruitment methods are unsuccessful, many organizations look for potential applicants from non-traditional populations

surviving the interview

1. scheduling the interview 2. before the interview 3. during the interview 4. after the interview

factors of interviews

1. structure 2. style 3. medium

evaluating recruitment effectiveness

1. time to fill position 2. retention rates 3. cost per hire 4. number of applicants 5. job performance of new hires 6. EEO/diversity impact

characteristics of selective employee selection techniques

1. valid 2. reduce chance of legal challenge 3. cost-effective

evaluating the effectiveness of recruitment strategies

1. applicant yield 2. cost per applicant 3. cost per qualified applicant 4. number of qualified applicants 5. number of successful employees generated by each recruitment source 6. number of minorities and women that applied for the job and were hired

positive verbal behaviours

1. asking questions 2. pointing out similarity to interviewer 3. not asking about salary 5. not speaking slowly 6. not hesitating

characteristics of effective resumes

1. attractive and easy to read 2. no typing, spelling, grammatical, or factual mistakes 3. should make applicant as qualified as possible without lying

steps for structured interview

1. build rapport with applicant 2. explain process and set agenda for interview 3. ask interview questions, scoring answers after they are given 4. provide info about job and organization 5. answer questions from applicant

recruiters

1. campus recruiters 2. outside recruiters

types of resumes

1. chronological 2. functional 3. psychological

types of interview questions

1. clarifier 2. disqualifier 3. skill-level determiner 4. future-focused question 5. situational question 6. past-focused questions

determining KSAOs to tap in interview

1. conduct job analysis 2. write job description 3. determine best way to measure applicant's ability to perform tasks identified in job analysis

best way to write recruitment ads

1. contain realistic info about job 2. contain detailed descriptions of job and organization 3. contain info about selection process

creating a structured interview

1. determine KSAOs to tap in interview 2. creating interview questions 3. creating a scoring key for interview answers

internet

1. employer-based websites 2. job boards

interview mediums

1. face to face interviews 2. telephone interviews 3. videoconference interviews 4. written interviews

positive nonverbal behaviours

1. firm handshake 2. eye contact 3. smiling 4. head nodding

effective recruitment method characteristics

1. get attention of public 2. screen/filter unqualified applicants 3. motivate qualified people to apply 4. be cost effective and timely

interview structure

1. highly structured (3/3) (more reliable) 2. moderately structured (2/3) 3. slightly structured (1/3) 4. unstructured (0/3)

views of resumes

1. history of your life 2. advertisement of your skills (more common)

characteristics of valid selection test

1. job analysis (content validity) 2. predicts work-related behaviour (criterion validity) 3. measures the construct it purports to measure (construct validity) 4. job related (face validity) 5. don't invade applicant privacy 6. adverse impact is minimized

advantages of structured interviews

1. job relatedness 2. standardized scoring 3. valid 4. viewed more favourably by courts due to 1. based on job analysis, 2. substantially less adverse impact

recruitment methods

1. media advertisements 2. point of purchase methods 3. recruiters 4. employment agencies and search firms 5. employee referrals 6. direct mail 7. Internet 8. social media 9. job fairs 10. special recruit populations 11. nontraditional populations 12. recruiting "passive" applicants

benefits of employee referrals

1. more likely to be hired 2. longer tenure

types of promotions

1. noncompetitive 2. competitive

how to improve interview scores

1. obtain training on how to interview 2. practicing interviewing skills to reduce anxiety

types of interview styles

1. one-on-one interviews 2. serial interviews 3. return interviews 4. panel interviews 5. group interviews

reasons for blind box

1. organization doesn't want name in public 2. people may not apply if they know name of company 3. company may need to terminate employee and want to find replacement first

problems with unstructured interviews

1. poor intuitive ability 2. lack of job relatedness 3. primacy and contrast effects 4. negative-information bias 5. interviewer-interviewee similarity 6. interviewee appearance 7. nonverbal cues 8. range restriction (eg. leniency, severity, central tendency)

why are inside sources superior for recruiting?

1. rehires or applicants referred by other employees receive more accurate info about the job 2. differences in effectiveness are result of different recruitment sources reaching and being used by different types of applicants 3. employee referrals result in greater tenure 4. long-tenured employees referred applicants stayed on their jobs longer than applicants referred by short-tenured employees

creating a scoring key for interview answers

1. right/wrong approach 2. typical-answer approach 3. key-issues approach

situational question

a structured interview technique in which applicants are presented with a series of situations and asked how they would handle each one

virtual job fair

a job fair held on campus in which students can "tour" a company online, ask questions of recruiters, and electronically send resumes

employee referral

a method of recruitment in which a current employee refers a friend or family member for a job, most effective recruitment method

direct mail

a method of recruitment in which an organization sends out mass mailings of information about job openings to potential applicants, useful for positions involving specialized skills

realistic job preview (RJP)

a method of recruitment in which job applicants are told both the positive and the negative aspects of a job, makes applicants tend to stay on the job longer

typical-answer approach

a method of scoring interview answers that compares an applicant's answer with benchmark answers

key-issues approach

a method of scoring interview answers that provides points for each part of an answer that matches the scoring key, is appropriate to evaluate applicant's nonverbal cues, especially when job involves interpersonal skills

employment interview

a method of selecting employees in which an interviewer asks questions of an applicant and then makes an employment decision based on the answers to the questions as well as the way in which the question were answered

averaging vs. adding model

a model proposed by Anderson that postulates our impressions are based more on the average value of each impression than on the sum of the values for each impression

job fairs

a recruitment method in which several employers are available at one location so that many applicants can obtain information at one time

functional resume

a resume format in which jobs are grouped by function rather than listed in order by date

chronological resume

a resume in which jobs are listed in order from most to least recent

psychological resume

a resume style that takes advantage of psychological principles pertaining to memory organization and impression formation, including priming, primacy, short-term memory limits

patterned-behaviour description (PBDI)

a structured interview in which the questions focus on behaviour in previous jobs