SOAL-SOAL PSIKOLOGI INDUSTRI DAN ORGANISASI
Pertemuan 3 & 4:
Recruitment
1. Why do you think most college graduates do not stay long in their first job? What role
might company recruiters play in that dissatisfaction?
a. Two-thirds of graduating seniors do not expect to stay with their first employer
more than two years.
b. Reasons for dissatisfaction:
i. Job may be different from what they were told by the recruiter.
ii. They did not know themselves very well.
iii. They were socially unsuited.
2. How do a new graduate’s work goals and preferences influence the level of satisfaction
and commitment he or she finds in a new job?
a. Workers who were more committed to personal work goals or preferences before
being hired report higher job satisfaction and commitment. Those who believe
they can achieve their career goals in a job have higher commitment.
b. Internal factors include preferences for work and expectations about the
organization.
c. External factors include type of recruiting and amount of information available.
3. How have on-line recruiting, applications, testing, and interviewing affected job search
behavior? Do you prefer online applications and interviews or the more traditional inperson approach? Why?
a. Online recruiting is increasingly popular.
b. It lags behind networking, personal contacts, professional recruiters, and
headhunters in effectiveness.
c. Complaints include: slow feedback, insufficient follow-up, and lack of useful
company information.
4. What are realistic job previews? How do they help both applicants and companies?
a. Realistic job previews acquaint prospective employees with positive and negative
aspects of the job.
b. This practice should reduce overly optimistic job expectations and increase
commitment and satisfaction.
c. While fewer people might apply, the “goodness of fit” should increase and
turnover decrease.
5. How does the selection ratio affect recruitment and hiring decisions?
a. Selection ratio is the relationship between the number of people to be hired and
the number who are available to be hired.
b. The potential labor supply directly affects the strictness of the requirements
established for the job.
6. Describe how the concept of adverse impact can influence the hiring of minority group
applicants. How might reverse discrimination influence the hiring of majority-group
applicants?
a. Adverse impact can reduce the hiring of minority applicants.
b. Reverse discrimination can reduce the opportunities of members of the majority
group in favor of the minority group, without regard to qualifications other than
group membership.
7. What is the effect of ethnic diversity in the workplace on recruiting of minority applicants
and on the financial status of the employing organization?
a. Ethnic diversity of a workforce makes it easier to recruit minority applicants,
especially if the management force is also diverse.
b. Ethnic diversity increases the quality of decision-making, increases stock prices
and return on equity.
8. What forms of discrimination, other than racial prejudice, are still found in the
workplace? How might these effects be reduced?
a. There are other forms of discrimination: older workers, workers with disabilities,
women workers, sexual orientation, physical attractiveness, height.
b. Effects of discrimination might be reduced through lawful affirmative action
programs, education and training, reasonable accommodation for disabilities, and
enhanced recruiting budget to increase the number of available qualified minority
applicants.
9. Describe the basic techniques of job analysis.
a. Job analysis is the study of a job to describe in specific terms the nature of the
component tasks performed by the workers.
b. Techniques include:
i. Referring to previously conducted analyses (through O*NET)
ii. Interviews
iii. Questionnaires
iv. Observation
v. Activity logs
vi. Critical incidents
10. Distinguish between job analysis and work analysis. Describe the role of O*NET in
conducting such analyses.
a. Work analysis is the study of specific tasks and worker skills that can be
transferred from one job to another, while the job analysis focuses on the
description of the component tasks performed by the workers.
b. The O*NET provides the following information on each job in its data base:
person requirements, person characteristics, experience requirements, job
requirements, and labor market conditions.
11. What are the advantages and disadvantages of biographical inventories? Why are they
rarely used?
a. The biographical inventory is a technique for collecting biodata. It’s a more
systematized form of application blank. Properly developed biographical
inventories show high predictive value.
b. Criticisms include the resource intensive nature of its development. Faking is
possible. Many managers are unaware of its benefits.
12. Distinguish between unstructured, structured, and situational interviews. Which approach
is the least valid for predicting job success? Which is the most frequently used?
a. The unstructured interview leaves format and questions to the discretion of the
interviewer. This is the most frequently used and least valid method of
interviewing.
b. The structured interview uses a predetermined list of questions asked of every
candidate. The applicants’ responses are recorded, scored, and compared. They
can be as valid as cognitive ability tests.
c. The situational interview focuses on the behaviors needed for successful
performance of a specific job. It is prepared from a list of critical incidents that
are benchmarked and rephrased as interview questions. It is most useful in
selecting semi-skilled and skilled factory workers, and first line supervisors.
13. What are two types of impression management? How do they differ from the idea of
“self-monitoring”?
a. Two types of impression management are ingratiation and self-promotion.
b. Self-monitoring refers to the extent to which people observe, regulate, and control
the images of themselves they choose to display in a public setting such as a job
interview.
14. How are the questions used in situational interviews developed? How do situational
interviews differ from behavior description interviews?
a. The questions used in situational interviews are developed from critical incidents,
which are benchmarked, and rephrased as interview questions. The focus is on
behaviors critical for job success or failure.
b. Behavior description interviews ask applicants to relate actual events from their
past work experience that might be relevant to the job for which they are
applying.
15. What factors can influence an interviewer’s judgment about a job applicant? Define the
contrast effect. Define the halo effect.
a. The interviewer’s judgment can be influenced by prior information, the contrast
effect, and personal prejudices.
b. The contrast effect influences how an individual applicant is rated compared
against those immediately preceding him/her in the interview. The rating is
relative to the specific standards of comparison.
c. The halo effect is the phenomenon of generalizing from one trait or characteristic
to the entire person in a positive or negative direction.
16. What is the major problem with obtaining references and letters of recommendation for
job applicants? If you were an employer, how would you deal with this issue?
a. Most references and recommendations are positively biased, in part because of a
fear of law suits, but also because of the self-selecting nature of the process.
b. As an employer, these letters/references should be checked both for truthfulness,
but also to generate issues for discussion in the interview. The lawfully safe
approach is, if called regarding an employee (past or present), a company should
only confirm employment, job, dates of employment, and salary. Consider
requiring employees to sign a release statement.
17. When were assessment centers first used in the United States? For what purpose were
they devised?
a. They were devised by the German Army during World War I for officer selection
purposes.
b. They were first used by the OSS during World War II.
18. Describe two major techniques used in assessment centers.
a. The in-basket technique is an assessment center exercise that requires job
applicants to process memos, letters, and directives found in a typical manager’s
in-basket.
b. In the leaderless group discussion, applicants meet as a group to discuss an actual
business problem. As the meeting proceeds, the candidates are observed to see
how they interact and what leadership and communications skills each possess.
19. Are assessment centers useful predictors of job performance at all levels? Why do some
candidates resent assessment-center evaluations?
a. Assessment centers can be a highly valid predictor of job success.
b. It may be a more equitable means for evaluating talent, although it is biased
toward those who are active and forceful, and with strong interpersonal skills.