History
 Interestingly, the term “industrial psychology” was seldom
used prior to World War I
IO name
 Economic psychology
 Business psychology
 Employment psychology
The 1880’s
 The University of Pennsylvania received a donation from
Joseph Wharton
Joseph Wharton to start researches and studies revolving
I/O psychology
 He encouraged psychologists to conduct research on
W.L. Bryan
“concrete activities and functions as they appear in
everyday life”.
2 events that is believed to have started the beginning of I/O Psychology
 Theory of Advertising (1903)
 Increasing Human Efficiency in Business (1911)
 First to apply psychology to advertising, employee
selection, & management
Walter Dill Scott
 Scott is known in the industry for being the first to
articulate selection and recruitment factors that included
appearance and character.
 Formed first consulting company in Industrial Psychology
(Scott Company)
 Psychology and the Market
 Allowed psychology to branch to different fields such
as advertising, guidance, personal management,
mental testing, motivation and stress.
 Psychology and Industrial Efficiency (1910)
Hugo Munsterberg
 In 1913 it was translated to English
 It tackled principles on selection of employees, work
efficiency, as evidence in his many researches that
correlated mental abilities with such factors
 Forerunner of applying psychological findings to real life
situations.
Continuation of History
World War I
Robert Yerkes
 Army Alpha test – Used for recruits who could read
 Army Beta test – For recruits who could not read.
John Watson
Developed perceptual and motor tests for potential pilots
Responsible for increasing the efficiency with which cargo ships
Henry Grant
were built, repaired, and loaded
1920
 Created a 150-item knowledge test that he administered
Thomas Edison
to over 900 applicants.
 Passing score were so difficult that only 5% of the
applicants passed.
First scientists to improve productivity and reduce fatigue by
studying the motions used by workers.
 Foot-pedal trash cans and shelves in refrigerator doors
 Cheaper by the Dozen
Hawthorne Studies
 In 1924, Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric
Company studied effects of work environment on
employee efficiency.
 Major contribution was that it inspired psychologists to
increase their focus on human relations in the workplace
and to explore the effects of employee attitudes
 “Beyond Freedom and Dignity” where he talked about
behavior modification methods in motivating people.
Frank Gilbreth and Lillian Moller
Gilbreth
Elton Mayo and Fritz
Roethlisberger
B.F. Skinner
Major Fields in IO Psychology
Industrial Approach
Determining the competencies needed to perform a job, staffing the
organization.
Organizational Approach
Creates an organizational structure and culture that will motivate
employees to perform well.
Personnel Psychology
Organizational Psychology
Human
Factors/Ergonomics
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Analyzing jobs
Recruiting applicants
Selecting employees
Determining salary levels
Training employees
Evaluating employee performance
Leadership
Job satisfaction
Employee motivation
Organizational communication
Conflict management
Organizational change,
Group processes within an organization
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Concentrate on workplace design
Human-machine interaction
Physical fatigue and stress
Employment of I/O Psychologist
Academe
Typically teach and conduct research, although some work as administrators
Consulting Firms
Work with many companies
Private Sectors
Work for a single company
Public Sectors
Work for a local or state government or for the federal government.
Human Resource Development
Organizational Psychology
Workplace Characteristic
Engineering Psychology
Consumer Psychology
Type A dilemma
Type B dilemma
Topics of Interest for I/O Psychology
 Selection
 Testing
 Performance appraisal
 Training & Development
 Leadership
 Motivation, satisfaction, Involvement
 Organization
 Working conditions
 Safety, violence & health
 Stress
Focuses on improving and adapting technology,
equipment, and work environments to enhance
human behavior and capabilities.
Examines consumers' perceptions, beliefs, feelings
and thoughts and considers all of them when
examining purchasing behavior
Ethics in Industrial/Organizational Psychology
 Uncertainty as to what is right or wrong, there appears to be no
best solution.
 Also called rationalizing dilemmas
 The difference between right and wrong is much clearer than in a
Type A dilemma.
 Usually, individuals know what is right but choose the solution that
is most advantageous to themselves
Chapter 2: Job Analysis and Evaluation
Job Analysis
Job Analysis – Gathering, analyzing, and structuring information about a job’s components,
characteristics, and requirements.
 Job analysis is the process of determining the work activities and requirements
A brief, two- to five-page summary of the tasks and job requirements found
in the job analysis.
Job Description
 The job description is the written result of the job analysis.
By identifying such requirements, it is possible to select tests or develop
interview questions that will determine whether a particular applicant
Employee Selection
possesses the necessary knowledge, skills, and abilities to carry out the
requirements of the job
Job analyses yield lists of job activities that can be systematically used to
Training
create training programs.
 One important but seldom employed use of job analysis is to
determine worker mobility within an organization.
 That is, if individuals are hired for a particular job, to what
Personpower Planning
other jobs can they expect to eventually be promoted and
become successful?
 Peter Principle – promoting employees until they eventually
reach their highest level of incompetence.
 The use of specific, jobrelated categories leads to more accurate
Performance Appraisal
performance appraisals that are better accepted not only by
employees but also by the courts
 Job analysis enables to classify jobs into groups based on similarities
in requirements and duties.
Job Classification
 It is useful for determining pay levels, transfers, and
promotions.
Job Evaluation
 Job analysis can also be used to determine the worth of a job.
 Job analysis can be used to determine the optimal way in which a
Job Design
job should be performed.
 No law specifically requires a job analysis, but several important
guidelines and court cases mandate job analysis for all practical
purposes.
 Griggs v. Duke Power (1971) – A suit was filed against the
Compliance with Legal
Duke Power Company charging that a high school diploma
Guidelines
was not necessary to carry out the demands of the job.
 Albermarle v. Moody (1975) and Chance v. Board of
Examiners (1971) – Further established the necessity of job
relatedness and the link between it and job analysis.
Organizational Analysis

During the course of their work, job analysts often become aware of
certain problems within an organization.
“It’s not my job.” Counter
Argument
Job Title
Brief Summary
Work Activities
Tools and Equipment Used
Job Context
Work Performance
Compensation Information
Job Competencies
Writing a Good Job Description
 Duties can always be added to a job description, which can,
and should, be updated on a regular basis.
 “And performs other job-related duties as assigned” should
be included in the job description.
 An accurate title describes the nature of the job
 An accurate title also aids in employee selection and
recruitment.
 Potential applicants for a position will be better able
to determine whether their skills and experience
match those required for the job.
 Job titles can also affect perceptions of the status and worth
of a job.
Summary need be only a paragraph in length but should briefly
describe the nature and purpose of the job.
The work-activities section lists the tasks and activities in which the
worker is involved.
 Lists all the tools and equipment used to perform the work
activities
 Placing them in a separate section makes their
identification simpler.
 Describe the environment in which the employee works and
should mention stress level, work schedule, physical
demands, level of responsibility, temperature, number of
coworkers, degree of danger, and any other relevant
information.
 Contains a relatively brief description of how an employee’s
performance is evaluated and what work standards are
expected of the employee.
 Job description should contain information on the salary
grade, whether the position is exempt, and the compensable
factors used to determine salary
 This section contains what are commonly called job
specifications or competencies
 knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOs)
 The first contains KSAOs that an employee must
have at the time of hiring.
 The second subsection contains the KSAOs that are
an important part of the job but can be obtained
after being hired.
Preparing for a Job Analysis
 The Uniform Guidelines state that a job analysis must
Who Will Conduct the Analysis?
be “professionally conducted,”
 Job description should be updated if a job changes
How Often Should a Job Description Be
significantly.
Updated?
 Job crafting – The informal changes that
employees make in their jobs
 For organizations with relatively few people in each
job, it is advisable to have all employees participate
in the job analysis
 In organizations in which many people perform the
same job every person need not participate.
 Committee-based job analysis – A group of
Which Employees Should Participate?
subject matter experts meet to generate the
tasks performed, the conditions under which
they are performed, and the KSAOs needed to
perform them
 Field-based job analysis – Job analyst
individually interviews/observes a number of
incumbents out in the field.
Level of specificity
 Should the job analysis break a job down into very
minute, specific behaviors
 Should the job be analyzed at a more general level
What Types of Information Should Be
Formal versus informal requirements
Obtained?
 Formal requirements for a secretary might include
typing letters or filing memos.
 Informal requirements might involve making coffee or
picking up the boss’s children from school
Step 1: Identify Tasks Performed
Conducting a Job Analysis
 Gathering existing information
 Interviewing SME (Subject Matters Expert)
 Job analyst interviews only one employee at a
time
 SME conference a larger number of employees
are interviewed together.
 Ammerman Technique - A group of experts
identify the standards needed to be met and
list all the specific KPIs and rank them
according to the basis of importance
 Observing Incumbents the job analyst observes
incumbents performing their jobs in the work setting.
 Job Participation is especially effective because it is
easier to understand every aspect of a job once you
have done it yourself.
Step 2: Write Task Statements
Step 3: Rate Task Statements
Step 4: Determine Essential KSAOs
Step 5: Selecting Tests to Tap KSAOs
Knowledge
Skill
Ability
Other characteristics
The next step is to write the task statements that will be used
in the task inventory and included in the job description.
Written task statement must contain
 action (what is done)
 object (to which the action is done)
The next step is to conduct a task analysis— Experts rate
each task statement on the frequency and the importance or
criticality of the task.
KSAOs are commonly referred to as competencies in the old
days KSAOs were called job specifications (job specs).
 Knowledge is a body of information needed to
perform a task.
 Skill is the proficiency to perform a learned task.
 Ability is a basic capacity for performing a wide range
of different tasks, acquiring knowledge, or developing
a skill.
 Other characteristics include such personal factors as
personality, willingness, interest, and motivation and
such tangible factors as licenses, degrees, and years
of experience
 The next step is to determine the best methods to tap
the KSAOs needed at the time of hire
 Interviews, work samples, ability tests, personality
tests, reference checks, integrity tests, bio data, and
assessment centers.
KSAOs
Police officer would need to hold the gun properly and allow for such
external conditions as the target distance and wind conditions
Police officer accurately shooting a gun
Have the hand strength, steadiness, and vision necessary to hold the gun,
pull the trigger, and aim properly
To carry the gun, the officer would need to have a weapons certification
Other Job Analysis Methods
Methods Providing General Information About Worker Activities
Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ)
 Developed at Purdue University by McCormick,
Jeanneret, and Mecham (1972)
 PAQ contains 194 items organized into six main
dimensions
 Inexpensive and takes relatively little time to use but
also the least useful and gives the worst overall job
picture.
 One of the most standardized job analysis methods
 The PAQ questions and directions are written at the
college graduate level (education levels between
grades 10 and 12).
 A revised version of the PAQ was developed by
Patrick and Moore.
 Include item content and style, new items to increase
Job Structure Profile (JSP)
the discriminatory power of the intellectual and
decision-making dimensions, and an emphasis on
having a job analyst, rather than the incumbent
 Another instrument designed as an alternative to the
PAQ
 Developed by Cornelius and Hakel
 153 items and has a readability level appropriate for
Job Elements Inventory (JEI)
an employee with only a tenth-grade education.
 JEI may be a better replacement for the difficult-toread PAQ.
 It reports the shortest.
 designed by Fine
 Designed as a quick method that could be used by the
federal government to analyze and compare
thousands of jobs.
Functional Job Analysis (FJA)
 Broken down into the percentage of time the
incumbent spends on
 Data
 People
 Things
Methods Providing Information About Tools and Equipment
 400 questions covering five major categories
Job Components Inventory (JCI)
 It is the only job analysis method containing a detailed
section on tools and equipment
 Developed by Rohmert and Landau, the AET is a 216item
 To obtain information about the work environment
AET
 “Ergonomic job analysis procedure.”
 the instrument is primarily concerned with the
relationship between the worker and work
objects
Methods Providing Information About Competencies
 A national job analysis system created by the federal
government since the 1930s.
 Major advancement in understanding the nature of
Occupational Information Network
work
(ONET)
 Includes information about the occupation and the
worker characteristics needed for success in the
occupation.
 Developed by John Flanagan at the University of
Pittsburgh in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
 Make the difference between a job’s successful or
Critical Incident Technique
unsuccessful performance.
 It is the least standardized, it is also the most costly
but it is considered the most useful and it takes the
least amount of job analyst training.
 developed by Lopez, Kesselman, and Lopez (1981)
 This method is available only by hiring a particular
consulting firm but its unique style makes it worthy of
Threshold Traits Analysis (TTA)
mentioning
 33 items cover five trait categories: physical, mental,
learned, motivational, and social
 TTA has the lowest quality
 Based on more than 30 years of research (Fleishman
& Reilly, 1992)
 Requires incumbents or job analysts to view a series of
abilities to rate the level of ability needed to perform
Fleishman Job Analysis Survey (F-JAS)
the job.
 Its advantages over TTA are that it is more detailed
and is commercially available is easy to use by
incumbents or trained analysts
 Developed by Pulakos, Arad, Donovan, and
Plamondon (2000)
 132-item inventory
1. Handling emergencies or crisis situations
2. Handling work stress
3. Solving problems creatively
Job Adaptability Inventory (JAI)
4. Dealing with uncertain and unpredictable work
situations
5. Learning work tasks, technologies, and
procedures
6. Demonstrating interpersonal adaptability
7. Demonstrating cultural adaptability
8. Demonstrating physically oriented adaptability
Personality-Related
Position
 Developed by Raymark, Schmit, and Guion (1997)
Requirements Form (PPRF)
 identify the personality types needed to perform job-
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Worker-oriented methods
Job-oriented methods
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related tasks.
consists of 107 items tapping 12 personality
dimensions that fall under the “Big 5” personality
dimensions
PPRF is reliable and shows promise as a useful job
analysis instrument for identifying the personality
traits necessary to perform a job.
Oriented Methods
CIT, JCI, and TTA, are the best for employee selection and
performance appraisal
task analysis, are best for work design and writing job
descriptions
Cheat Codes
The PAQ is seen as the most standardized technique and the CIT the least standardized.
The CIT takes the least amount of job analyst training and task analysis the most.
The PAQ is the least costly method and the CIT the most.
The PAQ takes the least amount of time to complete and task analysis the most.
Task analysis has the highest-quality results and TTA the lowest.
Task analysis reports are the longest and job-elements reports the shortest.
The CIT has been rated the most useful and the PAQ the least.
Task analysis gives the best overall job picture and the PAQ the worst
Job evaluation
A job evaluation is typically done in two stages:
Determining internal pay
Involves comparing jobs within an organization to ensure that the people in jobs worth the most money
are paid accordingly.
Compensable job factors include:
 Level of responsibility
 Physical demands
Step 1: Determining Compensable Job
 Mental demands
Factors
 Education requirements
 Training and experience requirements
 Working conditions
Step 2: Determining the Levels for Each
The next step is to determine the levels for each factor.
Compensable Factor
1. A job evaluation committee determines the total
number of points that will be distributed among the
factors.
2. Each factor is weighted by assigning a number of
points.
Step 3: Determining the Factor Weights
3. The number of points assigned to a factor is then
divided into each of the levels
4. The total number of points for a job is compared
with the salary currently being paid for the job.
 Wage trend line
Equity determining external pay equity
Determined by comparing the job to the external market (other organizations).
Sent to other organizations, these surveys ask how much an
Salary surveys
organization pays its employees in various positions
An organization can decide where it wants to be in relation
to the compensation policies of other organizations
 An organization might choose to offer
compensation at higher levels to attract the best
Market position
applicants as well as keep current employees from
going to other organizations.
 Going rate - pay at the similar rate as other
company.
Chapter 3: Legal Issues in Employee Selection
Resolving Complaints and Conflicts
Before a complaint can be filed with the EEOC, an
employee must utilize whatever internal resolution
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
process is available within the organization. As a result,
(EEOC)
most organizations have formal policies regarding how
discrimination complaints will be handled internally.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
Employees take their complaints to an internal committee that makes a
Grievance process
decision regarding the complaints. If employees do not like the decision, they
can then take their complaints to the EEOC.
Employees and the organization meet with a neutral third party who tries to
Mediation
help the two sides reach a mutually agreed upon solution.
The two sides present their case to a neutral third party who then makes a
decision as to which side is right.
Arbitration
 Binding arbitration – Absolute
 Non-binding arbitration – Can re-appeal
Discrimination Charge
 charge of discrimination is usually filed with a government agency
 state agency is used if the alleged violation involves a state law; and
a federal agency, usually the EEOC, handles alleged violations of
Filing a Discrimination
federal law
Charge
 Must be filed within 180 days of the discriminatory act, but within
300 days if the complainant has already filed a complaint with a
state or local fair-employment practice agency
Outcomes of an EEOC Investigation
If, after reviewing a complaint, the governmental agency does not find
merit, one of two things can happen
Charge Does Not Have
 If the complainant accepts the decision, the process ends.
Merit
 If the complainant does not accept the decision, he is issued a
“right to sue” letter that entitles him to hire a private attorney and
file the case himself.
If the EEOC believes that the discrimination charge has merit, it will try to
Charge Has Merit
work out a settlement between the claimant and employer without taking
the case to court.
A judicial interpretation of a law and is important because it establishes a
precedent for future cases.
Case law
If a settlement cannot be reached, the case goes to a federal district court,
with the EEOC representing (physically and financially) the person filing the
complaint. When the district court makes a decision, the decision becomes
case law.
Does the Employment Practice Directly Refer to a Member of a Federally Protected Class?
Protected class
It is any group of people for which protective legislation has been passed.
Is any group of individuals specifically protected by federal law
 Race, Color, Sex, National Origin
 Religion, Worship Practice, Religious Attire
 Age, Disability
Federally protected class
 Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) and its later
amendments forbid an employer or union from
discriminating against an individual over the age of 40.
 Pregnancy
 Vietnam Veteran Status
A particular employment decision results in negative consequences more
Adverse Impact
often for members of one race, sex, or national origin than for members
of another race, sex, or national origin
a guideline used to determine if there is adverse impact in the selection
process of a specific group
Four-Fifths Rule
 The rule states that the selection ratio of a minority group should
be at least four-fifths (80%) of the selection ratio of the majority
group
Quid Pro Quo
Types of Harassment
 Granting of sexual favors tied to employment decisions as promotions
and salary increases.
 A single incident is enough to constitute sexual harassment and result
in the organization being liable for legal damages.
In a hostile environment case, sexual harassment occurs when an unwanted
pattern of conduct related to gender unreasonably interferes with an individual’s
work performance.
This includes:
 Comments
Hostile Environment
 Unwanted sexual or romantic advances
 Display of demeaning posters, signs, or cartoons.
Pattern of Behavior – For conduct to be considered sexual harassment based on
a hostile environment, the conduct must be a pattern of behavior rather than an
isolated incident.
Based on Gender
To be considered sexual harassment, conduct must be due to the sex of the
employee.
Negative to the Any pattern of behavior based on gender that causes an employee discomfort
Reasonable Person
might constitute sexual harassment.
Affirmative Action
One of the most misunderstood legal concepts concerning employment
Although most people associate affirmative action with hiring goals or quotas, there are actually four
main affirmative action strategies.
One of the primary affirmative action strategies is for organizations to
Monitoring Hiring and
monitor their hiring, placement, and promotion rates for men and
Promotion Statistics
women and minorities and non-minorities.
A common affirmative action strategy is to target underrepresented
groups for more extensive recruitment. Such efforts might include
Intentional Recruitment of
advertising in magazines and newspapers with a minority readership,
Minority Applicants
recruiting at predominantly minority or female universities, visiting
minority communities, or paying current employees a bonus for
recruiting a member of a protected class.
Identification and Removal
Identify and remove practices that might discourage minority applicants
of Employment Practices
from applying to an organization or minority employees from being
Working against Minority
promoted within an organization.
Applicants and Employees
Preferential Hiring and
Minority applicants will be given preference over an equally qualified
Promotion of Minorities
nonminority applicant.
Reasons for Affirmative Action Plans
Involuntary: Government
Regulation
Involuntary: Court Order
Voluntary: Consent Decree
Voluntary: Desire to Be a
Good Citizen
These mandatory affirmative action plans typically involve analyses of
all major job categories and indicate which categories have
underrepresentation’s of the protected classes, as well as goals and
plans for overcoming such underrepresentation’s
When a court finds a public agency guilty of not hiring or promoting
enough members of a protected class, it can order the agency to begin
an affirmative action program
If a discrimination complaint has been filed with a court, a public
agency can “voluntarily” agree to an affirmative action plan rather
than have a plan forced on it by the court.
Rather than wait for a discrimination complaint, some organizations
develop affirmative action programs out of a desire to be good citizens.
Chapter 4: Employee Selection: Recruiting and Interviewing
Recruitment
Attracting people with the right qualifications (as determined in the job analysis) to apply for the job
Internal recruitment
promote someone from within the organization
External recruitment
hire someone from outside the organization
Media Advertisements
Many organizations used newspaper ads, especially for local positions,
Newspaper Ads
in 2007 recruiters considered print advertising as one of the least
effective recruitment methods
It typically ask the applicant to respond in one of four ways:
Applicants are asked to respond by calling when an organization wants
Calling
to either quickly screen applicants or hear an applicant’s phone voice
Organization use this as they don’t want their phones tied up by
Apply-in-person ads
applicants calling, want the applicants to fill out a specific job
application, or want to get a physical look at the applicant.
This is used when the organization expects a large response and does
Send-resume ads
not have the resources to speak with thousands of applicants.
When an organization does not want to disclose the company name
Blind box
Situation-Wanted Ads
Point of purchase Methods
Campus Recruiter
Employment Agencies
Executive Search Firms
Organizations use blind boxes for three main reasons:
 The organization doesn’t want its name in public.
 The company might fear that people wouldn’t apply if they
knew the name of the company
 A company needs to terminate an employee but wants first to
find a replacement.
Placed by the applicant rather than by organizations. Some list
extensive qualifications, some give applicants’ names, and some are
generally more creative than others.
Advertising principles used to market products to consumers. Job
vacancy notices are posted in places where customers or current
employees are likely to see them: store windows, bulletin boards,
restaurant placemats, and the sides of trucks.
Recruiter
Many organizations send recruiters to college campuses to answer
questions about themselves and interview students for available
positions.
Outside Recruiter
Operate in one of two ways. They charge either the company or the
applicant when the applicant takes the job.
 better known as “head hunters,”
 The jobs they represent tend to be higher-paying, non–entrylevel positions such as executives, engineers, and computer
programmers.

Public Employment Agencies
Employee Referral
Direct Mail
Internet
Job Fairs
Incentives
Reputable executive search firms always charge their fees to
organizations rather than to applicants.
 Are designed primarily to help the unemployed find work, but
they often offer services such as career advisement and résumé
preparation.
 Another way to recruit is by employee referral, in which current
employees recommend family members and friends for
specific job openings.
 Rated as the most effective recruitment method
 Organization sometimes provide financial incentives to
employees who recommend applicants who are hired
 Direct-mail recruiting is especially useful for positions involving
specialized skills
 Directed to people who are not actively looking for a job
 The Internet continues to be a fast-growing source of
recruitment;
 Employer-based websites and Internet recruiting sites
 Are designed to provide information in a personal fashion to as
many applicants as possible
Job fairs are typically conducted in one of three ways
 Organizations have booths at the same location.
 The second type of job fair has many organizations in the same
field in one location
 The third approach to a job fair is for an organization to hold its
own.
 When unemployment rates are low, organizations offer
incentives for employees to accept jobs with an organization.
Other methods during the recruitment process
 Involves giving an applicant an honest
assessment of a job.
 The logic behind RJPs is that even though
Realistic Job Previews (RJP)
telling the truth scares away many
applicants, especially the most qualified
ones, the ones who stay will not be
surprised about the job.
 Unlike an RJP, which focuses on a
particular job, an ELP lowers an
Expectation-Lowering Procedure
applicant’s expectations about work and
expectations in general.
Effective Employee Selection Techniques
A valid selection test is one that is based on a job
analysis (content validity), predicts work-related
Valid
behavior (criterion validity), and measures the
construct it purports to measure (construct
validity).
Selection tests will reduce the chance of a legal
challenge if their content appears to be job related
Reduce the chance of a legal Challenge
(face validity), the questions don’t invade an
applicant’s privacy, and adverse impact is
minimized.
Ideal selection tests are also cost-effective in terms
Cost Effective
of the costs to purchase or create, to administer,
and to score.
Employment Interviews
most commonly used method to select employees
Interviews vary on three main factors: structure, style, and medium
Structure
Determined by the source of the questions, the extent to which all applicants are asked the same
questions and the structure of the system used to score the answers.
 The source of the questions is a job analysis (job-related
questions)
 All applicants are asked the same questions
 There is a standardized scoring key to evaluate each
Structured interview
answer.
 Highly structured (all three criteria are met)
 Moderately structured (two criteria are met)
 Slightly structured (one criterion is met)
Is one in which interviewers are free to ask anything they want are
Unstructured interview
not required to have consistency in what they ask of each applicant,
and may assign numbers of points at their own discretion.
Style
The style of an interview is determined by the number of interviewees and number of interviewers
One-On-One Interviews
Involve one interviewer interviewing one applicant.
Serial Interviews
Involve a series of single interviews.
Similar to serial interviews with the difference being a passing of
time between the first and subsequent interview.
Return Interviews
(e.g. called to another interview after a week of the previous
interview)
Have multiple interviewers asking questions and evaluating
Panel Interviews
answers of the same applicant at the same time
Have multiple applicants answering questions during the same
Group Interviews
interview.
Medium
Interviews also differ in the extent to which they are done in person.
 Both the interviewer and the applicant are in the same
room.
Face to face
 Provide a personal setting and allow the participants to use
both visual and vocal cues to evaluate information.
Often used to screen applicants but do not allow the use of visual
Telephone
cues
The applicant and the interviewer can hear and see each other, but
Videoconferencing
the setting is not as personal, nor is the image and vocal quality of
the interview
Involve the applicant answering a series of written questions and
Written Interviews
then sending the answers back through regular mail or through
email.
Advantage and disadvantage of structured and unstructured interview
Advantages of Structured
 Job relatedness and standardized scoring
Interviews
 Poor intuitive ability – Gut reactions
 Lack of job relatedness – Some questions is not related to
any particular job. Furthermore, the proper answers to these
questions have not been empirically determined.
 Primacy Effects – First impressions
 Contract Effects – The interview performance of one
applicant may affect the interview score given to the next
Issues with Unstructured
applicant
Interviews
 Negative information bias – Job applicants are afraid of
being honest in interviews for fear that one negative
response will cost them their job opportunities.
 Interviewer-interviewee similarity – Interviewee will receive
a higher score if he or she is similar to the interviewee.
 Interview appearance – Physically attractive applicants have
an advantage in interviews
 Nonverbal cues -
Creating Interview Questions
Writing a Resume
Summaries of an applicant’s professional and educational background.