Screening Job Candidates
and Resumes
MANA 4328
Dennis C. Veit
dveit@uta.edu
Selection Mechanisms
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Applications
Resumes
Biographical information
Background investigations
Checking references
Credit reports
Polygraph tests
Honesty tests
Graphology
Drug testing
Cognitive ability tests
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Personality tests
Physical ability tests
Job knowledge tests
Work sample tests
Simulators
Situational interviews
Unstructured interviews
Assessment centers
Recommendations
Many others…..
Why Use Selection Mechanisms?
Why Use Selection Mechanisms?
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Individual judgment is poor and inconsistent
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Perceptual biases
Individual biases
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Match applicant KSA’s with job requirements
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Ensure that new hires will perform well on
the job.
Choosing Selection Methods
Multiple factors need to be considered.
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Specificity of skills required
Risk of bad hire or mistakes made by employees
Employee reactions
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Level of adverse impact
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Cost
Administration time
“Screening-in” vs. “Screening out” methods
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Developing A Selection Plan
List each of the KSA’s required for the job
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Does it need to be assessed?
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What are the minimum qualifications?
List potential selection mechanisms for those KSA’s that need to be
assessed along with costs and benefits.
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Validity and reliability
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$$$ Costs
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Level of adverse impact
Detail the selection sequence
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Data to be collected at each point
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Criteria to be used to move applicants through the
sequence
Most Common Methods
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Application
Interview
Education level
Training and experience
Reference checks
Resumes
Licensing and certification
Biodata
Required for Every Selection Test…
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Equal opportunity (non-discriminatory)
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Reliability
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Validity
(a) Test reflects the content of the job.
(b) Test predicts job performance.
Test Reliability
Reliability – consistency of the measure
If the same person takes the test again will he/she earn the
same score?
Potential contaminations:
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Test takers physical or mental state
Environmental factors
Test forms
Multiple raters
How to determine reliability: Statistical techniques
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Test – retest reliability
Inter-rater reliability
Others
Relative Reliability of Measures
Visual acuity
Hearing
Dexterity
Mathematical ability
Verbal ability
Intelligence
Clerical skills
Mechanical aptitudes
Sociability
Cooperativeness
Tolerance
Emotional stability
High
Low
Test Validity
Validity – accuracy of the measure
Are you measuring what you intend to measure? (CONTENT)
OR
Does the test measure a characteristic related to job
performance? (CRITERION)
Testing criterion validity:
Criterion – test predicts job performance in general
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Predictive – test predicts job future performance
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Concurrent – test predicts performance at time of test
How to determine validity:
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Conduct a job analysis
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Collect statistics
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Use outside evidence
High
The Goal of Selection: Maximize “Hits”
“Is a Bonehead”
Low
Job Performance
“Earns a Bonus”
MISS
HIT
Inaccurate
prediction
(Person would have
succeeded on the
job)
Accurate
prediction
(Person succeeds
on the job)
HIT
MISS
Accurate
prediction
(Person would not
have succeeded on
the job)
Inaccurate
prediction
(Person fails on the
job)
Low
High
Predicted Success
Correlation Scatterplots
Figure 5.3
Reliability vs. Validity
Blood, Sweat and Type O: Japan's Weird Science
In Japan, using blood type to predict a person’s character is as common as
going to McDonald’s and ordering a teriyaki burger. Theodore Bestor,
a professor of Japanese studies at Harvard: “It’s a piece of information
that supposedly gives you some idea of what that person is like as a
human being.” Japanese popular culture has been saturated by blood
typology for decades. Dating services use it to make matches.
Employers use it to evaluate job applicants.
A person can have one of four blood types, A, B, AB or O, and while the
most common blood type in Japan is Type A, many of the more
prominent Japanese are Type O. In Japan, people with Type O are
commonly referred to as warriors because they are said to be selfconfident, outgoing, goal-oriented and passionate.
Can any of these correlations be scientifically supported?
“There’s absolutely no evidence that there are different character traits that
you can define by blood type,” said Marc Siegel, an associate
professor of medicine at the New York University School of Medicine.
NYT 12.14.06
Better hide the tattoo if you want the job
Once associated with drunken sailors, felons and Hells Angels, tattoos
have gone nearly mainstream, putting employers in a bind. How to
write rules that won't alienate un-hip customers on the one hand or
eliminate talented workers on the other?
Nearly 50% of Americans between 21 and 32 have at least one tattoo or a
piercing other than in an ear, according to a 2006 study by the
University of Chicago and Northwestern University.
Men and women alike say their tattoos make them feel sexy and
rebellious, a 2003 Harris Poll found, while the unadorned of both
genders see body art as unsightly and think those with tattoos and
piercings are less intelligent and less attractive.
….the law gives employers broad latitude to establish dress and grooming
standards consistent with the images they want to convey.
LA Times 7.6.07
Should employers discriminate against
World of Warcraft players?
“I met with a recruiter recently (online media industry) and in conversation I
happened to mention I'd spent way too much time in the early 2000s
playing online games.
He replied that employers specifically instruct him not to send them World
of Warcraft players. He said there is a belief that WoW players cannot
give 100% because their focus is elsewhere, their sleeping patterns
are often not great, etc.
I mentioned that some people have written about MMOG leadership
experience as a career positive or a way to learn project management
skills, and he shook his head. He has been specifically asked to avoid
WoW players.”
BoingBoing.com December 15, 2008
Principles of Assessment
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Don’t rely on a single method.
Use only fair and unbiased instruments.
Use only reliable instruments.
Use only valid instruments for a specific purpose.
Use only tools designed for a specific group.
Use instruments with understandable instructions.
Ensure test administration staff are properly trained.
Ensure test conditions are suitable for all test takers.
Provide reasonable accommodation.
Maintain confidentiality of results.
Ensure proper interpretation of results.
Effectiveness of Selection Methods
A survey of 201 HR executives rated selection methods on the
effectiveness producing the best employees.
Work samples
References/recommendations
Structured interviews
Assessment centers
Specific aptitude tests
Personality tests
General cognitive ability tests
Biographical information blanks
HR Focus 1996
3.68
3.49
3.42
3.42
3.08
2.93
2.89
2.84
Steps in Pre-Employment Screening
1. Verify applicants employment history
2. Competency-based screening
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Written or simulation tests generally reliable and valid
Benefits need to be balanced with costs
3. Use structured interviews
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Question objectivity and job relatedness
Standardized administration
Multiple raters
4. Consider “screening-out” tool
Methods and Applicant Flow
Applicants
Candidates
Offers
Hires
Initial
Substantive
Contingent
Initial Selection
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Initial Selection
 Resumes
 Application Forms
 Reference Checks
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Initial / Contingent
 Background Checks
 Drug Tests
Application Forms
Only ask info related to job KSA’s
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Link to job performance
Use thorough job analysis and validation techniques
Consider potential adverse impact
Consider “knockout” questions
Careful collecting personal characteristics
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Race, National Origin, Gender, Age etc.
Law assumes all questions are used in hiring
More is not necessarily better
Different applications for different jobs
Instructions and Disclaimers
Not particularly valid
Application Forms
How to ask non-discriminatory questions?
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You are always permitted to ask if applicant is qualified
and able to perform primary job duties.
You should never ask questions that indicate protected
class status.
Allow people to “self-select” as much as possible.
What if you need to collect demographic information for
EEO purposes?
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Race, National Origin, Gender, Age etc
How to ask…
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Do you have child-care for your children?
Do you own a car?
How old are you?
Do you have a physical or mental disability?
Height? Weight?
What is your maiden name?
Are you a U.S. citizen?
Have you every been arrested?
Do you smoke or use tobacco?
Resumes
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Applicant controls the information
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Jobs and education should be verified
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Many examples of fraud or omission
Up to 50% contain some inaccuracy
What are possible indicators of resume fraud?
One question honesty test
Requirements for education and experiences
should be job-related.
Potential Problems
NY Times Sept 12, 2005
Ronald L. Zarrella, the chief executive of Bausch & Lomb, claimed to have had a
master's in business administration from New York University. Shares in the
company dropped 3 percent the day the company divulged Mr. Zarrella's
resume-fudging.
David J. Edmondson, the chief executive of RadioShack, was fired after a
newspaper investigation showed that his resume was padded with two degrees
in psychology and theology, degrees he never got from a university that was
not even accredited.
Brad Fredericks, a co-founder of ResumeDoctor.com had his employees pull about
a thousand of them that had been uploaded to the company Web site and
check them for easily identifiable facts like job titles, education and dates of
employment. ''What we found was shocking,'' Mr. Fredericks said. ''We
discovered that 42.7 percent of them had significant inaccuracies.”
The Rutgers University Career Services office did an audit last year and found that
20 percent of students submitting resumes had inflated their grade-point
averages.
Common Resume Fibs
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According to a CareerBuilder.com survey, these were the most
common falsehoods people admitted to using on a résumé:
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38 percent of those surveyed indicated they had embellished
their job responsibilities
18 percent admitted to lying about their skill set
12 percent indicated they had been dishonest about their start
and end dates of employment
10 percent confessed to lying about an academic degree
7 percent said they had lied about the companies they had
worked for
5 percent disclosed that they had been untruthful about their
job title
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CNN 8.14.08
Reference Checking
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Relatively low reliability and predictive validity
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80% - 95% of organizations attempt
Two-thirds of organizations limit info they will share.
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Used primarily as a “screening out” mechanism
Companies decline to report negative information to protect
from defamation suit.
What type of questions are more likely to get good responses?
Should ask for applicant permission
Failure to conduct reference check may create
negligent hiring liability.
Reference Checking
1.
Verify resume or application information
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2.
3.
4.
Education
Work history
Information on personality or character
Motivation and job performance
Willingness to rehire
“Qualified Privilege”
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Aimed at protecting companies that provide “good
faith” reference information
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Information must be given without malicious intent
Information can be substantiated
Information given is limited to specific inquiry
Information must be given at proper time, through proper
channels, with proper methods.
Is the employee eligible for rehire?
Potential Problems
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FW Star-Telegram 2.12.04
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ARLINGTON - A University of Texas a Arlington official voiced regrets
that a part-time lecturer's background was not checked after he talked
about his personal life in class and alarmed students….Ronnie Robert
Molina was fired after his first lecture on communications law. In
August, Molina was fired as an attorney for Dallas for inappropriate
behavior.
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Shorthorn 1.28.04
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Several students in the class said Molina spent the first day discussing
a range of personal topics and that many in the class were appalled
and disturbed….After arriving 25 minutes late, Molina started a
monologue about religious values, sexual orientation and drug
use…Students said Molina wrote the initials of the attorney that he
previously worked for and distinguished his initials D.L., as devil and
Lucifer.