Selection process notes

18’A’GROUP-4 HUMAN RESOURSE MANAGEMENT’S NOTES

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HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT’S NOTES

Submitted for Academic Assignment for Human Resource Management

March 2010 Authors:

MRITYUNJAY SINGH,

SURANJIT,

ASWATHY.R,

PRANJAL,

HARI


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SELECTION PROCESS

Recruitment is the process of identifying and attracting potential candidates from within and

Outside an organization to begin evaluating them for future employment.

Once candidates are identified, an organization can begin the selection process. This includes

collecting, measuring, and evaluating information about candidates’ qualifications for specified

positions. Organizations use these processes to increase the likelihood of hiring individuals who

possess the right skills and abilities to be successful at their jobs.

Why Careful Selection Is Important

Selecting the right employees is important for three main reasons.

1) Employees with the right skills and attributes will perform more effectively;

2) The cost of making a wrong hire can become exhorbitant considering the time and

money invested in the selection and training process; and

3) The legal implications of incompetent or negligent hiring.


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Recruitment Vs Selection

Both recruitment and selection are the two phases of the employment process. The differences

between the two are:

1. The recruitment is the process of searching the candidates for employment and stimulating

them to apply for jobs in the organization WHEREAS selection involves the series of steps by

which the candidates are screened for choosing the most suitable persons for vacant posts.

2. The basic purpose of recruitments is to create a talent pool of candidates to enable the

selection of best candidates for the organization, by attracting more and more employees to apply

in the organization WHEREAS the basic purpose of selection process is to choose the right

candidate to fill the various positions in the organization.

3. Recruitment is a positive process i.e. encouraging more and more employees to apply

WHEREAS selection is a negative process as it involves rejection of the unsuitable candidates.

4. Recruitment is concerned with tapping the sources of human resources WHEREAS

selection is concerned with selecting the most suitable candidate through various interviews and

tests.

5. There is no contract of established in recruitment WHEREAS selection results in a contract of

service between the employer and the selected employee.

Selection Procedure The Main Objective of a selection procedure is to determine whether an applicant meets the

qualification for a specific job, and then to choose the applicant who is most likely to perform

well in that job.

The entire process of selection begins with an initial screening interview and concludes with a

final employment decision. When a selection policy is formulated, organizational requirement

like technical and professional dimensions are kept in mind.

Steps in selection procedure:

1. Reception of applications or preliminary screening

2. Application bank that gives a detail about the applicant’s background and life history

3. A well conducted interview to explore the applicant’s background


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4. The physical examination

5. Psychological testing that gives an objective look at a candidate’s suitability for that job

6. A reference check

7. Final Selection approved by the manager

8. Communication of the decision to the candidate.

Therefore the Selection Process can be pictorially represented in a flowchart as below:

Establishing Selection Process -> Identifying & choosing selection criteria -> Gathering

information about potential employees -> Evaluating information for assessing applicant ->

Making decision to select or reject -> Communicating decision

Thus the selection process should be planned such that human resource is efficiently used. The

right person for the right job and inducting her/him into the organization or department

successfully is the basic criteria of the entire process.

Types of test

A. Ability (Competence/Skill) Tests

Typing tests, a spelling test, an arithmetic test, the Graduate Employability Test. These

require the "subject" in a test situation demonstrating what he/she is supposed to know and

can do. For the test to be valid the competences being tested must be required by the

job/task. If not, then the results from the test may have nothing to do with job performance.

For employment test design, a very thorough job analysis is needed to establish the

knowledge, skill level and to elicit the contexts or environmental circumstances within

which the job holders will perform with competence.

Some question is asked to verify whether the candidate...

Will the employee be performing in a busy, noisy environment?

Will he/she be expected to perform speedily or under pressure?

B. Aptitude test

Aptitude tests seek to measure candidate qualities or traits (physical, social, conceptual,

analytic and practical). The outcome of the test will aim to assist in predicting the


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candidate's capacity (potential) to develop those competences/skills that are needed to

perform a task/job/role well.

The traits that we associate with job performance must be definable in concrete, measurable

terms. Aptitude tests are used to assess potential and trainability e.g. of an unskilled or

inexperienced job applicant.

C. Intelligence tests

Aptitude testing overlaps with the interest of employers who to seek to test/measure aspects

of the intelligence of candidates. Intelligence is what intelligence tests measure.

Various intelligence tests give an IQ score or score against a particular population, e.g.

college graduates. They seek to measure a range of intelligence-related capacities for:

verbal, numerical, spatial and general reasoning i.e. abilities to perform mental tasks (the

outcomes of cognition). Various tests targeting similar traits (with slight differences as the

nature of the trait is defined by test designers) may be done by the same group of people. By

comparing individual results across various tests and also by comparing group scores,

consistent patterns emerge may.

D. Creativity tests

There is creativity tests on the market designed to "measure" how flexible someone is in

reacting to given situations. However, creativity involves imagination, originality and ability

to see new opportunities and relationships. Creative people may not have original ideas but

use the ideas of others organize to bring these ideas into fruition.

E. Personality tests

Intelligence is an aspect of personality of which other characteristics might be defined. You

can describe your personality in terms of how you see it given the limited information you

have about you and how you (your personality) interpret this information.

Personality is socially constructed. How you actually behave is concrete. If your behaviours

compare with patterns of commonly appreciated behaviour - we build up a model of what

personality characteristics are. As a generalization it is probably true to say that your

"personality" affects your job performance


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Psychometric test researchers have tried to correlate "personality types" against job

performance. So if we can find an instrument to measure the presence of the personality trait

then if there is a good correlation with job performance then we will be able to predict job

performance more reliability.

F. Group Activity Tests

Instead of paper-based tests, the interviewer might use group activities from which the

behaviour of participants is interpreted as being "creative" (more or less).

Background Investigations and Other Selection Techniques

A. Background Investigations and Reference Checks – Most employers

check and verify an applicant’s background information and references,

including driving record, check for criminal charges or convictions, and

credit check.

1. Aims – The main reasons for conducting investigations into an

applicant’s background are to verify factual information and to

uncover damaging information to help prevent losses.

2. Types of Background Checks – Typically the applicant’s current

and/or former position and salary are verified. Commercial credit

rating companies and other services can provide information about

credit standing, criminal, employment and educational histori.

Employers often check social networking site postings online.

3. Effectiveness – Reference letters are not viewed as very useful. Fewer

than half of HR managers state that they were able to obtain adequate

information about candidates.

4. Legal Issues: a. Defamation - Laws (like the Fair Credit Reporting Act of

1970) increase the likelihood that rejected applicants will have

access to the background information. The rejected applicant

has various legal remedies including the right to sue for

defamation.

b. Privacy – Truth is not always a defense. Employees can sue

employers for disclosing true but embarrassing private facts to

those without a need to know.

5. Supervisor Reluctance – Rather than damage a former employee’s

chance for a job, supervisors may sometimes give good references.


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6. Employer Guidelines – Defensible reference policies include having

only authorized managers provide information about employees. Some

employers will only provide dates of employment, salary and position

title to reference seekers.

8. Making Background and Checks More Useful – Employers should:

include on their application forms a statement for applicants to sign,

explicitly authorizing a background check; rely more on telephone

references than written ones; ask open-ended questions, use each

reference as a sorce for another and watch for ―red flags.‖.

B. Using Preemployment Information Services - Various federal and state

laws govern how employers acquire and use applicants' and employees'

background information. Compliance involves four steps: 1) Disclosure

and authorization; 2) Certification; 3) Providing copies of the reports; and

4) Notice after adverse action.

C. The Polygraph and Honesty Testing

A polygraph (lie detector) is a device that measures physiological changes

like increased perspiration. Current law prevents most employers engaged

in interstate commerce from using these tests for preemployment

screening or during the course of employment. Local, state and federal

government employers can continue to use the tests.

1. Paper-and-Pencil Tests – Paper-and-pencil honesty tests are

psychological tests designed to predict job applicants’ proneness to

dishonesty and other forms of counter-productive behavior.

2. What Employers Can Do – Employers can: ask blunt questions;

listen, rather than talk; ask for a credit check; check all references;

consider paper-and-pencil honesty tests and psychological tests as a

part of your honesty-screening program; test for drugs; establish a

search-and-seizure policy; and conduct searches.

D. Graphology (handwriting analysis) assumes that handwriting reflects basic

personality tests.

E. Physical Exams – Once an offer is made and the person is hired, a

medical exam is usually the next step in the selection process.


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F. Substance Abuse Screening – Because drug abuse is a serious problem for

employers, it is common practice for most employers to conduct drug screening just

before employees are formally hired.

1. Ethical Issues – Because drug testing indicates only the presence or

absence of drugs, it can’t measure the level of impairment or addiction.

Some argue that the testing is therefore not justifiable if workplace

safety is the motivator for using tests.

2. Legal Issues – Former drug users may be protected under ADA.

Privacy rights are also often cited.

G. HRIS: Automated Applicant Tracking Systems and Applicant Screening -

These systems are an example of technology use in HR. These systems

help companies screen applicants in three ways:

1)"Knock out" applicants who do not meet minimum, non-negotiable

job requirements;

2) Test and screen applicants online including web-based skills testing,

cognitive skills testing, and psychological testing; and

3) discover "hidden talents" by identifying talents in the candidate pool

that lend themselves to job matches at the company that the applicant

didn't know existed when he applied.

INTERVIEW

Conversation between two or more people for the purpose of yielding

information for guidance, counseling, treatment, or employment.

TYPES OF INTERVIEW

1. Informal Interview: This is the interview which can be conducted at any place by

any person to secure the basic and non-job related information.

2. Unstructured Interview: In this interview the candidate is given the freedom to tell

about himself by revealing his knowledge on various items / areas, his background,

expectations, interest etc. Similarly, the interviewer also provides information on

various items required by the candidate

3. Background Information Interview:


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This interview is intended to collect the information which is not available in the

application blank and to check that information provided in the application blank

regarding education, place of domicile, family, health, interests, hobbies, likes, dislikes,

extracurricular activities of the applicant.

4. Job and Probing Interview

This interview aims at testing the candidate’s job knowledge about duties, activities,

methods of doing the job, critical/ problematic areas, methods of handling those areas etc.

5. Stress Interview:

This interview aims at testing the candidate’s job behaviour and level of withstanding

during the period of stress and strain. Interviewer tests the candidate by putting him under

stress and strain by interrupting the applicant from answering, criticizing his opinions,

asking questions pertaining to unrelated areas, keeping silent for unduly long period after

he has finished speaking etc.

6. Group Discussion Interview:

There are two methods of conducting group discussion interview, namely, group

interview method and discussion interview method. All candidates are brought into one

room i.e. interview room and are interviewed one by one under group interview This

method helps a busy executive to save valuable time and gives a fair account of the

objectivity of the interview to the candidates.

Under the discussion interview method, one topic is given for discussion to the

candidates who assemble in one room and they are asked to discuss the topic in detail.

This type of interview helps the interviewer in appraising, certain skills of the candidates

like initiative, inter-personal skills, dynamism, presentation, leading comprehension,

collaboration etc.

7. Formal and Structured Interview:

In this type of interview, all the formalities, procedure like fixing the value , time, panel

of interviewers, opening and closing, intimati0ng the candidates officially etc. are strictly

followed I arranging and conducting the interview. The course of the interview is pre-

planned and structured, in advance, depending on job requirements. The questions items

for discussion are structured and experts are allotted different areas and questions to be

asked. There will be very little room for the interviewers to deviate from the questions

prepared in advance in a sequence.

8. Panel Interview:

A panel of experts interviews each candidate, judges his performance individually and

prepares a consolidated judgment based on each expert’s judgment and weighted of each

factor. This type of interview is called as panel interview.


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Interviewing of candidates by one person may not be effective as he cannot judge the

candidates in different areas/ skills owning to lack of knowledge and competence in

multiple disciplines and areas. Hence most organizations invite a panel of experts,

specialized in different areas / fields / disciplines, to interview the candidates.

9. Depth Interview

In this type of Interview, the candidates would be examined extensively in core areas of

knowledge and skills of the job. Experts in that particular field examine the candidates by

posing relevant questions as to extract critical answers from them, initiating discussions

regarding critical areas of the job, and by asking the candidates to explain even minute

operations of the job performance.

10. Behavioural Interview

The basic premise behind this type of interview is that the past behaviour is the best

predictor of future actions. These types of questions may be asked in any interview

format—telephone, panel or one-on-one. If the employer asks behaviour-oriented

questions, they are no longer asking hypothetical questions but are now asking questions

that must be answered based on facts.

11. Case Interview

In some interviews you may be asked to demonstrate your problem-solving skills. The

interviewer will outline a situation or provide you with a case study and ask you to

formulate a plan that deals with the problem. The candidate does not have to come up

with the ultimate solution. The interviewers are looking for how you apply your

knowledge and skills to a real-life situation.

12. Telephone Interview

Many organizations will conduct interviews by telephone to narrow a field of candidates.

Telephone interviews may also be used as a preliminary interview for candidates who

live far away from the jobsite. It is important to treat this interview as you would a face-

to-face connection. Arrange for a quiet space and time to schedule the conversation.

Clear a work surface to minimize distractions. Avoid using a phone with call waiting.

INTERVIEW PROCESS

A successful interview of a candidate of a candidate is a specialized process which requires a

thorough grounding in the art of conducting interviews. The typical sequences of functions that

occur in the course of a interview are as follows:


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APPRAISE

Suspended Judgement

PROBE

Confirmed Decision

ACT

CLOSE

RATE

Prepare to interview next application

(a) First impression, (b) Appearance and manner, (c) Evidence of energy, (d)

Answers to general question

(a) Use “why” “what”, “how” “where” and “when” type of question. (b)

Continue observation of a person. (c) Estimate suitability for

employment. (d) Note degree of a rapport with interviewer.

ACCEPT (a) Give information about company history, products, opportunities,

salary, and training programmes.

REJECT (a) Maintain a good public relations but do not oversell. (b) Answer

question

ENCOURAGE (a) Give information. (b) Indicate interest in further contact when

available. (c) Answer questions.

(a) Describe the next steps, such as application form, test, factory visits. (b)

Arrange time for next contact.

(a) Indicate decision to person. (b) Avoid specific reasons for rejection.

(a) Explain referral procedure. (b) Give name of persons or office to contact.

(a) Suggest ways for maintaining contacts.

Make notes fill out Rating Form


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Documents

Selection process notes