Deck 4: Recruitment, Selection, and Decision Making

Question 1

What is the essential difference between Biographical Informational Blanks (BIBs) and Weighted Application Blanks (WABs)?

A) BIBs, but not WABs, focus on verifiable information.
B) WABs, but not BIBs, cover past behaviours.
C) BIBs cover a broader range of the applicant's background than WABs.
D) BIBs are in accordance with privacy and human rights legislation, unlike WABs.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

When looking at the outcomes of a selection system, what would be the impact on hiring candidates who turn out to be successful on the job when the base rate is increased for a specific predictor cut-off score?

A) Increasing the base rate would increase true positives.
B) Increasing the base rate would increase true negatives.
C) Increasing the base rate would increase false positives.
D) Increasing the base rate would have no effect on the success rate.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

What is the essential difference between a Situational Interview (SI) and a Behavioural Description Interview (BDI)?

A) SIs, but not BDIs, tend to be good predictors of job performance.
B) BDIs, but not SIs, tend to be good predictors of job performance.
C) SIs involve asking applicants what they would do in hypothetical situations.
D) BDIs involve asking applicants about their future job behaviours.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

According to your text, what does the cognitive ability literature conclude about cognitive ability and performance?

A) Cognitive ability tends to be related to performance across a variety of jobs
B) Cognitive ability is related to decreased learning and problem-solving ability
C) Cognitive ability does NOT have an adverse impact on minorities.
D) Cognitive ability has a limited ability to predict success in training.

Question 5

What does the body of research on the use of personality tests in candidate selection suggest?

A) Personality tests are invalid for use in selection.
B) Personality tests have better predictive validities than both cognitive ability test and work samples combined.
C) The Big 5 personality characteristics are all highly predictive of training success across a variety of occupations.
D) Specific personality characteristics are related to specific types of performance outcomes.

Question 6

Which of the following is characteristic of structured interviews?

A) Unstructured interviews tend to be more valid when predicting job performance.
B) Structured interviews use a scoring system.
C) The BDI is an examples of an unstructured interview.
D) Structured interviews are plagued by numerous biases and information-processing errors.

Question 7

Meghan works for a Canadian organization that provides aid to African villages, and she must hire 20 new employees.Meghan decides to contact her friends and family members who are looking for work.She thinks that since she is good at her job, and they are similar to her, they would also be good at the job.However, her friend Luc warns her that the resulting applicant pool may be too homogenous (e.g., Anglophone, Caucasian, middle-class).What might inadvertently result from Meghan hiring people like herself?

A) decreased performance
B) systemic discrimination against other groups
C) inaccurate job expectations
D) increased recruitment and selection costs

Question 8

Which of the following statements is a characteristic of work simulations?

A) Work simulations are weakly related to on-the-job performance.
B) Work simulations may be expensive to develop.
C) Lower fidelity simulations are more effective than higher fidelity simulations.
D) Work simulations are similar to job knowledge tests in that they both require written responses to a job knowledge test.

Question 9

Canadian organizations are subject to several laws and legislations that affect recruitment and selection processes and decisions.Which of the following deals with the concerns of four designated groups (women, visible minorities, Aboriginal peoples, and people with disabilities)?

A) employment equity legislation
B) employment standards
C) labour laws
D) Canadian Human Rights Act

Question 10

There are procedures designed to decrease turnover and increase job satisfaction among new employees by providing applicants with accurate information regarding the job and the organization prior to being hired.What are these procedures known as?

A) image advertising processes
B) job expectations
C) person-job fit procedures
D) realistic job previews

Question 11

Haylie has a large applicant pool of 70 applicants and must hire 10 new employees for research administration positions.Her biggest concern is that she might hire an employee who would not be successful on the job.What type of error is Haylie afraid of making?

A) false negatives
B) minimum qualifications
C) selection ratio
D) false positives

Question 12

According to your text, what can we conclude about the use of résumés in selection?

A) According to the Infocheck Report, very few (i.e., less than 10 percent) of candidates lie on their resume.
B) Résumé information tends to provide additional information to Weighted Application Blanks and Biographical Information Blanks.
C) Résumés are the primary means by which many applicants create their first impression with the organization.
D) Scoring of the resume is straightforward because of its standardized format.

Question 13

According to your textbook, what does the personality literature tell us about faking and response distortion on personality tests?

A) Faking has NO effect on the validity of the personality test process.
B) Faking and response distortion on personality tests are very unlikely occurrences in lab situations.
C) Telling applicants that faking can be detected increases their faking behaviour.
D) Response distortion may change the rank ordering of applicants, leading to hiring of less qualified applicants.

Question 14

What are the five factors of the Big Five Theory of Personality?

A) extraversion; conscientiousness; openness to experience; introversion; dependability
B) extraversion; openness to experience; agreeableness; neuroticism; conscientiousness
C) extraversion; conscientiousness; agreeableness; neuroticism; self-esteem
D) extraversion; agreeableness; dependability; self-esteem; locus of control

Question 15

Most people find a job through which of the following methods?

A) a personal connection (family member or friend)
B) 'help wanted' advertisements
C) internet advertisements
D) personal initiatives

Question 16

Sunjeev is in charge of recruiting and selecting employees for a large government organization.One of his primary concerns is the match between applicant's values, and the values and culture of the organization.Which of the following is this match known as?

A) a realistic job preview
B) person-job fit
C) an accurate expectations analysis
D) person-organization fit

Question 17

Canadian organizations are subject to several laws and legislations that affect recruitment, selection processes, and decisions.Which of the following deals with minimum wages, vacations and leaves, and termination of employment?

A) employment equity legislation.
B) employment standards
C) labour laws
D) Canadian Human Rights Act

Question 18

What did Victor Catano and Angela Bissonnette (2009) conclude in their study on assessment procedures used by Canadian organizations?

A) Most organizations used one selection tool only.
B) Less than 10 percent of organizations used two or more selection tools.
C) The interview was the second most popular selection tool.
D) More than 50 percent of organizations used drug and/or medical screening.

Question 19

According to the summary of the validities of predictors of overall job performance, which predictor has the highest validity?

A) work samples
B) integrity tests
C) assessment centres
D) personality tests (conscientiousness)

Question 20

What is a strength of assessment centres (ACs)?

A) ACs tend to be very cost effective.
B) ACs provide one measure and one source of data to the assessors.
C) ACs are viewed positively by applicants and organizations.
D) ACs involve only measures that focus on cognitive abilities.

Question 21

Will is the host of a sports radio call-in show, and he is looking for a new assistant.The responsibilities will be to organize the show, including: taking information from callers, screening callers, introducing the callers and their topics on air, coordinating commercials, and keeping Will on task and on time.The assistant must have a clear speaking voice and must feel comfortable talking "on air." Some broadcasting experience would be helpful.Knowledge of all sports is an asset.This position needs to be filled immediately (within the next week).
You are the human resource director for the radio station.What formal and informal recruiting techniques will you use? Please explain fully (and justify your methods).

Question 22

Requiring physical or medical examinations prior to an offer of employment may violate the Canadian Charter of Rights.

Question 23

The Big 5 Theory of Personality includes extraversion; conscientiousness; agreeableness; neuroticism; self-esteem.

Question 24

Unstructured interviews are as effective as structured interviews in predicting job performance.

Question 25

With which decision model do you weight the scores of the individual tests according to their importance, and then sum these weighted scores to get a total score?

A) multiple hurdle model
B) multiple regression model
C) multiple cut-off model
D) combination model

Question 26

Assessment centres provide multiple sources of data to the assessors.

Question 27

What is an essential characteristic of the multiple cut-off decision model?

A) a minimum level of competence on each of the tests is NOT required.
B) some of the selection tools are more important than the others.
C) all applicants don't take all of the tests.
D) applicants must achieve a minimum score on each selection tool.

Question 28

Faking and response distortion on personality tests do occur in lab situations.

Question 29

Briefly describe the "Big 5" factors of personality.Are these factors associated with job performance? Please explain fully.

Question 30

The HR Director wants you to create a structured interview.She wants a situational interview, but her boss (the CEO) has heard about behaviour description interviews and wants that kind.Prepare a presentation of both types of interviews (with an example of each type of question and rating scale) so your employers can make an informed choice.Please explain fully.

Question 31

Resume information tends to overlap substantially with information obtained through Weighted Application Blanks and Biographical Information Blanks.

Question 32

There is substantial evidence to support the use of all Emotional Intelligence measures in the selection of employees across occupations.