Deck 4: Personnel Selection

Question 1

The aim of personnel selection is:

A) to minimise labour costs for the organisation.
B) to hire the most qualified person for the job.
C) to ensure that the most appropriate person is offered employment.
D) to ensure the person hired is willing to train hard to fit in with the culture and work expectation of the organisation.

Answer 1

to ensure that the most appropriate person is offered employment.

Question 2

A selection process:

A) must conform to national legal requirements concerning equity and fairness.
B) should be undertaken by managers or business owners who have limited training in selection.
C) can be broadly divided into three groups.
D) is best conducted at short notice.

Answer 2

must conform to national legal requirements concerning equity and fairness.

Question 3

Personnel selection theories can be broadly divided into the following two groups:

A) the person fit and the organisation fit.
B) the objective entity and the subjective entity.
C) the scientific approach and the intuitive approach.
D) predictive approach and the constructivist approach.

Answer 3

predictive approach and the constructivist approach.

Question 4

Which personnel selection approach assumes a broader view and focuses on person-organisation fit, assessing a candidate's perception of the organisation and how their personal values and aspirations match with the organisation's culture and values?

A) The objective approach
B) The constructivist approach
C) The scientific approach
D) The predictive approach

Question 5

Which one of the following is not among the seven common methods for selecting job candidates?

A) Cognitive ability tests
B) Work sample tests
C) Application forms
D) Photographic profiles

Question 6

Weighted application forms:

A) are bigger than most other application forms.
B) take longer to complete than normal application forms.
C) contain differentially-weighted items based on verifiable information.
D) contain questions than very deeply explore the candidate's suitability for a job.

Question 7

The cognitive ability tests that are representative of most real-life job settings where carefully considered decisions rather than instant responses are required are called:

A) power tests.
B) speed tests.
C) real life tests.
D) consideration tests.

Question 8

Which of the 'Big Five' is the personality trait most highly associated with job performance?

A) Extroversion
B) Agreeableness
C) Openness
D) Conscientiousness

Question 9

Which three traits of the 'Big Five' are most commonly measured for personnel selection?

A) Emotional stability, agreeableness and openness.
B) Conscientiousness, emotional stability and agreeableness.
C) Conscientiousness, emotional stability and openness.
D) Conscientiousness, emotional stability and neuroticism.

Question 10

Which personnel selection method has the highest level of predictive validity as compared to other selection methods?

A) Work sample tests
B) Interviews
C) Cognitive ability tests
D) Application forms

Question 11

Which personnel selection method tends to be perceived by candidates as the most acceptable and fair by comparison?

A) Cognitive ability tests
B) Personality tests
C) Work sample tests
D) Interviews

Question 12

An overall assessment rating (OAR) is a measure associated with:

A) cognitive ability tests.
B) personality tests.
C) work sample tests.
D) assessment centres.

Question 13

Assessment centres have:

A) a low level of validity.
B) a moderate level of validity.
C) a high level of validity.
D) no validity.

Question 14

Which kind of validity focuses on the candidate's perception that the selection method is actually relevant to the job?

A) Face validity
B) Construct validity
C) Concurrent validity
D) Predictive validity

Question 15

In which kind of validity test are scores and job performance data collected from current job incumbents to provide information on how well a test predicts current job performance?

A) Face validity
B) Construct validity
C) Concurrent validity
D) Predictive validity

Question 16

Which kind of validity indicates the ability of a selection method to measure what it pertains to measure?

A) Face validity
B) Construct validity
C) Concurrent validity
D) Predictive validity

Question 17

In which kind of reliability do two or more raters assess a candidate's performance and the raters' scores are then correlated?

A) Inter-rater reliability
B) Test-retest reliability
C) Internal reliability
D) Parallel reliability

Question 18

Which kind of reliability indicates a test's consistency over time?

A) Inter-rater reliability
B) Test-retest reliability
C) Internal reliability
D) Parallel reliability

Question 19

Which type of reliability assesses the associations between the test items to ensure all items measure the designated construct?

A) Inter-rater reliability
B) Test-retest reliability
C) Internal reliability
D) Parallel reliability

Question 20

When making a personnel selection decision, high correlations between selection scores and the criterion indicate:

A) true positives.
B) true negatives.
C) false positives.
D) false negatives.

Question 21

When making a personnel selection decision, low correlations between selection scores and the criterion indicate:

A) true positives.
B) true negatives.
C) false positives.
D) false negatives.

Question 22

Which one of the following is not an advantage of computerised testing?

A) It is cheaper than pen-and-paper tests.
B) The ease and speed of test scoring and report generating.
C) Self-publication of tests via online internet tools and ease of updating.
D) Access to a potentially large pool enabling the development of test norms.

Question 23

Which one of the following is not a disadvantage of computerised testing?

A) Unsupervised administration.
B) Typing ability.
C) Applicant access to a computer.
D) Storage and security of data.

Question 24

What information does a job application form contain and when is it used?

Question 25

What is the difference between structured and semi-structured interviews?

Question 26

What are cognitive ability tests? Are they different to general mental ability tests? What are the two types of cognitive ability tests?

Question 27

What is a personality test? Briefly discuss using an example of a personality test.

Question 28

What is a personality test? From your perspective do you think recruitment decisions should be based primarily on the results of personality tests?

Question 29

What are some of the attributes that may have no relevance to your job and accordingly should not be included as part of the selection process?

Question 30

Explain the differences between true positives, false positives, true negatives and false negatives in the selection decision-making process.