Deck 7: Selecting Employees to Fit the Job and the Organization

Question 1

When done well, selection practices ensure that employees are:

A) Capable of high productivity
B) Motivated to stay with the organization for as long as the organization wants to employ them
C) Able to engage in behaviors that are consistent with the company culture
D) Capable of contributing to successful implementation of the business
Strategy.
E) All of the above

Answer 1

E

Question 2

Which of the following statements about the steps in the selection process is true?

A) The first step is to establish the criteria of interest.
B) Valid predictors are chosen after the selection process has been designed
C) Synthesis of information collected is the first step of the process.
D) The development of the criteria of interest occurs once the employer sees the applicant pool
E) The first step is to establish the predictors to be used for inferring the type of person needed for the open job.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The consequences of accepting an a unqualified candidate include all of the following EXCEPT:

A) Employee performs poorly.
B) Employee loses self-esteem
C) Peers suffer consequences of poorly performing employee.
D) Employee falls prey to the self-efficacy syndrome.
E) Employee eventually must find new job, creating additional costs associated with turnover.

Answer 3

D

Question 4

As vice president of HR, you are participating in a top management meeting focusing on the firm's need to reduce costs wherever possible. The vice president of finance eyes you and says, "This fancy assessment center you run costs us $150,000 annually. This is definitely an area which we can easily cut." Your reply should include:

A) criticism of the finance vice president's over staffed department
B) how the cost of the assessment center is outweighed by the positive impact it has on job applicants as an effective recruiting tool
C) a discussion of the economic utility of the assessment center
D) pointing out that your company's major competitors also run assessment centers
E) none of these is a logical argument

Question 5

When Hailey noticed that her colleagues are overloaded with work, she often offers to help them. Hailey's actions are an example of good __________________.

A) criterion competency
B) organizational leadership
C) intragroup reliability
D) organizational citizenship
E) group-role credibility

Question 6

_____ is the process of obtaining and using information about job applicants in order to determine who should be hired for long- or short-term positions.

A) Placement
B) Selection
C) Prospecting
D) Hiring
E) Qualifying

Question 7

Which of the following tasks of the selection and placement process is typically performed by line managers?

A) Line managers identify the jobs to be filled
B) Line managers help to identify the qualifications employees must have to perform current and future jobs.
C) Line managers' evaluations of employee performance may serve as a basis for the decision about who should be asked to leave the organization.
D) The involvement of line managers in the selection and placement processes helps to ensure selection and placement is congruent with the internal and external environments of the organization.
E) All of the above statements about the tasks of the line managers during the selection and placement processes are true.

Question 8

Jessica has applied for a telephone sales position with your organization. She IS qualified, but the interviewer did not like the way she was dressed and rejected her. The consequences of rejecting a qualified candidate include:

A) Current employees benefit from the rejected applicant's performance
B) Applicant may file discrimination suit
C) Search costs are reduced
D) Managers achieve their objectives
E) Organization suffers consequences of poorly performing employee

Question 9

In the HR Triad, the responsibility for informing managers of any disabilities requiring accommodation falls to __________.

A) top management
B) middle management
C) HR professionals
D) employees
E) staff physicians

Question 10

Visualize a large communications company with integrated selection activities. How would such an organizational structure benefit the employer?

A) Operating managers would have the ability to provide a significant amount of time to the decision process.
B) The possibility of hiring an inappropriate job candidate would be eliminated.
C) The organization can consider each job applicant for a variety of jobs, which is a very efficient way to handle placement and selection activities.
D) Testing for job applicants is expensive, and using centralized selection activities reduces the needs for such testing.
E) With centralized selection, hiring always becomes a year-round activity rather than intermittent.

Question 11

The role of the human resource (HR) professionals in the selection process is to:

A) gather detailed information about applicants,
B) administer standardized tests to assess applicants' competence
C) monitor legal compliance
D) decide which tools and procedures to use in evaluating candidates
E) do all of the above

Question 12

The "build for within" philosophy at P&G means that:

A) employees typically only stay with the company for few years.
B) employees will be expected to develop new competencies and adapt to a changing business environment
C) the people they hire are not likely to stay more than a few months, so the culture emphasizes doing a specific job well
D) new hires' expectations are realistic so that they don't quickly become dissatisfied and leave.
E) All of the above statements about the "build for within" philosophy at P&G are true

Question 13

In the text, Cirent, a joint venture between Lucent Technologies and Cirrus Logic, was faced with a shortage of people in the local labor market who had the needed skills to staff its clean room operations in Orlando, Florida.To address this problem, Cirent did which of the following

A) sent newly hired employees to its other clean facilities to learn their jobs
B) collaborated with a local community college to design a curriculum for an associate's degree program that would give technicians the needed skills
C) expanded its relevant labor market search to include surrounding states
D) transferred trained personnel from its other clean room facilities
E) All of the above statements are actions that Cirent took to address the problem

Question 14

Why should employees be involved in the selection process?

A) to make sure that organizational culture described to job candidates is as the HR professionals perceive it to be
B) to remove any possibility of competitiveness and job insecurity from the job candidate and those with whom he or she will work
C) to eliminate all stereotyping
D) to support organizational team work efforts
E) to pave the way for eventual job promotions for the job candidates

Question 15

More expensive procedures for measuring a job candidate's appropriateness for a position are justified when:

A) labor costs are variable and rise with productivity gains
B) labor markets are tight
C) tenure in the job is expected to be relatively short
D) incremental increases in performance reap large rewards for the organization
E) there are only a few applicants to choose from

Question 16

Calculating the economic value of any HR practice is:

A) extremely difficult
B) fairly easy
C) unnecessary if the practice has a low dollar value
D) necessary only if cost estimates must fall within budgetary constraints
E) none of the above

Question 17

Visualize a large communications company with integrated selection and placement activities. How would such an organizational structure benefit job applicants?

A) The application process is convenient because there is only one place within the organization to apply.
B) The culture in a centralized organization is bureaucratic and does not expect applicant creativity.
C) The centralized organization is flat, and the applicant is able to meet the people with whom he or she would interact if a job offer is accepted.
D) Centralizing the selection and placement activities removes any possibility of discrimination.
E) Centralizing the selection and placement processes reduces the number of tests the applicant has to undergo.

Question 18

In the feature Managing with Metrics: Bank of America Uses Online Testing, Bank of America considered which of the following issues in deciding whether online assessment was appropriate:

A) Would the online assessments be valid predictors of future job performance and employee retention?
B) How serious was the potential problem of cheating?
C) Could they ensure that technical issues would not create hassles that frustrated applicants or caused them to not complete the survey?
D) How much time and money could Bank of America save using the online method?
E) all of the above

Question 19

Expensive procedures for measuring a job candidate's appropriateness for a position might not be justified if:

A) progressively higher tax bites are associated with decreased company profits
B) labor costs are variable and rise with productivity gains
C) labor markets are loose, which makes it is more likely that the best candidates, once identified, can be enticed to take the position
D) incremental increases in performance reap large rewards for the organization
E) all of the above

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT a consideration in choosing a predictor?

A) Alternative techniques
B) Validity
C) Reliability
D) Legality
E) Variance

Question 21

Which of the following statements are TRUE:

A) Personalities are difficult to change, and interpersonal skills develop quickly.
B) Personalities are easy to change, and interpersonal skills develop slowly.
C) Personalities are difficult to change, and interpersonal skills develop slowly.
D) Personalities are easy to change, and interpersonal skills develop quickly.
E) None of the above are true

Question 22

The _____ of a predictor (e.g., an interview, a mathematical reasoning test, or a work simulation) is the degree to which it yields dependable, consistent results

A) reliability
B) congruency
C) validity
D) credibility
E) constancy

Question 23

The term _____ refers to the usefulness of a predictor for correctly inferring the future job behavior of applicants.

A) validity
B) congruency
C) reliability
D) effectiveness
E) credibility

Question 24

When Willow applied for the job of marketing research analyst with a large consumer products manufacturer, she participated in all the testing the organization used in its selection process. Even though she scored low in her personal interview, she scored high on her mathematical abilities and her cognitive reasoning tests. She was hired by the consumer products manufacturer even though she did poorly in one of its selection processes because the company used a _____ approach to synthesizing applicant test results and choosing its new employees.

A) compensatory
B) multiple-hurdles
C) structured
D) semistructured
E) combined

Question 25

Which of the following select techniques has the lowest validity generalization estimate:

A) Biodata
B) Job tryout
C) Structured interview
D) Unstructured interview
E) Work sample

Question 26

You are the owner of Webb's Greenhouse. All of your employees must have a valid drivers license because they may be called upon to deliver plants purchased by customers. Which of the following is NOT a good choice to ask applicants on a job application?

A) Ask about essential skills to do the job
B) Ask for proof of current drivers license can be provided upon request
C) Ask about preferred hours of work
D) Ask about personal financial credit
E) Ask if there is anything that would keep applicant from performing the job

Question 27

_____ replaces subjective judgments about which predictors are most useful with statistical analyses that demonstrate the usefulness of the criteria.

A) content validation
B) context validation
C) validity generalization
D) criterion-related validation
E) job-analysis-derived validation

Question 28

Personal history assessments are based on the fact that:

A) A picture is worth a thousand words
B) The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior
C) You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink
D) You can't teach an old dog new tricks
E) None of these. They are all just adages.

Question 29

Content validation strategy:

A) is a relatively new approach and is not commonly used
B) can be based on competency modeling
C) works best for jobs that have existed for as long as the organization has existed
D) is based on an description of the ideal job candidate
E) is accurately described by all of the above

Question 30

In the text, Capital One used _______ validity to establish the usefulness of online test for selecting call center representatives.

A) context-related
B) content-related
C) criterion-related
D) predictor-related
E) differential

Question 31

Application blanks:

A) allow the employer to determine if the applicant meets the minimum job requirements
B) often ask for details of educational achievements
C) may be used simply as an additional document that's useful for keeping track of applicants
D) may ask applicants if they are willing to work split shifts, weekends, or overtime
E) are accurately described by all of the above

Question 32

The _____ strategy assumes the results of criterion-related validity studies conducted in other companies can be generalized to the situation in your company.

A) context validation
B) job-analysis-derived validation
C) content validation
D) validity resolution
E) validity generalization

Question 33

Content validation would be most appropriate for evaluating predictors of future job behaviors for

A) any top management position
B) all positions that have multiple quantifiable features
C) a newly created position
D) contingency workers with long-time relationships with the organization
E) any lower-level or midlevel management position

Question 34

Two commonly used methods of assessing a job applicant's personal history are:

A) panel and structured interviews
B) reference checks and background verifications
C) application blanks and biodata tests
D) cognitive tests and resumes
E) resumes and structured interviews

Question 35

The various pieces of information used to make a selection are referred to as ________.

A) validity factors
B) congruencies
C) performance quotients
D) partial criterions
E) predictors

Question 36

High validity is present when:

A) low predictor scores translate into low scores on criteria
B) high predictor scores translate into high scores on criteria
C) low criterion scores translate into high scores on criteria
D) a and b occur together
E) b and c occur together

Question 37

When Tyler applied for the job of salesperson for a leading toy manufacturer, he participated in all the testing the organization used in its selection process. He was not hired because his score on the personality test indicated his people skills were lower than the levels of proficiency the company required of its employees. Even though Tyler ranked above the fixed level of proficiency on his other tests, he was not hired because the toy manufacturer uses a(n) _____ approach to synthesizing applicant test results and choosing its new employees.

A) compensatory
B) multiple-hurdles
C) structured
D) semistructured
E) combined

Question 38

A private academy that tutors children with learning disabilities wanted to know if empathetic and compassionate teachers would be better able to teach its students. The private academy could use _____ to determine if strong levels of empathy and compassion would positively affect future job behavior.

A) content validation
B) validity generalization
C) criterion-related validation
D) job-analysis-derived validation
E) context validation

Question 39

Which of the following statements about the strategies used to ascertain whether predictor scores can be used to infer applicant's future behavior on the job is true?

A) Content validation is an objective strategy.
B) The criterion-related validation strategy is the least expensive of the three strategies used for this purpose.
C) The legal credibility of the validity generalization has not been sufficiently tested in the courts.
D) The criterion-related validation strategy is a subjective strategy.
E) All of the above statements about the strategies used to ascertain whether inferences about applicant's behavior on the job is based on predictor scores are true.

Question 40

The three approaches commonly used for synthesizing the information gained during the applicant-job match process are the:

A) panel interview, work sample, and content validation
B) structured panel interview, cognitive synopsis, and competency criteria
C) structured approach, unstructured approach, and semi-structured approach
D) multiple hurdles approach, compensatory approach, and combined approach
E) selection committee, content validation, and comparative studies

Question 41

Which of the following is NOT a basic principle of good interview design?

A) structured questions
B) a focus on behavior
C) systematic scoring
D) interviewer training
E) All of the above are elements of good interview design

Question 42

Joni has applied for a job working in a store that rents scuba diving equipment. One of the measures used to determine whether to hire her was an underwater test of how well she could scuba dive herself. The owner of the store used a(n):

A) biodata test
B) work simulation
C) cognitive test
D) perceptual test
E) off-site interview

Question 43

Jillian is waiting for her interview with the human resource director for a large hospital. As the interviewer comes into the office, he drops a piece of paper. Jillian sees that written on the piece of paper are "education, past job experience as it relates to job, competencies, overtime, and hospital budget." During the interview, Jillian and the interviewer talk about her years at Western Kentucky University and her favorite professors there, Kentucky basketball, Jillian's past job as a bookkeeper for an NBA basketball team, and the hospital budget. As she leaves Jillian feels frustrated because she did not get to express how much she wanted this job. Jillian has just undergone a(n):

A) unstructured interview
B) inter-related interview
C) semistructured interview
D) personality test
E) structured interview

Question 44

Which of the following statements about general health (physical) examinations as a part of the job selection process is true?

A) Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, physical examinations can be given to all job applicants.
B) Physical examinations are one of the first steps in the selection process.
C) Physical exams may be given only after a job offer has been made.
D) A job applicant can be asked to undergo a physical examination at any point during the selection process.
E) All of the above statements about physical examinations as a part of the job selection are true.

Question 45

In the feature "Managing Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility", when asked whether the importance of ethical and social responsibly is expected to increase in importance over the next five years, _____% of employers said yes.

A) 100
B) 82
C) 75
D) 64
E) 50

Question 46

Which of the following statements about assessment centers is true?

A) Assessment centers evaluate how well a job applicant will fit into the culture of the organization to which he or she has applied.
B) Assessment centers are typically run at the job site and include ability tests and work simulation.
C) Assessment centers seldom, if ever, involve more than five people at any given time.
D) Assessment centers are expensive to operate.
E) All of the above statements about assessment centers are true.

Question 47

Keisha has applied for a job as a gardening expert for a landscaping company. Which of the following selection measures would she consider to be most relevant and most fair?

A) a handwriting analysis
B) a test on plant recognition
C) a dexterity test
D) a paper-and-pencil test
E) an exercise to determine her honesty

Question 48

Research shows that applicant's reactions to the selection process is positively correlated to retention. Perception of fairness is the most important. Which of the following will not contribute to a perception of fairness from the applicant's point of view?

A) For a person applying for a job as a computer programmer to write computer code in a job simulation
B) Give structured behavioral interviews to supervisory candidates
C) Personal information gathered appeared to be handled confidentially.
D) Feedback about scores is kept secret because it is not desirable for the candidates to feel like they are in competition
E) The organization has earned a reputation as affirmatively hiring minorities. You heard this firsthand from a Hispanic friend who just was hired by them.

Question 49

In a(n) _____, assessment center participants may be asked to give a five-minute talk on why their company should expand its market to a particular Eastern Europe country. They must defend their selection to the rest of the members of a group. Participants are rated on their selling abilities, self-confidence, aggressiveness, and oral communication skills.

A) in-basket exercise
B) leaderless group discussion
C) unstructured business simulation
D) knowledge application test
E) leadership development exercise

Question 50

In a(n) _____, assessment center participants are given a wide variety of tasks that a manager may have to perform in any given day. Participants are given a limited amount of time to prioritize these tasks and note any actions that should be taken.

A) in-basket exercise
B) "you're the leader" exercise
C) commonplace ability test
D) business game
E) knowledge application test

Question 51

After their interviews, Tom and Jerry met to compare experiences. They were fascinated by the fact that the interviewer asked them identical questions. They found it even more interesting that the questions asked were in the same order. As they ate lunch together, Tom looked at Jerry and said, "I didn't get to tell the interviewer that I plan to work for two years before I return to college. He didn't want to listen to anything except me responding to his questions." Tom and Jerry have both experienced a(n) _____ interview.

A) unstructured
B) formalized
C) structured
D) inter-related
E) semistructured

Question 52

Which of the following statements about genetic testing and screening as a part of the job selection process is true?

A) Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, genetic testing and screening of persons with disabilities is prohibited.
B) Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, genetic testing and screening of persons with disabilities is allowed.
C) Genetic testing and screening can be undertaken only after a job offer has been made.
D) Federal prohibition of genetic testing has prevented states from enacting legislation allowing for genetic testing and screening.
E) All of the above statements about genetic testing as a part of the job selection process are true.

Question 53

Previous employers sometimes do not give references on past employees because they fear a(n) _____.

A) EEOC lawsuit
B) ADA lawsuit
C) class action lawsuit
D) involuntary self-disclosure lawsuit
E) defamation of character lawsuit

Question 54

You will be working as the manager of a souvenir shop this summer. You have received several applications from people who want to work in the shop. As you look at the applications, you should know that most distortions and inaccuracies on the forms have to do with the job applicants':

A) educational achievements
B) physical health
C) date of birth
D) willingness to work overtime
E) length of previous employment and previous salary

Question 55

Assessment centers:

A) customarily have six to twelve attendees
B) use in-basket exercises, business games, and leaderless group discussion
C) provide participants with feedback that can be used in their career planning
D) tend to be used in managerial selection
E) are accurately described by all of the above

Question 56

Job analysis has shown you that competencies that are predictive for job success in supervisory positions at your organization are communication skills, conflict management skills, and technical skills. Which of the following behavioral questions will help you select the best candidate with respect to competency?

A) Can you give me an example when you had more to do than you had time to do it?
B) What is your leadership style?
C) Can you give me an example of a time when you had to resolve a conflict?
D) If your organization were a tree, what type of tree would it be?
E) None of these questions are about competencies.

Question 57

Research has shown that most aspects of the personality can be captured using only a few basic dimensions. Which one of the following is NOT one of those dimensions?

A) emotional stability
B) creativity
C) extraversion
D) conscientiousness
E) openness to experience

Question 58

What kind of a test would a real estate company give a newly licensed real estate agent if the company was concerned about the ability of the applicant to interact with potential home buyer clients?

A) ability test
B) knowledge test
C) personality test
D) biodata test
E) interest and preference inventories

Question 59

As the manager of a slate mining company, you need to hire the best auditor available for the job. You and your executive team are very pressed for time and scheduling interviews with each candidate with each executive would be very time consuming. Personally, you know little about the technical aspects of the auditing function, although your financial executive does. You will be bringing in a diverse group of applicants. Your executive team is composed of two white males, an Asian male and a white female. Which selection process should you use?

A) Use a panel interview.
B) Go with your instincts and pick the person that seems to suit your personality.
C) Do not use the interview process at all.
D) Hire headhunters to find the assistant.
E) There is no way to avoid this problem. Interviewing is intrinsically time consuming.

Question 60

Leon has applied for a mechanic's job at a trucking firm. As part of the selection process, he was given three hours to repair a truck's engine that was running unevenly using parts available in the firm's workshop. The trucking company gave Leon a(n) _____ test.

A) knowledge
B) interest and preference
C) work simulation
D) biodata
E) unstructured

Question 61

Current employees should never be involved in any organization's employee selection process.

Question 62

Fifty people have been interviewed and deemed qualified for twelve openings. Of these fifty, twenty are women and thirty are white males. The final selection test was a panel interview. Ten of the white males are hired and two of the women. Under the 80 Percent Rule, what can be said about the panel interview?

A) The selection rate for men was 60% compared to 40% for women. This indicates adverse impact.
B) The selection rate for the men is lower than the pass rate for the women. This indicates there was no adverse impact.
C) The panel interview appears to have had an adverse impact and should be investigated.
D) The selection rate for women was lower than that for men, but above the 80% cutoff. Therefore, there is no adverse impact.
E) None of these is true.

Question 63

A firm's choice of recruiting methods influences the quality of applicants who apply for jobs.

Question 64

Predicting who will perform tasks well is the goal of recruitment.

Question 65

Criterion-related validation uses qualitative data to establish a relationship between predictor scores and outcome criteria.

Question 66

The more important the position, the less the cost for selection should be.

Question 67

Wild Winds, Inc., of New Iberia has decided to open a branch office in Italy and is seeking a manager to open the branch. Italy is quite similar in culture to New Iberia. Italy does not require by law that an HCN be hired. Wild Winds wishes to hold the costs down because the new branch is a startup. It is important to quickly build relationships in Italy. All things considered, what is the best choice for manager of the new site?

A) Parent Country National
B) Host Country National
C) Third Country National
D) It won't matter, given your criteria hire any of them
E) None of these will do

Question 68

Effective selection minimizes the risk of harm and the costs of associated lawsuits brought by victims of violent or criminal acts performed by employees who should not have been hired.

Question 69

The purpose of assessment centers is to evaluate how well new employees will fit into the organizational culture.

Question 70

An organization accused of illegal discrimination may be able to successfully defend its employment practices by showing that the demonstrated discrimination is legally justified by:

A) job relatedness
B) a bona fide occupational qualification
C) a bona fide seniority system
D) a business necessity
E) all of the above

Question 71

Which of the following is an example of a bona fide occupational qualification (BFOQ)for piloting a small corporate jet with limited space in the cockpit?

A) pilot's gender
B) pilot's national origin
C) pilot's arrest record
D) pilot's height and weight
E) pilot's marital status

Question 72

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued employer guidelines on how to:

A) avoid discrimination because of national origin
B) identify essential job functions
C) test job candidates
D) develop acceptable interviewing strategies
E) do all of the above

Question 73

A dental office in a small Nebraska town had two applicants for the job of receptionist, Tonya and Carrie. Part of this job is the scheduling of appointments. Both Tonya and Carrie had similar work experiences and educational achievements, but during identical skills tests, Tonya failed to grasp the logistics of using the office's computerized database for locating patient information. Carrie, who was comfortable with the computer, was hired. Carrie was not part of a minority group. Tonya, who uses a wheelchair for mobility, was not hired. This is not a case of discrimination because the hiring decision was made on the basis of:

A) a bona fide seniority system
B) job relatedness
C) a voluntary affirmative action program
D) the mission statement
E) a blind test

Question 74

What is the economic utility associated with using a specific test of how a job candidate will perform in his or her future job?

Question 75

The term reliability refers to the usefulness of a predictor for correctly inferring the future job behavior of applicants.

Question 76

The most common distortions by applicants in providing background information relate to the length of employment and chronological age.

Question 77

An applicant for the external auditing job who scored high in mathematical ability and low in social skills could be given the job if the employer used the multiple-hurdles approach to choosing a new hire.

Question 78

Illegal discrimination against an entire protected group is called:

A) nationalized discrimination
B) universal discrimination
C) differentiated selection and placement
D) adverse impact
E) disparate treatment

Question 79

The Civil Rights Act of 1991 affirmed that:

A) U.S. citizens employed outside the U.S. by U.S. multinationals are covered by American civil rights legislation but foreign nationals working in the U.S. are excluded from the Civil Rights Act.
B) U.S. citizens employed outside the U.S. by U.S. multinationals and foreign nationals working in the U.S. are excluded from the Civil Rights Act.
C) U.S. citizens employed outside the US by U.S. multinationals are covered by American civil rights legislation and foreign nationals working in the U.S. are covered by the Civil Rights Act unless specified in other trade pacts.
D) US citizens employed outside the U.S. by U.S. multinationals are excluded from American civil rights legislation but foreign nationals working in the US are covered by the Civil Rights Act.
E) None of these is correct

Question 80

Which of the following statements about selection and placement processes for multinational companies is true?

A) The most effective employees for companies operating abroad are expatriates.
B) Most multinational companies employee third-country nationals (TCNs).
C) Expatriates are also called host-country nationals (HCNs).
D) A Brazilian hired by a German firm to manage a subsidiary operation in Portugal would be an example of a HCN.
E) HCNs are typically selected using the selection process common to the host country.