Selection 2 MANA 4328 Dr. George Benson

Selection Bias White Sounding Names  The professors at U. of Chicago and MIT sent about 5,000 resumes in response to want ads in The Boston Globe and Chicago Tribune.  “White" names received 1 response for every 10 resumes mailed, while "black" applicants with equal credentials received 1 response for every 15. Texas Accents Y’all  Study by U. of North Texas researchers has found that Texas hiring managers look favorably on applicants with pronounced Texas accents.  Speakers from California and Minnesota, whose regional accents are less distinguishable, generally do better with managers all across the country.

Selection Tests and Litigation  Unstructured interviews  Cognitive ability tests  Physical ability tests  Structured interviews  Work sample tests  Assessment Centers More likely to be challenged in court.

Substantive Methods  Training and Experience Checklists  Weighted Application Blanks (WAB’s)  Biodata  Interviews  Ability Tests  Proficiency Tests  Assessment Centers  Personality Tests  Integrity Tests

 How can organizations encourage honesty in applications and resumes?  Training and Experience Evaluations (Checklists)  Holistic Judgment  Point Method  Task-based and KSA-based  Weighted Applications Methods to Improve Initial Selection Validity

Weighted Application Blanks High Tenure Low Tenure Score Weight Education Level Some H.S.5% 0 H.S. Diploma85%15%+2 Some College5%20%0 College Degree5%60%0 Experience None5%70%0 1-2 Years60%20%2 2+ Years35%10%1

Developing WAB’s 1. Choose criterion  Performance characteristics of the job 2. Identify groups  Typically high performers and low performers 3. Select application items and response categories  Things that are likely relevant to performance 4. Determine weights based on group differences 5. Validate weights using a holdout sample 6. Set cutoff scores based on validation results

Biodata Inventories  Reliable – Valid (r =.32 to.37)  Series of questions on a wide variety of subjects  Background (e.g. hobbies, jobs, and education)  Situational questions  Personality and Values  Compared to a profile generated from successful employees or database for occupations.

Examples of Biographical Questions  How many jobs have you held in the last five years?  Were you ever class president?  Have you ever repaired a broken radio so that it later worked?  While growing up, did you collect coins?  When you were a teenager, how often did your father help you with schoolwork?  About how many fiction books have you read in the past year?  How many hours a week do you spend studying?  By the time you were 18 had you traveled at least 500 miles from home by yourself?

Profile Matching D 2 = Σ (P(ideal) – P(applicant)) 2  Develop a set of target or “ideal” scores by sampling high performers.  For each item subtract the applicant’s scores from the ideal score and square the result.  Sum the squares of the difference scores.  Smaller D scores more closely resemble the “ideal” candidate.

 Why use Biodata?  Why not use Biodata?