HRIR 3021 PRACTICE EXAM REVIEW
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
honesty and drug tests - Answer--e.g. polygraph, honest/integrity tests, drug tests
-reasons drug tests are controversial: invasion of privacy, unreasonable search and
seizures, violation of due process, accusations of drug use are serious
-however, drug tests may provide correction for discriminatory employment decisions
-general rules for drug testing
1. administer tests systematically to all applicants for the same job
2. use drug testing for jobs that involve safety hazards
3. have report of results sent to applicants, along w/ info about how to appeal results
and be retested if appropriate
4. respect applicants' privacy by conducting tests in an environment that is not intrusive
and keep results confidential
medical examinations - Answer-must be related to job requirements and may not be
given until candidate has received a job offer
Knockri - AI in hiring - Answer--company using AI being used to reduce job interview
bias (e.g. name bias)
-applicants send in video and AI assesses verbal and nonverbal communication skills,
speech, tone
-use several thousand data points to evaluate traits such as empathy, confidence,
collaboration (can be predictors of success)
-managers than receive a shortlist of candidates w/ highest score (no names, faces are
shown_
-17% more candidates of color and 6% more women on average than previous methods
-tries to eliminate bias on basis of race, sex, etc...
-AI doesn't mean to eliminate bias; machine learning requires you to input historical
examples, which can feed many of same kinds of bias (software can contain biases of
person creating it)
-knockri has diverse team and data sets to combat the AI biases
3 Steps in creating a screening assessment tool - Answer-1. make list of KSAOs
required for job
2. for each KSAO, decide if it needs to be assessed in the selection process (how
critical is it?)
3. determine method of assessment to be used for each critical KSAO
-many companies hire for things that are difficult to develop (easy to teach
knowledge/skills, but difficult to develop abilities/experiences)
-KSAO: knowledge (facts), skills (learned behaviors), abilities (natural/innate), other
(values, interests, experiences)
,reliability vs Validity - Answer-*can measure selection tools by examining reliability and
validity of tools
-reliability: indicates how free the measurement is from random error (consistency of
results)
*often involves statistics such as correlation coefficients (relationship between two
variables)
*does NOT answer question of whether you are measuring something that matters (test
can be reliable but not valid)
-validity: describes extent to which the tool measures what it is supposed to measure
*e.g. do the test scores actually measure job performance, height and weight are not
valid measures of how a person performs on the job
*one way to measure validity is to compare many people's scores on something to
related to job performance
*often uses correlation coefficients
*tests can't be valid if they aren't reliable
*3 ways to measure of validity: criterion, content, construct
criterion-related validity - Answer--measure of validity based on showing a substantial
correlation between test scores and job performance
-predictive validation: research uses test scores of all applicants and look for
relationship between the score and future performance of those who were hired
*more time consuming and difficult but is best measure of validity (applicants tend to be
more motivated to do well, not influenced by firsthand experience, and group likely to
include people who performed poorly on test)
*high predictors of job success: work sample, general cognitive ability (IQ test),
interviews (very structed ones)
*low predictors: age, interests, GPA
-concurrent validation: type of research administers a test to people who currently hold
a job then compares scores to existing measures of job performance (if people who
score highest on test also do better on the job, tests is assumed to be valid)
content validity - Answer-consistency between the test items or problems and the kinds
of situations or problems that occur on the job
construct validity - Answer--consistency between a high score on a test and a high level
of a construct as well as between mastery of a construct and successful job
performance (e.g. intelligence or leadership ability)
-test that measures a construct usually measures combination of behaviors thought to
be associated with construct
-e.g. test has construct validity if it measures "mechanical ability" and the people w/
superior mechanical ability perform well
other ways to measure selection tools - Answer-(besides reliability & validity)
1. generalizable: valid in other contexts beyond the context in which the selection tool
was developed
*info can be generalized to apply to all candidates
, *as jobs become more complex, the validity of these tests increases
2. high utility (practical value)
*utility: extent to which something provides economic value greater than its cost
3. selection criteria is legal: (avoids discrimination and provides access to employees w/
disabilities)
questions to avoid in interviews - Answer-*any questions related to age, marriage,
children, religion, any protected class (race, color, religion, sex, national origin)
-types of questions to ask
1. behavioral: focus on past behavior
2. situational: hypothetical
3. job-specific, technical
4. general: what are you long term goals
*questions must focus on job performance (e.g. can you meet attendance requirement
for the job? NOT how many days were you out sick last year?)
nondirective interview - Answer-selection interview in which the interviewer has great
discretion in choosing questions to ask each candidate (not as valid or reliable)
structured interview - Answer--established set of questions for interviewer (more valid
than nondirective interview)
-questions related to job & organization
-prepared ahead of time
-easily compare candidates
-more efficient and effective interview
-each candidate asked same question in same order (enables reliability fairness, avoids
bias, avoid discrimination
situational interview - Answer--structured interview in which interview describes a
situation likely to arise on the job and asks candidates what they would do in the
situation (high validity of predicting job performance)
Behavior Description Interview (BDI) - Answer--structured interview in which interviewer
asks candidates to describe how he or she handles a type of situation in the past
-questions about actual experience tend to have highest validity
panel interview - Answer--several members of organization meet to interview each
candidate
-chance to meet more people and see how candidate interacts in organization
-judgement of more than one person reduces effects of personal bias
computerized interviewing process - Answer--ask applicants question on computer
-useful for gathering objective data rather than assessing people skills
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
honesty and drug tests - Answer--e.g. polygraph, honest/integrity tests, drug tests
-reasons drug tests are controversial: invasion of privacy, unreasonable search and
seizures, violation of due process, accusations of drug use are serious
-however, drug tests may provide correction for discriminatory employment decisions
-general rules for drug testing
1. administer tests systematically to all applicants for the same job
2. use drug testing for jobs that involve safety hazards
3. have report of results sent to applicants, along w/ info about how to appeal results
and be retested if appropriate
4. respect applicants' privacy by conducting tests in an environment that is not intrusive
and keep results confidential
medical examinations - Answer-must be related to job requirements and may not be
given until candidate has received a job offer
Knockri - AI in hiring - Answer--company using AI being used to reduce job interview
bias (e.g. name bias)
-applicants send in video and AI assesses verbal and nonverbal communication skills,
speech, tone
-use several thousand data points to evaluate traits such as empathy, confidence,
collaboration (can be predictors of success)
-managers than receive a shortlist of candidates w/ highest score (no names, faces are
shown_
-17% more candidates of color and 6% more women on average than previous methods
-tries to eliminate bias on basis of race, sex, etc...
-AI doesn't mean to eliminate bias; machine learning requires you to input historical
examples, which can feed many of same kinds of bias (software can contain biases of
person creating it)
-knockri has diverse team and data sets to combat the AI biases
3 Steps in creating a screening assessment tool - Answer-1. make list of KSAOs
required for job
2. for each KSAO, decide if it needs to be assessed in the selection process (how
critical is it?)
3. determine method of assessment to be used for each critical KSAO
-many companies hire for things that are difficult to develop (easy to teach
knowledge/skills, but difficult to develop abilities/experiences)
-KSAO: knowledge (facts), skills (learned behaviors), abilities (natural/innate), other
(values, interests, experiences)
,reliability vs Validity - Answer-*can measure selection tools by examining reliability and
validity of tools
-reliability: indicates how free the measurement is from random error (consistency of
results)
*often involves statistics such as correlation coefficients (relationship between two
variables)
*does NOT answer question of whether you are measuring something that matters (test
can be reliable but not valid)
-validity: describes extent to which the tool measures what it is supposed to measure
*e.g. do the test scores actually measure job performance, height and weight are not
valid measures of how a person performs on the job
*one way to measure validity is to compare many people's scores on something to
related to job performance
*often uses correlation coefficients
*tests can't be valid if they aren't reliable
*3 ways to measure of validity: criterion, content, construct
criterion-related validity - Answer--measure of validity based on showing a substantial
correlation between test scores and job performance
-predictive validation: research uses test scores of all applicants and look for
relationship between the score and future performance of those who were hired
*more time consuming and difficult but is best measure of validity (applicants tend to be
more motivated to do well, not influenced by firsthand experience, and group likely to
include people who performed poorly on test)
*high predictors of job success: work sample, general cognitive ability (IQ test),
interviews (very structed ones)
*low predictors: age, interests, GPA
-concurrent validation: type of research administers a test to people who currently hold
a job then compares scores to existing measures of job performance (if people who
score highest on test also do better on the job, tests is assumed to be valid)
content validity - Answer-consistency between the test items or problems and the kinds
of situations or problems that occur on the job
construct validity - Answer--consistency between a high score on a test and a high level
of a construct as well as between mastery of a construct and successful job
performance (e.g. intelligence or leadership ability)
-test that measures a construct usually measures combination of behaviors thought to
be associated with construct
-e.g. test has construct validity if it measures "mechanical ability" and the people w/
superior mechanical ability perform well
other ways to measure selection tools - Answer-(besides reliability & validity)
1. generalizable: valid in other contexts beyond the context in which the selection tool
was developed
*info can be generalized to apply to all candidates
, *as jobs become more complex, the validity of these tests increases
2. high utility (practical value)
*utility: extent to which something provides economic value greater than its cost
3. selection criteria is legal: (avoids discrimination and provides access to employees w/
disabilities)
questions to avoid in interviews - Answer-*any questions related to age, marriage,
children, religion, any protected class (race, color, religion, sex, national origin)
-types of questions to ask
1. behavioral: focus on past behavior
2. situational: hypothetical
3. job-specific, technical
4. general: what are you long term goals
*questions must focus on job performance (e.g. can you meet attendance requirement
for the job? NOT how many days were you out sick last year?)
nondirective interview - Answer-selection interview in which the interviewer has great
discretion in choosing questions to ask each candidate (not as valid or reliable)
structured interview - Answer--established set of questions for interviewer (more valid
than nondirective interview)
-questions related to job & organization
-prepared ahead of time
-easily compare candidates
-more efficient and effective interview
-each candidate asked same question in same order (enables reliability fairness, avoids
bias, avoid discrimination
situational interview - Answer--structured interview in which interview describes a
situation likely to arise on the job and asks candidates what they would do in the
situation (high validity of predicting job performance)
Behavior Description Interview (BDI) - Answer--structured interview in which interviewer
asks candidates to describe how he or she handles a type of situation in the past
-questions about actual experience tend to have highest validity
panel interview - Answer--several members of organization meet to interview each
candidate
-chance to meet more people and see how candidate interacts in organization
-judgement of more than one person reduces effects of personal bias
computerized interviewing process - Answer--ask applicants question on computer
-useful for gathering objective data rather than assessing people skills
