Chapter 4:

EMPLOYEE SELECTION: RECRUITING AND INTERVIEWING

Steps in Selecting Employees

Employee Recruitment
Recruitment. The process of attracting employees to an organization.
a) External recruitment. Recruiting employees from outside the organization.
b) Internal recruitment. Recruiting employees already employed by the organization.

Media Advertisements
a) Newspaper Ads. Running ads in periodicals such as local newspapers or professional journals is a declining
method of recruiting employees.
b) Respond by calling. Recruitment ads in which applicants are instructed to call rather than to apply in person or
send résumés.
c) Apply-in-person ads. Recruitment ads that instruct applicants to apply in person rather than to call or send
résumés.
d) Send-résumé ads. Recruitment ads in which applicants are instructed to send their résumé to the company rather
than call or apply in person.
e) Blind box. Recruitment ads that instruct applicants to send their résumé to a box at the newspaper; neither the
name nor the address of the company is provided.

Writing Recruitment Ads

- Although little research is available, there is plenty of expert advice on the best way for an employer to write recruitment
advertisements. Research on recruitment ads indicates the following findings:
 Ads containing realistic information about the job, rather than information that is “too good to be true,” increase applicant
attraction to the organization (Thorsteinson, Palmer, Wulff, & Anderson, 2004).
 Ads containing detailed descriptions of the job and organization provide applicants with an idea of how well they would
fit into an organization and result in positive thoughts about it (Roberson, Collins, & Oreg, 2005).
 Ads containing information about the selection process affect the probability that applicants will apply for a job. For
example, ads stating that an in-person interview will be used to select employees result in applicants being more likely
to apply for a job than ads indicating that grade point average (GPA) will be a factor (Reeve & Schultz, 2004).

Electronic Media
- The potential advantage to using electronic media for recruitment is that, according to a 2013 study by the Radio
Advertising Bureau, Americans spend 3.7 hours per day watching TV and 2.3 hours a day listening to the radio.

Point-of-Purchase Methods
- The point-of-purchase method of recruitment is based on the same “POP” (point-of-purchase) advertising principles
used to market products to consumers.
- In employee recruitment, job vacancy notices are posted in places where customers or current employees are likely to
see them: store windows, bulletin boards, restaurant placemats, and the sides of trucks.
 The advantages to this method are that it is inexpensive and it is targeted toward people who frequent the business.
 The disadvantage is that only a limited number of people are exposed to the sign.

Recruiters
 a) Campus Recruiters. Many organizations send recruiters to college campuses to answer questions about themselves
and interview students for available positions. Not surprisingly, the behavior and attitude of recruiters can greatly
influence applicants’ decisions to accept jobs that are offered.
 Virtual job fair. A job fair held on campus in which students can “tour” a company online, ask questions of
recruiters, and electronically send résumés
b) Outside Recruiters. More than 75% of organizations use such outside recruiting sources as private employment
agencies, public employment agencies, and executive search firms.
 Executive search firms. Employment agencies, often also called headhunters, that specialize in placing
applicants in high-paying jobs.

Employment Agencies and Search Firms

- Employment agency. An organization that specializes in finding jobs for applicants and finding applicants for
organizations looking for employee
- Executive Search Firms. Executive search firms, better known as “head hunters,” differ from employment agencies in
several ways.
 First, the jobs they represent tend to be higher-paying, nonentry-level positions such as executives, engineers,
and computer programmers.
 Second, reputable executive search firms always charge their fees to organizations rather than to applicants.
 Third, fees charged by executive search firms tend to be about 30% of the applicant’s first-year salary.
- Public employment agency. An employment service operated by a state or local government, designed to match
applicants with job openings.
- Employee referral. A method of recruitment in which a current employee refers a friend or family member for a job. In
general, research indicates that employee referrals are an excellent recruitment source. Employee referrals are more
likely to be hired and have longer tenure with an organization than are employees recruited through other means
- Direct mail. A method of recruitment in which an organization sends out mass mailings of information about job
openings to potential applicants
- The Internet. Continues to be a fast-growing source of recruitment. Internet recruiting efforts usually take one of three
forms: employer-based websites, job boards, and social networking sites
- Employer-Based Websites. With employer-based websites, an organization lists available job openings and provides
information about itself and the minimum requirements needed to apply to a particular job.
- Job Boards. A job board is a private company whose website lists job openings for hundreds or thousands of
organizations and résumés for millions of applicants.
- Social Media. In recent years, the greatest change in employee recruitment has been the increased use of social
media outlets such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Essentially, social media sites are traditional employee referral
programs and networking on steroids. The various sites primarily differ on the audiences they reach: Facebook reaches
friends and family, LinkedIn reaches professional connections, and Twitter reaches people related by similar interests
such as a favorite celebrity, hobby, or occupation.

- Job fair. A recruitment method in which several employers are available at one location so that many applicants can
obtain information at one time.
Job fairs are typically conducted in one of three ways.
 First, many types of organizations have booths at the same location.
 The second type of job fair has many organizations in the same field in one location.
 The third approach to a job fair is for an organization to hold its own.

Special Recruit Populations

- Increasing Applicant Diversity. Many organizations make special efforts to recruit underrepresented groups such as
women and minorities. Efforts include recruiting at historically black colleges (HBCs), developing targeted intern
positions, and highlighting the organization’s openness to diversity in recruitment materials (e.g., including affirmative
action statements, displaying pictures of minority employees, and using minority
- Nontraditional Populations. When traditional recruitment methods are unsuccessful, many organizations look for
potential applicants from nontraditional populations. Here are a few examples:
 Manpower Incorporated, in Chandler, Arizona; the Chicago Police Department; and the Hackensack, New Jersey,
Police Department formed partnerships with local churches that resulted in successful hires (Tyler, 2000).
 Borders teams with AARP to actively recruit older, retired applicants to work at its bookstores.
 IBM, Google, Morgan Stanley, and Cisco Systems developed recruitment strategies and such gay-friendly benefits as
domestic partner benefits to recruit and retain gay and lesbian employees.
 Seventy percent of organizations have reported that hiring welfare recipients has been a successful source of
recruitment (Minton-Eversole, 2001).

- Recruiting “Passive” Applicants. With the exception of the direct-mail approach, and at times, the use of executive
recruiters, most of the recruiting methods previously discussed in this chapter deal with applicants who are actively
seeking work. Because “the best” employees are already employed, recruiters try to find ways to identify this hidden
talent and then convince the person to apply for a job with their company.
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Recruitment Strategies
- Cost per applicant. The amount of money spent on a recruitment campaign divided by the number of people that
subsequently apply for jobs as a result of the recruitment campaign.
- Cost per qualified applicant. The amount of money spent on a recruitment campaign divided by the number of
qualified people that subsequently apply for jobs as a result of the recruitment campaign.

- Realistic job preview (RJP). A method of recruitment in which job applicants are told both the positive and the
negative aspects of a job.
- Expectation-lowering procedure (ELP). A form of RJP that lowers an applicant’s expectations about the various
aspects of the job
- Employment interview. A method of selecting employees in which an interviewer asks questions of an applicant and
then makes an employment decision based on the answers to the questions as well as the way in which the questions
were answered

Types of Interviews
- Structure. The structure of an interview is determined by the source of the questions, the extent to which all applicants
are asked the same questions, and the structure of the system used to score the answers.
 Structured interviews. Interviews in which questions are based on a job analysis, every applicant is asked the
same questions, and there is a standardized scoring system so that identical answers are given identical
scores.
 Unstructured interview. An interview in which applicants are not asked the same questions and in which there
is no standard scoring system to score applicant answers
- Style. The style of an interview is determined by the number of interviewees and number of interviewers.
 One-on-one interviews involve one interviewer interviewing one applicant.
 Serial interviews involve a series of single interviews. For example, the HR manager might interview an
applicant at 9:00 a.m., the department supervisor interviews the applicant at 10:00 a.m., and the vice-president
interviews the applicant at 11:00 a.m.
 Return interviews are similar to serial interviews with the difference being a passing of time between the first
and subsequent interview. For example, an applicant might be interviewed by the HR manager and then
brought back a week later to interview with the vice president.
 Panel interviews have multiple interviewers asking questions and evaluating answers of the same applicant at
the same time.
 Group interviews have multiple applicants answering questions during the same interview
- Medium. Interviews also differ in the extent to which they are done in person.
 In face-to-face interviews, both the interviewer and the applicant are in the same room. Face-to-face
interviews provide a personal setting and allow the participants to use both visual and vocal cues to evaluate
information.
 Telephone interviews are often used to screen applicants but do not allow the use of visual cues (not always
a bad thing).
 Videoconference interviews are conducted at remote sites. The applicant and the interviewer can hear and
see each other, but the setting is not as personal, nor is the image and vocal quality of the interview as sharp
as in face-to-face interviews.
 Written interviews involve the applicant answering a series of written questions and then sending the answers
back through regular mail or through email.

Advantages of Structured Interviews

- Though some HR professionals think they are using a structured interview because they ask the same questions of
everyone, it is the job relatedness and standardized scoring that most distinguish the structured from the unstructured
interview.
- Although structured interviews are considered superior to unstructured ones, applicants perceive structured interviews
to be more difficult (Gilmore, 1989). Furthermore, because the interview is so structured, applicants may feel that they
did not have the chance to tell the interviewer everything they wanted to (Gilliland & Steiner, 1997).

Eight factors that contribute to the poor reliability and validity of the unstructured interview: poor intuitive ability, lack of job
relatedness, primacy effects, contrast effects, negative-information bias, interviewer-interviewee similarity, interviewee
appearance, and nonverbal cues

- Poor Intuitive Ability. Interviewers often base their hiring decisions on “gut reactions,” or intuition. However, people are
not good at using intuition to predict behavior: research indicates that human intuition and clinical judgment are
inaccurate predictors of a variety of factors ranging from future employee success to the detection of deception
- Lack of Job Relatedness. Research by Bolles (2014) has identified the most common questions asked by
interviewers. Furthermore, the proper answers to these questions have not been empirically determined.
- Primacy effect. The fact that information presented early in an interview carries more weight than information
presented later.
- Contrast effect. When the performance of one applicant affects the perception of the performance of the next
applicant.
 - Negative-information bias. The fact that negative information receives more weight in an employment decision than
does positive information.
- Interviewer-Interviewee. Similarity In general, research suggests that an interviewee will receive a higher score if he or
she is similar to the interviewer in terms of personality , attitude , gender or race.
- Interviewee Appearance. Meta-analyses indicate that, in general, physically attractive applicants have an advantage in
interviews over less attractive applicants, and applicants who dress professionally receive higher interview scores than
do more poorly dressed applicants. This attractiveness bias occurred for men and women and for traditionally
masculine and feminine job types.
- Nonverbal communication. Factors such as eye contact and posture that are not associated with actual words
spoken
- Nonverbal Cues. A meta-analysis by Barrick et al. (2009) found that the use of appropriate nonverbal communication is
highly correlated with interview scores. Appropriate nonverbal cues include such things as smiling and making
appropriate eye contact

Determining the KSAOs to Tap in the Interview

 The first step in creating a structured interview is to conduct a thorough job analysis and write a detailed job description.
The job analysis should identify the tasks performed, the conditions under which they are performed, and the
competencies needed to perform the tasks.
 The second step is to determine the best way to measure an applicant’s ability to perform each of the tasks identified in
the job analysis. Some of the competencies can be appropriately measured in an interview; others will need to be
tapped through such methods as psychological tests, job samples, assessment centers, references, background
checks, and training and experience ratings

- Clarifier. A type of structured interview question that clarifies information on the résumé or application.
- Disqualifier A type of structured interview question in which a wrong answer will disqualify the applicant from further
consideration.
- Skill-level determiner A type of structured-interview question designed to tap an applicant’s knowledge or skill.
- Future-focused question A type of structured interview question in which applicants are given a situation and asked how
they would handle it.
- Situational question A structured-interview technique in which applicants are presented with a series of situations and
asked how they would handle each one.
- Past-focused question A type of structured-interview question that taps an applicant’s experience.
- Patterned-behavior description interview (PBDI) A structured interview in which the questions focus on behavior in
previous jobs.
- Organizational-fit questions A type of structured-interview question that taps how well an applicant’s personality and
values will fit with the organizational culture
- Right/Wrong Approach - Some interview questions, especially skill-level determiners, can be scored simply on the basis
of whether the answer given was correct or incorrect.
- Typical-answer approach A method of scoring interview answers that compares an applicant’s answer with benchmark
answers.
- Benchmark answers Standard answers to interview questions, the quality of which has been agreed on by job experts
- Key-issues approach - A method of scoring interview answers that provides points for each part of an answer that
matches the scoring key.

Conducting the Structured Interview

 The first step in conducting the interview is to build rapport; do not begin asking questions until applicants have had time
to “settle their nerves.” Building rapport is an important step, as it results in the applicant feeling more positive about the
interview (Chapman & Zweig, 2005).
 set the agenda for the interview by explaining the process.
 After the agenda has been established, ask the interview questions.
 It is important to score each answer after it has been given.
 provide information about the job and the organization. Such information might include salary and benefits, the job
duties, opportunities for advancement, a history of the organization, and so on.
 answer any questions the applicant might have. It is a good idea at this point to say something like, “We have asked
you a lot of questions but may not have asked you about things you want to tell us. Is there any information you would
like to tell us that we did not ask about?”
 End the interview on a pleasant note by complimenting the interviewee (“It was a pleasure meeting you”) and letting her
know when you will be contacting the applicant about job offers. At the conclusion of the interview, the scores from the
questions are summed and the resulting figure is the applicant’s interview score.

- Scheduling the Interview. Contrary to popular advice, neither day of week nor time of day affect interview scores
(Aamodt, 1986; Willihnganz & Myers, 1993). What will affect the score, however, is when applicants arrive for the
interview. If they arrive late, the score will be drastically lower.
- Before the Interview. Learn about the company Recall that one of the most commonly asked unstructured interview
questions (“What do you know about our company?”) is used to determine the applicant’s knowledge of the
 organization. On the day of the interview, dress neatly and professionally, and adjust your style as necessary to fit the
situation.
- During the Interview. Most suggestions about how best to behave in an interview take advantage of the interviewer
biases discussed in this chapter. Nonverbal behaviors should include a firm handshake, eye contact, smiling, and head
nodding. Desired verbal behaviors include asking questions, subtly pointing out how you are similar to the interviewer,
not asking about the salary, not speaking slowly, and not hesitating before answering questions. Keep in mind that first
impressions are the most important
- After the Interview. Immediately following the interview, write a brief letter or email thanking the interviewer for her
time. This nice touch certainly cannot hurt.
- Cover letter. A letter that accompanies a résumé or job application, tell an employer that you are enclosing your
résumé and would like to apply for a job. Cover letters should never be longer than one page.
- Salutation. If possible, get the name of the person to whom you want to direct the letter. If you aren’t sure of the
person’s name, call the company and simply ask for the name of the person (have it spelled) to whom you should send
your résumé.
- Paragraphs. The opening paragraph should be one or two sentences long and communicate three pieces of
information: the fact that your résumé is enclosed, the name of the job you are applying for, and how you know about
the job opening (such as a newspaper ad or from a friend). The second paragraph states that you are qualified for the
job and provides about three reasons why. This paragraph should be only four or five sentences in length and should
not rehash the content of your résumé. The third paragraph explains why you are interested in the particular company
to which you are applying. The final paragraph closes your letter and provides information on how you can best be
reached. Though your phone number will be on your résumé, this paragraph is a good place to tell the employer the
best days and times to reach you.
- Signature. Above your signature, use words such as “cordially” or “sincerely.” “Yours truly” is not advised, and words
such as “Love,” “Peace,” or “Hugs and snuggles” are strongly discouraged. Personally sign each cover letter; and type
your name, address, and phone number below your signature

Tips about cover letters:

1) Avoid sounding desperate and don’t beg
2) Avoid grammar and spelling errors.
3) Avoid officious words or phrases.
4) Don’t discuss personal circumstances
5) Tailor your letter to each company.
6) Don’t write your cover letter on the stationery of your current employer.

Résumé - A formal summary of an applicant’s professional and educational background

Characteristics of Effective Résumés

1) The résumé must be attractive and easy to read.
2) The résumé cannot contain typing, spelling, grammatical, or factual mistakes.
3) The résumé should make the applicant look as qualified as possible— without lying

Types of Résumé
a) Chronological résumé - A résumé in which jobs are listed in order from most to least recent.
b) Functional résumé - A résumé format in which jobs are grouped by function rather than listed in order by date.
c) Psychological résumé - A résumé style that takes advantage of psychological principles pertaining to memory
organization and impression formation.