Deck 8: External Selection I

Question 1

Video résumés have become a major component of selection in most large organizations.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Although employers can outsource résumé collection to résumé-tracking services,in practice this type of outsourcing is too inefficient to be worth the cost.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Research suggests that the quality of the school a person graduates from makes a difference in the labor market.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

College grades are more valid predictors of job performance than high school grades.

Question 5

The first step in developing a selection plan is to list relevant KSAOs associated with a job.

Question 6

Occupational certification helps guard against the misuse of job titles in human resource selection.

Question 7

Research has found that level of education is moderately related to job performance.

Question 8

A finalist is someone who has not yet received an offer,but who possesses the minimum qualifications to be considered for further assessment.

Question 9

Organizations are increasingly finding that the costs of developing a selection plan outweigh the benefits.

Question 10

Résumé scanning software tends to look for nouns more than action verbs.

Question 11

Occupational certifications are nearly all regulated by the Department of Labor to ensure that they accurately reflect job knowledge.

Question 12

Contingent methods mean that the job offer is subject to certain qualifications,such as the offer receiver passing a medical exam or a drug test.

Question 13

A major problem with resumes and cover letters is lying.

Question 14

Job analysis sometimes finds that seemingly unrelated jobs may have more in common than would be expected by relying just on job titles.

Question 15

The process of translating the results of a job analysis into actual predictors to be used for selection is known as a discriminant validity study.

Question 16

The logic of prediction indicates that a point-to-point comparison needs to be made between requirements of the job be filled and the qualifications of the job applicants.

Question 17

Cost should not be used to guide the choice of initial assessment methods.

Question 18

To protect an employer from charges of unfair discrimination,it is best to only include information related to KSAOs demonstrated as important to the job on an application blank.

Question 19

External selection refers to the assessment and evaluation of external job applicants.

Question 20

A power test is used when the speed of work is an important part of the job.

Question 21

Surveys suggest that only 3 out of 10 organizations conduct reference checks.

Question 22

The initial interview is the least expensive method of initial assessment.

Question 23

Many organizations are reluctant to give out detailed reference information regarding their former employees because they are afraid of being sued.

Question 24

The principal assumption behind the use of biodata in selection processes is the axiom,"the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior."

Question 25

Biographical information tends to have low reliability.

Question 26

The most common person to be contacted in a reference check is the applicant's former colleagues who worked in the same position.

Question 27

Biodata is like a background check in many ways,but background checks tend to focus on external references rather than applicant surveys.

Question 28

Letters of recommendation are an excellent way to help organizations separate highly qualified from moderately qualified applicants.

Question 29

The purpose of the initial interview is to screen out the most obvious cases of person/job mismatches.

Question 30

Research suggests that biodata does not provide incremental validity over personality and cognitive ability.

Question 31

Genetic screening is becoming a valuable component of many organizations' selection systems.

Question 32

Biodata items are generally the same,regardless of the job being staffed.

Question 33

Research shows that applicants have a favorable attitude toward biodata inventories.

Question 34

Research on the reliability and validity of biodata has been quite positive.

Question 35

The validity evidence for weighted application blanks is better than that for unweighted application blanks.

Question 36

The proportion of organizations that conduct pre-hire background checks to determine if employees have criminal records or inaccurate reporting on résumés,has risen dramatically in recent years.

Question 37

Scored evaluations of unweighted application blanks are good predictors of job performance.

Question 38

Most organizations use only weighted application blanks for initial screening decisions.

Question 39

One study that showed there was a stronger correlation between two letters written by one person for two different applicants than between two different people writing letters for the same person.

Question 40

Biodata refers to medical or physiological tests of applicants prior to hiring.

Question 41

The laws in most states provide employers with little protection if they provide any information in a reference check that might damage an applicant's chances of getting a job.

Question 42

Initial interviews can be made more useful by asking the same questions of all job applicants.

Question 43

The Americans with Disabilities Act states that employers may not ask disability-related questions and may not conduct medical examinations until after it makes a conditional job offer to a person.

Question 44

Although arrest information may be gathered in the process of doing a background check,it cannot be used in staffing decisions.

Question 45

Failure to conduct a reference check opens an organization to the possibility of a negligent hiring suit.

Question 46

Within the context of the selection process,the "logic of prediction" means that:

A) indicators of an applicant's future performance are predictive of likely job performance
B) indicators of a person's degree of success in past situations should be predictive of future job success
C) predictors of job performance are correlated with KSAOs
D) indicators of job outcomes can be used to predict job performance

Question 47

Essay tests are best used to assess ___________ skills.

A) oral communication
B) written communication
C) interpersonal
D) none of these

Question 48

Employers are advised to let applicants know in advance that they reserve the right to not hire,terminate,or discipline prospective employee for providing false information during the selection process.

Question 49

It is illegal to use pre-employment inquiry information that has a disparate impact on the basis of a protected characteristic,unless such disparate impact can be shown to be job-related and consistent with business necessity.

Question 50

Most initial assessment methods have moderate to low validity.

Question 51

Which of the following is necessary for the logic of prediction to work in practice for selecting employees?

A) the organization has adopted a thorough competency modeling approach
B) qualifications carry over from one job to another
C) that each candidate is assessed based on his or her unique experiences
D) anonymous periodic reviews of applicant files to ensure accuracy

Question 52

The burden of proof is on employers to defend BFOQ claims.
Multiple Choice Questions

Question 53

Adverse impact refers to the possibility that a disproportionate number of protect class members may be rejected using a given predictor.

Question 54

If the correctness of a response is essential for a job,then a(n)________ test should be used.

A) essay
B) speed
C) power
D) objective

Question 55

Disclaimers are used as a means of protecting employer rights.

Question 56

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act explicitly permits discrimination on the basis of sex,religion,or national origin if it can be shown to be a bona fide occupational qualification.

Question 57

Bona fide occupational qualification claims made on the basis of customer preferences are typically upheld by the courts.

Question 58

The most frequently used methods of initial assessment are education level,training and experience,reference checks,and initial interview.

Question 59

Bona fide occupational qualifications are not of relevance to the initial assessment phase.

Question 60

Level of education requirements have little adverse impact against minority applicants.

Question 61

Most initial assessment methods have _________ validity.

A) moderate to low
B) high to very high
C) moderately high to high
D) moderate

Question 62

Biographical information is like application blanks,except ________.

A) biographical information is based on history,but application blanks are based on current events
B) application blanks are more likely to be used for substantive selection decisions
C) biographical data is more likely to be accepted by applicants
D) biographical data can be more fruitfully used for substantive selection decisions

Question 63

Which of the following statements regarding the development of a selection plan is false?

A) The list of KSAOs used in the selection plan are derived from the job requirements matrix
B) The process of developing a selection plan is usually straightforward and can be done quickly
C) One reason KSAOs may be deemed unimportant for selection is because they will be learned on the job
D) Possible methods for assessing every identified job-relevant KSAO need to be developed

Question 64

Which of the following statements regarding résumés is true?

A) Even background checks cannot reduce the problem of résumé fraud
B) Most surveys suggest that around half of all résumés have substantial inaccuracies or distortions
C) Video résumés are highly respected by most employers
D) Extensive evidence suggests that résumés are highly accurate predictors of employee job performance

Question 65

The information collected for an accomplishments record includes _______.

A) a written statement of the accomplishment
B) when the accomplishment took place
C) any recognition for the accomplishment
D) all of these

Question 66

Research on application blanks has suggested that the most common questions that are misinterpreted include __________.

A) previous employers
B) reasons for leaving previous jobs
C) previous positions held
D) all of these are true

Question 67

Which of the following statements regarding the use of grade point averages as a predictor is(are)true?

A) GPA may be influenced by many factors in addition to the applicant's KSAOs and motivation.
B) GPAs in one's major tend to be highly similar to one's GPAs in other classes.
C) Grades do not vary widely by field.
D) GPAs from different schools mean the same thing.

Question 68

Which of the following is a criterion on which biodata items can be classified?

A) historical vs.nonverifiable
B) invasive vs.firsthand
C) objective vs.subjective
D) equal access vs.easy access

Question 69

Which of the following is true regarding biodata and background tests?

A) Background information is obtained through interviews and conversations with references.
B) They are two different names for the same thing.
C) Only background tests look into an applicant's past.
D) Biodata is used primarily when screening applicants for positions in which integrity and emotional adjustment are necessary.

Question 70

The principal assumption behind the use of biodata is the axiom,_________.

A) The best predictor of future behavior is motivation level
B) The best predictor of future behavior is KSAOs
C) The best predictor of future behavior is education level
D) The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior

Question 71

The most accurate description of the basic purpose of a selection plan is _______________.

A) a selection plan determines the means for attracting qualified job applicants
B) a selection plan matches applicants to outcome criteria
C) a selection plan describes predictors to be used to assess KSAOs required to perform the job
D) a selection plan consists of interview rating criteria

Question 72

Which of the following are common sources of résumé fraud?

A) inflated titles
B) inflated education or "purchased" degrees
C) inaccurate dates to cover up job hopping or unemployment
D) all of these

Question 73

Which of the following is(are)initial assessment methods?

A) Résumés and cover letters
B) Application blanks
C) Biographical information
D) All of these

Question 74

The problem with using _____ for hiring purposes is that only very poor applicants cannot obtain these,and the format is unstandardized.

A) certifications
B) biodata forms
C) letters of recommendation
D) MBAs

Question 75

The highest estimate of validity coefficients of unweighted applicant banks as predictors of job performance are __________.

A) 1.00
B) .80
C) .20
D) .60
E) .40

Question 76

Which of the following methods is the most valid predictor of performance?

A) Initial interviews
B) Handwriting analysis
C) Biodata
D) Unweighted application blanks

Question 77

When considering the use of extracurricular activities as a job performance predictor,one should __________.

A) use extracurricular activities whenever possible
B) de-emphasize the use of extracurricular activities
C) use extracurricular activities mainly for selection of managerial personnel
D) use extracurricular activities when they correlate with KSAOs required by the job

Question 78

The strength of the relationship between a predictor and performance is called _________.

A) reliability
B) validity
C) utility
D) instrumentality

Question 79

Asking applicants to complete a supplemental application in which they describe their most significant accomplishments relative to a list of job behaviors is known as the ________.

A) behavioral consistency method
B) experiential summary method
C) biodata approach
D) none of these

Question 80

In using educational level as an initial selection criterion,which of the following statements is false?

A) The degree received from an institution is not sufficient as a sole indicator of an applicant's level of education.
B) A GED is a high school equivalency degree and is about as good as a conventional high school diploma in predicting job performance.
C) Educational level is a predictor of job performance.
D) High-level degrees from non-accredited schools may be indicators of lesser accomplishment than lower-level degrees from accredited schools.