Selection

1. Module : Selection
2. Learning Outcome
After studying this module, you shall be able to
Know the meaning and definition of Selection
Understand the selection process
Comprehend the sources of information for selection
Understand the types of interview
Become aware of the selection decisions

3. Introduction

Once the pool of applicants is prepared, the HR department proceeds to implement the
predetermined selection process in order to select the best candidate for the job. The purpose
of selection is to pick up the most suitable candidate who would best fulfil the needs of the job
and the organization. The organization must be able to distinguish the applicants most likely to
perform on the job from the non-performers. How well an employee is matched to a job is very
important as it directly affects the amount and quality of the employee’s output. Any mismatch in
this regard can cost an organization a great deal in of cost in terms of money, time and training
and development and operating costs. In due course of time, the employee may find himself
aligned from the job, job itself distasteful and leave in frustration. He may even spread ‘hot
news’ and juicy bits of adverse information regarding the company, causing incalculable harm in
the long term. Effective selection, therefore, asks regular monitoring of the ‘fit’ between the
individual and the job.

4. Meaning and Definition of Selection

Selection is the process of picking up individuals from the pool of job applicants having relevant
qualifications and competence to fill jobs and can most successfully perform the job in an
organization.
Dale Yoder defined selection as the process by which candidates for employment are divided
into two classes – those who will be offered employment and those who will not.
In the words of David A Decenzo selection is a managerial decision-making to predict which job
applicants will be successful if hired.
These definitions indicate that selection is a systematic process of identifying suitable
candidates for the job available in the organization from the available applicant pool.

5. Selection Process

Employee selection is the process of placing right men on right job involving evaluation of
candidates on different dimensions, on a continuum from the concrete and quantifiable to the
abstract and personal. To perform this, organizations depend on one or more of a number of
selection schemes, including application forms, reference checks, psychological tests, physical
examinations, and interviews. Any of these devices must fulfill needs of relevance and legality,
and their effects on the applicant and the organization as a whole must be considered with a
caution. The procedure also attempts to match organizational requirements with the skills and
qualifications of people. Effective selection is possible only when there is an effective matching.
By selecting qualified and meritorious candidate for the job, the enterprise will receive
performance of employees, experience less problems of absenteeism and employee turnover
as well as save time and money.

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Recruitment and selection are the two phases of the process of employment and bear
significant difference between them. Recruitment is thought to be a positive process since it
encourages more of candidates to apply for the job. It generates a pool of applicants and
sourcing of data, selection is treated as a negative process as the unsuitable candidates are
eliminated. Selection consists in choosing the best candidate with required abilities, skills and
knowledge for the job. The process of selection follows certain steps including preliminary
interview, selection tests, employment interview, reference checks, decision for selection,
physical examination making job offer and the final selection. Fig. 1 shows the process of
selection.

5.1 Preliminary Interview

The aim of preliminary interviews is fundamentally to remove unqualified candidates or to reject

misfits on the basis of information provided in application forms. On the other hands preliminary
interviews is usually called a courtesy interview which is a fine public relations exercise.

5.2 Selection Tests

Jobseekers that get through the preliminary interviews are called asked to appear for selection
tests. There are different kinds of tests performed varying on the basis of jobs and the company.
Selection tests generally include Aptitude Tests, Personality Tests, and Ability Tests. These
tests are managed to assess how well a candidate can perform tasks concerned to the job.
Besides this there are some other kinds of tests also like Interest Tests, Graphology Test
Medical Tests, Psychometric Tests etc.

5.3 Interview
The interview is the next step in the process of selection where a formal and in-depth
conversation for applicant’s acceptability takes place. It is considered to be one of the best

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selection methods. Interviews can be Structured and Unstructured, Behavioral, and Stress
Interviews.
5.4 Reference Checks

Reference checks are conducted to verify the information candidates provide. Reference checks
can be through formal letters, telephone conversations. However it is only a formality and
seldom affects selection decision.

5.5 Selection Decision

After obtaining all the information, the most critical step is the making the selection decision.
The final decision has to be made out of applicants who have been successfully through
preliminary interviews, selection tests, final interviews and reference checks. In practice many
organizations find more than one suitable candidates to fill a job position. The selection decision
combines ranking of candidates on the basis of objective criteria with subjective judgments
about which candidate will make the greatest contribution.

5.6 Physical Examination:

After the selection decision is taken, the candidate is needed to pass a physical fitness test. A
job offer is often subject to the candidate’s passing the physical examination.

5.7 Job Offer

The next step in the process of selection is job offer to those applicants who have overcome all
the prior hurdles. The job offer is made by way of a formal letter of appointment.

6. Sources of information for selection

There are different sources of information for selection including application blank, references,
physical examination, employment tests and interviews.

6.1 Application Blank

The main aim of employee selection is to select those persons who are most likely to prove
good on the job performers. The application bank and employment interview are the most
widely used selection methods and they are often used in combination to supplement each
other. Asking each applicant to fill out an employment application is a way to gather basic data
from many applications at low cost. It also ensures that the organization has definite standard
classes of information, such as mailing address and employment record.
The application bank provides the information concerning identification such as name of the
application, his communication address, contact number, and e-mail identify, personal
information such as marital status, age, dependents, place of birth; physical characteristics such
as height, weight, health, defects, family background, education, academic, technical and
professional and also information regarding experience, reference and miscellaneous
information. Applicant Blanks vary in size from a one page to several pages with many
questions regarding information of the applicant. In an application blank there are many items
that from job to job. Application blanks provides the information to the interviewer and assists
him in the interview by presenting the areas of discussion. The application blank consist of other
areas for the applicant to provide more information, such as specific work experiences, technical
job skills, or memberships of professional or trade bodies. Also including the data on an
application is helpful for maintaining latest records of job applicants. Applicants often provide

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excessive information in the application blanks. This constraint of the application blank can be
won if the interviewer asks right questions to the applicant. The appraisal on the basis of
information given in the applicant blank has a very high probability of error, its utility as an
instrument for evaluating an applicant can be increased by more effective research. A review of
application blanks can help HR personnel to identify which candidates meet minimum needs for
education and experience. They may be able to rank applicants. Thus, the application forms
enable the organization to narrow down the pool of candidates to an affordable number to test
and interview.

6.2 References

Application blanks often ask the applicants to provide the names of several references.
Applicants provide the particular like names and phone number of former employers or others
who can verify for the applicant’s capabilities and past job performance. In other circumstances,
the applicant may provide letters of reference written to collect information or establish truth
about the accuracy of the information provided by the applicant.
References include communicating with previous employers, professors and others who can
provide information about the applicant. The references help to establish truth what the
application has communicated the organization and product supplemental information that can
be very useful in a selection decision. Earlier the applicant simply gave job references to the
employer after the preliminary interview or gave it along with the resume. Now, with a few
exceptions, most employers demand the applicant’s references at the time they are ready for
them, not earlier. While it is an indication one may be getting the offer of job. In the present job
market, references are a mandatory part of the application for job and the selection process. To
the best of the candidate’s capability, it is better they are good references who can speak well
about the candidate and know well about his recent job performance. Sometimes references
would speak to the employer all the company desires to understand about the person. But
currently, in order to avoid any lawsuits, they speak little possible, or may indicate that the
candidate is not a performer.
Sometimes references may prove to be a biased source of information. Most applicants are
cautious to choose references who will speak something positive. In addition, former employers
and others may be afraid that if they speak frankly they will be sued and the fear is not
unfounded.
Usually, the organization checks reference after the applicant is finally selected for the job.
Contacting references for all applicants indiscriminately would be wastage of time, and also
creates stress on the people contacted. Partially giving information too negative or too positive
is also risky. Giving negative information, there is a chance the candidate will claim defamation,
implying that the person damaged the applicant’s reputation by making statements difficult to be
proved truthful. At the other extreme, if the person gives a shining statement about a candidate,
and the new employer later knows of wrongdoings such as sexual misconduct or violence with
coworkers, the potential employer might litigate the former employer for misrepresentation of
facts. As such situations occasionally emerge references have a tendency to give as little
information as possible. Several organizations have policies that the human resource
department deals with all references and that they will merely verify dates of doing jobs and the
employee’s last pay drawn. In organizations without such a policy, HR professionals need to be
careful to limit to observable, job-related behaviors. In spite of these drawbacks of references,
potential employers should check references.

6.3 Physical Examinations

For physical fitness demanding jobs in particular, organizations may determine to conduct
medical examinations to view that the applicant can fulfill the job’s requirements. Employers

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may also wish to establish an employee’s physical condition at the start of employment, so that
there is exists a basis for measuring whether the employee has suffered a work-related
disability later on. At the same time, organization may not discriminate against individuals with
disabilities who could perform a job with reasonable accommodations.
Physical examination serves as an ultimate step before the hiring decision. A physician
appointed by the organization is authorized to conduct a physical examination of the person
intended to be selected. . Physical examination helps an organization place its employees in
suitable jobs, permit firms to screen out application with health problems and can be used to
judge the individual’s qualifications for a job involving physical efforts.

6.4 Employment Tests

When the applicants who meet basic requirements of the organization have been identified, the
organization proceeds with the selection process with the smaller pool of candidates. Often, the
next move is to gather objective data administering one or more employment tests which fall
into two broad categories: Aptitude tests and achievement tests
Aptitude tests evaluate the ease with which a person can acquire learning, skills and abilities. In
the field of employment testing the popular aptitude test is the General Ability Test Battery
(GATB).
Achievement tests scale a person’s knowledge and skills. For example government agencies
conduct civil service examinations check if applicants are qualified to perform specific jobs.
However, before using any test, the test’s validity and reliability organizations should be
investigated. The testing service may be asked to provide this information or to consult more
impartial sources of information.

6.5 Interviews- the reliability and validity

Virtually interviews are used as a selection device for most jobs across all organizations.
Generally, candidates are interviewed by at least two people before a job is offered. Typically,
an HR specialist and the candidate’s immediate supervisor perform these interviews. In respect
of managerial and professional jobs, it is usual for the candidate to undergo a third level of
interview with a higher position manager, such as a division head. As the interview technique is
commonly admired, there may be an expectation that t is a very useful in selection of candidate.
However, this is not always the case.
Most often supervisors and team members engage in the selection process at the stage of
employment interview. Interviews bring together candidates and employer representative to get
information and assess the applicant’s qualifications. While the applicant is furnishing
information, he is also nourishing opinions about the organization and its working environment.
In fact this method is used more than any other. Interview is one of the methods used for
evaluation of individual differences for the purpose of industrial selection.
Interviewers might consent well on the overall assessment of a candidate and on factual issues,
but interviewers seem unable to agree on more subjective or future directed characteristics. The
predictive validity of the interview has been considered to be quite low. The average validity of
the interview for predicting job performance has been as low as .14. It seems that interviewers
often commit judgmental and perceptual errors to adjust the validity of their evaluations.
Interviewers are also positively predisposed toward candidates who are similar to them. When
the similarity or dissimilarity is not job-related, it may still influence the interviewer’s judgment
and introduce invalid variance into the interviewer’s ratings. When several candidates are
interviewed in succession, raters compare each candidate with the other previous candidates
rather than with an absolute standard. Interviewers tend to see their job as a search for negative
information about candidates. Thus, they may overreact to a single minor piece of negative

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information. They are more likely to change their initial opinion of a candidate from positive to
negative than negative to positive.
Interviewers may be more or less positive about a candidate on the basis of the candidate’s
race, sex, or age. Some interviewers tend to form a first impression of candidates rather quickly,
based on a review of the application or on the short duration of the interview. Thus, this
impression is based on relatively little information about the candidate. When either the
interviewer’s overall impression or strong impression of a single characteristic expands to
influence his or her rating of other characteristics also, it results in halo error. Studies have also
demonstrated that interviewers are influenced by nonverbal factors in the interview such as
appropriate clothing, making eye contact, smile and fluency in speaking. Also an interviewer
may miss a substantial portion of interviewee says either because of poor listening habits or
preoccupation with question to ask next.
Despite these problems, interviewers tend to believe that they are good judges of character and
can spot a winner at fifty paces. This self-perception may flow from the fact that professional
interviewers and recruiters seldom get feedback on the eventual performance of people they
have recommended for hire. In the absence of evidence to the country, they believe that their
procedures and decisions are correct.
The evaluation form in respect of a candidate given to an interviewer is very helpful aid while
conducting an interview as it provides the direction to the interviewer during questioning an
applicant. Beginning with work experience, then training and ultimately personal record -the
form assist to include all aspects of applicant’s evaluation.
It is an interviewer’s task to create a favorable impact of the company on the applicant. For this
purpose, interviewer requires to create a rapport with the applicant to make him feel comfortable
and encourage him to express himself, his attitudes, motives and aspirations. Giving full
attention to the applicant, not interrupting while the applicant answers and never show rudeness
is very necessary. Interviewer requires reading the body language skill of an applicant.
Providing the applicant opportunities to express is essential for collecting information about the
applicant. A lot of research and training is required to enhance the efficacy of employment
interviewing and make greater the validity of the interview method of hiring an applicant for an
organization.

7. Types of Interviews

Three types of interviews, based on the degree of structure can be categorized as unstructured,
semi-structured and structured interviews:

7.1 Unstructured Interview

In the unstructured interview, questions and their sequence are not planned beforehand, and
interviews with different candidates may comprehend quite different facets of candidate’s
history, attitudes, or future plans. The low inter rater reliability and overall the lowest validity is
the characteristics of unstructured interviews. Since questions are not planned, the crucial job
related aspects may remain unexamined, and irrelevant questions may be asked momentarily.
Interviewers may also rely highly on single favorite questions of doubtful validity. Thus,
unstructured interviews should not commonly be used for evaluating job candidates.

7.2 Semi-structured Interviews

The semi-structured interview involves some planning on the part of the interviewer. It also
allows flexibility in precisely what the interviewer asks questions. Semi-structured interviews are
likely to be more valid than unstructured interviews, but not as valid as highly structured
interviews. In an excellent book on semi structured interviewing techniques, Thomas Moffatt

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suggests that interviewers plan their objectives in terms of what they hope to learn about the
candidate and utilize a ‘cone’ approach to draw out this information. A cone is a mini-interview
on a particular topic, such as the candidate’s last job, feelings about working in groups, or
military experience. Each cone is introduced by a very broad question, which is followed by
more specific questions on aspects of the topic. These questions may vary from interviewee to
interviewee but are related to the topic of the cone. The interviewer might plan to include four to
eight cones in an hour-long interview.
In the cone approach, most questions are designed to elicit a reasonably lengthy response. As
in all types of interviews, leading questions are avoided. Leading questions are those that imply
a correct answer. Finally, yes-no and short-answer questions are used sparingly because they
tend to turn the interview into an interrogation and do not provide as much useful information as
longer answers.

7.3 Structured Interview

Research shows conclusively that the highest reliability and validity are realized in the
structured interview. Correlation with job performance criteria on an average is .34 for well-
structured interviews. In a structured interview, questions are predetermined in advance and are
asked in the same way to each candidate. The probing or the follow-up questions may make the
only difference between interviews with different candidates, if a particular candidate has not
answered a question fully. Interviews that feature structured questions usually also provide for
structured rating scales also.
A situational interview is a structured interview in which the interviewer puts a situation possibly
to arise on the job and asks the candidate his or her likely reaction in that situation. This type of
interview may have high level of reliability and validity in predicting job performance.
A behavioral descriptive interview is a situational interview in which the interviewer put the
candidate questions to describe how he or she dealt a type of situation in the past. Questions
about candidates’ actual experiences have the highest validity
In a panel interview, different members of the organization assemble to interview each
candidate and give the candidate a chance to meet people and see how they interact in the
organization. The organization receives the judgments of more than one person, in order to
reduce the effect of personal biases in selection process. Panel interviews can be especially
suitable in organizations that use teams. At the other point, some organizations perform
interviews without interviewers; instead they use a computerized interviewing process where the
candidate sits at a computer and enters replies to the questions presented by the computer.
Such a system eliminates a lot of personal bias-along with the opportunity to look how people
behave in the organization. The computer interviews are helpful to gathering objective data,
rather than evaluating people skills.

8. Selection Decisions

After reviewing applications screening tests, conducting interview, and checking references, the
organization needs to determine about the candidates to be placed in jobs. Practically, most
organizations have more than one suitable candidate to recruit an open position. The selection
decision typically relies upon ranking on the basis of objective criteria along with subjective
judgments about the candidate expected to make the largest contribution.

8.1 How Organizations Select Employees

The selection decision should not be an easy issue regarding whom the supervisor likes most or
which candidate takes the lowest offer. It is desirable that the people making the selection
should search the best fit between candidate and the position. Generally, the person’s

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performance will be the outcome of ability and motivation. Often, the selection is a decision in
favor of a few people who have the fundamental qualifications. The decision makers therefore,
have to determine the people owning the best combination of ability and motivation to match the
position and the entire organization.
The common process for reaching a selection decision is to narrow down in a gradual manner
the source of candidates for each job. The multiple-hurdle approach is based on a process such
as the one shown in Fig.6.1 .Each stage of the process is a hurdle, and candidates who win a
hurdle reaches to the next stage of the process. For example, the organization reviews resumes
of all candidates, performs selection tests on those who meet minimum requirements, conducts
initial interviews with those having the highest test scores and then selects a candidate who
comes out winning this process. The alternative process is to take most applicants through all
stages of the process and then to consider all the scores to identify the most desirable
candidates.
Whether the organization applies a multiple hurdle model or makes the same assessments of all
candidates, the decision makers need criteria for choosing among qualified candidates. An
evident strategy is to select the candidates with highest scores on tests and interviews. It is
possible that a candidate scoring very high on an ability test might be overqualified. Similarly, a
person with high motivation might understand some jobs very quickly potentially outperforming
those with the necessary skills. Furthermore, some organizations formulate policies for
developing employees. Such organizations might consider hiring candidates more important
than the skills need for a particular job. The share the values of the organization, show that they
have the team spirit, and are able to learn the skills needed for advancement.
Finally, organizations have option about who will take the decision. Commonly, a supervisor
makes the final decision. A human resource professional could also make the decision using
standardized, objective criteria. Especially in organizations that utilizes teamwork, a work team
may make the selection decisions. The human resource department is often responsible for
informing applicants about the outcome of the selection process. If a candidate has been finally
selected, the organization communicates the decision and makes an offer of appointment to the
candidate mentioning clearly the job responsibilities, work schedule, rate of pay, starting date,
and other relevant details. If placement in a job involves a physical examination, the offer should
state the requirement. For specific jobs, such as management and professional positions,
negotiation may take place on pay, benefits, and work arrangements between the candidate
and organization before a final employment agreement is arrived at.

Summary
The purpose of selection is to pick up the most suitable candidate who would best fulfill the
needs of the job and the organization.
Selection is the process of picking up individuals from the pool of job applicants having
relevant qualifications and competence to fill jobs and can most successfully perform the job in
an organization.
The process of selection follows certain steps including preliminary interview, selection
tests, employment interview, reference checks, decision for selection, physical examination
making job offer and the final selection.
There are different sources of information for selection including application blank,
references, physical examination, employment tests and interviews.
Three types of interviews, based on the degree of structure can be categorized as
unstructured, semi-structured and structured interviews:

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