Human Resources Management for Public and Nonprofit Organizations

Recruitment and Selection in the Public and Nonprofi t Sectors 197

or severity of a physical or mental impairment or information regarding

an applicant ’ s health. They may be administered at the preoffer stage.

Psychological examinations such as aptitude tests, personality tests, honesty

tests, and IQ tests are intended to measure applicants ’ capacity and pro-

pensity to perform a job successfully and are not considered to be medi-

cal examinations. Psychological tests that result in a clinical diagnosis and

require interpretation by a health care professional are considered medical

examinations and are prohibited at the preoffer stage.

Interviews

Interviews are often the deciding factor in who gets hired for a position.

This is unfortunate because interviews are a subjective selection tool. It is

easy for interviewers to inject their own

prejudices into the selection decision.

Another problem with interviews is that

job - related questions that can differen-

tiate between successful and unsuccess-

ful employees often are not asked.

Successful interviewing requires

planning and structure. The compo-

nents of a structured oral exam should

be incorporated into the interview process. Questions related to the dimen-

sions of the job should be asked. The interviewers should agree in advance

what competencies the position requires. The focus should be on the KSA-

OCs that interviews can assess most effectively, such as interpersonal or

oral communication skills and job knowledge.

To minimize the subjectivity, the interview process should be struc-

tured. The U.S. Merit Protection Board (2003a) and Dixon, Wang, Calvin,

Dineen, and Tomlinson (2002) propose the following steps:

1. Develop questions based on a job analysis.


2. Ask effective questions.


3. Ask each candidate the same questions.


4. Use detailed rating scales. Anchor the rating scales for scoring answers
   with examples and illustrations.


5. Train interviewers.


6. Use interview panels so that more than one person conducts the
   interview.


7. Take notes.

Interviews are often the

deciding factor in who

gets hired for a position.

This is unfortunate because

interviews are a subjective

selection tool.