The “Course Topics” series from Manage Train Learn and Slide Topics is a collection of over 4000 slides that will help you master a wide range of management and personal development skills. The 202 PowerPoints in this series offer you a complete and in-depth study of each topic. This presentation is on "Tests and Assessments".

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Tests and Assessments
Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
RECRUITMENT AND
SELECTION
Tests and Assessments

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Tests and Assessments
Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
The Course Topics series from Manage Train Learn is a large collection of topics that will help you as a learner
to quickly and easily master a range of skills in your everyday working life and life outside work. If you are a
trainer, they are perfect for adding to your classroom courses and online learning plans.
COURSE TOPICS FROM MTL
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Tests and Assessments
Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
ARE YOU READY?
OK, LET’S START!

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Tests and Assessments
Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
INTRODUCTION
Tests are now widely used as part of many organisations'
selection procedures. This is because they have numerous
advantages over the unscientific approach of the interview
or "gut-feel". They can re-create real workplace situations
and find out how people might perform. They can discover
what people know as well as what they can do. And they
can give indications of a person's personality, his or her
preferences and what role they might play in a team. On the
other hand, if poorly designed, poorly run and poorly
administered, tests can be misleading and even dangerous.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
TESTING CANDIDATES
Testing of candidates is now widely used as part of the
selection procedure. According to the recruitment agency,
Capita RAS, 60% of all candidates for jobs paying more than
£40,000 per annum said that they had participated in
extended selection tests with organisations to whom they
had applied.
The chances of selecting a suitable candidate increase when
selection is tied in with an interview.
According to the research of J. R. Huck, the chances of
selecting an above-average candidate are:
• 15% if random selection is used (sticking a pin into the
list)
• 35% if an interview is used
• 76% if interviews are used along with some kind of
relevant test.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
TO TEST OR NOT TO TEST?
Each employing organisation has to make their own decision
about whether they should test job candidates or not. There
are pros and cons.
The Pros are that tests can...
1. be designed to give evidence of desired skills
2. give an extra measure of ability when used with other
methods
3. take out individual favouritism from the selection
process
4. give a professional look to the recruitment process.
The Cons are that tests…
1. are no absolute guarantee that a person can do the job.
Some people are just good at tests.
2. can be expensive if specially devised for your needs
3. may not be easy to validate if you devise them yourself.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
FAIR TESTING
Although tests are often used to avoid personal bias in
selection, they must be designed and applied so that they
do not discriminate.
In the case of Isa and Rashid v BL Cars, two Pakistani
applicants were refused jobs with (the old) British Leyland
Cars as labourers because they were unable to fill in the
application form in their own handwriting. BL used the
application forms as a test of literacy.
At the industrial tribunal case which ensued, it was felt that
a test of literacy was unnecessary for labourers and that the
one used by the company - the application form -
discriminated against certain groups of people.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
RULES ON TESTING
The following rules on testing will ensure your tests are
designed, applied and assessed as fairly as possible.
1. decide if you really need a test. For some jobs and
levels, it may not be worth the time and effort.
2. choose tests which are professionally designed, well-
supported by normative data, relevant and validated
3. select a test which looks right. Candidates need to
recognize the link between the test and the job or they
will fail to make the necessary effort.
4. use tests with other information, for example, before or
after an interview or as part of an assessment centre
5. let people have some practice before they do the tests:
they should be a test of ability, not a test of nerves
6. train those who administer and score the tests
7. monitor the link between test results and subsequent
performance on the job.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
TYPES OF TEST
There are four types of tests widely used in the selection of
job candidates. These are:
1. General Intelligence, or aptitude, tests, covering verbal,
numerical, mathematical, spatial awareness
2. Specific Aptitude Tests which are skill or job-related.
These can test skills such as mechanical reasoning, manual
dexterity, typing, filing, and decision-making.
3. Personality Tests which place candidates into categories,
typologies and character profiles
4. Group Tests in which a number of candidates are
observed in a group situation, carrying out a discussion or
problem-solving exercise.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
NUMERICAL AWARENESS
This is a test on numerical awareness.
Find the mistake in the restaurant bill below.
2 steaks at £6.50...............£13.00
2 Dover sole at £6.00........£12.00
3 soup at £1.50.................£ 4.50
1 melon at £1.50...............£ 1.50
4 crème caramel at £1.25....£ 6.00
1 Chateau le lion at £7.50.....£ 7.50
1 Barolo at £9.50...............£ 9.50
4 coffee at £1.00................£ 4.00
Sub-total............................£58.00
Service at 10%...................£ 5.80
Total..................................£63.80
Answer: the incorrect calculation is the crème caramel
which should total £5.00 not £6.00. The sub-total is
therefore £57.00, service is £5.70 and the new total £62.70.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
LITERACY
This is a test on literacy.
In the following extract taken from a bank's guide to
contractors, check for any incorrect word and replace the
word with one from the options list at the bottom.
"All essence repairs required to be carried out must be in
accordance with our instructions.
The bank must be noticed of the work and sent copies of
the contractor's estimates if appointed."
Options: accountable; appropriate; completion; notified;
consultant; essential; final; accord.
Answers:
"essence" should read "essential"
"noticed" should read "notified"
"appointed" should read "appropriate".

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
DECISION-MAKING
This is a test on decision-making.
The rules for giving discounts on our products are:
1. a 5% discount on goods between £500 and £1000.
2. a 10% discount on goods over £1000.
3. a 5% discount if the customer wants credit but will pay
inside 6 months.
4. a 10% discount for immediate payment.
What is the discount on:
a. a customer who is paying cash for goods worth £1500?
b. a customer who want to pay for £400 worth of goods
over 9 months?
c. a customer who wants to buy £800 worth of goods and
pay over 4 months?
Answers:
a. 20% discount; b. no discount; c. 10% discount.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
TESTING ATTRIBUTION
Until recently, the retail chain Boots the Chemist used a
verbal understanding psychometric test and a competency-
based interview to recruit their retail sales staff. But they
found that the method did nothing to indicate future sales
performance and levels of customer care.
They therefore decided to adopt a psychometric test based
on attribution theory: the idea that, when faced with
puzzling incidents, people attribute causes to explain them.
The company gave a questionnaire to 500 of their existing
sales staff and verified that good sales staff attribute difficult
work problems to internal, and therefore controllable,
causes, whereas not-so-good staff attribute them to
external and therefore out-of-their-control causes.
Using the theory, Boots was able to devise a successful test
for all applicants for a retail sales position.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
BOOTS ATTRIBUTION TEST
The examples below are from tests given to applicants for
sales positions at Boots the Chemists stores. They are based
on attribution theory. Candidates answer each question
with an A to E range of agreement.
A. A customer says she has been given the wrong change for
some deodorant. When you check the shelf, you cannot
find the brand. The customer is still unhappy. Why?
(a) Customers can be difficult to please sometimes.
(b) You could not find the deodorant.
B. A customer is looking for some insect repellent to take on
holiday. He then spends over £40 on goods. Why does he
spend over £40?
(a) Customers often spend money before going on holiday
(b) You explained to the customer what he might need.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
PERSONALITY TESTS
Raymond Cattell's 16 Personality Factor personality test
takes about 45 minutes to complete. The full version of 400
questions asks candidates to make choices from a range of
responses based on their personal preferences.
Some typical examples of statements and responses in
Cattell’s personality test are...
1. I like to watch team games
(a) Yes (b) occasionally (c) No
2. I prefer people who...
(a) are reserved; (b) are in-between; (c) make friends easily.
3. Money cannot bring happiness
(a) Agree; (b) in-between (c) Disagree
Candidates are told to answer using the first response that
comes to mind; to avoid the middle or average answers; and
to answer every question, even if they're not sure.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
PERSONALITY QUESTIONNAIRES
Cattell's 16 Personality Factor (PF) questionnaire plots
personality characteristics across sixteen ranges:
1. reserved or outgoing
2. concrete or abstract thinker
3. affected by feelings or emotionally stable
4. humble or assertive
5. expedient or conscientious
6. shy or adventurous
7. tough or tender
8. trusting or suspicious
9. practical or imaginative
10. unpretentious or shrewd
11. self-assured or pretentious
12. conservative or experimenting
13. group joiner or self-sufficient
14. sober or carefree
15. undisciplined or controlled
16. relaxed or tense.

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MTL Course Topics
ADAPTATION AND SHAPING
Robert Sternberg has argued that many intelligence tests fail
to give a proper prediction of how a person is likely to
perform in a job because they don't take into account
"successful intelligence".
Sternberg defines "successful intelligence" as the ability we
all have to adapt to our environment and shape it. Whereas
traditional intelligence tests show whether a person will fit
in, in times of change, this may not be enough. To be truly
successful in any environment, a person has not only to fit in
but change their environment to suit changing needs.
Tests, says Sternberg, need to take account of both whether
a person can fit in to the current needs of the organisation
as well as deal with, or create, changes in the organisation.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
THE COLOUR OF YOUR CAR
There is an ongoing debate about the value of personality
and psychometric tests. Defenders of tests argue that they
are more reliable as predictors of a person's likely work
behaviour than an interview. Detractors argue that tests can
never be completely scientific in predicting likely
performance.
While only properly validated tests should be used in
selection, numerous tongue-in-cheek versions have arisen
elsewhere.
PHH Vehicle Management Services, for example, suggest the
following way of determining a person's personality based
on the colour of their car:
1. Red cars indicate ambitious, impulsive people
2. Blue cars denote conscientious hard-workers
3. Green cars are for methodical family types
4. Black cars are driven by success-orientated people.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
THE BARNUM EFFECT
You should beware of unvalidated personality tests.
In the 1950's, the psychologist Stagner gave a group of
managers a personality test and then told each of them
what the results were.
When asked how they rated the assessments, most of the
managers rated them as "accurate".
In fact, Stagner had given everyone the same assessment
report! He had contrived to deceive them by means of
flattery, ambiguity and being a bit mysterious.
This effect is known as the Fallacy of Personal Validation, or,
because of its scope as a confidence trick, as the Barnum
effect, after the confidence salesman.

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MTL Course Topics
UNLIKELY TO SUCCEED
In "Survival in the Executive Jungle", Chester Burger tells the
story of W. Maxey Jarman, the dynamic executive who built
the $400 million corporation Genesco Inc. and became its
chairman.
Curious to know how his Genesco executives were chosen,
Jarman was told that they all took psychometric tests.
Jarman therefore arranged anonymously to put himself
forward for one of the tests. He completed the tests as
honestly as he could.
The report that came back stated that he was too shy and
self-conscious ever to deal successfully with the type of
business Genesco were in and would in all probability not
get very far in management.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
THAT’S
IT!
WELL DONE!

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
THANK YOU
This has been a Slide Topic from Manage Train Learn