Job Design And Staffing Essay, Research Paper

Abstract

The Analysis of Jobs

A focus on jobs as important elements in organizational structures and information systems may help with investigation and evaluation of work and work experience. These notes/checklists are offered to aid examination of your own job from a self-development point of view. They may also help

?In projects that generally involve the design of jobs for an organization.

?Those involved in staff recruitment, training, employee appraisal and reward system management

?Budding human resource specialists and team leader/managers.

?Business studies and others involved in a work placement or research activity into job structures and relationships.

What is the Content of a Job Definition?

If you need to analyze a job (your own) and report on a job (write a job description) then the following questions/headings should help.

?What is the Job Title?

?What is the Grade within the company (indicates level/position within the rewards structure)

?How permanent is the job?

?What traveling is involved with the job?

?What are the formal reporting relationships associated with it? (horizontal, vertical, and diagonal relationships)

?Reports to whom in the hierarchy? (formally – boss and key others)

?Responsible for whom? (number of full-time and part-time staff and their job titles)

?Who are the others in the formal job network/role set: (list those contacts/other jobs – internal and external – that form the job’s network of contacts.)

?External (customer groups, agencies, suppliers etc.)

?Internal (other departments which are internal clients or that must work with the post holder)

?What are the main responsibilities (routine/non-routine) of the job?

?Routine (daily, weekly)

?Yearly – and responsibilities that arise from time to time

?Other key events/points in job cycle

?Now focus on the really important (the key) tasks and critical success indicators of job performance for each of these areas of responsibility

?For each area of responsibility LIST the key tasks that have to be carried out

?Describe the indicators that would show that the key results/critical success standards have been achieved (i.e., that performance requirements have been met)

Supervision/Support

?With what supervision and support processes are you involved? (e.g., your boss to you, you to your boss, you to your staff, your staff to you, you to others, others to you)

Authority/Resources

?What authority do you have over staff and resources? (to give instructions, allocate work, make rewards available, fix/change terms and conditions of employment, give feedback, assess and appraise and discipline).

?What responsibility do you have for assets, the fabric of the workplace, budgets? Describe each of these and give details of what, how much.

The Value of Job Analysis Techniques

Jobs are organizational components. Many organizational studies involve looking at job structures, relationships and behaviors associated with jobs. Job analysis techniques are useful for the examination of work experience. Job roles can be defined in terms of:

?Responsibilities

?Accountability

?Communications networks

?Decision-making

?Relationships to operational and information systems in use

?Hierarchical and team positions within business systems and programs

?The learning and developmental opportunities they offer

?Expectations, conflicts, ambiguities and tensions manifested

?Relationships with policies, business imperatives and changes

?Contributions to work systems and information systems

Job Analysis in a Work Experience Project

When taking a work placement test, it is useful to focus on a specific job and study its structure, methods, processes, required abilities and behaviors, and its relationships with other structures.

One need to also look at its place in a network of jobs, both external and internal, in terms of policies and procedures, departmental plans and programs, its cultural milieu, and management approach. With the job at the center, the analysis of work experience can fan out to explore these structures and how they interact (the behaviors and processes in the work place).

Job Analysis as data gathering

Jobs are experienced and often taken for granted. A job holder?s account of a job is valuable data, but the subjectivity of such an explanation must be understood and evaluated using more objective frameworks. Accurate, meaningful, verifiable data is required. We need to define

?The role or tasks, which should not be artificially distorted by analysis.

?The dynamic properties of jobs can be missed when decomposing jobs or task into detailed sub-tasks or elements. One can lose sight of the overall picture essential to job performance.

?The subjective/personal aspects (feelings, perceptions, loyalties) of jobs are important but need to be differentiated from the job as a technical allocation of duties existing within organizational structures which may stress the logic of performance, responsibility and expertise.

Jobs are Dynamic Entities

Jobs are designed, experienced and lived in. They are interpreted and shaped both by management and most importantly by the person doing the job. They have to be learned and they change – often quickly – requiring re-learning. Jobs can be considered historically as evolving phenomena. How and why has a job changed? What events and pressures brought this about and what is likely to affect the job in the foreseeable future?

The Job and the Job-holder

Efforts, skills input, methods used, and results of a job or task may vary depending on the characteristics of the job holder. Attitudes may range from total commitment to more instrumental and restrictive positions. The job exists within a firm and an occupational sector (a profession or skill group). These contexts may influence job-holder?s values and perceptions relating to what they feels their “entitlements” are, their reaction to types of managerial behavior, and their evaluation of threats and opportunities that may exist within the firm or externally. The reasons why someone approaches its job with enthusiasm or lack of it are worth examining.

Job/Role Analysis Techniques

Pearn catalogues and evaluates a range of job analysis methods in his book Job Analysis. He evaluates each method in terms of

1.Whether the technique focuses on the job from a technical perspective (activities, functions, tasks, ergonomics) or aspects of the person doing it (skills, aptitudes, competence).

2.Whether quantitative or qualitative data is generated.

3.The extent to which data gathering can be planned and structured. The level of expertise required of an analyst using the techniques of computing skills, statistical ability and the value of excessive sophistication.

4.Whether the technique enables analysis at a distance, or more direct and intimate appraisal of observing or doing the job and meeting job-holders. This criterion is important in terms of how the objective-subjective problem is managed.

5.Whether the technique can detect less obvious, discretionary elements.

A list of questions offered by Pearn in his book Job Analysis provides a useful starting point for the development of this list.

1.If I use a particular job analysis technique for data gathering, am I clear about why? What will I do with the resultant data? What is it going to tell me?

2.Will the technique I use be acceptable to those I am surveying? Will they find it too long/tedious? Will it be understandable? Will it be credible both for those being surveyed and for those who consider the results?

3.Does the technique provide the coverage I need?

4.Is the technique a valid technique (the type of data collected properly reflects the purpose and focus of the study)? Was the technique designed for the purpose intended and, if not, is it really suitable (design validity)?

5.Will the data be reliable (a repeat of the survey of the same jobs at a different time and with different subjects will generate similar data)?

6.Does the data need to be in a particular form? If it is not quantifiable, will this weaken the possible achievement of my objectives? If the data is qualitative and subjective, can sound conclusions be reached?

7.What is the utility of the technique I am proposing to use? How much time do I have for the survey, interviews, etc. Will I really have access to job holders and others within the network of the job or jobs I am studying?

8.How big is the survey: a few jobs/people or (for large populations) do sampling decisions have to be made?

9.Do I need external expertise (for training, for data analysis of the data) and computer support?

10.What methods will I use and why are these the best?

Tips

?Identify the job information that is already available.

?Identify the job holders and obtain access to them. This will involve much planning and negotiation.

?Respect and show due courtesy to your clients ? ALWAYS!

?Avoid over-sophistication – keep it simple and straightforward.

?If the data is subjective, corroborate it by seeking the interpretations of others (objectives the subjective by seeking shared opinions. However be aware of the biases, preferences and commitments of “the others”).

?Properly record and catalogue your findings. (Pearn, 1988)

Features of Various Job Analysis Techniques – Pearn’s Criteria

Pearn evaluated a range of job analysis techniques with an eye to the following:

1.Orientation. Whether a technique is person or task-orientated.

Task approaches

?Focus on actual activities, functions or tasks carried out

?Produce job and training specifications, support performance appraisal

?Aid job re-design and ergonomic studies of a job and its environment

Behavioral/Person-focused methods

?Focus on job skills, aptitudes, competence and attributes of people

?Useful in staff selection, learning/training analysis, career development assessment, etc.

2.Measurement

Will quantitative or qualitative data be generated? Some techniques involve rating scales, which may enable qualitative responses to be quantified. Structured observations of someone carrying out a job may enable quantification of frequencies, volumes, durations, and actions.

3.Structured data gathering

How structured, specific, or flexible is the technique? An interview is a data-gathering activity. The detail, depth, and focus depends on how planned and structured it is and upon the rapport/relationship between interviewer and client. Where a checklist is used, its design may be for a very specific purposes and so it is unsuitable for wider use of job evaluation, or as a survey for one organization or test for one occupation. Some behavior checklists have more general use.

4.Sensitivity and acceptability

Will the analysis method used be acceptable to the host organization and job holders? How time consuming are they? How threatening are they to those being surveyed?

Job Descriptions

Small firms generally will ignore the fuss and bother of drawing up a job description. Even in large bureaucratic organizations many recruiters will assume that they understand the job and its requirements. Writing job descriptions is time consuming and irrelevant, if they are never referred to or used by recruiters or job incumbents. Regular updating is necessary, especially if they reference performance targets. Updating is an irritation in fast-moving business situations where jobs and priorities change quickly. Rigid job structures may be detrimental to effective client-centered, team, or project imperatives. Lean organizations require multi-skilling and a willingness to be flexible in problem solving across demarcated job boundaries.

Job/Candidate Modeling

Even if a job appears straightforward and simple to describe, without proper analysis the job a recruiter “sees” may be inaccurate, partial, or misleading. Recruiters can fail to account for the real demands and pressures of the post.

Requirements, skills and qualities are often presumed wrongly, understated or exaggerated. Irrelevant criteria can be introduced into the recruitment process and selection decisions. The “systematic prescription” recommends

?A definitive job description

?Competence analysis – the knowledge, skills, and orientations to a standard of performance as required by the job

?The terms and conditions of employment and starting requirements

In a sense the job and the ideal candidate are modeled. These represent the technical selection criteria for recruitment. Such “modeling” happens informally even when a recruiter omits the preparation of documented job criteria. From our model we proceed to identify sources of such recruits and consider how we might attract people who fit the “model” specification. Recruitment specialists or agencies might provide this analysis and documentary service for clients and perhaps even help the client specify the job role in the first place. The job description offers useful information for composing a job advertisement or internal vacancy notification. The job description and personnel specification are essential if a recruitment agency is going to short-list candidates. A well-prepared job description ensures that all the people involved in the recruitment process reference the same job. It should cover the role within the department, responsibilities, authority, and, possibly, conditions of employment (salary, hours,etc.), and how performance will be measured. Select a job and ask the following questions:

?Is there an existing job description for the post?

?If there is, when was it prepared?

?When, if ever, has it been revised?

?Does a vacancy really exist?

?Are there any reasonable alternatives to outside recruitment?

?Is the organization’s policy and procedure with regard to recruitment and selection really understood? The wording of job descriptions as regards sex, marital status and race must reflect the spirit and requirements of equal opportunities and be non-discriminatory. With these we must also avoid:

1.Implying that one sex is preferable to another, or discriminating against race.

2.Unnecessary conditions that make it more difficult or less likely for one sex to apply, such as: :

?Height, age, length of continuous service

?Conditions that discriminate against married people or those with long term relationships and/or with children inflexibility on hours when it makes no difference if its 8.30 am to 4.00 pm with half an hour for lunch or 9 – 5 with a standard lunch hour. If the job has never required it, why stipulate a need to be available for travel?

Alec Rodger: Seven Point Plan

Rodger offered a set of headings for systematic construction of person specifications. Having defined the demands of the job (responsibilities/duties, etc.) and having evaluated the knowledge-base, skills (mental, physical, social, etc.) and the personal orientations, pre-dispositions, and values needed, the recruiter now identifies the “qualities” of the person most suited to the job.

1. Physical make-up health, physique, appearance, bearing, speech (exclude discriminatory features such as accent)

2. Attainments education, training, experience, achievements

3. Intelligence Cognitive ability, learning capacity, analytical ability, ability to synthesize

4. Special aptitudes construction, equipment, dexterity, mathematical, and IT ability

5. Interests intellectual, practical, active, social

6. Disposition maturity, self-reliance, compassion, humor

7. Circumstances geographical mobility (excluding discriminatory factors such as age, children, marital status, unless specifically relevant to job)

Consider each point in the light of minimum requirements listed in the job description. Draw up a chart.

Spec Item Essential Desirable Disqualifiers

1. those attributes applicants must possess to be shortlisted further useful attributes make applicant ineligible

2. etc. etc. etc.

Recruitment – Job Prospectus

In many cases, for managerial and professional appointments a job information pack will be sent by a large organization to job applicants. Firms involved in graduate recruitment will produce and send extensive corporate information to graduate prospects. All new starters will receive job documentation, regardless. If advertising or other promotional activity has attracted numerous good applicants, then one needs to kindle their interest in the company and prime them with sound job information so that they continue to be interested (or not take up their application (the job is not for them)?

One?s list of prime candidates will be improved and those invited for interviews know a considerable amount about the job already. This information can be built on when one meets them. Good job information sent prior to the interview reduces the risks and costs of inviting the wrong people to enter the selection process. Having this documentation saves time and enables quick response to job openings.

What information would be included in a pack for applicants?

A Job Prospectus/Information Pack might contain the following:

?Application form

?Job description

?Terms and conditions of employment

?Anticipated start date for job

?Career development opportunities

?Information on the organization – its aims, structure and activities

?Travel directions

?Statement of whether expenses will be met

Examine what information is normally sent out to applicants in your (a selected) organization, then evaluate how the system could be improved.

Recruitment and Selection Definitions

Recruitment involves searching for and attracting candidates – external or internal – for job vacancies. New people are found and brought into the organization. This involves communicating with actual or potential job seekers, motivating them to apply and persuading candidates that they really want to come and work for the firm. The objective is to attract candidates of the right quality in the right number. The best candidates may be in jobs and not looking to leave them, but many candidates must leave their present job. In a situation of low unemployment/labor shortage good candidates may be scarce, and competition exists in the labor market. Conversely, where there is high employment, some good candidates may be reluctant to move from positions where they perceive some stability.

Recruitment occurs across the whole spectrum of occupations from school and college to the unskilled and semi-skilled, to technologically oriented staff and successful senior managers.

Recruitment activity has an element of public relations about it. The organization opens its doors to job seekers and hence the outside world. Certain organizational development, marketing, promotional, and quality aspects take recruitment activity beyond being just a maintenance process. Strategic policy questions are raised. Beardwell and Holden (1992, p232) in their compendium suggest that there are no guaranteed selection methods. The prescriptions, or ?how to do it?s? of selection, are problem-solving strategies which taken as a cocktail narrow down the selection decision and increase the chances of choosing the right candidate, although, probably, “best available” is a better term.

Selection methods

?Interviews – the most popular and hence the skills of interviewing are important

?Analysis of candidate career/life data

?Evaluation of candidate behavior/ performance in group activities

?Work attachments/experience (trial periods)

?Skill testing with task/work simulations. (for example, typing, computer programming, brick-laying) and candidates making presentations.

?Knowledge, aptitude and psycho-metric tests of various facets of intelligence and personality

Selection is a social, interactive activity and the use of structured and tested methods are recommended for objectivity and reliability and reduced risk and uncertainty.

Recruitment Practice vs. Theory

Academically, recruitment activity is treated more as experience-based knowledge about practice than as a body of theory. There is a vacancy when an entirely new job opens or someone leaves the organization. One is short of a brain and a pair of hands. It is a functional necessity to fill the post. As to how best to fill the job (decision-making), its demands need to be understood and a skilled, systematic approach is needed for this “personnel” task.

The literature on recruitment tends to give more space to selection processes than the wider practices of recruitment (systems and procedures of job definition, advertising, short-listing, organization of selection and overall administration).

How to do it guidelines (prescriptions) on ?best approaches? typically recommend the following:

?Methods for evaluating job requirements;

?Skills and understandings associated with processes of selection (e.g. for traditional interviews);

?Further methods/techniques for ascertaining candidate suitability (which may even substitute for the interview and include tests of ability, aptitude, and intelligence); and,

?Policy frameworks to satisfy the legal side of the recruitment problem.

A Systems Approach vs “Be Systematic”

Analysis of the inputs, processes and outputs and environmental contexts of recruitment and selection systems helps in understanding the strengths and weaknesses. Generally these prescriptions recommend if those doing recruitment and selection take systematic care, use the right methods, and apply specific expertise, giving attention to detail, then they will make more reliable selection decisions.

However a systems approach requires definition of

?Interviews. A single one-on-one interview may give way to a series of one-on-one interviews or interviews with many people. We can analyze the interview in terms of how it is structured, the processes of interaction, the problems of interpersonal decision-making, the relationship between job-related questions and personal questions.

?Ability Tests. Tests may be designed or brought in to “measure/evaluate” a candidate’s knowledge or skills. The test may be specifically job related or the test may be generic.

?Psychometric Tests. These include tests of cognitive ability (traits of general intelligence such as verbal, numerical and logical ability). They also extend to self-reporting tests about the candidate’s self-perceived behavior, personality, life/work orientations and value systems.

?References. Current or previous employers and other “notables” may be asked to give information on their knowledge of the candidate. References are usually sought in the latter stages of the selection cycle either immediately before a job offer is made or afterwards. The offer is made ?subject to satisfactory references being received?.

?Work experience. Can candidates be invited to do the advertised job for a short period? Most employees are engaged on the basis that their first few weeks/months at work consist of a probationary period during which time their suitability is being assessed by their actual manager, peers and anyone else directly affected by their performance.

?Simulations. These range from asking candidates to make a presentation on a subject to candidates meeting in an (observed) group to discuss a topic or resolve a problem (case study or simulation exercises involving planning, organizing, leadership, communication skills, analysis, synthesis, influencing, etc.). Applicants may be presented with a situation that they might face if they got the job such as planning a conference, evaluating an organizational case study, or making decisions.

?Biographical Analysis. Analysis of the application form and the interview process in a broad sense involves biographical analysis. Employers seeking to fill jobs involving considerable responsibility, perhaps including a high security or risk element, may wish to investigate the candidate more deeply. A security background check may be involved. Clearly issues about privacy are raised here. It depends on the type of job.

Recruitment and Selection Stages

Having a recruitment policy in a large organization guides managerial action. Such a policy usually reflects the prescriptions of the literature on recruitment, which itself forms an implementation checklist covering use of interviews of given sequence and composition, adoption of educational qualification standards, use of limited sources for recruits, strict regulation of references, and/or use of a psychometric test. This a sensible chart to navigate the recruitment maze.

Stage What is involved?

1 Response to vacancy ?Vacancy arises. Impact on staffing plan? Job re-design, re-shuffle? ?Permission to recruit/replace? ?Exit interviews?

2 Job analysis ?Is the post understood by participants in the process? ?What are the priorities, demands, competence required? Analyze the job. ?Produce/up-date job description, personnel specification. ?Define target groups – where are they and what will attract them to apply?

3 Employment terms ?Define the terms and conditions of employment. ?Agree upon the rewards package internally. ?Anticipate anomalous relationships with other jobs. ?Equal opportunities?

4 Communicate Vacancy ?From where will we get our candidates (sources)? ?Should the vacancy be offered openly? ?Is there scope for internal promotions and job transfers? ?External sourcing.

5 Process applications ?Is the administrative machine ready to respond to applications? ?Follow-up on references/security clearances. ?Decide on/organize recruitment program. Who, when, meetings, appointments. ?Short-list and invite candidates to selection activity. ?Courteous rejections/on-hold candidates.

6 Carry out selection program ?Finalize selector briefing/training and interviewer preparation/strategy. ?Implement selection program: conduct interviews, exercises, tests.

7 Make job offer(s) and finalize contract ?Advise unsuccessful candidates of rejection or stand-by. ?Process job acceptances. ?Complete reference investigations. ?Confirm terms and conditions of employment. ?Confirm arrangements for job start. ?Design new starter induction program.

8 Evaluate effectiveness of ?Recruitment process and methods. Validity, reliability and utility? ?The selection decisions. Is the new employee really suitable?

Recruitment and Job Analysis

Recruiters obviously need to comprehend job requirements fully, thus methods of job analysis are needed. Job analysis and exit interview can confirm the nature and contribution of the job role which may often turn out to be more complex than originally thought. Information from job analysis and sources, such as exit interviews, can help to restructure the job and resolve potential difficulties;

?Scope and authority

?Job demands (overload, underload), choices, and constraints

?Ambiguities and uncertainties

?Complexity and technical challenges

?Incompatibility (person-job-organization)

?Conflict and stress

We can identify needs for supervisory support, developmental opportunity, etc. Job re-design is an organizational re-structuring activity.

?A job description can be prepared with what needs to be done in the job and a definition of the main responsibilities and tasks/priorities. This is useful for recruiters and applicants.

?Once one understands the job one can specify the attributes (education, skills, experience, competencies) required of a person who is likely to do the job successfully. (A person profile – modeling those candidates) most likely to be successful in the job.

Job analysis generates

?Job prospectus information needed by applicants

?A recruitment campaign that will attract suitable candidates (inclusive of job advertising).

?Better understanding of how applications received must be handled/processed to evaluate candidates (candidate-to-candidate and candidate-to-job) and produce an initial short-list to invite for interview.

?Better information so that selection decisions can be made as objectively as possible. It is known to be prone to unhelpful subjectivity, stereotyping and premature judgements.

?A better understanding of what selection methods, interviews, or tests might serve as valid, reliable, and useful (utility) tests for different types of jobs/staff.

?Clear decision-making criteria for selectors to use. Such criteria must be relevant/valid for performance of the job in question, otherwise forms of discrimination may endanger equal opportunities statutes.

Sources of Candidates

We might

?Keep and sift through previous applications

?Internal advertising: drawing on talent within one?s own organization. Are you nurturing this talent enough?

?Advertise externally through the press or local radio.

?Put a jobs page on the World Wide Web.

?Use employment agencies and job centers.

?Use a headhunter, a specialist who?s job is to find the best and most available candidate. Be careful. In time the headhunter may be ringing up that recruit to persuade him that another job move may be more profitable.

?Networking: build up your own list of who is a potential future employee and recruit via the old boys/girls network.

?Ask current employees to nominate people they would recommend.

?Build up links with educational institutions – schools, colleges, and universities. One might treat applicants from these establishments more favorably.

?Do not recruit at all – out-source the job or export it to another country!

Different vacancies require different methods. It is pointless advertising in a national newspaper for part-time staff. Part-timers live locally, use the local paper, respond to job descriptions, or apply via word – of – mouth. There is a danger in using only one method of external recruitment. It reduces scope for others to apply and can be discriminatory if the method excludes or disproportionately reduces the number of applicants in a particular group.

Whatever methods are used the imperatives will be to:

?Keep the costs of recruitment as low as possible. Put recruitment costs into perspective. What will be the costs of the person once in the post? (include salary, overheads, costs of training, etc?) What contribution to profit/savings will that person make?

?The vacancy and the process of filling it offers an opportunity to present the organization to a wider audience through press advertising. This may indicate success and expansion. It may tell of instability because of people leaving. Placing an advertisement gives information to competitors. If confidentiality is required, use a recruitment agency without carrying the company name.

The Application Form as a Test

The application form requires ability in filling it in. It is a test of handwriting, literacy, and being meticulous. The content must be composed. Questions may be asked which require an explanatory narrative. Even for manual work situations the recruiter must know that the candidate has filled out the application form personally, not by a third party.

If another unknown person has completed it – what additional test will the recruiter use to ascertain if the candidate can read and write? Is this a job requirement for health and safety purposes?

Selection Interview Purposes

The interview is an examination, a face-to-face encounter in which each side seeks to make a decision about the other. The employer is in the dominant position. Even where the short-list is very short and the employer is desperate to fill the post, it is unlikely that an applicant perceived as being a rogue or maverick will be employed. The employer at all times will seek to protect his interests.

The face-to-face selection interview is the traditional method, yet it is fraught with the problems of subjectivity, interpersonal judgment, interpretation and mis-interpretation.

The technical and social purposes of the interview are as follows:

?For interviewers. To gather further information about candidate competence and qualities to make a judgment about the person in relation to the job and the job to the person.

If there is a weak candidate short-list and none fit the job’s requirements, then interviewers need the confidence to start again. This of course involves costs. It is better to incur these costs than to employ unsuitable, inexperienced people for whom there may be a high probability of them being under-performance on in the job. The rule for interviewers is to avoid the ?zombie theory of recruitment (If they breath, take?em!)?.

?For applicants. Where there is a competitive labor market (lots of demanding jobs to be filled but few candidates with the right ability and experience ready to move, then the candidate may not be desperate for the job. Confident candidates will bide their time to find the right job and will come to the interview(s) seeking more information.

?Is the company’s performance, strategy, product, management style and organizational climate in line with their needs and expectations? How do they feel about joining an ailing company, one that faces turbulence?

?What are the ambiguities, potential conflicts and stresses in the job role? Does it offer the right conditions – stability, predictability, society, and reward opportunities (material and non-material rewards).

?Will the candidate be able to accommodate himself to the peculiarities and peccadillos of those already working for the firm (his boss/the team).

?The candidate has a private life. How will the job affect this? (job move, good local schools for the kids, housing and other life-style issues).

?Public relations. There is a public relations side to recruitment – certainly for household name and local employers – and that is to treat applicants with respect and courtesy. Even applicants who are rejected, when reflecting, need to be able to say that they were treated well, and were given every opportunity to present themselves to a good advantage. Every candidate needs to feel he has been treated fairly and equitably and that the interviewers made their judgments on the basis of objective criteria and with the fullest information at hand.

Rites and Rituals to Enter the Temple

The interview is a rite of passage and initiation. Applicants desire membership and will jump through hoops to be found acceptable and to be given admittance.

?They seek to join/enter or rise within, a social framework.

?Deferential behavior is required for upward mobility into desired circles and involves proper performance and the maintenance of front.

?Existing club members parade their superiority and position before subordinates who are dependent on their patronage. This perspective indicates why we still use interviews even though they are so subjective and unreliable.

1.The interview plays a key part in differentiating between candidates for the same job.

2.The interview serves the employing organization as a social entity. Owners/members want to determine with whom they are going to be working. Selectors have positions of power within the organization. In their decisions they want to appoint the most competent person technically but not someone who will not “fit into the culture”. Will the candidate become a loyal contributor according to their perception of what is important to the organization?

3.The interview – for candidates who are short-listed – provides a setting in which documented information, test measurements, and interpersonal, social value judgments are made.

4.Factual information is exchanged and clarified by both sides at an interview. For example; what did the applicant decide on a specific career move? What expertise does he have in a given area? What is the evidence for this?

5.The interview brings together data from several sources – application forms or curriculum vitae, test results, and job data. One must ask oneself, would this person fit into the team (given what we know of its expectations and behavior?).

6.Applicants want to present themselves rather than be judged mechanically (on the basis of a clinical test or form).

Even though the interview is known to be unreliable, it still dominates and is unlikely to be abandoned. It is, however, now the subject of increasing external inspection by the courts.

The selection process emerges as a matter for human rights. The managerial response is likely to be more defensive in terms of seeking to improve the processes which generate evidence that the selection decision was based upon job criteria and measurable data. Are all of these processes subjective? Some would say ?Yes?. If these techniques are used in conjunction with others it does cut down on mistakes when the final hiring decision is made. Are all of these tests and processes used in today?s world? Not likely, because most companies use a few of the techniques and most do nothing more than hand out an application and then proceed with an interview. As stated earlier, the interview has problems with subjectivity, interpersonal judgement, interpretation, and mis-interperation. By using the techniques listed throughout this paper you will have a better understanding of job analysis, job requirements, recruitment, and testing for the right candidate. Using all or some of the tests may or may not work for every situation, but having this guidance will ensure that you will attract and attain the very best.

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