Designing a Selection Process

The design of an assessment strategy should begin with a review of the critical competencies identified from the job analysis results. Once you decide what to assess, you must then determine how to structure the personnel assessment process. In designing a selection process, a number of practical questions must be addressed, such as:

• How much money is available?
• What assessment tool(s) will be selected?
• If using multiple tools, in what order should they be introduced?
• Are trained raters needed, and if so, how many (e.g., for conducting interviews)?
• How many individuals are expected to apply?
• What is the timeframe for filling vacancies?

For example, if your budget is tight, you will need to rule out some of the more expensive methods such as assessment centers or work simulation tests. If you are expecting to receive thousands of applications (based on projections from similar postings), you will need to develop an effective screening mechanism ahead of time. If you need to fill a vacancy and only have a few weeks to do so, then a multi-stage process will probably not be feasible. In working out answers to these questions, it is usually helpful to think in terms of the entire selection process, from beginning to end.

One key consideration is the number of assessment tools to include in the process. Using a variety of assessments tends to improve the validity of the process and will provide information on different aspects of an applicant's likely job performance. Using a single measure will tend to identify applicants who have strengths in a specific area but may overlook applicants who have high potential in other areas. Assessing applicants using multiple methods will reduce errors because people may respond differently to different methods of assessment. For example, some applicants who excel at written tests may be too nervous to do well in interviews, while others who suffer from test anxiety may give impressive interviews. Another advantage of using a variety of assessment methods is a multiple hurdle approach can be taken. The least expensive assessments can be used first to pare down the applicant pool. More labor-intensive and time-consuming procedures can be introduced at a later stage when there are fewer candidates to evaluate.

Considering which assessment methods best measure which competencies at which stage in the process should help you develop a process well suited to your agency's hiring needs.