USA Interviewing and Selection Techniques 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A company uses a 'work sample test' in which applicants draft a memo relevant to the job. This assessment has HIGH validity primarily because of its:
- Low cost and ease of administration
- High content validity — it mirrors actual job tasks (Correct answer)
- Ability to assess personality traits
- Compliance with ADA reasonable accommodation rules
Correct answer: High content validity — it mirrors actual job tasks
Work sample tests have high content validity because they directly replicate tasks performed on the job, making them strong predictors of performance.
Question 2: Which of the following questions is LEGALLY PROBLEMATIC to ask during a U.S. job interview?
- 'What relevant experience do you have for this role?'
- 'Are you authorized to work in the United States?'
- 'What is your native language?' (Correct answer)
- 'Can you meet the attendance requirements of this job?'
Correct answer: 'What is your native language?'
Asking about native language can reveal national origin, a protected class under Title VII, making it legally risky unless directly job-relevant.
Question 3: A recruiter notices she rates candidates who interview right after a weak candidate more favorably than those who interview after a strong one. This is an example of:
- Halo effect
- Confirmation bias
- Contrast effect (Correct answer)
- Similar-to-me bias
Correct answer: Contrast effect
The contrast effect occurs when a candidate's rating is influenced by comparisons to the preceding candidate rather than absolute job requirements.
Question 4: Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), when can an employer ask about a candidate's disability?
- During the application and pre-offer stage to plan accommodations
- Only after a conditional job offer has been extended (Correct answer)
- Anytime, as long as it is asked of all applicants equally
- Never, even after hire
Correct answer: Only after a conditional job offer has been extended
The ADA permits disability-related inquiries and medical exams only after a conditional offer of employment has been made.
Question 5: A STAR-format response in a behavioral interview stands for Situation, Task, Action, and:
- Result (Correct answer)
- Rationale
- Review
- Response
Correct answer: Result
STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result — a structured way candidates describe past behavior to demonstrate competencies.
Question 6: A selection process with high reliability but low validity means the assessment:
- Measures nothing consistently
- Consistently measures something other than what predicts job success (Correct answer)
- Predicts job performance well but with inconsistent scores
- Has both measurement and job-relevance problems
Correct answer: Consistently measures something other than what predicts job success
High reliability means consistent results, but low validity means those results do not predict what they should — a consistent measure of the wrong thing.
Question 7: Which interview format has the STRONGEST empirical support for predicting future job performance?
- Unstructured conversational interview
- Stress interview
- Structured behavioral or situational interview (Correct answer)
- Speed-round technical quiz
Correct answer: Structured behavioral or situational interview
Decades of research confirm that structured interviews — with standardized questions and scoring — have significantly higher predictive validity than unstructured ones.
USA Interviewing and Selection Techniques 3
A company uses a 'work sample test' in which applicants draft a memo relevant to the job.
This assessment has HIGH validity primarily because of its: