CHAPTER 7 TYPES OF TESTS

Job seekers who pass the screening and the preliminary interview are called for tests. Different types of tests may be administered, depending on the job and the company. Generally, tests are used to determine the applicants ability, aptitude and personality. The following are the type of tests taken: 1). ABILITY TESTS: Assist in determining how well an individual can perform tasks related to the job. An excellent illustration of this is the typing tests given to a prospective employer for secretarial job. Also called as ACHEIVEMENT TESTS. It is concerned with what one has accomplished. When applicant claims to know something, an achievement test is taken to measure how well they know it. Trade tests are the most common type of achievement test given. Questions have been prepared and tested for such trades as asbestos worker, punch-press operators, electricians and machinists. There are, of course, many unstandardised achievement tests given in industries, such as typing or dictation tests for an applicant for a stenographic position. 2). APTITUDE TEST: Aptitude tests measure whether an individuals has the capacity or latent ability to learn a given job if given adequate training. The use of aptitude test is advisable when an applicant has had little or no experience along the line of the job opening. Aptitudes tests help determine a persons potential to learn in a given area. An example of such test is the general management aptitude tests (GMAT), which many business students take prior to gaining admission to a graduate business school program. Aptitude test indicates the ability or fitness of an individual to engage successfully in any number of specialized activities. They cover such areas clerical aptitude, numerical aptitude, mechanical aptitude, motor co-ordination, finger dexterity and manual dexterity. These tests help to detect positive negative points in a persons sensory or intellectual ability. They focus attention on a particular type of talent such as learning or reasoning in respect of a particular field of work.

FORMS OF APTITUDE TEST: A) MENTAL OR INTELLIGENCE TESTS:

They measure the overall intellectual ability of a person and enable to know whether the person has the mental ability to deal with certain problems.

B)

MECHANICAL APTITUDE TESTS:

They measure the ability of a person to learn a particular type of mechanical work. These tests helps to measure specialized technical knowledge and problem solving abilities if the candidate. They are useful in selection of mechanics, maintenance workers, etc.

C)

PSYCHOMOTOR OR SKILLS TESTS:

They are those, which measure a persons ability to do a specific job. Such tests are conducted in respect of semi- skilled and repetitive jobs such as packing, testing and inspection, etc.

3). INTELLIGENCE TEST: This test helps to evaluate traits of intelligence. Mental ability, presence of mind (alertness), numerical ability, memory and such other aspects can be measured. The intelligence is probably the most widely administered standardized test in industry. It is taken to judge numerical, skills, reasoning, memory and such other abilities. 4). INTEREST TEST: This is conducted to find out likes and dislikes of candidates towards occupations, hobbies, etc. such tests indicate which occupations are more in line with a persons interest. Such tests also enable the company to provide vocational guidance to the selected candidates and even to the existing employees. These tests are used to measure an individuals activity preferences. These tests are particularly useful for students considering many careers or employees deciding upon career changes.

5). PERSONALITY TEST: The importance of personality to job success is undeniable. Often an individual who possesses the intelligence, aptitude and experience for certain has failed because of inability to get along with and motivate other people. It is conducted to judge maturity, social or interpersonal skills, behavior under stress and strain, etc. this test is very much essential on case of selection of sales force, public relation staff, etc. where personality plays an important role. Personality tests are similar to interest tests in that they, also, involve a serious problem of obtaining an honest answer. 6). PROJECTIVE TEST:

This test requires interpretation of problems or situations. For example, a photograph or a picture can be shown to the candidates and they are asked to give their views, and opinions about the picture. 7). GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TEST: Now days G.K. Tests are very common to find general awareness of the candidates in the field of sports, politics, world affairs, current affairs.

8). PERCEPTION TEST: At times perception tests can be conducted to find out beliefs, attitudes, and mental sharpness.etc. 9). GRAPHOLOGY TEST: It is designed to analyze the handwriting of individual. It has been said that an individuals handwriting can suggest the degree of energy, inhibition and spontaneity, as well as disclose the idiosyncrasies and elements of balance and control. For example, big letters and emphasis on capital letters indicate a tendency towards domination and competitiveness. A slant to the right, moderate pressure and good legibility show leadership potential. 10). POLYGRAPH TEST: Polygraph is a lie detector, which is designed to ensure accuracy of the information given in the applications. Department store, banks, treasury offices and jewellery shops, that is, those highly vulnerable to theft or swindling may find polygraph tests useful. 11). MEDICAL TEST: It reveals physical fitness of a candidate. With the development of technology, medical tests have become diversified. Medical servicing helps measure and monitor a candidates physical resilience upon exposure to hazardous chemicals.

CHAPTER 8 INTERVIEWS AN OVERVIEW INTERVIEWS: A selection procedure designed to predict future job performance on the basis of applicants' oral responses to oral inquiries.

ADVANTAGES:

useful for determining if the applicant has requisite communicative or social skills which may be necessary for the job interviewer can obtain supplementary information used to appraise candidates' verbal fluency can assess the applicant's job knowledge can be used for selection among equally qualified applicants enables the supervisor and/or co-workers to determine if there is compatibility between the applicant and the employees allows the applicant to ask questions that may reveal additional information useful for making a selection decision the interview may be modified as needed to gather important information.

DISADVANTAGES: subjective evaluations are made decisions tend to be made within the first few minutes of the interview with the remainder of the interview used to validate or justify the original decision interviewers form stereotypes concerning the characteristics required for success on the job research has shown disproportionate rates of selection between minority and non-minority members using interviews negative information seems to be given more weight not much evidence of validity of the selection procedure not as reliable as tests

REMEDIAL MEASURES TO OVERCOME DISADVANTAGES OF INTERVIEWS: MINIMIZE STEREOTYPES.

To minimize the influence of racial and sex stereotypes in the interview process, provide interviewers with a job description and specification of the requirements for the position. Interviewers with little information about the job may be more likely to make stereotypical judgments about the suitability of candidates than are interviewers with detailed information about the job. JOB RELATED. Try to make the interview questions job related. If the questions are not related to the job, then the validity of the interview procedure may be lower.

TRAIN INTERVIEWERS. Improve the interpersonal skills of the interviewer and the interviewer's ability to make decisions without influence from non-job related information. Interviewers should be trained to:

avoid asking questions unrelated to the job avoid making quick decisions about an applicant avoid stereotyping applicants avoid giving too much weight to a few characteristics. try to put the applicant at ease during the interview communicate clearly with the applicant maintain consistency in the questions asked

SUMMARY OF INTERVIEWS: In general, interviews have the following weaknesses: validity of the interview is relatively low reliability of the interview is also low stereotyping by interviewers, in general, may lead to adverse impact against minorities the subjective nature of this procedure may allow bias such as favoritism and politics to enter into the selection process this procedure is not standardized.

not useful when large numbers of applicants must be evaluated and/or selected. TYPES OF INTERVIEWS:

UNSTRUCTURED INTERVIEW: Involves a procedure where different questions may be asked of different applicants. SITUATIONAL INTERVIEW Candidates are interviewed about what actions they would take in various job-related situations. The job-related situations are usually identified using the critical incidents job analysis technique. The interviews are then scored using a scoring guide constructed by job experts. BEHAVIOR DESCRIPTION INTERVIEWS Candidates are asked what actions they have taken in prior job situations that are similar to situations they may encounter on the job. The interviews are then scored using a scoring guide constructed by job experts. COMPREHENSIVE STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS Candidates are asked questions pertaining to how they would handle job-related situations, job knowledge, worker requirements, and how the candidate would perform various job simulations. Interviews tapping job knowledge offer a way to assess a candidate's current level of knowledge related to relevant implicit dimensions of job performance (i.e., "tacit knowledge" or "practical intelligence" related to a specific job position) STRUCTURED BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEW This technique involves asking all interviewees standardized questions about how they handled past situations that were similar to situations they may encounter on the job. The interviewer may also ask discretionary probing questions for details of the situations, the interviewee's behavior in the situation and the outcome. The interviewee's responses are then scored with behaviorally anchored rating scales. ORAL INTERVIEW BOARDS This technique entails the job candidate giving oral responses tojob-related questions asked by a panel of interviewers. Each member of the panel then rates each interviewee on such dimensions as work history, motivation, creative thinking, and presentation. The scoring procedure for oral interview boards has typically been subjective; thus, it would be subject to personal biases of those individuals sitting on the board. This technique may not be feasible for jobs in which there are a large number of applicants that must be interviewed.

he Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) is the central agency authorized to conduct the Civil Services Examination, Combined Defence Services Examination, National Defence Academy Examination, Naval Academy Examination and Combined Medical Services Examination.[1] The agency's charter is granted by the Constitution of India. Articles 315 to 323 of Part XIV of the constitution, titled Services Under the Union and the States, provide for a Public Service Commission for the Union and for each state.