Hiring Success is a comprehensive guide for using staffing assessments to hire the best employees. Research-based, but written in easy-to-understand terms, the book explains what staffing assessments are, why they work, and how to use them. Hiring Success is an important resource for improving the accuracy and efficiency of hiring selection decisions and effectively incorporating assessments into any company’s staffing process.

Table of Contents:
List of Sidebars, Tables, and Figures xi Author’s Foreword xiii Acknowledgments xv ONE Introduction 1 What Information Is the Book Based On? 7 Assessments: The Difference Between Success and Failure 14 TWO What Staffing Assessments Measure, Why They Work, and When to Use Them 19 What Do Assessments Measure? 20 Why Do Assessments Work? 25 When Is It Useful to Use Staffing Assessments? 27 Concluding Remarks: Why Assessments Work 36 THREE Different Types of Staffing Assessments 39 Categorizing Assessments Based on How They Collect 40 Candidate Information Physical Exams 41 Investigations 51 Interviews 52 Resume Screens 55 Self-Report Measures 56 Knowledge, Skill, and Ability Tests 65 Situational Measures 69 Behavioral Versus Direct Assessments 72 Concluding Remarks: Different Types of Assessments 75 FOUR Evaluating the Effectiveness of Staffing Assessments 79 How Assessments Work 80 Assessment Validity: How to Determine How Well an Assessment Is Working 86 Concluding Remarks: Choosing What Assessments to Use 109 FIVE Defining Job Performance and Its Relationship to Assessments 119 Step 1. Identify Key Performance Outcomes 121 Step 2. Use Job Analysis to Define and Describe Critical Employee Behaviors 124 Step 3. Choose an Effective Assessment 128 Step 4. Appropriately Collecting and Interpreting Assessment Data 136 Concluding Remarks: Linking Assessment Processes to Job Performance 138 SIX Common Criticisms of Staffing Assessments 141 Criticism 1: Staffing Assessments are Not Very Accurate 142 Criticism 2: Staffing Assessments can Be Faked by Applicants 146 Criticism 3: Staffing Assessments Are Not Worth the Cost Required to Use Them 150 Criticism 4: Staffing Assessments Pose a Legal Risk 152 Criticism 5: Staffing Assessments Are an Unfair Way to Evaluate People 157 Criticism 6: Staffing Assessments Are Offensive to Candidates 160 Criticism 7: Staffing Assessments Add Too Much Time to the Hiring Process 167 Concluding Remarks: Should Companies Use Staffing Assessments? 170 SEVEN Choosing Among Different Assessment Methods 175 Method 1. No Standardized Assessment: Start at the Bottom and Work Up 183 Method 2. Self-Report Pre-Screening Questionnaires: The Value of Structure 184 Method 3. Applicant Investigations: Avoiding Catastrophic Hiring Mistakes 184 Method 4. Structured Interviews: Maximizing Time Spent with Candidates 185 Method 5. Broad Self-Report and Situational Judgment Measures: Asking Candidates for Greater Levels of Self-Description 186 Method 6. Broad Knowledge and Skills Tests: Testing Basic Job Requirements 189 Method 7. Broad Ability Tests: Getting a General Sense of Candidates’ Ability to Learn and Solve Problems 190 Method 8. Integrating Broad Self-Report Measures, Knowledge and Skills Tests, and Ability Tests: Predicting Maximal and Typical Performance 193 Method 9. Localized Scoring: Accurately Interpreting Candidate Responses 194 Method 10. Context-Specific Self-Report Measures: Asking Candidates to Describe Themselves in Greater Detail 199 Method 11. Context-Specific Knowledge, Skills, and Ability Tests: Seeing What a Candidate Can Actually Do 201 Method 12. Integrating Context-Specific Self-Report Measures and Knowledge, Skills, and Ability Tests: Predicting Highly Specific Types of Maximal and Typical Performance 202 Method 13. Advanced, Non-Linear Scoring: “Turbo-Charging” Assessment Results 202 Concluding Remarks: Determining What Assessment Methods to Use 206 EIGHT Incorporating Staffing Assessments into the Hiring Process 209 Principles of Staffing Assessment Process Design 209 Designing Staffing Processes for Entry-Level Jobs 215 Sample Staffing Assessment Process for Professional Jobs 227 Concluding Remarks: Using Assessments 235 NINE Conclusion 237 Glossary of Common Assessment Terms 243 Index 271 About the Author 281 Pfeiffer Publications Guide 283