March IJSA: So much good stuff

The March 2011 issue of the International Journal of Selection and Assessment is out, and it's a doozie. Check it out:

- Beaty, et al. present evidence that unproctored Internet tests (noncognitive: personality and biodata) generally had similar criterion-related validities across a spectrum of job performance criteria compared to the same administered in a proctored setting. Mmmm....UIT...

- Generally when people re-take a cognitive ability test, they do better. But do they do better on other tests of cognitive ability? Matton, et al. describe a study that looked at just that and found the answer to be "no."

- One advantage that is frequently claimed about personality inventories is that usage results in less adverse impact compared to, say, ability or knowledge tests. But might the AI depend on how hires are made (e.g., top-down, compensatory)? Turns out the answer is yes--at least according to some results by Risavy and Hausdorf.

- Hey, government agencies, still debating whether to put more resources into your career web portal? Maybe this will convince you. Selden and Orenstein show that governments with more usable portals as well as better available content not only attract more applicants per opening, but have less voluntary turnover of new hires.

- With advances in technology and changes to the work environment, clerical jobs have changed a lot over the last 30 years and the old ways of selecting for these jobs (namely g-loaded tests such as perceptual speed and verbal ability) likely need to be re-thought...right? Well, not so much, at least according to a meta-analysis by Whetzel and her colleagues. In fact, the criterion-related validity values met or exceeded those found 30+ years ago. The more things change...

- De Goede, et al. present the results of a study that explores the relationship between P-O fit and organizational websites but include the concept of person-industry fit. One implication: if you're trying to attract a more diverse group of candidates, work on making your portal more attractive.

- We spend a lot of time trying to make sure interviews are loaded with job-relevant content. But how much attention do we pay to the impact of impression management tactics on the part of applicants? Huffcutt's results make a compelling argument that we ignore the latter to our detriment as it may have more to do with interview ratings than the job-relevant content.

- How does one determine managerial potential? Well, it depends who you ask. Thomason, et al. present results that indicate when supervisors are asked, they focus on task-based personality traits (e.g., conscientiousness), whereas peers focus on contextual traits such as agreeableness. Given that leadership is ultimately about achieving things through subordinates, I wonder what we should be paying attention to....hmmm...how about both?

- Thinking about using self-ratings of political skill as part of the application process? I can certainly see situations where this skill may be helpful, but might this method be susceptible to inflation? Not so much, at least according to results from Blickle, et al.

- Last but definitely not least, Carless & Hetherington with some data on the impact of recruitment timeliness on applicant attraction. The longer we make applicants wait, the less attracted to the organization they will be, right? Not so fast. According to this research, it is perceived timeliness that matters, not actual timeliness (hence the importance of communication). In addition, this relationship is partially mediated by job and organizational characteristics.