Yesterday I was watching a program from the UK which fights for consumer rights. A segment of the program was reporting on a sofa that was not fit for purpose and this led my mind back to psychometrics.  We’re always looking for easy ways to define some of the more technical aspects of psychometrics and this was a good example!

The sofa looked absolutely fine. In fact, it was beautiful leather and looked very expensive.  To relate this back to psychometric testing we could say it had FACE VALIDITY. The sofa looked as if it would do the job it is supposed to do (on the face of it).  Likewise, a test, be it personality or aptitude, which looks like it will do the job it is supposed to do is said to have face validity.  We assess face validity simply by looking at the test. However, face validity is not very important in the grand scheme of things! It’s important for candidate buy-in of course. If you are given a test as part of a selection process and that test doesn’t seem relevant to the job you won’t be happy with the process and may not take it or the company too seriously!!

The sofa, despite looking great, had some major problems.  The first time its owner sat on it, it fell apart. There were lots of flaws in the design and so on. Likewise, some of us may have experienced similar examples with second-hand cars. They may look excellent on the face of it, but then they break down on the way home!  In other words, the sofa or the car are not FIT FOR PURPOSE. This is a major problem.  In Singapore, we use psychometric tests to help discriminate between candidates and to help select the best. If there is something fundamentally wrong with the design of the test that causes any problems, then the test will not be fit for purpose. It will not be valid, even if it has face validity.

It’s for this reason that it’s not a good idea to ask a test supplier for a free trial to “validate the test” as some of our clients ask! Often this is similar to a second-hand car buyer looking at the paintwork on the car and ignoring the mechanics because they know little about them.

If you are interested in learning how to evaluate the “mechanics” of the many psychometric tests out there and knowing how to choose good from bad based on critical information, please consider attending either our face-to-face psychometric training courses in Singapore and Hong Kong or joining our live online or distance learning in psychometrics. Full details here: http://www.psyasia.com/psychometric_training.php

In a recent news report published by the Chicago Tribune, a Chicago school bus driver who was under investigation of a sexual assault charge of a student was allowed to continue operating a bus when he allegedly entrapped and endangered another female student. This repeated allegation brought to light questions about why the bus driver was allowed to continue to work in light of the nature of his first allegation. The Chicago public school system has nearly 2,000 different routes that are operated by a number of transportation providers. Because of this high volume of routes and bus drivers, they are unable to verify and update the background checks of every employee of these independent companies. The school system must, therefore, trust in the proper hiring practices of these companies.

What is it that prevents the boutique recruiting firm – those small one to five person firms – from growing into larger entities? For a lot of small firms, they just do not want to grow. These small businesses are in a comfort zone and see no need to change. However there are many owners (and you may be one of them) who are scratching their heads thinking “why can’t we grow beyond a few good recruiters who can consistently bring in placements and billings?” It can be done because there are big named recruiting and executive search firms out there that have grown from two or three recruiters to thousands. What is their secret? Why are there so few large recruiting firms?

In a fierce competition prevalent in the world market companies are offering many softwares which profess to be the best in the world market and endow you with the best candidates in the shortest time possible. But one thing which is common every time a new demand arises in the market is that the promises made by the companies usually prove to be wrong.

Can you believe that most popular employment screening companies were actually nonexistent few decades ago? Previously, there was no concept of search engines or background checks. The initial and commonly used option was telephone directory.

Driving your business forward is much easier when you have a destination in mind, but how do you determine if you are on track during the journey? Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) represent the signposts along the way to ensure your business is on track to meet its goals, and to warn you when you’re veering off course.

In a competitive economy, hiring practices and decisions are even more critical. When it comes to a criminal background check, what should hiring managers do with the information that comes up? It is crucial to know your rights, both as an employer and an employee.

This article talks about do’s and don’ts of a tricky HR Interview question where the candidate is asked to rate the interviewer. How you answer the question may make or break the deal.

A true gain can be made within the business environment when the company owners realize the necessity of having all of their ducks in a row with regard to the process of recruiting the right employee for the job at hand. This certainly is a skillful art: and something that has to be engaged in constantly in order to achieve the best results.

It may be well-reasoned, online employee scheduling software can save a business an enormous amount of money because it decreases the amount of time the manager spends putting together the schedule. Also one of the features of online employee scheduling software is that it assures the amount of staff required for a shift is precise.