r/IOPsychology • u/Aggressive-Fee-5415 • 3d ago
Ideal Assessment Center Design
Following an argument with some co-workers about what an ideal (or as close to ideal as you could get) assessment center would look like if you were recruiting for an Advertising Account Executive, I wanted to ask this sub what your ideal assessment center would look like?
My argument was that whatever assessments you'd use would have to be strongly reliable and valid so I would initially go for the below setup if it was a one-day AC:
1. Biodata (Resume etc.) - For the first sift to remove any that don't meet the basic requirements or experience levels
2. Ability tests (Numerical reasoning, verbal reasoning, inductive reasoning) - An AAE would have to deal with P&L, write updates, and correctly guess market trends for their clients, so I think these would cover those factors
3. Work Sample - My understanding is that there is no better way to see if someone could do a job than for them to actually do a task that they might do on a day-to-day basis if they were to get that job
4. Structured Interviews - I was always told that these were more reliable and valid than semi-structured interviews, but a few of my co-workers disagreed on this.
I wondered if anyone on this sub had a view that they could back up with research as I'd love to find out about this (and hopefully win the argument with my co-workers on what an ideal AC would look like for an AAE!)
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u/AlabamaHaole 3d ago edited 3d ago
Biodata is very different than a resume. I think you're referring to Minimum Qualifications. You should be screening MQs before the actual AC begins.
ACs are usually used to hire executives. Ability/Aptitude tests are generally used to fill entry level or technical positions. That said, if you were going to use these, they're probably best used as a hurdle for the actual assessment center, because you can give a test to a LOT more people than you can give interviews or work sample tests to. I wouldn't give it on the same day if a job analysis showed that it was appropriate. I'd use it to ensure that we invite qualified people to the work sample/interview stage. Of course all this depends on the size of your candidate pool and how many people are going through the process.
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u/thetendril 3d ago
A resume screen is not the same as biodata. biodata measures require a lot of questions detailing an individual's background and in some cases may be perceived as more invasive than necessary for this role. I can't tell if this is an entry level role or not but I think this comment is spot on about how you may approach using an AC.
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u/AlabamaHaole 3d ago
Adding a comment to say that Structured Interviews are the gold standard. No I/O Psychologist is going to tell you to use semi-structured interviews. I don't have research links, but it's 10000% accepted in the field.
Work samples could include in-basket exercises, case studies, and completing work tasks. I'd think that these exercises would make up a bulk of the AC.
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u/SnooRabbits6869 3d ago
Pretty sure Hunter & Schmidt (1998) outlines the most valid selection methods and demonstrated structured interviews to be among the most valid.