Analyzing a Job and Designing a Selection System
Due Monday, Martch 16th , 2015 in class AND compass
75 points

As you have learned in class, job analysis and selection assessment are two key personnel functions that ensure an organization’s competitive advantage. Job analysis is necessary in order to identify the critical KSAOs that are needed for a job and to define performance as it pertains to a particular job. Then selection assessment is critical to ensure that employees hired will not only have the ability to do the work, but also have the highest potential to adapt to a dynamic work environment.

Overview
The purpose of this assignment is to give you the opportunity to analyze a job of your interest. It may be a job that you would like to have after graduation. You will be asked to thoroughly research this job and identify the important aspects of the job by utilizing job analysis methods (e.g., interview, observation, job shadow, etc.), and/or using any sources available to you, such as O*NET. In general, I will expect you to either interview someone or observe someone doing his or her job to conduct your job analysis (such as a doctor or waiter). However, for example, if you would like to be an astronaut but you cannot find someone to interview or observe, I would suggest using O*NET, and finding articles and books about the job in order to have a detailed understanding of the functions of the job. Please talk to me if you need help researching your occupation or planning out your job analysis. Next, imagine that you are an HR manager in the profession and are responsible for recruiting new employees for the job. How would you design a selection system for the recruitment?

Details
In this assignment, first introduce the work/job that you are interested in (row 2 in the Rubric Table attached) and define how you characterize work performance for that job (row 3). Then focus on job analysis to identify its critical KSAOs for the job (row 4). This can include KSAOs that have explicitly been defined in your obtained research and/or observation, or KSAOs explicated by the subject matter experts that you used in your job analysis. In addition, if you think that any additional KSAOs are needed (these would be inferred from job tasks), you can include those as well. If you choose to include your own KSAOs, be sure to clearly justify and explain why you think they are important.

After identifying the KSAO model that you need to select for, you should develop a selection system for staffing purposes (row 5). For example, will you use cognitive ability tests, personality tests, interviews, assessment centers, or situational judgment tests? You could do a PsycInfo/ google scholar search. Next, discuss how you will combine the components of your selection system. Finally, you need to justify why your selection system is best for selecting high performers (row 6). You need to use information learned in class (e.g., validity). Use scientific terminology correctly, as defined in class (e.g., correlation is the index of linear association two measurable variables, not just any relationship between two things).

You must use at least 3 sources. These can include the course text and lecture notes, supplemental readings, websites, or other outside material. Document your research with either APA-style citations, including a separate references page. In addition to your 3 sources, be sure to cite your sources for your job analysis. At least one source must be outside of PSYC245 course material and O*NET (the library’s PsycInfo database can be helpful).

To help you organize the paper and ensure fair grading, I have included a table listing the detailed topics to cover in the paper. This list serves as an outline for your paper and also reminds you of the important topics that you don’t want to miss. Writing your