Review the applicant’s credentials prior to the interview so you can devote full attention to the applicant during the interview.
Click here to ORDER NOW FOR AN ORIGINAL PAPER ASSIGNMENT: Assignment: Standardized Tests

Assignment: Standardized Tests
Assignment: Standardized Tests

Assignment: Standardized Tests

If you are hiring several new staff or your postings will receive a large volume of resumes, consider applicant tracking software programs that will scan resumes quickly and efficiently and identify applicants best suited to your opening and organization. They can also store a large volume of resumes if you need to scan the pool again.14 Scan- ning software sorts applicants based on key words, skills, interests, and experiences. You need to load these carefully to minimize losing excellent applicants. For instance, if candidates use the word personnel or purchasing instead of human resources or pro- curement management, they will be eliminated from the pool. The same is true if they use abbreviations that do not match those in the system, headers the system doesn’t rec- ognize, spaces between the letters of their names for graphical purposes that cannot be accurately parsed out, and font sizes and typefaces the software finds less readable. It is wise to identify guidelines in your advertisements and recruiting literature to prepare scannable resumes so all candidates are on a level playing field.

Letters of Recommendation and References Applicants choose references that will write favorable letters or respond favorably when contacted by potential employers. Read letters skeptically because they seldom say

Consider a scanner if you attract hundreds of applicants.

■ Review the applicant’s credentials prior to the interview so you can devote full attention to the applicant during the interview.

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138 Chapter 7

anything negative about an applicant. The most important point of the letter is often not what they say but who is willing to write it. Calling references allows you to ask open ques- tions and to probe into answers for important insights. Unfortunately, many former employ- ers will give you little more than dates when an applicant worked for them, and colleges may offer only dates when a person attended their institutions. Your organization may require you to get permission from applicants before contacting references or letter writers.

Standardized Tests Standardized tests have become an integral part of the selection process and may be particularly effective in combination with behavior-based interviews widely used today.15 Before choosing any test for use in your hiring process, be sure it is job-related or tailored, validated on a cross-section of the population, and nondiscriminatory. If a test appears to screen out one group more than another, do not use it. The EEOC has investigated complaints that some tests “have an adverse impact on black and Latino applicants,” require “a proficiency in English that could discriminate against candi- dates who are not native speakers,” and violate the Americans with Disabilities Act by requiring pre-employment medical examinations or detecting conditions such as depression and paranoia.16 There are four common types of tests used in recruiting: aptitude, personality, basic skills, and honesty/integrity.
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.
ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE CLASS

Discussion Questions (DQ)

Initial responses to the DQ should address all components of the questions asked, include a minimum of one scholarly source, and be at least 250 words.
Successful responses are substantive (i.e., add something new to the discussion, engage others in the discussion, well-developed idea) and include at least one scholarly source.
One or two sentence responses, simple statements of agreement or “good post,” and responses that are off-topic will not count as substantive. Substantive responses should be at least 150 words.
I encourage you to incorporate the readings from the week (as applicable) into your responses.
Weekly Participation

Your initial responses to the mandatory DQ do not count toward participation and are graded separately.
In addition to the DQ responses, you must post at least one reply to peers (or me) on three separate days, for a total of three replies.
Participation posts do not require a scholarly source/citation (unless you cite someone else’s work).
Part of your weekly participation includes viewing the weekly announcement and attesting to watching it in the comments. These announcements are made to ensure you understand everything that is due during the week.
APA Format and Writing Quality

Familiarize yourself with APA format and practice using it correctly. It is used for most writing assignments for your degree. Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for APA paper templates, citation examples, tips, etc. Points will be deducted for poor use of APA format or absence of APA format (if required).
Cite all sources of information! When in doubt, cite the source. Paraphrasing also requires a citation.
I highly recommend using the APA Publication Manual, 6th edition.
Use of Direct Quotes

I discourage overutilization of direct quotes in DQs and assignments at the Masters’ level and deduct points accordingly.
As Masters’ level students, it is important that you be able to critically analyze and interpret information from journal articles and other resources. Simply restating someone else’s words does not demonstrate an understanding of the content or critical analysis of the content.
It is best to paraphrase content and cite your source.
LopesWrite Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to LopesWrite, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.
Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.
Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?
Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.
Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.
Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.
If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.
I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.
As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.
Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me: Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.
Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.