Predictive Validity of the Recruit Selection Interview
| Published date | 01 October 1988 |
| Author | Elizabeth Burbeck |
| Date | 01 October 1988 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X8806100403 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
ELIZABETH BURBECK, M.A. Oxon, PhD. London.
Superintendent Thames Valley Police, Cowley, Oxford.
PREDICTIVE VALIDITY OF THE
RECRUIT SELECTION INTERVIEW
Introduction
Whenever a job vacancy is to be filled, almost without exception,
candidates will be interviewed for the post.
It
is axiomatic that
job
selection and the employment interview go hand in hand; it is almost
impossible to have one without the other. Even where assessment
centre techniques are used, the interview is invariably an essential
and important element of the process. Interviewers generally have a
considerable amount of confidence in their ability to make good
choices in the employment interview. However, its predictive validity
is largely unproven, and recent studies, using techniques of meta-
analysis, have shown that the employment interview predicts only
about four per cent of future performance! (Herriot, 1988). There is
a suggestion that the employment interview has greater predictive
validity where interpersonal behaviour is a major component of the
job, which certainly applies to the police service, so it may well be
that higher predictive validity than that mentioned by Herriot would
be found in a study using police officers.
Background to Study
The purpose of the study described here was to examine the
predictive validity of the recruit selection interview for the
Metropolitan Police Force.
It
seemed important to discover to what
extent the interview was effective, since it was heavily relied on for
selection purposes, the volume of candidates being so great as to
make it impractical to set up a full scale assessment centre. A study
was conducted which looked at the interview performance of 310
applicants to the Metropolitan Police, and then followed the 109 who
subsequently joined the force through training school and probation
until they had two years' service. A comparison was made between
their predicted performance at interview and their actual
performance at training school and on division.
This study took place in the period from February 1983, when the
interviews started, until October 1985, when the last joiners reached
the end of their probation. *The preliminary stages of the research
'It
should be pointed out that the Metropolitan Police have made certain changes to
their selection procedure since this time, including allowing more time for the
interview and training of interviewers. However, the interview is still the principal
clement of the selection process.
304 October 1988
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