Security in Personnel Selection (From Controlling Cargo Theft A Handbook of Transportation Security, P 747-761, 1983, Louis A Tyska and Lawrence J Fennelly, ed. - See NCJ-88969)

• NCJ Number: 88987
• Author(s): R D Brock
• Date Published: 1983
• Length: 15 pages
• Sale Source: Butterworth-Heinemann
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The screening out of dishonest job applicants can be accomplished through such means as setting criteria for each job level, using job applications with appropriate questions, using questions in the initial interview that expose unacceptable applicants, and using the polygraph and paper-and-pencil honesty testing.

Abstract

Screening job applicants for integrity is both retrospective and prospective. Background investigations, prior employer checks, polygraph tests, etc., are retrospective in that they tend to show how a particular applicant has behaved in the past. Other types of screening devices, such as paper-and-pencil honesty tests, are prospective, because they address the issue of how an applicant who may never have had the opportunity to steal would react when confronted with such an opportunity. Every applicant should be referred to the security department or its equivalent for a type of security clearance prior to employment. The type of security clearance required will depend on the criticality of the job, the probability of the occurrence of a dishonest act, and the vulnerability of the organization of such acts. Before screening an applicant, criteria for acceptance or rejection must be defined for each major type of job based on the factors of criticality, probability, and vulnerability. Although the traditional application blank, properly designed, is an effective tool for obtaining information about a candidate, the weighted application blank has found growing acceptance. This is a systematic method for determining which personal history variables correlate with job performance and integrity. The initial interview should contain critical 'knockout' questions which, if answered unacceptably, would eliminate an applicant from further serious consideration. Polygraph testing, when accompanied by effective pretest interviews, can eliminate the vast percentage of high-risk applicants. A written test designed to expose attitudes that correlate with dishonesty has the advantages of relatively low cost and ease of administration.