Case Study

Mariam has been a data processing supervisor for two years. She is in the process of selecting a candidate for a programmer trainee position she has created. Her plan is to develop the trainee into a system analyst within two years. Since this is a fast track, she needs a candidate whose aptitude and motivation is high.

Fourteen candidates applied for the job in employment section of the human resource department. Six were women, eight were men. An employment specialist screened the candidates for Mariam using a carefully prepared interview format that included questions to determine job - related skills. Six candidates, three women and three men, were referred to Mariam.

Mariam then conducted structured, in depth interviews and further narrowed the selection to one woman and two men. Her boss, a company vice president, agrees with her judgment after hearing Mariams description of the candidates. However, Mariams boss feels particularly unsure of the abilities of the female candidates. From the selection interview, past job experience and education, there is no clear indication of the candidates ability to perform the job. The vice president is insistent that Mariam should screen the candidate with a programmer aptitude test devised by a computer manufacturing firm. The test had been given four years ago, and some of the most successful current analysis had scored high on it.

Mariam went to the human resource department and asked them to administer the test to the questionable candidate. The human resource manager informed her that the company policy had been to do no testing of any kind during the last two years. Mariam explained that the request had come from a vice president and asked that she be given a decision on her request by Friday.

Questions

Identify and evaluate the stages of the selection process reflected in the case.

If you were Mariam, what would you do?

Suggest a selection process which such organizations as that of Mariams could adopt easily