Ranking Candidates: An Experiential Exercise in Personnel Selection

Abstract

Personnel selection is a key topic in Human Resource Management (HRM) courses. Many selection exercises focus on management situations that are unfamiliar to students who are taking introductory HRM courses. In contrast, this exercise introduces students to the pre-interview steps in the personnel selection process by asking them to determine the knowledge, skills, and abilities of potential adjunct instructors for a future offering of an HRM course. Groups of students act as management teams to determine the suitability of four applicants. Tasks include determining desirable qualifications, and then developing and ranking selection criteria based on the job posting. Subsequently, each group reviews the resumes of the four applicants and ranks them based on their selection criteria. A plenary discussion follows, during which students compare their choices and provide their rationale for their rankings. A discussion based on key questions concludes the activity. The exercise may be conducted in class or online.