2003 IMTA Proceedings - International Military Testing Association

information he/she had received, (c) whether the career counselor had an interest in the prospect’s
questions and problems, (d) whether the prospect had been able to actively participate in the
information session, and (e) whether the career counselor had tried to sell the prospect a job. All
five questions were followed by open-ended probes to assess reasons for the response. Interviews
were conducted by the author and two undergraduate assistants; they typically lasted 10-15
minutes.
Withdrawals. Applicants who withdrew from the selection process were contacted by telephone.
The primary purpose of the telephonic interview was to determine why applicants withdrew from
the selection process before taking the tests at the selection center. Four attempts were made to
contact each withdrawal at a different time of day. The first question was an open-ended question
asking for the main reason why the respondent chose not to continue in the selection process.
The second question was also an open-ended question asking for additional reasons. The
remaining questions were designed to assess certain specific reasons for withdrawal: (a) treatment
by career office personnel, (b) perceptions of test fairness, (c) handling of application, (d) test
anxiety, (e) social influence, (f) fit perceptions, and (g) employment alternatives. Positive
responses were followed by open-ended probes to assess reasons for the response. Interviews
were conducted by the author and four undergraduate assistants; they typically lasted 5-10
minutes.
Successful and unsuccessful applicants. Both successful and unsuccessful applicants who
completed the selection process were contacted by telephone. The primary purpose of the
telephonic interview was to find out how applicants had experienced the selection procedure.
The interview included eight questions. The first two questions were open-ended questions
asking applicants respectively for positive and negative elements of the selection encounter. The
third questions asked whether the applicant was satisfied with the selection procedure in general.
This question was always followed by an open-ended probe to assess the reason for the response.
The next four questions asked for specific selection experiences: (a) respect for privacy, (b)
practical organization of selection procedure, (c) transparency of testing, and (d) whether they
had been in the position to demonstrate their potential. The final question asked respondents what
they would change to the selection procedure if they had the chance to do so. Interviews were
conducted by the author and two undergraduate assistants; they typically lasted 5-10 minutes.
Trainees. Three focus groups were held with newcomers who had just begun their training. They
had taken their selection tests at the selection center three weeks before the focus groups were
organized. Because of the short interval it was guaranteed that the trainees would be able to
recall what they had experienced at the selection center. In addition, the short training period that
they already had gone through permitted them to compare the information they had received with
reality. The semi-structured manual that was used to guide the focus group contained questions
referring to advertisement and organizational image, amount and content of the provided
information, information realism, their visit to the career office and the selection center, selection
methods (medical, physical, psychological), recruitment, selection and retention policy, reasons
for withdrawal during the hiring process, and reasons for withdrawal during initial training. It
took about four hours to discuss all these topics.
Employees. One focus group was held with employees familiar with the accession policy of the
military (advertisement, recruitment, and selection specialists). The semi-structured manual that
was used to guide the focus group contained mainly questions referring to current and possible
future recruitment, selection and retention policies. The focus group lasted about four hours.
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45 th Annual Conference of the International Military Testing Association
Pensacola, Florida, 3-6 November 2003