34^

EMPLOYMENT  PSYCHOLOGY

psychologist  or  the  trained  interviewer  must  continue  the
process.  When,  by  a  series  of  test  questions,  it  has  been
discovered  that  the  applicant  has  a  general  knowledge
of  the  work  in  question,  the  psychologist  will  give  him  a
series  of  standard  tests,  such  as  is  given  to  all  other  applicants ­
  for  that  work,  in  order  to  discover  more  closely
what  the  applicant’s  ability  really  is.  These  tests  will
be  based  upon  the  actual  work  of  the  position  in  question.
In  the  case  of  the  mechanical  trades,  applicants  are  first
shown  an  assortment  of  odd  tools,  and  asked  to  point  out
those  which  are  used  in  their  trade.  Then,  as  a  more
refined  test,  they  are  given  a  series  of  hypothetical  tasks
and  asked  to  point  out  the  tools  which  would  be  used  in
the  performance  of  each  task.  As  a  still  further  test,  a
set  of  typical  drawings  is  displayed,  and  the  applicant
asked  to  point  out  the  work  which  each  drawing  calls  for.
A  tool  maker  or  machinist,  for  instance,  may  be  shown  a
series  of  blueprints  representing  operations  of  the  various
machine  tools,  and  he  may  be  asked  to  state,  in  each
case,  which  of  the  machines  would  be  involved  in  performing ­
  the  work  called  for  by  each  of  the  drawings.  This  is
a  very  simple  test  but  one  which  reveals  a  great  deal
about  a  man’s  ability.  Finally,  the  applicant  may  be
requested  to  give  a  demonstration  of  his  knowledge  by
performing  some  actual  work  on  tasks  assigned  by  the
interviewer.  The  draftsman  may  be  asked  to  do  some
lettering,  to  make  a  sketch,  to  design  a  fixture,  or  to  work
out  a  gauge.  The  machinist  may  be  given  a  task  on  a
machine  which  will  involve  certain  essential  operations.
The  stenographer  is  tried  out  on  some  actual  dictation
and  typing.  The  accountant  will  be  given  some  entries
to  make,  etc.,  etc.
Several  objections  are  likely  to  be  raised  at  this  point.