Personnel Selection of Information Technology Workers: The People, the Jobs, and Issues for Human Resource Management

Abstract

The impetus for this paper was the recognition, based on recent surveys and our own experiences, that organizations face special challenges when designing and validating selection procedures for information technology (IT) workers. The history of the IT industry, the nature of IT work, and characteristics of IT workers converge to make the selection of IT workers uniquely challenging. In this paper, we identify these challenges and suggest means of addressing them. We show the advantages offered by the modern view of validation that endorses a wide spectrum of probative information relevant to establishing the job relatedness and business necessity of IT selection procedures. Finally, we identify the implications of these issues for industrial/organizational psychologists, human resource managers, and managers of IT workers.

Citation

Anderson Snyder, L., Rupp, D.E. and Thornton, G.C. (2006), "Personnel Selection of Information Technology Workers: The People, the Jobs, and Issues for Human Resource Management", Martocchio, J.J. (Ed.) Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management (Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management, Vol. 25), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 305-376. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0742-7301(06)25008-4