Selection Practices in Canadian Firms: An empirical investigation

Using 7 years of data from Statistics Canada's Workplace and Employee Survey, this study examined the types of selection tools used with 23,639 employees in 6,693 Canadian firms. While 79% of these employees were given an interview during the selection process, only 10% were given a test on job-related knowledge and 9% were given a personality test. Using logit analysis, job- and organization-level variables were examined as predictors of the type of selection tools used. The size of the organization, an in-house human resource department, the presence of a union and occupation were significant predictors of the use of a test on job-related knowledge in the selection process. The implications and plausible explanations of this theory to practice gap are discussed.