Personnel selection: A review of ways to maximize validity, diversity, and the applicant experience

Personnel Psychology has a long tradition of publishing important research on personnel selection. In this article, we review some of the key questions and findings from studies published in the journal and in the selection literature more broadly. In doing so, we focus on the various decisions organizations face regarding selection procedure development (e.g., use multiple selection procedures, contextualize procedure content), administration (e.g., provide pre-test explanations, reveal target knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics [KSAOs]), and scoring (e.g., weight predictors and criteria, use artificial intelligence). Further, we focus on how these decisions affect the validity of inferences drawn from the procedures, how use of the procedures may affect organizational diversity, and how applicants experience the procedures. We also consider factors such as cost and time. Based on our review, we highlight practical implications and key directions for future research.