Selection is where the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures govern. They recognize exactly three types of validity evidence, and the wrong answers are always a fourth type that feels real.
Three types, and only three
The Uniform Guidelines recognize criterion-related, content, and construct validity.
- Criterion-related validity: empirical data showing the selection procedure is predictive of or significantly correlated with important elements of work behavior.
- Content validity: data showing the content of the procedure is representative of important aspects of job performance.
- Construct validity: data showing the procedure measures the degree to which candidates have identifiable characteristics determined to be important for successful job performance.
Traps:
- Face validity is not a recognized strategy. "It obviously looks job-related" is an impression, not evidence.
- Predictive and concurrent are designs within criterion-related validity, not separate types. A list of "predictive, concurrent, and face" is wrong on both counts.
- Any list of only two types has dropped construct validity.
Matching evidence to scenario
- A typing and filing test whose tasks mirror the clerical duties documented in the job analysis: content validity. No correlation with a performance criterion is reported, so it is not criterion-related.
- A vendor claiming its assessment measures conscientiousness, a trait it argues drives service performance: construct validity. A "measures this trait" claim is a construct claim, not an empirical prediction claim.
When a manager wants to skip validation
The most effective action is to explain that the Guidelines recognize criterion-related, content and construct evidence and plan a validation strategy before the tool is used to make decisions. Validating later only if a complaint is filed accepts legal exposure and makes validation reactive. Unstructured interviews are not exempt, and there is no internal-candidate exemption.
One filing trap
Realistic job previews happen during hiring, but the BASK lists them first among Employee Engagement & Retention retention concepts and best practices, not under Talent Acquisition.