Module 6 Case Study: WWII Spy

Purpose

By completing this assignment, you will be able to describe why measurements and assessments are important in staffing, explain the validity of an assessment, and create and validate an assessment system.

Instructions

In this exercise, read through the situational overview below. Using the information presented in Module 2, answer the following questions. Your answers should use a 12-point font, be double-spaced, and use APA formatting to cite references on the last page of your assignment (if you use any external sources). It should be submitted as a Word or PDF document. Be sure to include answers to each of the questions asked as they should all be thoroughly detailed in your essay.

Situational Overview

Role

It is 1940, and you are a selection specialist assigned to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). Your assignment is to develop a selection system to “identify operatives who could successfully undertake hazardous intelligence-gathering missions behind enemy lines.” In other words, you are to select spies who will work in Japan, Italy, and Germany.

Challenges

1. You have been given limited job information, no job description, KSAOs, competencies, or performance criteria related to the position.
2. Since the advertisements for the job must be vague to maintain secrecy, they will attract undesirable candidates, including people who are chronically bored, pathologically adventuresome, neurotically attracted to danger, and so forth. Therefore, you will need to include a process to weed out such individuals.
3. You have no time to validate your assessment methods – they need to be implemented immediately.

Task

Identify important characteristics (attitudes, competencies, and so forth) a person needs to be a spy, and develop a test and simulation that will help you identify successful spies. The selection procedure will occur over a 3-day period in a private facility (Station S in Virginia).

Complete The Following Activities

• Create a list of important characteristics discussed previously. Remember, in 1940, there were no computers, video phones, or satellites. Spies needed to do things such as access locked buildings, identify possible informants, and persuade them to provide useful information about enemy actions. Your list should have at least 10 characteristics overall initially.
• Determine the three most important qualities that an applicant must possess. What are they?
• Develop three procedures to test for each of those characteristics during the 3-day procedure at Station S. Describe your procedures and how you would evaluate each of the candidates.
• Describe how you will evaluate the effectiveness of your selection system. Did it work well? What flaws were inherently included that you did not think about initially?