Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 5, Number 1, Spring / Summer 2020 | Page 114

Global Security and Intelligence Studies
Figure 10: Situational interview questions (Marangione 2019).
can be fostered through Socratic communication
in the workplace and may
be best developed in a workplace environment
that supports and rewards
effective and seasoned analysts, values
and encourages continued training, and
promotes mentorships and interactions
with senior and junior IAs. This is further
clarified in Figure 9.
There are numerous steps that
an employer can take in assessing new
hires; resumes and previous job performance
are indicators of skill base and
training. Along with critical thinking
tests, employers can use situational interview
questions to tease out a potential
employer’s critical thinking skillset,
as characterized in Figure 10.
When an employee is on the job,
the workplace environment is critical to
building the metacognition skillset that
many researchers argue is developed
through context, mentorship, longevity,
and practice. Additional training
can be useful for employees; however,
as one Chief Executive Officer of a defense
company stated, “Buy-in [from
employees] can be a challenge. Many
analysts feel it is another thing to do in
their already busy days. They resent it
and do not value the training” (Anonymous
2019). This can be remedied
by an onboarding process that clearly
spells out the company’s training goals,
rewards professional development, and
offers incentives for programs of studies,
classes, and completing tutorials.
For employers, their worries are
not just a modern dilemma. Pre-hire
assessments have been around at least
since the Han dynasty in the third century.
Chinese imperial leaders used
them to gauge knowledge, intellect,
and moral integrity when selecting civil
servants. Modern personality and intelligence
tests were introduced in the
United States and Europe during World
War I to aid in military selection. After
World War II, companies started adopting
them to screen applicants. Today,
employers like assessments because
they greatly reduce the time and cost of
recruiting and hiring. Tests also aid in
preventing interviewers from accepting
or rejecting candidates based on conscious
or unconscious biases. Because
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