Workers' Estimation of Ability Requirements of Their Jobs

Abstract

A slightly modified version of the Minnesota Job Requirements Questionnaire, representing the General Aptitude Test Battery, was used by Canadian workers in 25 selected jobs to rate the ability requirements of their jobs. Workers' job requirement ratings were compared with experts' ratings in the Canadian Classification and Dictionary of Occupations and with Occupational Ability Patterns derived from the test battery approach. As in previous studies, with few exceptions, high reliability of workers' job requirement ratings was indicated by high alpha coefficients. Comparison of mean ratings and variability of ratings by workers in a job with workers in other jobs demonstrated construct validity for workers' ratings, as did intercorrelations of the ratings. Occupational ability patterns derived from the job rating (method 3) approach compared favorably with those derived from the test battery and the expert ratings, suggesting that the more parsimonious job rating approach is a reliable alternative to the other two. Finally, results support the view that employees in a job can provide reliable information about job requirements.