Science Team
J. Tom Janz, Ph.D.
Dr. Janz is Chief Scientist for PeopleAssessments.com. He received his B.A. (hons) in psychology from the University of Winnipeg in 1972 and his Ph.D. in Industrial Psychology from the University of Minnesota in 1977 under the direction of Dr. Marvin Dunnette.
Dr. Janz began his career with academic positions at the University of Waterloo, in the Faculty of Engineering, Simon Fraser University in the Faculty of Business Administration, and The University of Calgary in the Faculty of Management. During this time, he published several articles and book chapters on topics ranging from expectancy theory to motivational culture to selection utility. In 1986 he co-authored a book on the selection interview titled “Behavior description Interviewing: New, Accurate, Cost Effective.”
In 1992 Dr. Janz left academia and took a position as Director of Behavior Description Systems with Personnel Decisions International, in Dallas, Texas. When PDI sold its selection business to ePredix in 2000, he accepted a position as Director of Assessment for Guru Worldwide Inc. of San Francisco. When Guru was being considered for sale to Unicru in 2001, he briefly joined Unicru as a Chief Scientist. As Unicru completed the purchase of Guru, he ultimately took on the role of Chief Scientist for Behavior Description Technologies to pursue a long held belief in the value of online interview decision support technology. Since then, he has taken roles as Chief Scientist for Batrus Hollweg International of Dallas, and Senior Product Manager for Lominger International of Minneapolis. He has returned to full time pursuit of his dream of offering valid, affordable online tests and interviews—now implemented via PeopleAssessments.com.
Dr. Janz is a member of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the American Psychological Association, and the Canadian Psychological Association. He has designed the measurement processes underlying several software programs to widen the application of his research and techniques.
Recently, Dr. Janz was asked to head up a Work Group of 50 professionals from the SHRM/ANSI task force tasked with developing the standards for Job Descriptions.
George Paajanen, Ph.D.
Dr. Paajanen is PeopleAssessment.com’s psychometric scientist. Paajanen received his PhD from the University of Minnesota in 1988 and is also a Minnesota licensed Consulting Psychologist. He joined Personnel Decisions, International (PDI) in 1979 and created the PDI Employment Inventory (EI), which established the company as a nationally recognized leader in personality testing. He pioneered the new direction for integrity testing, which is based on the psychological and multi-dimensional nature of job performance and counter productivity (including theft). Employment tests that he has developed range from short instruments for hourly selection to two-day assessment centers for executives. However, his strongest expertise is in creating valid assessments for hiring hourly employees who work harder, accomplish more, and have more productive work habits.
Paajanen consulted with over 100 private and public organizations, from small, family-owned businesses to federal agencies; conducted over 1,000 supervisory, managerial, and executive assessments for selection, placement, and development; and has validated tests with real job performance in over 300 companies, including more than 150 retailers. As a representative of psychological testing, Paajanen presented expert testimony to a United States Congress investigation of employment testing. He has contributed to employment research conducted by the US Department of Defense and US Department of Labor.
Paajanen joined Unicru in 1999 and has authored a series of Unicru personality and skill assessments. Tests developed by Dr. Paajanen have been used by over 140 million applicants, for 20 years, without legal challenge.
John Callender, Ph.D.
Dr. John Callender is PeopleAssessment.com’s Biodata Science Advisor, and he is also CEO, Biodata Online LLC where he applies world-class expertise in the use of this highly effective technology for employee selection.
He received a Ph.D. (1978) and M.A. (1976) in I/O Psychology from the University of Houston following 4 years as a Naval Officer. He received a B.A. in Mathematics and Psychology, Magna Cum Laude, from Butler University (1968).
He has worked for Procter & Gamble (1980-2002), Shell Oil (1977-1980) and Exxon (1974-1977).
He directed Global Recruiting for Procter & Gamble, where he was responsible for a vast array of innovations including being among the very first to:
- use testing to effectively staff manufacturing self-directed work teams
- create computer adaptive cognitive testing for industry
- implement a worldwide employee testing process in over 30 languages for all entry level jobs
- implement biodata testing in most major countries for a wide variety of jobs (nominated for SIOP’s Professional Practice Award)
- produce a cross culturally validated test for success as a product developer and innovator
- create a worldwide quality–of-hire metric routinely scrutinized by top management
- leverage the internet by combining biodata and application forms to vastly increase applicant flow
- dramatically reduce hiring costs by replacing campus screening interviews with online assessments
- implement a global online job posting/staffing system for use by 100,000 employees
He has personally created and validated a wide variety tests including cognitive ability, biodata, and English reading and writing proficiency. He has also been responsible for employee opinion survey programs and other HR systems.
A leading scientific innovator, he created the first accurate technique for research on validity generalization (1978), developed training proven to increase the quality and validity of interviews, created improved methods to assess test reliability, and developed advanced consumer research techniques for product development and branding at Procter & Gamble. He has published numerous articles in prestigious journals and spoken frequently on the subjects of test validity and reliability, interviewing, international testing, and biodata testing. As a respected expert, he has reviewed submissions for J. of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Psychological Bulletin, Educational & Psychological Measurement, and J. of Educational Measurement. He has even contributed to the science of Toxicology as an expert statistician.
He served on the Scientific Affairs Committee of SIOP and contributed to SIOP’s Principles for the Validation of Employee Selection Procedures. He has advised the Equal Employment Advisory Council and the American Petroleum Institute on testing matters. For 7 years he served as Adjunct Professor
of Management for the U. of Cincinnati, teaching MBA courses in employee selection and human resource management.
Most recently he has developed 3 highly effective biodata tests for convenience store associates, teachers, and customer service employees.
