Validity and generalizability of a role‐play test to select telemarketing representatives

A role‐play test was developed to assess the sales skills required for success in a telemarketing job. The 30‐minute test was conducted entirely by telephone and consisted of four role‐plays in which the ratee attempted to sell a service contract. In a concurrent validation study, the sum of two raters' independent evaluations of overall performance on the four role‐plays was significantly correlated with both objective and subjective measures of sales performance. Based on generalizability analyses, the reliability of the overall ratings provided by two raters for four role‐plays was .80 in the concurrent study and .76 when the role‐play test was used operationally. This study demonstrated that ratings from a 30‐minute telephone role‐play test are valid and reliable predictors of sales performance. 1991 The British Psychological Society