20 DSST Human Resource Management practice questions, with answers and video walkthroughs

Twenty practice questions for DSST Human Resource Management, in the real exam's style. Score 16 of 20 here and you are in passing range. Miss more than four, and the pattern of your misses points straight at the topic to review next. Every question below is explained on video, including why the wrong answers trap most test-takers.

When I took DSST Human Resource Management for my degree at Thomas Edison State University, the move that mattered was steady practice in the exam's format, with an explanation for every miss. Use these the same way: answer, check, and read why the wrong choices are tempting. For the full plan around them, see the DSST Human Resource Management pillar guide.

Watch the full video walkthrough above, then test yourself on the twenty questions below. Each one is explained on the video, including why the wrong answers trap most test-takers.

Questions 1 to 5 (questions 1 to 5)

1. Forecasting how many employees an organization will need and how it will fill those positions is the purpose of: Human Resource Planning. Human resource planning matches the supply of workers to future demand. It looks ahead at openings, retirements, and growth so the organization can recruit and develop the right people in time.

2. Recruitment in human resource management refers specifically to: Attracting a Pool of Qualified Applicants. Recruitment is the sourcing step: generating a pool of qualified candidates to apply. Choosing among those candidates is the separate function of selection, which comes after recruitment.

3. A written summary of the duties, responsibilities, and reporting relationships of a position is called a: Job Description. A job description spells out what the position involves: its tasks, duties, and where it sits in the structure. The related job specification instead lists the skills and qualifications a person needs.

4. The systematic process of gathering information about the tasks and requirements of a job is known as: Job Analysis. Job analysis studies a position to determine its duties and the qualifications it demands. Its outputs, the job description and the job specification, are the foundation for hiring, training, and pay.

5. Which selection tool would most likely raise concerns about adverse impact if it screens out a protected group at a higher rate? An Employment Test Unrelated to the Job. A selection test that is not job related and that rejects a protected group at a higher rate can create adverse impact. To be defensible, any test must be shown to be valid and tied to actual job performance.

Questions 6 to 10 (questions 6 to 10)

6. The process of introducing new employees to the organization, their coworkers, and their job is called: Orientation. Orientation, sometimes called onboarding, welcomes new hires and familiarizes them with policies, people, and their role. It is designed to help them become productive and feel comfortable quickly.

7. On-the-job training in which a new worker learns by watching and assisting an experienced employee is a form of: Apprenticeship or Coaching. Learning a job by working alongside a skilled employee is coaching, and its formal version is an apprenticeship. Because the learning happens at the actual work site, it is on-the-job training.

8. A performance appraisal error in which a rater lets one positive trait color the rating of all other traits is called the: Halo Effect. The halo effect happens when one good quality, such as punctuality, leads a rater to score everything else highly too. It distorts appraisals by letting a single impression stand in for separate judgments.

9. A performance appraisal method in which an employee and manager jointly set specific, measurable goals and later review results against them is: Management by Objectives. Management by objectives, or MBO, has the manager and employee agree on clear goals up front and then evaluate performance by whether those goals were met, making the appraisal results focused.

10. Feedback that an employee receives from supervisors, peers, subordinates, and sometimes customers is known as: Three-hundred-sixty-degree Feedback. Three hundred sixty degree feedback gathers ratings from all directions around an employee: managers, peers, direct reports, and customers. The full circle of views gives a more rounded picture of behavior.

Questions 11 to 15 (questions 11 to 15)

11. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which needs must generally be satisfied before higher needs become strong motivators? Physiological Needs. Maslow arranged needs in a pyramid, with basic physiological needs like food and shelter at the bottom. Those lower needs must be reasonably met before needs higher up begin to drive behavior.

12. In Herzberg's two-factor theory, factors such as pay, company policy, and working conditions are called: Hygiene Factors. Herzberg called pay, policies, and working conditions hygiene factors. When they are poor they cause dissatisfaction, but improving them only removes complaints; true motivation comes from the work itself.

13. Paying employees based on the number of units they produce is known as a: Piece-rate System. A piece-rate plan ties pay directly to output, so much per unit produced. It rewards quantity and is common in manufacturing, though it must be balanced so quality and safety do not suffer.

14. The federal law that sets the minimum wage and requires overtime pay for many workers is the: Fair Labor Standards Act. The Fair Labor Standards Act, passed in nineteen thirty-eight, established the federal minimum wage and time-and-a-half overtime for covered employees, along with limits on child labor.

15. Indirect compensation such as health insurance, paid vacation, and retirement plans is collectively referred to as: Employee Benefits. Employee benefits are forms of indirect, non-wage compensation: health coverage, paid time off, and retirement plans. Some, like Social Security, are legally required, while others are offered to compete for talent.

Questions 16 to 20 (questions 16 to 20)

16. The federal law that prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin is: Title Seven of the Civil Rights Act of Nineteen Sixty-four. Title Seven of the Civil Rights Act of nineteen sixty-four bans discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, and it created the EEOC to enforce that ban.

17. The federal agency responsible for enforcing laws against workplace discrimination is the: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the EEOC, investigates discrimination complaints and enforces civil rights laws in the workplace. The NLRB, by contrast, oversees union and labor relations.

18. The process by which a union and an employer negotiate a contract covering wages, hours, and working conditions is called: Collective Bargaining. Collective bargaining is the negotiation between an employer and a union representing the workers. The result is a contract that spells out wages, hours, benefits, and working conditions for those employees.

19. The 1935 law that gave most private-sector workers the right to organize and bargain collectively is the: National Labor Relations Act, Also Called the Wagner Act. The National Labor Relations Act of nineteen thirty-five, known as the Wagner Act, guaranteed most private workers the right to form unions and bargain, and it set up the National Labor Relations Board.

20. The federal law that requires covered employers to provide eligible employees up to twelve weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for certain family and medical reasons is the: The Family and Medical Leave Act. The Family and Medical Leave Act lets eligible employees take up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave for events like a birth, adoption, or serious illness, and guarantees their job is held while they are out.

What to do with your score

The point of twenty questions is not the twenty, it is the pattern. When I scored a practice set, I marked which topic each miss came from, then spent my next session on that topic alone. None of it requires starting over, only tightening the spots that cost you points.

A single twenty-question set is a snapshot, not a study plan. To pass with margin you need volume: enough questions, in the exam's format, with explanations that turn a wrong answer into a correction. That is what Flying Prep's DSST Human Resource Management practice is built for: every question explained, with a free trial before you decide.