The introduction of electronic switching equipment has changed the nature of the telephone company switching job. A lengthy and complex training program must be completed before an employee can perform the electronic switching job. Because of the high cost of this training a more elaborate, second‐stage selection procedure was developed. The ESS Minicourse was designed to be a self‐paced content valid sample of ESS training which would be suitable for use with job candidates without any previous telephone company experience. A criterion‐related validity study was undertaken to provide further evidence of validity as well as data helpful in setting a cutting score. Results showed that a combination of time to complete the Minicourse and performance on the objective tests was predictive of time to complete self‐paced training in electronic switching. Cross‐ validated estimates of validity were used to develop estimates of u'tility given different selecti