IDT University/Department of Informatics Mister Samb

RECRUITMENT PROCESS
INTRODUCTION

Done within the HR, by a third-party recruiting enterprise, or a headhunter1,

recruitment process is the process by which organizations find and hire new
employees.
Recruitment, thus, refers to the fact of informing the public about job opportunities
and encouraging a great number of suitable candidates to apply for them. As a
matter of fact, it helps discover qualified people for the present and future vacant
positions of an organization.

A. OBJECTIVES OF RECRUITMENT
Considering the importance of hiring, developing and maintaining people,
organizations adopt a recruitment policy in order to handle that sensitive process.
The policy may bear the elements below:
 short term and long term objectives of the organization;
 identification of the recruitment needs;
 the preferred source of recruitment;
 criteria of preferences and selection;
 the cost and all financial implications of recruitment.

Thus according to Yoder (1996), the following are the main objectives of recruitment
policy:

 To find and employ the best-qualified person for each job;

 To minimize the cost of recruitment;
 To offer promising careers and security;
 To provide facilities for growth and development;
 To retain the best and most promising ones;
 To reduce the scope of favoritism and malpractice.

B. RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

1. RECRUITMENT
Reminder. Recruitment is a step-by-step process of locating, identifying and attracting
qualified people to apply for the vacant post in an organization. It consists of:
 Identifying the HR Requirement.

It refers to the documentation of required number and kinds of people needed for
organizational performance through HR planning and job analysis

A comprehensive draft is then prepared to specify the duties, responsibilities, working

conditions and skills required to perform a task.
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in case of very important functions
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 Identifying possible sources of HR Supply.

To attract and acquire the best candidates for vacancies, organizations deal with both
internal and external sources:

- Internal recruitment is concerned with hiring from the present labour force (within
the organization) through promotions and transfers
- External sources indicate to recruit from a pool of qualified candidates generated
from employment agencies, advertisement, casual callers, recommendations,
educational institutions, etc.
The sources and methods help get the best and most qualified human resources at a
minimum cost.

 Communicating the Information.

Different media (including the notice board of the organization) are used to inform
the potential candidates about vacant posts.

Media for vacancy announcement are print media, electronic media, internet, and so
on

 Receiving Application.

Recruitment process ends when a pool of qualified candidates interested in the job
offers submit their application forms.
After these latters are received, they are evaluated to check if they meet the basic
requirements.

2. SELECTION
Selection deals with the choice of the most suitable candidate from the applicants
(inside or outside the organization) for the current post or future positions. The
selection process follows the steps2 below:
 Initial Screening

It is the decrease of the number of applicants consisting in removing individuals who

obviously do not meet the position requirements.

Initial screening is done thanks to the applicant’s resume and may use areas such as
employment & education history, evaluation of character and Evaluation of job
performance.

NB: An applicant not unqualified to fill the advertised position, may be well qualified to
work in other open positions.
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Some organizations may skip some of them
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 Completion of the Application Form

It is required from a prospective employee to complete an application for employment

by delivering sometimes only the applicant’s name, address, and telephone number.

Varying from an organization to another or the type of job, an application form is a

good way to quickly collect verifiable and fairly accurate historical data from the
candidate.

 Employment Tests

Being more widespread for assessing an applicant’s qualifications and potential for
success, tests are valuable ways to measure individual characteristics among which are:
mental abilities, knowledge, physical abilities, personality, interest, temperament, and
other attitudes and behaviors

 Job Interview

As a goal-oriented conversation, the employment interview allows interviewer and

applicant to exchange information.

Mostly depending on the organization or the level of the job, interview content may
concern:

1. Occupational experience determining the applicant’s skills, abilities, and

willingness to handle responsibility.

2. Academic achievement taking on greater importance In the absence of significant

work experience

3. Interpersonal skills: without teamwork chances for success are slim in today’s world
with increasing emphasis being placed on the use of teams.

4. Personal qualities generally observed during the interview include physical

appearance, speaking ability, vocabulary, self-confidence, adaptability, and
assertiveness.

5. Organizational fit: refers to management’s perception of the degree to which the

prospective employee will fit in with, for example, the firm’s culture or value system.

 Conditional Job Offer

It implies that if everything checks out (passing a certain medical, physical or substance
abuse test) the conditional nature of the job offer will be tuned to a permanent one.
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 Background Investigation

It is the way to verify that information on the application form is correct and accurate.
That accuracy is checked from former employers and references. It can also be done a
Verification of the education and legal status to work, credit history and criminal record.

Knowledge about attendance problems, insubordination issues, theft, or other behavioral

problems can certainly help one avoid hiring someone who is likely to repeat those
behaviors.

 Medical Examination

This examination determines if an applicant physically fit for the job requirements.

The success of this examination is a condition for the job offer.

For example, firefighters must perform activities that require a certain physical condition
demonstrating that they are fit for the job. Thus, they climb ladders, lug 10 cm hoses
filled with water or carry an injured victims.

 Permanent Job Offer

Permanent job offer is dedicated to eligible individuals, id est those who successfully
perform the preceding steps. The hiring decision is to be made by the manager of the
needy department

NB: As a matter of courtesy and good public relations, the selection process results
(successful and unsuccessful) should be notified to candidates as soon as possible.

Top prospects generally having other employment options, a delay to provide those
results may lead to the loss of a prime candidate.

CONCLUSION
We could in a nutshell say that Recruitment remains one of the most important
business functions since it requires:

- corporate perspective;
- expertise;
- ability to find and match the best potential candidate for the organization;
- diplomacy;
- marketing skills (because selling a position to a candidate) and;
- wisdom to align the recruitment processes for the benefit of the organization.
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The new employee then would start their first stay in the organization by their
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induction.