Recruiting –

Foundation of
Selection

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Definition
Recruitment is the process of discovering
potential candidates for actual or anticipated
vacancies in an organization
It is a linking activity that relates to
bringing together those with jobs to fill-in
and those seeking jobs
It is the process of finding qualified people
and encouraging them to apply for work with
the firm
The goals of recruiting are to:
Communicating the position(s) in such a way
that a large number of job seekers respond so
that choice can be made from a large pool of
applicants
Providing enough information for individuals
to self-select them out of the process
Organization’s overall image, even to the
unsuccessful applicants remain positive
Above goals to reach at greatest speed as well
as at least possible cost to the organization
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Factors affecting recruiting efforts
Organizational factors:
 Image/reputation of the organization: firms with poor image/
reputation of its product or services, declining situation, unsafe
working condition, etc. can not attract large number of applicants
 Attractiveness and nature of the job: jobs known to be hazardous,
anxiety creating, low-paying, etc. can not attract large number of
applicants
 Internal organizational policies: policies like ‘promote from within’
may limit the number of applications
 Recruiting budget: budget constraints or costs associated with
the process do not allow long search
 Successful pre-screening of applications: identifying candidates
without bias
 Non-recruitment issues: paying more than other firms in the
locality attract more candidates
Contd…
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Factors affecting recruiting efforts ..... Contd.

Environmental factors:
 Labour market situation: labour market situation, shortage or
abundance, in immediate area influence recruitment efforts
 Social attitude: social attitude towards the organizations
often influence recruitment efforts
 Economic trend: job opportunity resulting from change in
technology or other reasons may influence recruitment efforts
 Trade unionism: trade unionism often restricts open search
 Government requirements/laws: government rules, regulations,
etc. may not allow to proceed with non-job related factors like
appearance, sex, religious background, etc.

Managerial roles: role of managers in finding the sources of

applicants, reaching them through media or others, meeting legal
requirements, etc. are important too. 5
Recruitment process

The recruitment process generally begins when

the HR department receives requisition for
recruitment from any department of the
organization.

Usually title of the job, duration of employment,

compensation, terms of employment, etc. are
mentioned in the requisitions.

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Sources of recruitment

Internal – job posting, employee referrals, skills

inventory

External domestic
international
Internal source - merits
 provides morale to existing employees, employees feel valued
 easy and convenient to evaluate the employees as they are
working in the organization, thus reduces labour turnover
 promote loyalty among employees; they get job security and
opportunity for advancement
 retains talented employees
 requires less orientation and little induction
 involves known faces, thus can be relied upon, and
 less expensive.
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Internal sources: demerits

 Discourages new blood to come and take-up challenges,

 The internal source may dry-up and it would be difficult
to identify replacement from within the organization,
 Certain limitations like; seniority criterion may not allow
the most potential in-house person to go up,
 The chain of command may be distorted due to
advancement of junior employees to senior positions, and
 Time wasted interviewing inside candidates who will not
be considered

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External sources: who and what they are
 Inexperienced potential candidate like fresh
graduates
 The job seekers with wide range of skill, ability,
experience
 Retired experienced persons, and
 Others, not in the regular workforce like married
women, persons from minority group, etc.

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External sources: merits
 Provide matching the job with the right skill, education,
training, etc. needed.
 The best selection can be made as the recruitment is done
from a large market.
 Less expensive since the new employee starts at the initial
stage of the respective pay level.
 The source of recruitment would never dry-up.

External sources: demerits

 Job switching is frequent, hence may hamper normal growth
 In the absence of any upper limit of recruitment, the chain of
command is often at jeopardy
 May have dampening effect on the morale of existing
employees
 Uncertainty prevails since very little is known about the
candidate
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Recruiting from outside – methods in use
for full-time/part-time employees

 Direct Method: organizations establish communications

with the institutions, individuals, teachers, etc.

 Indirect Method: organizations involve newspaper,

other media for the purpose.
Important aspects in case of advertisements:
To visualize the type of applicants to be recruited,
To list the advantages the organization offers,
To decide about the advertisement itself meaning
when to publish, where to publish, how to publish
(design, font, etc.), etc.

Blind Advertisement in the media: applying in post box 11

 Methods of Recruitment ……… contd.

 Third Party: involving commercial, private agencies,

recruiting firms, etc.

 Unsolicited Applications: without any particular

reference or vacancy announcement, applicants
submit their CV and/or applications. These are
usually with short life span, often serve as a good
source.

Criteria for selecting recruitment method(s)

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 Recruitment Direct Indirect Third Unsolicited
Methods Method Method Party Application
Variables Method
Available Time to hire – more/less
Number of vacancies
Number of expected applications
Nature of appointment – Fulltime/
Part-time/Leave substitute/Casual
Nature of job – managerial/non-
managerial/technical/non-technical
Level of appointment – top/mid/junior
Location of organization/job –
urban/rural
Extent of delegation -
centralized/decentralized
Structure of HR Department –
equipped or not
Recruitment alternatives - other than
fulltime/part-time employees

 Temporary Help Services: to meet short-term

requirements or as determined by the organizations

 Employee Leasing: usually for a longer term,

acquiring organizations pay at a flat rate for the
employees and assume no other responsibility

 Independent Contractors: hired to do specific

jobs for the organizations

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Assessment of the recruitment program:

the recruitment program should be evaluated

periodically for necessary adjustments

How do you do it:

recruitment goals could be the variable – could we
meet the goal(s) - yes/no

Example:
for wide reach used print media; but applicants
referred personal knowledge

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