MODULE 4 –RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION 1

MODULE 4 – Attracting Applicants

INTRODUCTION

Perhaps the most essential ingredient to any effective human resource selection
program is an organization’s ability to attract quality job applicants. By quality
applicants” we mean those individuals who possess the requisite characteristics desired
by the recruiting organization. Without qualified or at least qualifiable applicants, the
best selection procedures a firm could possibly have will be useless. Thus, attracting
and recruiting viable job applicants is vital to a firm’s success. Assuming such
applicants can be attracted, we can then make use of our selection procedures to
identify those job candidate most appropriate for our open positions.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

After reading this module, the learner should be able to:

1. To explore the role of job analysis

2. To describe various techniques used in collecting job information
3. To examine how job information can be used to identify employee specifications
(such as knowledge, skills, and abilities, or KSAs) necessary for successful job
performance
4. To examine how these specifications can be translated into the content of
selection measures including predictors (such as tests, employment interviews,
and application forms) as well as criterion measures (such as performance
appraisal rating forms and objective measures of productivity)

TIME:

The time allotted for this module is 6 hours.

LEARNER DESCRIPTION

The participants in this module are HRDM Students.

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MODULE CONTENTS:

LESSON 1: Selection and Recruitment

Purposes of Recruitment

 To develop an appropriate number of applicants (e.g., ten for each open

position) while keeping costs reasonable.
 To meet the organization’s legal and social obligations regarding the
demographic composition of its workforce.
 To help increase the success rate of the selection process by reducing the
percentage of applicants who are either poorly qualified or have the wrong
skills.

Impression Management

• Definition – Those actions applicants take to make themselves appear attractive

to recruiting organizations

 Examples of actions
 Improving personal appearance
 Exaggerate previous job titles, responsibilities, achievements
 Respond “Open” when in fact geographical limits exist
 Organizational impression management to create a favorable
impression among job seekers
 Examples of actions
 Imply that applicants would be on career fast-track
 Employment brochures depicting most desirable locations

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FIGURE 4.1 Conflicts Between Organizations and Job Seekers

Conflicts Between Organizations and Job Seekers

• Conflict A - applicants avoid gathering information they would like for selecting
organizations
• Conflict B - organizations accentuating only positives create expectations that
differ from reality
• Conflict C - – job seekers engaging in activities to make themselves appear more
attractive while organizations need accurate information in order to choose
among applicants
• Conflict D - conflicting objectives between organization activities involving
attracting and selecting individuals

FIGURE 4.2 The Recruitment Process & Interplay with Selection

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Determining Recruitment Objectives

 How many individuals do we want to attract for how many positions?

 What KSAs do we want them to possess?
 What demographic diversity do we desire?
 When should the positions be filled?

Recruitment Strategy

• Addresses:

 Which recruitment activities the organization will use

 When and how these will be done
 Whom to use as recruiters
 What theme or message to convey

• Targeted recruiting

 Aimed at specific types of individuals who are willing to apply or accept a

position if offered
 Aimed at groups defined by certain demographic and/or psychological
characteristics

• Organizational branding

 Tailor strategies and methods to communicate image they wish to portray

 Positively influences applicants’ early perceptions of the organization

Recruitment Activities

• Recruitment sources
 how potential applicants are reached
• Recruitment personnel
 who does the recruiting
• Content of the recruitment message
 what information is presented
• Administration of recruitment
 when activities are done

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Table 4.3 Characteristics of Recruitment Sources

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Formal vs. Personal Recruiting

• Personal sources
 Referrals from current employees, family, friends, rehires
 Valued by potential applicants because it is thought to be more accurate
and complete
 Helps reduce voluntary turnover
• Formal sources
 Newspaper ads, employment agencies
 Past evidence suggests minorities use formal sources more than informal
ones

Word-of-Mouth Recruitment

• Definition – personal communication about an employer, independent of the

employer, that is received by a potential job applicant
 Applicants receiving word-of-mouth information about an employer early in
the recruitment process tend to view that employer as more attractive and
are more likely to submit an employment application
 Be careful that word-of-mouth recruiting does not lead to minority
underrepresentation
 Recruitment sources should complement one another

Table 4.4 Avoiding Discrimination when Recruiting

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Using the Internet for Recruiting

• Use individuals who know your firm to refer applicants to it

• Develop a recruiting website
 Create a dedicated job information/career center site
• Use employee testimonials on the Web site
• Take job applications via the Web site
• Find the best active candidates
 Search specialized job board for recruits
• Find passive candidates
 Identify potential applicants employed by others through Linkedin.com,
Boolean searches, flip searching, and web crawling

Importance of Recruitment Personnel

• Influence early opinions and behaviors of recruits but have little effect on actual
acceptance decision
• Race and gender similarity of recruiters and recruits has neither strong nor
consistent effect
• Job and organization characteristics have a stronger influence on recruits than
do recruiters
• Recruiter training in interviewing and the management of the social interaction of
recruitment interview is important
• Recruiters are often seen as less trustworthy and credible than members of the
work group

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• Recruiters can have strong, negative influence on applicants

Message Content – Realistic Job Previews (RJP)

• Applicants given both negative and positive aspects of the job

 Positive effects on applicants when:
 they have not formed an opinion about the job
 they are able to predict how they will react to the job based on
characteristics presented in the RJP
 they have self-sight and know how they will react to job
characteristics presented to them in RJP

Metrics for Evaluating Recruitment Effectiveness

• New employee job performance

• New employee turnover
• Manager satisfaction with new employees
• New employee training success
• Cost per hire

Activity 1.1

Please refer to UBian LMS

LESSON 2: Other Factors Affecting Attraction of Applicants

• Inducements offered by the firm

 Salary, benefits, flexibility, career path, etc.
• Firm’s targeted applicant pool
 Education level, experience, applicant demographics, etc.
• External labor market conditions
• Job and organizational characteristics

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Summary Recommendations for Recruitment

• Carefully consider the sometimes competing objectives of attracting vs. selecting

job seekers
• Identify specific objectives of a recruitment program
• Formulate a specific strategy for accomplishing recruitment program objectives
• Insure that recruitment screens reflect the desired job-related characteristics of
job candidates
• Use targeted recruitment to identify underrepresented protected groups
• Develop a recruitment Web site that is attractive, easy to navigate, and easy to
use for submitting application materials
• Incorporate color, pictures, audio, and video on a recruitment Web site; all
narrative content on the site should be well written in an engaging style; all
materials (including pictures and themes presented) must accurately reflect the
true nature of the organization
• Consider using resume screening and applicant tracking software to manage the
number of resumes that must be individually reviewed and applicant contacts
that must be made
• Evaluate an organization’s image being communicated by recruitment and
related media to insure that image is the desired organizational “brand”
• Consider using recruitment Web sites for organizations searching for employees
• Encourage referrals of potential applicants from employees
• Select recruiters on characteristics associated with dealing with people
• Using technology to aid in recruiting is an asset; however, use more personal
means of communications to applicants who are particularly desirable and stay in
touch with them throughout the recruitment process
• Use realistic job previews (RJPs)
• Use metrics and other measures to evaluate recruitment programs and
associated activities to identify “what works”

Activity 1.1

Please refer to UBian LMS

ONLINE READING MATERIALS:

ONLINE VIDEO LINKS AND MATERIALS:

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 Watch the online video lecture of the course instructor uploaded at NEO LMS and to the
class shared Google drive (if applicable).

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE:

MODULE REFERENCES:

Selection in Human Resource Management, 8th Edition, Robert Gatewood, Murray Field
and Murray Barrick, 2016

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