Recruitment and Selection Techniques Attracting an Applicant Pool

Attracting an Applicant Pool

Introduction
Recruitment should always start with human resources planning in an organization, given that
the ultimate goal of recruitment and selection is to bring people into the organization who will
help the company meet its goals. Good recruitment and selection results in high-performing
staff.

When recruiting, your decisions should be based on:

• an assessment of the internal and external environment
• an organizational analysis
• a job analysis that identifies appropriate worker behaviours and characteristics.

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• Describe how job seekers are attracted to your organization

• Describe how applicants choose jobs
• Explain how to create accurate expectations in applicants
• Explain external and internal influences on recruitment
• Explain how to develop a recruitment action plan.

The Organization and Job from the Candidate's Perspective

We need to be aware that, while we are in the process of recruiting and selecting staff, they are
also in the process of selecting the organization.

While it is to our advantage when candidates self screen and we do not have to deal with
inappropriate applicants, we also need to be careful that competent candidates do not self
screen because of inaccurate information they have about the company.

So, we need to be cognizant of how the organization looks to the pool of candidates we are
hoping to attract.

People apply for jobs because they believe they have the knowledge and skills the company
wants and they believe that the organization will meet their needs.

Everything from a positive work environment to appropriate compensation is important to

candidates.

Investigating the Organization

It is hard to understand sometimes what draws a person to apply to one organization and not to
another.
Recruitment and Selection Techniques Attracting an Applicant Pool

The opinions they have come from other people, from published information about the
company, etc., but regardless of how much information the candidate is able to acquire, they will
never have a complete picture of the organization before they speak to you.

Interests and Values

In general, a person's interests and values determine whether that individual applies for a job.
This is true even when they do not necessarily have the qualifications that a job requires or
when their qualifications are in a completely different area.

Example: A lot of us in HR today never started out thinking that we were going to work in HR.

Many of us applied for jobs in this field without any experience or training at all. Many of
us were lucky, did those jobs well and moved up; then, we went back to school later to
get our credentials.

Most of us at some time have completed surveys that purported to identify jobs that we
would be good at. Most of us did these in school. Even I have been known to fill out
those magazine surveys!

More formal approaches include vocational counselling. This is a guided approach by a

professional, aimed at identifying your interests and matching these with appropriate jobs and
professions.

Interests and Values cont.

In general, 6 major themes/personality types can be used to classify interests and jobs. These
include:
• Realistic types
• Investigative types
• Artistic types
• Social types
• Enterprising types
• Conventional types

People search for environments that are compatible with their own values and interests.

Interests and Values cont.

Two factors influence how intense someone is when they are searching for work.
1. The greater the financial need, the greater the intensity, but another factor that drives
people is their own self-esteem.
2. Those who are achievement oriented tend to be more intense in their job search.
Recruitment and Selection Techniques Attracting an Applicant Pool

Additional Selected Reading

Interest Inventories & J.L. Holland’s Six ‘Personality Types’

Interests and Values:

А person's interests and values determine whether that individual applies for а specific job.
People who dislike sitting in an office all day are unlikely to apply for jobs as accountants, even
if they have the appropriate qualifications. Such people might pursue jobs as managers of
wildlife preserves, even though they dо not meet all of the requirements.
Interests and values are strong factors in guiding career or job choice decisions.

Interests and values dо not indicate whether а person is qualified for а job. Interests and values
only suggest the type of work а person may find satisfying. Nonetheless, the degree of
satisfaction with а job is one of the many factors that influence job turnover, especially in good
economic times when jobs are plentiful (Carsten and Spector, 1987).

Vocational Counseling:
Most new job seekers are unsure of their interests and career goals.

Vocational guidance counsellors assist job seekers in identifying groups of jobs that are
compatible with their values and interests. One technique that guidance counsellors use as part
of this process is to have the person complete а value or interest inventory.

These are self-report measures that require individuals to complete а systematic series of
questions about their likes and dislikes. The scores from these measures are compared with
normative data that have been collected from actual incumbents in many different types of jobs
and professions.

The individuals are advised of those occupations where job incumbents hold interests similar to
their own.

Interest Inventories:
Many of the measures that are used to assess vocational interest are based on vocational
theories developed by Holland (1973). According to Holland, six major themes can be used to
classify both vocational interests and related jobs. Holland proposed that, in North America,
most people can be categorized in terms of some combination of six basic personality types:

Realistic types perceive themselves as having mechanical and athletic ability but lacking ability
in human relations; thy tend to value money, power, and status; they prefer working in technical
and skilled occupations such as farmer, and metal or machine worker.

Investigative types perceive themselves as scholarly, intellectually self-confident, and

possessing mathematical and scientific and intellectual activities; they prefer working in
scientific occupations such as chemist, engineer, and medical technologist.

Artistic types perceive themselves as expressive, nonconforming, original, introspective,

independent, and disorderly; they tend to value artistic and musical activities and aesthetic
qualities; they prefer working in artistic, literary, and musical occupations such as photographer,
writer, and music teacher.
Recruitment and Selection Techniques Attracting an Applicant Pool

Social types perceive themselves as liking to help others, understanding of others, having
teaching ability, and lacking mechanical and scientific ability; they tend to value social activities
and problems; they prefer working in educational and social welfare occupations such as a
member of the clergy, social worker, and counsellor.

Enterprising types perceive themselves as aggressive, popular, self-confident, sociable,

possessing leadership but not scientific abilities; they tend to valu epolitical and economic
achievement; they prefer working in sales and managerial occupations such as sales person,
buyer, and office manager.
Conventional types perceive themselves as conforming, orderly, and having clerical and
numerical ability; they tend to value business and economic achievement; they prefer working in
office and clerical occupations such as accountant and bookkeeper.

Additional Selected Reading

Interest Inventories & J.L. Holland’s Six ‘Personality Types’

Holland proposed that occupational environments are dominated by а given type of person and
thus the environments can also be categorized by combinations of the six RIASEC types.
People search for environments that are compatible with their own values and interests and let
them exercise their skills and abilities on problems that they find satisfying.

Ultimately, the person's work performance is determined by an interaction of personality and

environment, with the best performance occurring when there is а match between both.

Example: An individual who is categorized as а conventional type is more likely to be

satisfied working as an accountant in an occupational environment dominated by
conventional types than as а photographer working in an artistic environment.

An interest inventory does not assess the individual with respect to the knowledge, skills,
or abilities that are needed to work as an accountant or а photographer; it only assesses
the compatibility of interests.

Additional Selected Reading

Interest Inventories & J.L. Holland’s Six ‘Personality Types’

Holland's theory has influenced the work of professionals in the areas of educational,
occupational, and career counselling.

Holland's theory is much more complex than what can be presented here, with most interests
and occupations related to а combination of the six basic types.

Holland's theory, on the whole, has received а good deal of empirical support

Example: RIASEC types measured college students while they were still in school and predicted
their employment status а year after graduation. The graduates were, in fact, employed in
occupations and environments that were consistent with their RIASEC types. While other
Recruitment and Selection Techniques Attracting an Applicant Pool

factors such as personality played а role in predicting employment outcomes, the fit among
RIASEC types and work environments helped to explain the students' job choices (DeFruyt and
Mervielde, 1999).

Major Job Choice Models

Expectancy theory
This theory from Vroom states that a job candidate’s decision to join an organization is
based on the candidate’s belief about the likelihood that a job will bring with it valued
attributes; the candidate will choose the job with the highest expected value. This model
has generated the greatest amount of research and empirical evidence to support it.
Accordingly, before we as applicants make a decision, we first gather information about
these attributes with regards to a specific position/organization, and the likelihood of
these being present or materializing at a later time.

Example: If one of these attributes is money, we look at:

a) whether the offered compensation is adequate for our preferences, and
b) whether it is likely to become adequate at the time of joining the organization or in the
foreseeable future after that.

We may have several such preferences/sought-after-attributes, of course, so most of us

end up with a list of these, each weighted according to their likelihood of presence. Once
we have this, we make a decision based on the relative comparison of one offer to the
other.

Example:
Suppose, for instance, that our preferences are $50k/year and emphasis on support of
employee development.

Organization A: The position at Organization ‘A’ offers $50k per year right at the start
(likelihood 100%), but no support for employee development (likelihood 0%)
Organization B: The position at Organization ‘B’ offers $50k per year only after the
second performance evaluation 6 months on the job (likelihood 70%). But it has in place
a solid support program for employee development (likelihood 60%).

Example:
If our preferences are split 50/50 between these two, what is our cumulative score?
Organization A: the position at Organization ‘A’ offers $50K per year right at the start
(likelihood 100%), but no support for employee development (likelihood 0%). Our
cumulative score for the first job would be:
=(100% x 50 + 0% x50)
=50
Organization B:The position at Organization ‘B’ offers $50K per year only after the
second performance evaluation 6 months on the job (likelihood 70%), but it has in place
a solid support program for employee development (likelihood 60%). Our cumulative
score for the second job would be:
=(70% x50 +60%x 50)
=65

Job Search/Job Choice

Recruitment and Selection Techniques Attracting an Applicant Pool

According to this theory, the candidate follows a four-step procedure:

1. Identifies an occupation based on his/her values and perceived qualifications.
2. Plans a job search.
3. Examines all choices available until one is found that meets the minimum
standards (each attribute is examined sequentially, on its own, so high scores on
one attribute do not compensate for low scores on another).
4. Verifies the information used in the decision-making process, and then makes a
decision.

Image Matching
This theory postulates that the candidate makes his/her choice by comparing his/her
own self-image with his/her image of an organization, and chooses to work for the
organization whose perceived image closely matches his/her own.

Again, this theory sounds useful, and some practical studies tend to support its premise,
but there have been too few independent research projects to establish a firm validity for
it.

Additional Selected Reading

Formula for Developing Effective Advertisements

Organizations also use job advertisements to enhance their image with potential candidates.
Image concerns may dictate the size of the advertisement, where it is placed, and the content of
the ad as much as the information needed to attract qualified candidates. Effective ads are
generally based on the AIDA formula:

Attention. Grab the reader’s attention with the use of headlines, white space, graphics,
and changes in type of fonts.

Interest. Make the copy interesting, and emphasize how the product or service (or job) is
better than others that are being offered.

Desire. Make sure the ad answers the basic question of: "What is in it for me?" Show
how the product, service, or job will benefit the reader.

Action. The ad should urge the reader to take same action and should make it easy to
do so.

Major Job Choice Models

All of these models have implications for recruitment and the message we give to potential
employees. The information provided to us by the models indicates that we should:

Reduce information overload: Candidates make decisions based on the information they have
about an organization. When there is too much detail, important information tends to get lost
and your message may not be clear.
Recruitment and Selection Techniques Attracting an Applicant Pool

Ensure accuracy and consistency in our information: Candidates also make decisions based on
whether or not they believe the message you are selling. So ensure that everyone is singing
from the same song sheet.

Repeat the message: Make sure the message you are sending is understood and remembered
by the candidate. Pick the important facts and present it in the right context and in several
different ways. Say it and say it again.

Ensure that we have a positive image: There are companies and jobs that entice people to the
organization and others that deter people from applying. If you have a negative image as an
organization, people will not be encouraged to apply. You can reduce recruiting costs
considerably if well qualified staff come to you. So the work done up front here can save you a
considerable amount of money in the long run.

Realistic Job Previews

One of the things we know about turnover in the organization is that voluntary leavings most
often occur during the first two years that a person is with an organization.

One method of reducing this turnover is the realistic job preview. If candidates develop realistic
perceptions about the company, they view the organization more positively and they tend to be
more committed to the organization after accepting the job.

In a perfect world, realistic job previews allow candidates to self select, to decide that they really
want the job.

Recruitment Strategy
When we do recruitment, we do it in an environment influenced by both internal and external
factors.

External Factors include 2 areas that we have little control over:

1. the labour market itself
2. the legal environment.

These have a lot of influence on our ability to find the right candidates and because we have
little control over them, it becomes very important for us to minimize their effect on us.

Labour Markets
Companies always have to go to the outside for staff for one reason or another.
1. Because some jobs lack replacement individuals or are entry level, you have to go to the
outside labour market.
2. In addition, growth or expansion of an organization usually requires an increase of entry
lvel jobs as well as promotions. Entry level jobs come from the outside.
3. If HRP is not effective in putting developmental programs in place, then people may be
available but not ready to move in companies.
Recruitment and Selection Techniques Attracting an Applicant Pool

Labour Markets cont.

Your ability to find outside employees will depend on whether or not you keep track of what is
going on outside the organization. You may need to look at other incentives such as salary,
benefits, training, etc.

The move to part-time and contingent work forces presents some unique issues for us. Since
these jobs tend to pay less, there may be less commitment to the organization; you may attract
a less qualified workforce, which may raise training costs; your legal obligations may change,
etc. So, if you move in this direction, your recruitment and retention issues may increase and
you need to prepare for this.

The Legal Environment

This is another external issue for us. Review the notes in module 1 which talk about legal
issues.
The way that a potential candidate views an organization often has to do with its size, the type
of business it is in, its growth, and financial trends. These factors affect the number of
candidates and the quality of candidates that apply to it.

Internal Factors

The company's business plan has a major impact on its recruiting strategy. In addition, each
company has a different approach in its recruitment policies:
• Some companies have a policy to recruit internally for all positions other than entry level
jobs.
• Others will make the decision as each vacancy appears.
• Others are bound by collective agreements.

Organization and Job Analysis

Both organization and job analyses are important tools that you can use in recruiting.

Job Analysis:
Helps the recruiter find the best qualifies person.
Provides information to both recruiter and candidates.

Organizational Analysis:
This anaylsis includes goals, employee profiles, culture and values, all important factors in
choosing the right candidates.

It also allows the right information to be given to the candidate so that they can determine
whether this is an organization that they want to work for or a job that they want to have.

Human Resources Planning

All recruitment and selection should emanate from a human resource plan.
Think about human resource planning as the window to human resource management. When
you have a plan, it identifies what you need.
Recruitment and Selection Techniques Attracting an Applicant Pool

Human Resources Planning cont.

In the case of HRP, what will be the demand for your people in the future? What competencies
will those people need to have to meet the demand, how many of them will you need, etc.?

Compare this to what you already have available in your organization. Comparing the
demand to the supply tells you one of three things.

1. You do not have the right number of people, you have too many people, or everything is
just right. The just right answer is highly unlikely unless you are forecasting in the very,
very short term.

2. Given that organizations are changing rapidly, there is always an issue.

3. You can have too many and too few at the same time. Too many of the wrong type of
people, too few of the right type. This means you could be recruiting and downsizing at
the same time.

Recruitment Action Plan

You have probably heard the expression, "timing is everything". This is especially true when you
are recruiting.

If you do not anticipate someone leaving, or do not move fast enough to replace them, then you
will find yourself in the position of having to make do.

The less lead time you have, the more likely it is that you will have to spend more to get what
you need, or settle for second best. The intent of recruitment is not to get second best, but to
get the very best person. This has a direct impact on the bottom line of the organization.

This is why human resource planning is one of the first steps in a recruitment action plan. While
it is difficult sometimes to know exactly what you will need, the more you anticipate your needs,
the more likely you will be to find the right person.

Recruitment Action Plan cont.

Part of the work you do in HRP is to determine where your external supply will come from. It
makes a lot more sense financially for a company to recruit in the smallest area possible.
National recruitment is expensive, so if you are interested in hiring chemical engineers, for
example, it would make sense to recruit only in university towns which will have new graduates
or in large cities where most of these people work.

Another issue to consider is when that supply will be available.

Example: If you were interested in hiring HR graduates who have recently completed their
programs at colleges in Toronto, you might recruit in May, August and December, those months
when students traditionally finish their courses.

You might find, however, that a lot of better students have already been snapped up.
Recruitment and Selection Techniques Attracting an Applicant Pool

Why? Because some recruiters advertised and interviewed at the beginning of th last semester.
They made job offers in advance, to take effect when the course was done.

So, it is important to understand how the labour market for your organization works.

Who are your competitors? How can you ensure that you have access to the largest pool?

Offering co-op programs, for example, gives you an excellent opportunity to try someone out.
You might hire them immediately and have them finish their programs part-time or might make a
job offer to take effect later.

Recruitment Action Plan cont.

If you get into making advanced job offers, do not just make the offer and think your work is
done.

Do not assume the candidate will show up on the date your agreed upon. There may be other
offers made to the candidate before they report, so make sure that you stay in touch. Make sure
that this top candidate understands that you value them and be open to changing your offer. A
competitor who is recruiting late might up the ante.

If there is communication between you and your future employee, and you are open.
You will have an opportunity to counter the proposal and keep your top recruit.

Recruitment Methods

You can recruit internally in your organization, if you have a sufficient supply, or you can recruit
externally.

A lot of organizations make it a practice to only recruit externally. If organizations who only go
outside to look for staff were to analyze the cost of doing so, they might understand that it is
better to balance internal and external hiring’s.

Example: Every new hire costs you the money that it takes to recruit them, the money spent in
orientation, the loss of productivity while they become acclimatized to the company, ect,; and, if
you do not provide internal opportunities, you might find that your turnover is higher than it
needs to be and so the cycle begins again, with all of its inherent costs.

Internal Candidates
These people already understand your culture, which makes it easier for them to fit in. You have
already seen them perform, so you have an idea about whether or not they can successfully do
the job.

No matter how tight your recruitment methods, external candidates still have an unknown quality
and it may be enough to make you wonder what you were thinking when you made the job offer.
Recruitment and Selection Techniques Attracting an Applicant Pool

Internal Candidates cont.

There are a number of ways to recruit internally:

Nominations
• The least useful method of finding internal recruits
• This method relies on staff within the organization to nominate others who they think can do
the job.
Example: A supervisor recommending a staff member is a form of nomination.

The problem with this method is that, often, good staff are overlooked due to systemic
issues. It is a fact that nominators tend to refer those that are most like themselves.

So, an HR person who is a technical expert may tend to nominate other technical
experts for jobs, because this is what they personally value. However, these may not be
the type of employee the organization will need to move it in an appropriate direction.

Replacement Charts
• This type of item identifies critical positions in organizations and the internal staff who
are the most likely replacements for the people in those jobs.
• A visual representation of the replacement candidates and their job performance, how
ready they are to step into the position. It also ranks the successors.

Replacement charting is generally short term, up to a year in advance. The following is an

example of a replacement chart:

Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS)

Computerized databases containing personal information about staff, their work
histories, transferable skills, promotability and potential, compensation, etc.

If your HRIS is comprehensive, meaning that it contains all of the information that can be
used in your screening process, then it is a good tool to start out your search.

Unfortunately, a lot of HRIS's are missing meaningful information such as career

interests, mobility, external learning, etc. Without this information, you may be missing
staff who may meet your needs.

Job Postings
Invitations to internal staff who meet the requirements describes in the posting to apply
for the position.
Job postings are often regulated by company policy or by collective agreements, both of
which may require the company to seek internal candidates before going to the external
labour pool.

External Candidates
To keep track of external supply, consider the following sources:
• focus groups
• liaison with schools
• economic forecasts
Recruitment and Selection Techniques Attracting an Applicant Pool

• demographic trends
• networks
• immigration trends
• where you are in the pay market
• surveys
• headhunters/placement agencies
• professional and media magazines
• professional organizations
• data banks
• unions
• market research
• newspapers
• word of mouth
• knowing your competition
• walk-ins
• incoming applications
• government publications
• World Wide Web

Online Recruitment
As social and online technologies continue to evolve, the methods to apply for and fill positions
also evolve. The growth and popularity of online recruitment has significantly impacted the
process of external recruitment.

The online platforms for recruiting will change over time, but the traditional methods such as
print advertising, job fairs, and campus recruiting will continue to slip in popularity.

There are two basic methods to recruit online:

• Post positions on your company’s website or to utilize a corporate (or third party)
website.
• Post positions on social (networking) media.

Online Recruitment cont.

Social Networking Sites
Social networking sites on the other hand are either personal (Facebook and Twitter) or
professional (LinkedIn). Recent studies have shown that applicant attraction and fit with the
organization are much improved through social networking recruitment.

Advantages from a Recruiters Point of View:

• Virtually a limitless pool of candidates from which to choose and te process is especially
valuable when recruiting internationally.
• Significantly less cost (at least initially) than print media and less time is spent on the
activity, as you can post immediately upon been notified of a vacancy.
• There are opportunities to build the relationship between employed/employer from the
recruitment phase onward and therefore target the right, top-tier talent.
• Screening tools can considerably reduce the time spent on reviewing applications.
• Automating the application process allows resume management to use resources.
Recruitment and Selection Techniques Attracting an Applicant Pool

Disadvantages from a Recruiters Point of View

• The pool of candidates may be so large that even pre-screening may not be enough to
help the recruiters.
• The applications may come from such a broad geographic area thaht travel to interview
and relocation may become cost issues.
• The savings from the print media may be lost in reviewing the large number of
applicants, if done in-house.
• The best candidates may not be using social media as a vehicle for job application
depending on the industry, or simply may not put the right so-called key words in their
resumes.

Company and Third Party Websites

Posting on your company’s site requires thought about the branding of your
organization. How you attract top talent is impacted by the impressions made in your
recruiting efforts. To this end, your recruitment materials are as important as marketing
and public relations vehicles.

Third party sites:

• Source and post on multiple job boards, automate the application process, and provide
resume management. In some cases, a corporate recruiting site will link directly to your
website outlining open positions and the application process.
• Frequently provide additional services such as keyword searches which match
essential elements of the job ad to those in the resumes, thus providing pre-screening.

Recruiters then follow up with preliminary interviews by phone, by video conferencing,

and eventually in person. Some of the third party sites also allow job-seekers to post
their resume.

Legal Implications and Measuring Success

1. There are legal implications of privacy if a recruiter explores social media to learn more
about their candidate.
2. There is always a need to ensure that strategies for implementing social recruiting are
compliant with your company’s governance.
3. Finally, measuring the success of your social recruiting efforts may not be as
straightforward as more traditional methods of ROI.

Evaluating Recruiting Efforts

Like all human resource management activities, you need to evaluate whether or not your
actions have successfully met the needs of the organization. One of the needs of the
organization is related to meeting the bottom line.

Recruitment is very expensive. Is it better to advertise in the newspaper, or post the job at your
local employment office? Should you hire a headhunter, or go to university placement offices?
Recruitment and Selection Techniques Attracting an Applicant Pool

Which method brings the largest pool of candidates and which, when we use that pool, provides
us with high performers? Just filling vacancies is not what it is about. It is filling vacancies with
people who will move the organization ahead.

Like any evaluation method, you need to decide, in advance, how you will know that you have
been successful.

Example: If you have high turnover staff, such as that you would find in computer fields, some of
your recruitment methods have to be focused on recruiting people who will stay with your
organization for a particular period of time.

Different recruiting methods may produce different long-term placement rates. Identifying these
can decrease your recruiting and other HR costs considerably.

You can also use your evaluation criteria to determine whether you are meeting longer term
plans for your organization, such as employment equity.

Does your recruiting tool provide you with a sufficient candidate pool to create a diverse work
force? If not, you need to look at where you are drawing your candidates from.

For example: If you are interested in increasing your Aboriginal representation, you may
consider advertising with Native organizations, in addition to your normal venues.

Summary
In this module, you were introduced to attracting an applicant pool and its relation to recruitment
and selection in Canada.

You should be able to describe how job seekers are attracted to your organization and how
applicants choose jobs.

You will also be able to explain how to create accurate expectations in applications, explain
external and internal influences on recruitment and explain how to develop a recruitment action
plan.