RECRUITMENT

The Recruitment or selection process is a series of specific steps used to decide which recruits should be hired. The process begins when recruits apply for employment and ends with the hiring decision. Though the final hiring decision is made by the immediate supervisor or manager in many cases the HRM department evaluates applicants in regard to their potential suitability through the use of valid procedures. The process may be seen as consisting of eight discrete steps, namely:

1. Preliminary reception of applications

This is the step that brings together the organization with the applicant. The applicant has the chance to learn about the organization and the organization has the chance to provide all the necessary information about the job. Often a preliminary interview may be granted as courtesy, which helps the organization to screen out obvious misfits.

2. Employment tests 

These tests are devices that assess the match between applicants and job requirements. Tests may be standardized and based on paper and pencil or may be based on exercises that simulate real working conditions. For instance, an applicant for a secretarial position may be asked to take a test on office tasks, or an applicant for the accounting department may be asked to take a test in mathematics. For higher level positions, which often involve complex tasks testing of decision making procedures and skills may be necessary and such testing may be based on real-life working conditions and performance is assessed by more than one raters. Testing assumes that the device is valid, which in turn, implies that test scores relate significantly to potential job performance or to another job-relevant criterion. Thus considerable caution should be exercised on test selection and use of test results. Many tests have been validated on large populations, but testing specialists should conduct their own studies to make sure that a particular test is valid for its planned use. There exists a wide range of tests, including, but not limited to: psychological tests, knowledge tests, performance tests, graphic response tests, attitude tests, and medical tests.

3. Selection interview

This is a formal, in-depth conversation conducted to evaluate an applicant’s acceptability. During the interview the organization tries to learn about three issues: 

1. Can the applicant do the job?
2. Will the applicant do the job? And,
3. How does the applicant compare with others who are being considered for the job? 

Selection interviews are flexible and can be adapted to unskilled, skilled, managerial and staff employees. In addition, they facilitate a two-way exchange of information – the applicant learns about the organization and the organization learns about the applicant. 
Interviewing may take one of the following forms: 

• Unstructured (it is based on few if any planned questions and often questions are made up during the interview), 
• Structured (it is based on a predetermined checklist of questions and allapplicants are asked the same questions),
• Mixed (this is a combinationbetween structured and unstructured questions),
• Behavioral (the questionsare limited to hypothetical situations and the evaluation is based on thesolution given or approach taken by the applicant) and 
• Stress (it includes aseries of harsh, rapid fire questions, which are intended to upset the applicant).

Interviews have some shortcomings with their most noticeable flaws being in the areas of reliability and validity. Reliability relates to the interpretation of the interview results does not vary from interviewer to interviewer; however, if is common for different interviewers to form different opinions. 

Validity relates to the type of questions asked during the interview process.

4. References and background checks 

During this step the organization aims to assess the reliability, job accomplishments, titles, educational background and other facts that may be relevant about the applicant. Assessment involves reviewing of applicant’s references and examination of applicant’s background checks. References and background information should be collected carefully, with due regard to potential legal and privacy complications. Often companies omit a thorough investigation of this step to avoid the potential legal implications. On the other hand, letters of reference about an applicant may suffer in reliability and obscure reality.

5. Medical evaluation

When necessary the organization may ask qualified applicants to undertake medical tests that are necessary to ascertain that the applicant can handle the physical or mental stress of a job. Caution should be exercised to limit medical testing to the tests that are directly linked with the position for which the applicant is considered; failing to do so may give rise to serious legal complications from the part of the applicant.

6. Supervisory interview 

The ultimate responsibility for a newly hired worker’s success falls to the worker’s immediate supervisor. The HRM department provides to the supervisor with a short-list of qualified; the immediate supervisor interviews the qualified individuals to assess technical and managerial abilities. 

7. Realistic job preview 

This step supplements the supervisory interview and shows the applicant the job and the job setting before the hiring decision is made.

8. Hiring decision  

This step marks the end of the selection process, assuming that the applicant accepts the job offer. Hiring may be decided by the immediate supervisor alone, or the immediate supervisor may propose few candidates for hiring. It is advisable to retain the files of qualified yet rejected applicants for consideration in the future.