Recruitment and Selection

Recruitment and Selection | Human Resources Management 0
I. Recruitment
1. Introduction. The importance of the recruitment process 2

2. Organizing the process of Human Resources Recruitment
2.1 Recruitment strategies and policies 3
2.2 Recruitment planning 7

3. Sources of recruitment
3.1 Internal and external factors of recruitment. 8
3.2 Internal sources. 9
3.3 External sources. 10
3.4 Effectiveness of Recruitment Methods. 12

II. Selection
1. The importance of the selection. 13

2. Job Analysis 14

3. Steps in the Selection Process
3.1 Application Form. 15
3.2 Selection interview. 16
3.3 Testing candidates. 16
3.4 References checking 18
3.5 Sorting candidates. 18
3.6 Interviewing. 19
3.7 The decision-making. 19

4. International Staffing 19

5. Criteria for Choosing the best candidates 20

III. Equal Employment Opportunity and Recruitment 22

Bibliography 24

Contents


Recruitment

1. Introduction.
The importance of the recruitment process

Human Resources Management (HRM) encompasses those activities designed to provide for
and coordinate the human resources of an organization. The human resources (HR) of an
organization represent one of its largest investments. In fact, government reports show that
approximately 72 percent of national income is used to compensate employees. The value of an
organization's human resources frequently becomes evident when the organization is sold. Often
the purchase price is greater than the total value of the physical and financial assets. This
difference, sometimes called goodwill, partially reflects the value of an organization's human
resource. In addition to wages and salaries, organizations often make other sizable investments in
their human resources. Recruiting, hiring, and training represent some of the more obvious
examples.
Recruitment involves seeking and attracting a pool of people from which qualified candidates
for job vacancies can be chosen. Most organization has a recruitment function managed by the
human resource department. In an era when the focus of most organization has been on efficiently
and effectively running the organization, recruiting the right person for job is a top of priority.
The magnitude of an organization's recruiting effort and the methods to be used in that
recruiting effort are determined from the human resource planning process and the requirements of
the specific job to be filled. If the forecasted human resources requirements exceed the net human
resource requirements, the organization usually actively recruits new employees. However,
organizations do have options other than recruiting new employees to accomplish the work. Some
of these options include using temporary workers, offering overtime to existing employees,
subcontracting the work to another organization and leasing of employees.
In addition, recruitment should include seeking and attracting qualified job candidates.
Successful recruiting is difficult if the jobs to be filled are vaguely defined. Regardless of whether
the job to be filled has been in existence or is newly created, its requirements must be defined as
precisely as possible for recruitment to be affective.


Recruitment is the process of discovering potential candidates for actual or anticipated
organizational/company vacancies - it is a linking activity that brings together those with jobs to
fill and those seeking jobs
1
.
It is no longer sufficient to be effective in selling a particular product or service or to rely on
past reputation. Organizations/companies need to respond to a rapidly changing global
environment. Continued success is, thus, dependent on attracting and retaining high-quality
individuals who can respond effectively to this changing environment. This implies that there can
be wrong people; individuals who are a liability rather than an asset because they do not
contribute to organizational success and may even harm the organization. This occurs because
there are differences between individuals, which influence how they perform particular jobs.

Recruitment and selection is a process of selecting the correct jigsaw piece (the right
individual) from the incorrect pieces (the wrong individuals) to fit into a particular hole in a
jigsaw puzzle.
2
In others words, recruitment is the process of attracting people who might make an
organizational contribution to fill a particular role or job. This process is often stimulated when an
existing employee leaves. The organizational response is often to try and replace the individual
with a replica of that person.

Successful employment planning is designed to identify an organization's human resource
needs. Once these needs are known, an organization will want to meet them. The company must
acquire the necessary people to ensure the continued operation of the organization/company.

2. Organizing the process of Human Resources Recruitment
2.1 Recruitment strategies and policies

The human resources management process consists of planning, attracting, developing, and
retaining employees. It is also known as the staffing process. We can say that planning and
compensation affect attracting employees, labor relations affects planning; job analysis affects
training, and so on.
The External environment, especially the competitive and legal environment, has a major
impact on human resources practices. When the organization does not offer the competitive pay

1
DeCenzo, David, Robbins, P., (2011), Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, eight edition, Ed. John
Wiley, United States of America, p. 166
2
Stephen, B., (2005), Managing Human Resources, fourth edition, Ed. Blackwell Publishing, United Kingdom, p. 115


and benefits that competitors offer, employees may change companies. The human resources
department usually has the responsibility of seeing that organization complies with the law. Some
of the legal considerations follow.
Major laws affecting employment are Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and executive
orders on Affirmative Action (AA). EEO, a 1972 amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1964,
prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, race of color, or national origin
and applies to virtually all private and public organizations that employ 15 more employees. Who
is legally considered a minority? A minority is just about anyone who is not white male, of
European heritage, or adequately educated. The EEO minority guidelines list includes Hispanics,
Asians, African-Americans, Native Americans, and Alaskan natives. The EEO also protects
disadvantaged young people, disabled workers, and person over 40 years of age. Although the law
protects women from discrimination in employment, they are not considered to be a legal minority
because they make up half of the population, and in some situations, are majority.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is responsible for legally enforcing
equal opportunity to all. Violation of the law can lead to investigation by the EEOC or to
becoming a defendant in class-action or specific lawsuits. Courts find discrimination when
selection criteria are vague, elusive, unstructured, undefined, or poorly conceived.

On the application blank and during interviews, no member of organization can legally ask
discriminatory questions. The two rules of thumb to follow are: (1) every question asked should be
job-related. When developing questions, the recruiter should have a purpose for using the
information, (2) any general question that the recruiter asks should be asked of all candidates.

Figure 1 lists some factors of what a recruiter (lawful information used to disqualify
candidates) can and cannot (prohibited information to disqualify candidates) ask during the
selection process. In all cases the assumption is that the information asked for is not a bona fide
occupational qualification (BFOQ) for the job. A bona fide occupational qualification allows
discrimination where it is reasonably necessary to normal operation of a particular organization. In
an example BFOQ upheld by its supreme court, the state of Alabama required all guards in male
maximum-security correctional facilities to be male. People believing that this requirement was
sexual discrimination took it to court. The Supreme Court upheld the male sex requirements on the
grounds that 2- percent of the inmates were convicted of sex offenses and this creates an excessive
threat to the security of female guards.


Applying pre-employment questions

Can ask

Cannot ask
Name Current legal name and whether
the candidates has ever worked
under a different name
Maiden name or whether the person has
changed his/her name
Address Current residence and length of
residence

If the candidate owns or rents his/her home
unless is a bona fide occupational qualification.
Age If the candidates is between
specific age groups, 21 to 70, to
meet the job specifications. If
hired, can you furnish proof of
age? For example, an
employment must be 21 to serve
alcoholic beverages,

How old are you? Or see a birth certificate. Do
not ask an older person how much longer he
plans or she plans to work before retiring.
Sex Only if sex is a BFOQ If it is not a BFOQ. To be sure not to violate
sexual harassment laws, do not ask questions or
make comments remotely considered flirtatious.
Marital
and Family
Status
If the candidates can meet the
work schedule or job and
whether the candidate has
activities, responsibilities, or
commitments that may hinder
meeting attendance requirements.
The same question should be
asked both sexes.
To select a marital status or any questions
regarding children or other family issues.
National
Origin,
Citizenship,
Race or
Color
If the candidate is legally eligible
to work in the United States, and
if this can be proven if hires.
To identify national origin, citizenship, race, or
color
Language To list the candidate speaks
and/or write fluently. The
candidate may be asked if he or
she speaks and/or write a
specific language if it is no
BFOQ,

The language spoken off the job, or how the
applicant learned the language.

Figure 1

The Human Resources Department

Human resources is one of the four major functional departments in an organization. It is a
staff department that advises and assists all the other departments in the organization.
In organization large enough (usually 100 or more employees) to have a separate human
resources department, the department develops the human resources plans for the entire
organizations:

it recruits employees so the line managers can select which employees to hire
it orients employees and trains many of them to do their job
it usually develops the performance appraisal system and forms used by managers
throughout the organization
it determines compensation for employees
it is usually responsible for employee health and safety programs, works on labor
relations, and is involved with the termination of employees. Employment records are
kept in and by the human resources department, and it is often involved with legal
matters.

The recruitment strategies and policies define the way how an organization is accomplishing
the responsibilities in the recruitment process and also define the values of the organization
regarding this process.
The recruitment strategies and policies differ from one organization to another, especially
when these have to accomplish various objectives. Concerning this process, the managerial
decisions that create the strategies and recruitment policies have to take in consideration following
aspects:
identify and attract a larger number of candidates to ensure the necessary number and quality
of candidates;
choice of recruitment sources (internal, external or a combination of the two sources) one of
the main problems of philosophy of recruitment;
ensure consistency between the organization's recruitment activities and strategies, values;
the extent to which the organization prefers attract candidates who pursue a career in the long
run and can provide a performance management in human resources;
concern the organization to identify and attract a variety of categories of candidates;
take into account the objectives envisaged by hiring staff, including post-recruitment effects;
attitude toward candidates; they are seen as a commodity to be bought or as individuals to be
identified or drawn (making approach);

recruitment of staff achievement in a short time and with the lowest cost possible, set forth in
this sense, right time recruitment, after establishing a recruitment plan and job sharing equally
the costs for the period envisaged for not affect the organization;
recruitment efforts lead to expected effect including improving the overall image of the
organization;
For successful recruitment process is necessary to develop an integrated strategy and an
appropriate policy to meet expectations and future development projects of the organization.
Once the recruitment strategies and policies are established, the Human Resource Department
can make the recruitment planning and this can be an important step toward successful process.

2.2 Recruitment planning

"Action without planning is the cause of all failures. Action with planning is the
cause of all success." - Brian Tracy

Before any applicants for a job are interviewed, any organization who is about to engage in the
recruitment and selection process needs to undertake a number of important steps. These prior
steps, in which the Human Resource Management specialists in the organization are likely to be
particularly prominent, include the forecast of human resource needs, the specification of
individual jobs requirements and the identification and use of appropriate recruitment channels.
Recruitment plan comprise the number of people per category that is necessary to take its
business due to its development and vacancies for various reason. The number of recruited is not
simply the difference between the number of staff at the beginning and end of it. The difference
could be partly explained by the development activity; because the activity can be increased and by
stressing labor productivity. More specifically, we might say that the difference in extra staff
required is not covered by the labor productivity growth. But apart from this difference must be
taken into consideration changes in personnel structure determined by the promotion of natural
loss, departure for military service, sick, accidents, and deaths. For these reasons, the result in job
vacancies must be filled, as they are subject in the recruitment plan.
The recruitment and selection is the major function of the human resource department and
recruitment process is the first step towards creating the competitive strength and the strategic
advantage for the organizations. Recruitment process involves a systematic procedure from
sourcing the candidates to arranging and conducting the interviews and requires many resources
and time. A general recruitment process is as follows:


Identifying the vacancy: The recruitment process begins with the human resource
department receiving requisitions for recruitment from any department of the company.
These contain:
posts to be filled
numbers of persons
duties to be performed
qualification required

Preparing the job description and person specification;
Locating and developing the sources of required number and type of employees
(Advertising etc.);
Short-listing and identifying the prospective employee with required characteristics;
Arranging the interviews with the selected candidates;

The recruitment process is immediately followed by the selection process, the final interviews
and the decision making, conveying the decision and the appointment formalities.

3. Sources of recruitment

3.1 Internal and external factors of recruitment

Every organization has the option of choosing the candidates for its recruitment processes from
two kinds of sources: internal and external sources. Recruitment of human resources is not an easy
task because the internal factors are those that can be controlled by the organization and the
external factors cannot be controlled by the organization.

The recruitment policies and management practices in this field are affected by a number of
constraints, such as:

the conditions and labor market changes, because changes have an important impact on
recruitment;
capacity of trainings system and development of human resources educational methods;
attractive area, local facilities;
legislative or legal framework for human resources, that establish various aspects of
staffing, including recruitment activities, to avoid illegal orders or employment practices and
discrimination of any kind;
unions, fulfilling an active role in the staffing process can cause some constraints of
recruitment activity;
the reputation of the organization/company which can exert positive or negative influence
on the recruitment process;

organizational objectives and especially those in the human resources;
an organizational culturethat influences the desire to recruit potential employees;
policies and practices of human resource management which is the organization's code of
conduct in this area and affecting the recruitment process, as well potential candidates;
requirements that an organization/company considers that applicants meet the vacancies;
economic and financial situation of the organization/company, because some resources
and train staff recruitment involves certain costs;

The process of identifying and attracting competitive candidates should start early.
Recruitment methods used must vary and the labor market segments should be considered less
requested or underutilized. The more applications received, the better the recruiter's chances of
finding an individual best suited to the job requirements
3
.

An important part of the recruitment process is to identify recruitment sources that can be
internal or external, as most companies use both sources of recruitment. This is because the
number and the variety or recruitment sources are higher, the greater are the chances to identify
and attract candidates as competitive.

3.2 Internal sources

For vacancies call, the main source is the organization. The vacancies are offered primarily to
promote their employees. Internal recruitment involves only a change of position of employees,
horizontally or vertically.
Internal recruitment is a recruitment which takes place within the concern of the organization.
Internal sources of recruitment are quickly available to an organization. The primary three internal
sources are showed in the following figure (Figure2):
Figure 2
Transfers

Promotions Re-employment of ex-employees
through internal Job
Posting and bidding
one of the internal sources of
recruitment in which employees can be
invited and appointed to fill vacancies in
the concern; there are situations when
ex-employees can provide unsolicited
applications also.

3
DeCenzo, D., Robbins, P., (2005), Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, eight edition, Ed. Wiley,
United States of America, p. 146

Internal recruitment may lead to increase in employee's productivity as their motivation level
increases. It also saves time, money and efforts. But a drawback of internal recruitment could be
the fact that it refrain the organization from new blood. Also, not all the manpower requirements
can be met through internal recruitment, but hiring from outside must to be done as well.

The main advantages of internal recruitment are:
the organization has a better knowledge of the job;
organizations/companies can better know the strengths and weaknesses of the
candidates, because there is sufficient information about them;
attracting candidates is much easier, because being much better known, can be given
better opportunities to the position held;
candidates for the job have a better understanding of the organization/company;
selection according to organizational criteria is much faster and more efficient;
employee motivation is stronger;
the probability of poor decision making is greatly diminished;
time orientation and guidance for the posts of new employees to integrate them as
quickly as possible, is much diminished;
recruitment is faster and less expensive even if additional training is required of
candidates;
the feeling of belonging to the organization/company, loyalty or attachment to this
growth;

This form of recruitment presents also disadvantages:

the battle for promotion may adversely affect employee morale;
finding job within the same organization can reduce both creativity as well as
implementing new ideas of human resources;
where promotion is made, especially based on age or seniority, favoritism can occur;
It creates a propagation affect of vacancies when promoting or transferring an
employee.

3.3 External sources

If it is estimated that the items can't be filled from internal sources, it is necessary to act outside
the organization to identify potential external sources. Because it requires detailed planning and
coordination is attributed to the human resources department.

External sources of recruitment have to be solicited from outside the organization. The external
sources of recruitment include:

1. Employment at factory level: this is a source of external recruitment in which the
applications for vacancies are presented on bulletin boards outside the factory or at the gate.
This kind of recruitment is applicable generally where factory workers are to be appointed.
There are people who keep on soliciting jobs from one place to another. These applicants are
called as unsolicited applicants. These types of workers apply on their own for their jobs. For
this kind of recruitment workers have a tendency to shift from the factory to another and
therefore they are called as "badly" workers
4
.

2. Advertising: it is an external source which has got an important place in recruitment
procedure. The biggest advantage of advertisement is that it covers a wide area of market and
scattered applicants can get information from advertisement. This can be done through
Newspapers and Television.

3. Employment Exchanges: there are certain employment exchanges which are led by
government. Most of the government undertakings and concern employ people through such
exchanges. Now-a-days recruitment in government agencies has become compulsory through
employment exchange.

4. Employment Agencies: there are certain professional organizations which look towards
recruitment and employment of people.

5. Educational Institutions: there are certain institutions which serve as external sources for
recruiting fresh graduates from these institutes. This kind of recruitment done through such
educational institutions is called Campus Recruitment. They have special recruitment cells
which help in providing jobs to fresh candidates.

6. Recommendations: there are certain people who have experience in a particular area. They
enjoy goodwill and a stand in the company. There are certain vacancies which are filled by
recommendation of such people. The biggest drawback of this source is that the company has
to rely totally on those people which can later on prove to be inefficient.

External recruitment presents advantages such as:
the group of people who have real knowledge and skills is wider;
can bring new perspectives and ideas to organization;
allows reducing spending or staffing costs;
in difficult situations where significant changes are necessary or very important, only
one person outside the organization, which does not have any obligations to other
persons inside, can be objective and can make those changes;

4
Byte-Sized Training, Management Study Guide

Disadvantages of recruitment:
attracting, contacting and evaluating prospective employees is more difficult;
risk of job seekers who subsequently prove not or cannot maintain the high potential
that they have demonstrated during the selection process;
time employee training or orientation is longer;
there may be moral issues among those employees who feel qualified for that post;

This form of recruitment may be achieved through two methods:
Informal methods
Formal methods

Informal methods

It addresses a narrow segment of the labor market, meaning hiring former employees or former
students who have worked together. It also makes a very limited advertising but by appealing to
existing employees. Employees are required to encourage those interested in the company.

Formal methods

Through this method the organization is looking for people willing to commit or to change jobs.
Calling to one or other of the forms of recruitment, formal or informal methods is based on
achieving the following objectives:
if the organization/company want simply filling vacancies;
if the organization/company aimed at employees with career training;
if potential candidates are seen as a commodity to be acquired or as clients;
if the organization/company approach recruitment as a marketing process or not;

3.4 Effectiveness of Recruitment Methods

Organizational recruitment programs are designed to bring a pool of talent to the organization.
From this pool, the organization hopes to select the person or persons most qualified for the job.
An obvious and very important question faced by human resource departments is which method
of recruitment supplies the best talent pool.

Many studies have explored this issue. One study concluded that employee referrals were the
most affective recruitment source when compared to newspaper advertisements, private
employment agencies, and walk-in applicants. This study found that turnover rates for employees
hired from employee referrals were lower that for employees hired through the other methods.

Another study examined the relationship among employees performance, absenteeism, work
attitudes, and methods of recruitment. This study showed that individuals recruited through a
college placement office and, to a lesser extent, those recruited through newspaper advertisements
were lower in performance than individuals who made contact with the company on their own
initiative or through a professional journal or convention advertisement. This study concluded that
campus recruiting and newspaper advertising were poorer sources of employees that were
journal/convention advertisements and self-initiated contacts.

Generally, it seems safe to say that research has not identified a single best source of
recruitment. Thus, each organization should take steps to identify its most effective recruitment
sources. For example, a human resource department could monitor the effectiveness of recent
hires in terms of turnover, absenteeism, and job performance. It might then contrast the different
recruitment sources with respect to employee effectiveness and identify which of the specific
recruitment sources produces the best employees.


I. Selection

1. The importance of the selection

The selection is one of the main activities related to human resources, being also a real
responsibility for senior managers.

Organizations, in general, and companies, in particular, are concerned about how to make a
better selection of personnel because this task can become expensive when it comes to hire people
who prove to be inadequate in relation to job requirements.

Human resources selection problem arises whenever there is a need to choose between two or
more persons, for a position. It requires an objective analysis of the consistency of professional
characteristics and possibilities of an applicant job.

Selection of human resources is the consequence of three factors:

each profession requires a certain configuration aptitude;
skills vary from individual to individual;
ability to measure skills;

Although today the selection of staff is a basic activity of human resource management, it is
more than a process based on intuition; but it must take into consideration the existence of
numerous internal and external factors.

The selection is an activity that follows logically after job analysis, planning staff after
vacancies to be filled and after recruitment staff must attract a sufficient number of potential
candidates to be elected to the most competent to fill vacancies.

2. Job Analysis

Job Analysis is a process to identify and determine in detail the particular job duties and
requirements and the relative importance of these duties for a given job and where judgements are

made about data collected on a job. The purpose of Job Analysis is to establish and document the
'job relatedness' of employment procedures such as training, selection, compensation, and
performance appraisal.

Job Analysis can be used in selection procedures to identify or develop:

job duties that should be included in advertisements of vacant positions;
appropriate salary level for the position to help determine what salary should be offered to
a candidate;
minimum requirements (education and/or experience) for screening applicants;
interview questions;
selection tests/instruments (e.g., written tests; oral tests; job simulations);
applicant appraisal/evaluation forms;
orientation materials for applicants/new hires

Job Analysis should collect information on the following areas:
Duties and Tasks - the basic unit of a job is the performance of specific tasks and duties.
Information to be collected about these items may include: frequency, duration, effort,
skill, complexity, equipment, standards, etc.
Environment- This may have a significant impact on the physical requirements to be able
to perform a job. The work environment may include unpleasant conditions such as
offensive odours and temperature extremes. There may also be definite risks to the
incumbent such as noxious fumes, radioactive substances, hostile and aggressive people,
and dangerous explosives.
Tools and Equipment - Some duties and tasks are performed using specific equipment and
tools. Equipment may include protective clothing. These items need to be specified in a Job
Analysis.
Relationships - Supervision given and received. Relationships with internal or external
people.
Requirements - The knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) required performing the job.
While an incumbent may have higher KSA's than those required for the job, a Job Analysis
typically only states the minimum requirements to perform the job.

3. Steps in the Selection Process

Selection is the process of choosing the most qualified applicant recruited for a job. Not set
sequence is universally followed. Organizations may even use different selection methods for
different jobs. Selection is important because bad hiring decisions can hang around to haunt the
organization.


Processing an applicant for a normally job entails a series of steps. The size of the
organization, the types of jobs to be filled, the number of the people to be hired and outside
pressures from the Equal Employment Opportunity or union all influence the exact nature of an
organization's selection. With this technique, am applicant must be judged satisfactory through a
series of screening devices, such as application forms, interviews and tests. The applicant is
eliminated from consideration for the job if any of these devices is unsatisfactory. All of these
screening devices must be validated if they produce adverse or disparate impact.

3.1. Application Form
As part of the selection process, the recruited applicants may be asked to complete an
application. Organization may use different application forms for different jobs. For professional
jobs, a resume may replace the application form.
Organizations including White House, Disneyland and Ford now use computers to read/scan
application forms and resumes. Before sending in a resume, candidates may check to see if the
organization uses computers. If it does, the human resources department can give specific
instructions to make sure that the resumes information is scanned accurately.
The selection process can be though as a series of obstacle that the applicant must overcome to
be offered the job. The first obstacle is typically the application. The data the applicant provides
are compared to the job specifications. If they match, the applicant may progress to the next
obstacle.
The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) and the courts have found that
many applications and interview inquires disproportionately reject minorities and female, and
frequently is not job related. Many questions have therefore been explicitly prohibited. Some of
the major questions that should be eliminated from pre-employment inquires (both application
forms and interviews) or carefully reviewed to ensure their use is job related and
nondiscriminatory include the following:
1. Race, color, national origin, and religion. Inquiries about race, color, national origin or
religion are not illegal per se, but asking or recording this information in employment record can
invite careful scrutiny if discrimination charges are filed against the employer.
2. Arrest and conviction records. An individual's arrest record has been ruled by the courts to
be an unlawful basis for refusal to hire unless the job relatedness for such a policy can be
established.
3. Credit rating. An applicant's poor credit rating has also been ruled by the courts to be an
unlawful basis for refusal to hire unless a business necessity for such a policy can be established.

Inquires about charge accounts and home or car ownership may be unlawful unless required
because of business necessity.

3.2. Selection Interview
Specialists in the human resources department often conduct screening interviews to select the
top candidates who will continue on in the selection process. This especially helps save line
managers' time when there are large numbers of job applicants. Organizations including Nike and
Princewaterhouse Coopers are using computers to conduct screening interviews. For example, at
Great Western Bank job candidates for a teller job sit before a computer, with a microphone,
which asks them to make change, respond to tough customers, and sell products that customers
don't ask for.

3.3 Testing candidates
The usefulness of testing candidates is one of the most controversial within the procedure.
When the tests are well-designed and performed by professionals, it can provide clues about
potential candidates.
Interview is not the only objective way to select the right person for a job. To have a larger
volume of information in order to make decisions and to increase the objectivity of the selection
can turn to test.
There are a variety of test (for skills, personality, intelligence). Volumes have been written
about the use of tests in selection of candidates, but not make it an infallible selection tool. The test
can only provide information to help the selection process.
Psychometric tests also known as Recruitment Selection Tests are becoming increasingly
common for large companies to select and recruit new staff. The aim of the tests is to find if a
candidate has the right attitude, personality and abilities for a particular job. For example, some
jobs require a methodical and very accurate approach to work, while success in other jobs depend
more on the ability to make decisions quickly and take the lead effectively.
In addition, most jobs require some ability in calculating numbers (known as numeracy) and
some ability in analyzing and processing written information and concepts (known as verbal
reasoning). Companies will set a minimum score that candidates need to achieve in these
particular tests in order to progress to the next selection stage. Most tests will generally consist of
the following sections:

Numerical ability: The ability to perform simple calculations, quickly and accurately without
a calculator.
Verbal reasoning: The ability to quickly analyze and summarize the main point or the key
information from a piece of text.
Logical reasoning: The ability to quickly match similar shapes, identify the next number or
shape in a sequence.
All of the above are timed to intentionally put you under pressure and see how you perform. It
is not necessarily expected that you should be able to complete all the questions in the time
allowed. You need to be able to balance speed with accuracy.
Personality profiling - this test or section often follows the ones described above and they are
not usually timed so you can take as long as you like (within reason!). They are designed to
highlight those candidates whose personality profile is a match for the personal characteristics
required to be successful in a particular role. Try to work though the questions reasonably quickly
and dont waste time trying to work out what the right answer is. Test designers know that
candidates will try to do this and so they design their tests to take this into account!
The tests results provide only a part of the image about candidate and should not be given
more importance than other selection criteria: they can't replace the interview or review the
application.
Testing the qualities and professional skills is particularly useful given that candidates do not
have relevant work experience. Difficulties arise in developing tests and correct interpretation of
their results, in addition, a problem is their relatively high costs (time and money).
A test must measure relevant job skills. However, the mark obtained not always indicate the
employee's ability to perform task of a job, but rather its ability to achieve a particular note in term
of that test. The test may give different results for the same candidate. As such, it is clear that a test
can't separate candidates in "fit" or "unfit".
Testing can be used to predict job success when they meet EEO guidelines for validity (people
who score high on the test do well on the job and those who score low do not well on the job) and
reliability (if people take the same test on different days, they will get approximately the same
score each time). Illegal test can result in lawsuits. Some of the major types of tests include:
achievements tests, aptitude test, personality test, interest tests, and physical exams.

3.4 References checking
Organizations should prevent poor hiring decisions and negligent hiring liability by instituting
a reference-checking system to verify the information on a candidate's application form and/or

resume. Many applications contain false or erroneous material. For example, people have stated
that they have earned college degree when they have never even attended college.

3.5 Sorting candidates
Sorting is a form of selection that identifies and removes unsuitable candidates. The aim is to
remove from recruitment the candidates who clearly do not meet vacancies. Sorting saves time and
money. If multiple sorting, each of stages and criteria for selection are obstacles to candidates and
can lead to rejection. We can start with the premise when a candidate does not meet all job
requirements and can't have adequate performance on the job. Most times, however, the lack of
certain qualities of the candidate may be compensated by the possession of other qualities.

3.6 Interviewing candidates
The interview is the most heavily weighted selection criteria. A human resource manager for
Xerox gives the resume about 30 percent and the interview about 60 percent of the weight in the
selection process. The interview is usually the final hurdle in the selection process. The interview
gives the candidates a chance to learn about the job and organization. The interview also gives a
manager a chance to learn things about candidates that can't be obtained from an application, test,
or references, such as the candidate's ability to communicate, personality, appearance, and
motivation. Because job interviewing is so important, the candidates must learn how to prepare for
and conduct a job interview in this section.

3.7 The decision-making

The final selection is usually aimed at the candidate who meets the essential requirements of
the job and has as many personality traits that make up the portrait of an ideal candidate.
After obtaining information using the selection methods discussed, the manager compares the
candidates without bias, and decides who is best suited the job. Diversity should be considered
when selecting a candidate. The candidate is contacted and offered the job. If the candidate does
not accept the job, or accepts but leaves after a short period of time, the next best candidate is
offered the job.

Scitor has a growth strategy; therefore, it is continually attracting employees. However, due to
its reputation as an excellent company to work for, which was developed through its human
practices, it does not have problem attracting well-qualified employees.

4. International Staffing

One of the most challenging issues facing multinational
firms is staffing. Should a firm relocate home-country staff to its foreign operations or hire host-
country personnel? The multinational firm can choose to relocate experienced personnel from the
United States (home country) or employ and train national (citizens of the host country). The
choice is often determined on the basis of trade-offs between technical expertise that may be
available only from the home country and the firm's need to adapt to local customs.
If the type of employee needed to staff the overseas operation is technically or professional
unique (e.g. a computer engineer), chances are high that the person will be transferred from United
States. However, this strategy is very expensive.
The cost of sending personnel overseas (including Central and South America) is estimated at
around half a million dollars for a three-year assignment for executives. Of course, this cost will
vary in terms of hardship to the employee, distance from the United State, and family obligations.
Big-ticket expenditure for relocation personnel may include bonuses for hardship, education of
children, visits back to United States, and additional expenses to maintain an American standard of
living. The high cost of expatriates is a major reason why fewer companies continue the personnel
practice.
By and large, international firms are depending more on local labor sources to meet their
staffing needs. Recruiting local workers is less expensive and, with the exception of a few
countries, there is usually and adequate and available labor pool from which to recruit, an added
advantage that it creates career opportunities, goodwill, and loyalty to the company. It may also be
politically astute since governments have been known to impose constraints on the number of
foreign managers and specialists brought into their countries. An American mining company in
Africa, for example, was required to hire all lower-lever workers locally and to phase out all
American workers within ten years.
Furthermore, studying the case of Coca Cola's International Recruitment, a company based in
Georgia that operates in 16o countries and employees about 400 000 people. Thus, its HR
department must recruit professional and managerial staff that can successfully operate

internationally. Mike Semra, director of international resources for Coca-Cola, believes that "As
you look to the future, the people who are running companies are going to be people who have
operated in more than one culture." Therefore, he has concluded that Coke's management needs to
be multilingual and multicultural. While the global language of business is English, according to
Semran, applicants who have additional languages skills are more valuable to the company.
Coca-Cola's managerial recruitment program focuses on candidates on college level in U.S
schools with strong international programs. A large percentage of its new hires are from the
company's formal internship program. According to an International Orientation Resources study,
Coca-Cola's international recruitment firms require in recent college graduates include technical
expertise, management ability, previous overseas experience, and a second language.

5. Criteria for choosing the best candidates

Generally, for each post, the companies need qualified, experienced, motivated, skilled
employees that can adapt in the working team and organization. Therefore the criteria for choosing
the right candidate can be grouped into:

1. Experience and knowledge. Lack of knowledge and professional experience will impose
additional costs related to the training time for the employees; If the vacancy refers to a
management position, should be considered:
The history of the applicant's professional life (and wage growth on job
responsibilities previously held );
availability and managerial skills of the minimum level of experience;
Professional knowledge (attested by diplomas or certificates) required by jobs
conditions.

2. Skills and qualities. Each work situation requires certain requirements to be met: work
under stress, at high speed, a work program with periods of stagnation, contacts with the
public, communication with colleagues, restrictions labor protection. Other items worthy of
attention: physical appearance, mannerisms, dress, general culture, decision-making
capacity, knowledge of foreign languages;


3. Motivation. It is good to have a match between the expectations of the candidate and his
interest in the post, on the one hand, and job conditions, on the other hand. If the chances of
promotion and professional development are minimal, and working conditions are difficult,
it is wiser to hire a person with very high aspiration and not lower potential. This is
because, under the conditions mentioned, there is chance that you can attract and keep
business, especially a performer. For some jobs, no opportunities for promotion or salary
are the only way to motivate employees. In other stations, the organization can offer
creative and professional development event. You must consider the main driving factors
that motivate employees: interest in the profession and their desire to firm values.

4. Adaptable. Adaptability and integration of the employees depends on:
communication skills- posts that involve social contact need to have pleasant
people;
resistance to stress and behavior in difficult situations;
ability to influence others (management skills);
positive attitude in teamwork;
Adaptation to the conditions and working hours.

The objective of recruitment is to attract a number of qualified personnel for each particular job
opening. Organizational inducements are all the positive features and benefits the organization
offers to attract jobs applicants. Three the more important organizational inducements are
organizational compensation systems, career opportunities, and organizational reputation.

Starting salaries, frequency of pay raises, incentives, and the nature of organization's fringe
benefits can all influence the number of people attracted through the recruitment process. For
example, organization that pay low starting salaries have a much more difficult time finding
qualified applicants than do organizations that pay higher starting salaries.

Organizations that have a reputation for providing employees with career opportunities are also
more likely to attract a larger pool of qualified candidates through their recruiting activities.
Employee and management development opportunities enable present employees to grow
personally and professionally; they also attract good people to the organization; assisting present
employees inducement to potential employees.

Finally, the organization's overall reputation, or image, serves as an inducement to potential
employees. Factors that affect an organization's reputation include its general treatment of
employees, the nature and quality of its products and services, and its participation in worthwhile
social endeavours.

Unfortunately, some organizations accept a poor image as "part of our industry and business".
Regardless of the type of business or industry, organizations should strive for a positive image.

II. Equal Employment Opportunity and Recruitment

The entire subject of recruitment interviewing is made even more complex by equal
employment opportunity legislation and court decision relating to this legislation. For example, if
an interviewer asks for certain information such as race, sex, age, marital status, and number of
children during the interview, the company risk the chance of an employment discrimination suit.
Prior to employment, interviewing should not ask for information that is potentially prejudicial
unless the company is prepared to prove that the requested information is job related.
Equal opportunity legislation has significantly influenced recruitment activities. All recruitment
procedures for each job category should be analyzed and reviewed to identify and eliminate
discriminatory barriers. For example, The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOQ)
encourages organizations to avoid recruiting primarily by employee referral and walk-ins because
these practices tend to perpetuate the present composition of an organization's work force. If
minorities and females are not well represented at all levels of the organization, reliance on such
recruitment procedures has been ruled by the courts to be a discriminatory practice.

The EEOC also suggests that the content of help-wanted ads should not indicate any race, sex
or age preference for the job unless age or sex is a bona fide occupational qualification.
Organizations are also encouraged to advertise in media directed toward minorities and women.
Advertising should indicate that the organization is an equal opportunity employer and does not
discriminate. However, one study has concluded that despite the passage of equal opportunity
legislation and numerous court decisions, recruitment ads that discriminate on the basis of sex
continue to be widespread.

Campus recruiting visits should be scheduled at colleges and universities with large minority
and female enrollment. The EEOC also recommends that employers develop and maintain contacts
with minority, female, and community organizations as source of recruits.

Employers are encouraged to contact nontraditional recruitment sources, such likely
organizations that place physically and mentally handicapped persons. It is likely that hiring of
both females and minority groups will continue to receive attention, and increased emphasis will
be placed on hiring those groups. More than likely, recruiters will also have to pay more attention
to the spouse, male or female, of the person being recruited. It may become necessary to assist in
finding jobs for spouses of recruits. In hiring women, especially for managerial and professional
jobs, it may be necessary to consider hiring the husband as well.

The process of staff recruitment and selection is becoming increasingly complex and its
integration into organizational and Human Resource (HR) strategies means that the successful
outcome of these processes is vital for job performance and organizational success. The intricacy
of matching the right applicant to the right job is a perpetual activity for management and HR
practitioners considering the organization's economic, social and political contexts.
Recruiting and selecting the right people for your business is a challenge, and every situation is
unique. If one is innovative, persistent and realistic, and can communicate the strengths of his
business and the benefits of the positions one offers, one should be successful in attracting high
quality employees to build careers with his or her organization.
Generally, characteristics which employers look for while hiring are: the person should be
hungry for success and have a risk taking capacity. He or she must also be able to think-out-of-
the-box, learn to live with stress, be a great team player and have a commitment outlook. Hence,
the organization will end up having strong committed team to meet its goals and objectives.

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