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The Process of Recruiting and Selecting the Best Candidate


The employer should reveal all the required details to the pool of candidates regarding the vacant job position in clear and understandable manner without concerning the negative side of the vacancy also in order to hold an effective recruitment process. (Anwar & Shukur, 2015)

Recruitment is the process whereby an organisation generates a pool of qualified, skilled and knowledgeable persons applying to an organization for employment. In view of the above the aim of the organisation is to find suitable candidates who satisfy the requirements for employment. Selection is therefore the process of identifying the most appropriate and suitable person for a particular job. Through selection, the performance for the job is predicted and applicants must fulfil this performance requirement before they would be selected (Zinyemba, 2013).

According to Armstrong & Taylor (2014, p. 226), there are 10 steps in recruiting and selecting process.

1.      Defining requirements

2.      Attracting candidates

3.      Sifting applications

4.      Interviewing

5.      Testing

6.      Assessing candidates

7.      Obtaining references

8.      Checking applications

9.      Offering employment

10.  Following up

  

Defining Requirements

Different kind of workforce will be demanded by the organizations at different times for different kind of vacant positions and sometimes for new positions, at the situations of company expanding and for replacements. These workforce requirements may be created in short term periods and the organization demands those staff at their most earliest possible which force the HR team into a pressure and for a quick hiring process of the candidates (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).

HR team should have a good understanding on the expectations the company wish to have from the candidates which means the requirements/ specifications of the vacant position and knowledge, skills and abilities they have. Otherwise the company will loss high quality applicants. (Leat & Hsu, 2011).

The first step of this stage is creating role profile and job specification of the vacant position which describes the required qualifications, skills, knowledge, abilities, relevant experience, trainings and behavior of the role in the company. The recruiter should be careful when creating the job specification since if the HR team sets higher qualifications, skills or abilities which are not essential or relevant to the vacant position, the candidates would be demotivated to apply for the vacancy which may create a big issue to the company (Zinyemba, 2013).

Attracting Candidates

There are 03 steps in attracting candidates for a vacant position in a firm (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).

a)      Analyzing recruitment strengths and weaknesses

It is important to carry on a study about the strengths and weaknesses of the company have in attracting relevant candidates to the vacancy. Image of the employer, security of the job position, location of the office, educational and training opportunities, salary scale, career prospects, other benefits and working conditions are the factors to be concerned in this study (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).  

b)      Analyzing the job requirement

At the very beginning, the company has to decide the vacant positions to be filled and the time of the filling the vacant position. After that, the job role specifications and person’s profile should be created if not available or out of date. Next, the HR department has to decide the recruitment method whether it would be done by internally or externally and at the end, the analysis regarding the company strengths and weaknesses should be considered to examine the job and the candidates (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).

c)      Identify the source of recruiting and selecting candidates

The personnel management of the firm should choose the most effective selection technique to select the right person (Leat & Hsu, 2011). The priority should be given to the internal candidates and if does not work properly, the company should consider external recruiting methods (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).

 

Dealing with Applications

The company has to shortlist the applications received and then there are some activities to be continued in this regards (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).

a)      Examine the information which were received from different candidates

b)      Processing all the applications received to the vacant position

c)      Sorting Applications

d)      Arranging interviews for the shortlisted candidates

e)      Administering the selection programme

Selection Methods

Among numerous selection methods, interview takes a main place and there are several interview methods like face to face discussions, through a telephone call and a video or skype call. When arranging the interviews, it can be identified two types of interviews such as Structured Interviews which means the all the candidates may be asked the same questions within the same framework and analyzing the answers in a rating system. Other one is Unstructured Interviews which the candidates have to face unspecific and different kind of questions from one candidate to another and the questions do not have a specific aim. Further, unstructured interviews use to have an overall image of the candidate. (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).

The line managers are also in the interview panel without giving the whole responsibility of the selection of the right candidate only to the HR department of the company and it can be identified that line management offer their involvement actively not only in the selection process, but also in training and development of the workforce and staff expansion/reduction. Further, these line managers give their contribution to get the final decision of the hiring process (Leat & Hsu, 2011).

Obtaining References

The major objective of references is obtaining correct and confident information about the prospective candidate. Those details may be candidate’s prior employment period, his/her behavior, salary scale and nature of the previous job. Recruiting company could be asked these references in a formal request letter or through a telephone call. However, telephone call may be more effective and save the time also (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).

Checking Applications

Applicants could be presented incorrect facts about their past experience, identification, criminal records and education in their applications. Hence, it is advisable to check that information with their colleges, universities and previous workplaces (Turner, D. W., 2010).

 

Offering Employment

The last step of the selection procedure is offering the job to the selected candidate after receiving a satisfactory reference (Berry, et al., 2011).

Following up

This step is a vital one after offering the employment to the selected candidate to ensure that the employee work at the company in a satisfactory manner as the company expected and if there is a problem with the employee, the company could recognize it at the early stage (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).





There are some tips to be concerned when selecting the best applicant for the vacant position (Turner, D. W., 2010).

  • Be clear about your necessities: The job description should clearly outline the role's responsibilities, duties, and qualifications. This will help to confirm that you attract qualified applicants.
  • Practice a range of recruitment channels: Promote the vacancy through multiple channels to spread a broader group of applicants.
  • Screen resumes wisely: Analysis the resumes of all candidates and select the most qualified candidates for interviews.
  • Conduct structured interviews: Develop a set of interview questions that will assist to measure the candidates' abilities and experience.
  • Check references carefully: Contact the former employers and colleagues of the top candidates to get their feedback on their performance and work ethic.
  • Make a competitive offer: Offer the best applicant a competitive salary and benefits package.

Public universities required to certify effective recruitment and selection practices in order to distribute their mandates of teaching, research and other consular services. Because when the selection process goes wrong, there will be both cost and time effects for the institute. Then the organization will have to incur additional cost. The recruitment practices of government sector higher education institutions in Ghana are not effective. Since their recruitment and selecting staff depends on recommendations which leads to matters of favouritism and bias in recruitment (Berry, et al., 2011). Moreover, Human resource functions in health care industry are influenced by internal and external organizational factors such as culture, regulatory mandates, and industry trends. The success of the human resource functions is often related to the success of the organization. Therefore, selecting the right candidate is a must for the growth of an organization (Leat & Hsu, 2011).





References


Anwar, G. & Shukur, I., 2015. The Impact of Recruitment and Selection on Job Satisfaction: Evidence from Private School in Erbil. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies , 1(3). [Online] Accessed on 03rd November 2023

Armstrong, M. & Taylor, S., 2014. Armstrong's Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. 13 ed. s.l.:Kogan Page Limited. [Online] Accessed on 11th November 2023

Berry, A. B., Petrin, R. A., Gravelle, M. L., & Farmer, T. W. (2011). Issues in special education teacher recruitment, retention, and professional development: Considerations in supporting rural teachers. Rural Special Education Quarterly, 30(4), 3-11.  [Online] Accessed on 11th November 2023

Leat, M. & Hsu, Y., 2011. A study of HRM and recruitment and selection policies and practices in Taiwan. The International Journal of Human Resource Management.  [Online] Accessed on 12th November 2023

 Turner, D. W. (2010). Qualitative interview design: A practical guide for novice investigators. The qualitative report, 15(3), 754.  [Online] Accessed on 11th November 2023

Zinyemba, A. Z. (2013). The Challenges of Recruitment and Selection of Employees in Zimbabwean Companies. International Journal of Science and Research  [Online] Accessed on 11th November 2023


Comments

  1. This article elaborates on the recruitment and selection process, which is one of the key tasks performed by HR. But when it comes to practice, do you think this process is followed by all organisations? Do you think the theoretical aspect can be converted into practice directly?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When it comes to practice, most of the organizations follows this recruitment and selection process same as the theory. Since recruitment is the way to attract large number of qualified candidates. Then the company can select the best from that pool (Zinyemba,2013). According to my organization, the hiring team uses various methods like social media posting, referrals etc. to attract applicants. After that, through face to face interviewing and filling applications the company selects the operational level personnel for the company.

      Delete
  2. Successful recruitment and selection procedures are essential to an organization's ability to draw in and hold on to competent workers who support the attainment of its objectives. Each step of the recruitment process—from defining requirements to making an employment offer and following up—is vital to ensuring that the company hires the best candidates. Organizations can create a workforce that supports their goals by following best practices and taking into account a variety of factors, including job specifications, recruitment strategies, and selection procedures.
    The need for speedy hiring is mentioned by (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014) for HR departments. How does your company strike a compromise between the need to attract top talent and the necessity of a quick hiring process?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. By following quick hiring process, the company can save on up-front costs, ongoing costs, access to higher-quality candidates, higher acceptance rates and net high-end talent. Furthermore, quick hires permit businesses to access top talent before competitors. Highly skilled candidates often receive multiple offers within weeks of starting their job search. By having an efficient hiring process, the company can increase the chances of attracting these sought-after job applicants (Muscalu, 2015).

      Delete
  3. An effective hiring procedure is essential to selecting highly qualified candidates. Selection processes concentrate on a candidate's advantages and disadvantages, while recruitment offers itself as an excellent workplace to attract highly qualified candidates. (lawteacher, 20019)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yes and by following them, we can increase the chances of finding the ideal candidate who can excel in the role and contribute positively to the team and the company culture.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Recruitment process very important because it ensures business continuity by hiring the right candidates at right time on a regular basis and plays a very important role in organization growth (Commerce Mates, No Year). As the selected candidate may be strategic competitive advantage to the organization due to his/her skills and talents.

    Reference:
    Commerce Mates (No Year) 'Purposes and Importance of Recruitment Process', No Date. Available at: https://commercemates.com/purpose-and-importance-of-recruitment-process/ (Accessed: 19 December 2023).

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Sanjula, Navigating the process of recruiting and selecting the best candidate is a strategic journey that demands careful consideration and thoughtful evaluation at every step.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I agree with your recruiting and selection process. Further, I would like to mention the main difference between recruitment and selection. The approach of recruitment will be expecting to increase in the applicant list and selection will be reduce the applicant list until one ideal candidate is recognized. As you mentioned, different selection methods is available and what do you think about the situational test method? Is this suitable for the selection? this is referred to as scenario-based assessments. We can get an idea of how the candidate will behave in real-time such as can they handle rejection? further we can get idea how they quickly and effectively come up with alternative approaches and different strategies.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Mahesh. I have discussed your point in detail in my next posts

      Delete
  8. Getting good references is key and it is also important that a company actually calls the references to confirm about the candidate. And it is very important that the candidate puts someone who is actually known to them so that they could get a better reference.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Naturally the recruitment process is lengthy and as much as many professional try not to be biased, unfortunately we do have a sense of bias. Therefore as you mentioned, structured interview help to navigate most of the crucial requirements out of the way and help in finalizing the ones we need to call in for a second or final interview.

    ReplyDelete
  10. The advice given for choosing the best candidate, such being explicit about the requirements for the position and holding organized interviews, is useful and compliant with industry best practices. Furthermore, bringing up the difficulties with hiring procedures in Ghanaian higher education institutions run by the government gives the conversation a more grounded viewpoint.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The whole recruiting process is already being altered by technology. Everything is being digitized, from shortlisting resumes to conducting interviews to employee onboarding (Hsu & Leat, 2000).

      Delete
  11. Recruiting, selecting and choosing the right talent is most important. A potential candidate with all the right skills and talents. Making sure this type of candidate also aligns with the organizations culture and ensuring the recruitment process reflects this or is also geared for this will ensure long term sustainability between the individual and organization and ensure the employee is happier and content and motivated over the long term. If this is not the case then it will also contribute to higher turnover levels for the organization.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Right person should be employeed in right place. So the the success will achieved without much difficulty. Also it os important to achieve the competitor advantage as well.

    ReplyDelete

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