TOPIC 4: RECRUITMENT AND

SELECTION PRACTICES
 The Concept
• Recruitment is defined as the process of
locating and attracting potential job
applicants to fill vacant job position(s) in
an organisation.
• It is generally a HR function which involves
the process of filling vacant job positions
• Recruitment process also consist of
another process called selection
 The Concept
• Selection is the process of choosing from
a pool of applicants a suitable candidate to
fill a post in an organization.
• Ideally, selection is a two-way process in
such a way that both the employer and
employee have the chance to choose the
best candidate and the employer
respectively
 The Concept
• Generally, the recruitment process
involves:
 Identifying and publishing vacant positions
 Receiving application letters
 Short listing
 Interviewing
 Offer of employment
 Acceptance of employment offer
External Recruitment v/s Internal
Recruitment
• The process of recruitment and selection
can be carried either externally (from
outside the organization or internally (from
with the organization.
Methods of External Recruitment:
1. Job centres: job centres usually provide a
shortlist of candidates based on the
people registered with the center
 External Recruitment
• They also supply temporary employees
2. Head hunting: Recruitment agents who
provide a specialized approach to the
recruitment of key employees and/or
senior managers
3. Advertisement: The most common
method of external recruitment
 External Recruitment
• They can be found in many places such as:
newspapers, job posting on sites and ads on
websites etc
4. Employee referral: this method is also called
“word of mouth”
• This bases on the fact that employees has
multiple memberships they have connections
outside their organisations with good people who
possess the required skills
5. Walk-ins: A walk-in is a job seeker that calls at
the human resources department in search of a
job.
 External Recruitment
• Walk-ins are usually given application
blanks to complete and asked to go away
and wait for the organization's response.
6. Educational Institutions
• Under this method, employers are invited
by universities, colleges, or institutes to
market their job openings to graduating
students
 External Recruitment
• Interested students pick up application
blanks, complete them and mail them to
the organisation.
7. Professional Associations
• Such associations provide a placement
service as one of the benefits for their
members
 External Recruitment
• They may run employment advertisements
for employers, as well as listings of
members seeking employment.
Advantages:
 Breeding of new ideas
 Large pool of applicants
 Wider range of experience
 External Recruitment
Disadvantages;
 Long process
 Costly process
 Reduces morale and motivation to the
existing employees
 Internal Recruitment
Methods of Internal Recruitment :
1. Transfers: employees are relocated from
one department or geographical area to
another.
2. Promotions: employees are propped up
from one job position to a senior job
position with more benefits and
responsibilities
 Internal Recruitment
3. Demotions: employees are moved down
from one job position to a junior job
position with less benefits and
responsibilities
Advantages:
 Motivation of employees
 Morale building
 Reduces discipline problems
 Internal Recruitment
 A better-known candidate
Disadvantages;
 Inbreeding of ideas
 A small supply market
 The Recruitment Process
• Generally, the process of recruitment
begins with the efforts of the organisation
to find suitable applicants for its job
openings, and ends when the selected
candidates become members of the
organisation.
• This process thus includes the following
three main component processes:
 The Recruitment Process
1.Communication of the vacant job to
prospective applicants.
2. Selection process.
3. Appointment of the successful candidate.
Communicating the Vacant Jobs
• This is notifying the public on the
existence of a vacant job.
 The Recruitment Process
• This information can be communicated either to
the organization's current work force, or to the
general public or to both
Selection Process
• The selection process refers to a series of steps
from the receiving applications to the hiring of
the chosen candidates
• A typical selection process comprises of the
following main steps:
i. Preliminary Reception
 Reception of either the applicant (walk-ins) or
the letters of application
 The Selection Process
ii. Scrutiny of Applicant's Biodata, short
listing
iii. Selection Interview
 The selection interview seeks to answer
two key questions: Can the candidate do
the job? How good is the candidate in
relation to others who are aspiring for the
job?
 The Selection Process
iv. Supervisor's Interview
• The supervisor is technically better placed
to evaluate the candidate's technical
abilities for the job.
• He or she is also best placed to answer
the interviewee's job-related questions
with the greatest precision.
 The Selection Process
• It is therefore important that the supervisor
interviews the candidate so that he or she
can make an input into the hiring decision.
v. Job Preview
• A job preview is a final opportunity, which
is given to the candidate to look at the job
setting, its contents, its tools and
equipment, as well as its environment
before the hiring decision is made.
 The Selection Process
7. Medical Examination
 The main objectives of conducting a medical
examination are three.
First, the physical examination is used to
determine the physical suitability of the
candidate to the job demands.
Second, the physical examination establishes the
employee's physical condition on entry
Third, the employee's health condition at entry
point is used to verify job-caused disabilities
under workers' compensation law.
 Criteria for Effective Selection
Education qualifications
• This is matching a person’s qualifications
in terms of knowledge, and skills, to those
required by the job.
• These are qualifications acquired by the
applicant through his or her education
background
Criteria for Effective Selection
Relevant Experience
• This refers to the knowledge or skills,
which an employee has acquired because
he or she has worked at the job for a
particular period of time,
• Normally, when employers stipulate
experience as a recruitment criterion, they
are referring to relevant experience
 Criteria for Effective Selection
Attitude
• An employee's attitude refers to the way
employees think and feel about
organization and the job.
• Employees who have positive attitude are
likely to perform well.
• Employers seek candidates who show
signs of positive attitude.
Criteria for Effective Selection
Physical characteristics
• For physical characteristics to be a useful
criterion, should be objectively related to
the specific demands of the job.
Technical know who
• This is mainly applied in the selection of
top or "principal" officers in public offices
or political parties.
Criteria for Effective Selection
• Such practice is seen in such positions as
vice chancellor and registrar of
universities, general manager of public
business organisations, permanent
secretaries of government ministries, etc.