Recruitment

The Recruitment Process

Job vacancies can arise on a permanent or temporary basis for many reasons:

  • Promotion of an employee;
  • Retirement of an employee;
  • Temporary absence eg maternity leave or ill health;
  • Employee is dismissed for misconduct;
  • Growth of the organisation (new products, new locations).

 

 

Recruitment means attracting suitable people to apply for a job vacancy within the organisation.  Selection means choosing the best applicant to fill the vacancy.

Stages in the recruitment process involve:

  • Job Analysis
  • Job Description
  • Person Specification
  • Advertising the vacancy

Analyse The Job Vacancy

When a job vacancy arises, the organisation should analyse the vacancy to decide whether a new employee will be needed or whether the role could be covered in another way eg by removing the role, offering over-time to other staff, or outsourcing the role to another organisation.

The employer will study the tasks carried out in the role and draw conclusions on the knowledge, skills and qualities the post holder would need.  Job analysis can also help in deciding the correct level of salary and responsibility that the post-holder should receive.

Job analysis can be carried out by talking to the employee who is leaving, observing someone who is currently carrying out the role, or by talking to their line manager.

Job Description

Using the information from the job analysis, a job description is prepared which must be lawful eg the pay or hours to be worked.  It contains information such as:

  • Job Title/Department
  • Location
  • Pay
  • Hours of the job
  • Key tasks and duties
  • Type of contract

The job description performs an important role in the recruitment process:

  • It provides potential applicants with information which will help them decide whether to apply for the job. This reduces the chances of receiving applications which are later withdrawn if applicants change their mind.
  • It provides information for inclusion in the Contract of Employment which will be offered to the successful applicant.

Personal Specification

Information from the job analysis also allows the organisation to identify the characteristics of the ‘ideal person’ to fill the vacancy.  It may include:

  • Qualifications required – academic or specific to the role eg drivers licence;
  • Skills and personal qualities required;
  • Work experience required.

The personal specification may be divided into essential or desirable characteristics.  This reduces time needed to process applications from applicants who lack the essential requirements eg a driving license.

The person specification helps potential applicants to decide whether they should pursue the vacancy – if they meet the essential criteria outlined then it will be worth their while making an application.

The organisation uses the person specification at the start of the selection process to help them decide who to invite for an interview.  This is achieved by comparing CVs and Application Forms against the essential or desirable criteria in the person spec.

Advertising the Vacancy

Once the job description and person specification are ready, the next task is to encourage potential applicants to apply for the job.  This process is known as ‘sourcing’ the vacancy.  The organisation prepares a job advertisement.

The organisation has to decide whether it wants to ‘source’ applicants for the vacancy internally or externally (or both!).

Internal Recruitment

The vacancy is filled by someone who is already working in the organisation. They may advertise the vacancy:

  • On company notice boards
  • In internal newsletters
  • On an intranet webpage
  • By sending out an e-mail to all existing staff
  • A manager may make a direct approach inviting someone to apply.

Advantages

  • Offers existing employees career development opportunities;
  • Employees do not need induction training and settling in time;
  • Employees’ strengths and weaknesses are already known;
  • Less expensive and time-consuming than advertising externally;

Disadvantages

  • High quality applicants from out with the organisation may be missed;
  • Another job vacancy will be created elsewhere in the organisation;
  • Fewer new ideas may be brought into the company;
  • Can result in tension or resentment between employees.

External Recruitment

The vacancy is filled from outside the organisation.  This can be achieved by advertising the vacancy in one or more of the following ways:

Company Website – on a vacancies area on their website which can be viewed by existing or potential employees. This is a cost effective method of advertising as it does not involve paying for the advert, the advert can be viewed by applicants across the globe, and interested applicants can view information about the organisation immediately.  However this method depends on job-seekers choosing to visit the website.

Job Search Website – this has many of the benefits outlined above and will be more likely to be seen by a wider range of potential applicants, however, a fee must be paid to the organisation hosting the site.

 

 

Newspaper Advertisements – these can be pitched at different types of candidate depending on the choice of publication eg a local or national.  Newspaper adverts are relatively expensive compared to web-based adverts.

Job Centres – these are government funded offices and are also available on-line that do not charge an organisation to advertise their vacancies. The Job Centre may do some initial screening of potential applicants, thus saving time.  However, they are mainly used by people currently out of work and so may not be seen by people currently in employment but who may be looking for a change of job.

 

Employment Agency – eg Reid – these organisation already have job-seekers on their books and will do initial screening before putting someone forward for a vacancy, thus saving the organisation time. The downside is that a fee must be paid to the agency – typically a month’s salary.

Advantages/Disadvantages of External Recruitment

These will be the reverse of advantages and disadvantages of internal recruitment.