Tips for Recruitment and Selection

Alice Tuffery, writer

Published at 29/05/2019, Updated on 04/05/2022 , Reading time: 5 min

Tips for Recruitment and Selection
Photo © recruitment-selection-tips.jpg

Recruitment and selection are key parts of starting and running a business. If you want to source and appoint the best workers, you’ll need to examine your hiring process and make sure it is as streamlined and efficient as it could be. There are several ways to do this, which this article will explore in detail, but first of all, let’s take a closer look at the terms ‘recruitment’ and ‘selection’. Many people use them interchangeably, but they actually have distinct meanings.

What is the difference between recruitment and selection?

Recruitment

Recruitment is the process of publicising a job vacancy and encouraging potential candidates to apply for the role. Vacancies are advertised on various platforms, including newspapers or social media, but it is common practice to list them on online employment agency sites or on LinkedIn. Potential candidates are always scouring websites like these, so it is likely that your job vacancy will get seen by a lot of people if you use this method – including your future employee.

Selection

Recruitment is ‘casting the net wide’, selection is the process of narrowing the choice down again. Once employers have a list of applicants, they can start shortlisting candidates before making their final decision and appointing them. The hiring manager might opt to use application forms, personality tests, telephone or face-to-face interviews, medical checks and job references to identify the person that would best suit the role. Compared to recruitment, this is a more demanding process that involves time, effort and money.

Therefore, the two terms represent different phases in the process of finding and appointing new employees, and selection follows on from recruitment.

Tips for Recruiting

Let’s imagine you’re the owner of a business and you’re looking to expand. You need a new employee to take on additional work; where do you start?

Well, the first thing to do is write a job description for the role you’re hoping to fill. Although it may be tempting to exaggerate the positives and brush the negatives under the carpet, you should try to keep the description accurate and clear. If you make the job sound much better than it is or overstate the level of responsibility the successful applicant will have, you will probably attract candidates who are overqualified for the role. In time, they will get bored and frustrated, and could resign, leaving you with the prospect of starting the recruiting and selection processes all over again, and leaving the employee with a bad impression of the business.

Once you’ve written your job description and displayed it on your chosen platforms, you should put yourself in the place of curious applicants. Most people will look up a company or organisation online, scrutinise its website and take a glance at the people they will be working with if they land the job before they even start to craft their application. If they look your company up online and it appears unprofessional, unfriendly or incompetent, they are unlikely to bother applying at all. Therefore, you should make sure you have a modern website that is optimised for use on mobile phones and tablets as well as on desktop computers. It shouldn’t have any spelling or grammatical mistakes and should present the business in a positive light.

Potential employees will continue to judge your business when they come in for an interview. Remember that this is where they’ll be spending a large slice of their time, so they will want to feel that they would enjoy the experience and fit in with the other employees there. Don’t get so wrapped up in assessing the candidate that you forget that they are also assessing you. Make sure that the best aspects of your business are on show for the candidate’s arrival to encourage their acceptance of the offer, should you give it to them.

Another way to find potential employees is by asking your current workforce to refer suitable people. If you trust the judgement of your staff members, you should end up with a selection of possible employees.

Finally, if you turn down a candidate because you don’t feel they suit the position you are filling, keep them in mind for future jobs. Even if they have found a job by then, you may just convince them to join you – if you made a positive impression the first time around.

Tips for Selection

Firstly, prioritise quality over quantity. In other words, don’t hire three mediocre workers when you could appoint one highly efficient one. Consider the capabilities of individual candidates and set them to work on a sample piece of work if you would like to assess their ability or time management.

There are a number of ways to select your preferred candidate, but many hiring processes go as follows: review application and CV; review aptitude and/or personality test; conduct telephone interview; conduct face-to-face interview; check the candidate’s references; carry out a medical check; send the job offer; sign the employment contract. You should choose a combination of these to evaluate a candidate’s suitability, depending on the nature of the role. You may want to adapt any of these options, for example, by introducing a group interview to see how a number of candidates interact with others and work as a team. By the time you’ve conducted some sort of interview, you should have a good idea of the applicant’s skills, experience and personality. While the latter may seem to be of less importance, it is vital that their attitude matches the workplace culture. This is why you may also opt to (discretely) discuss the applicants with existing employees, as they will have a different perspective to you.

Once you’ve made your decision, be sure to get in contact with the unsuccessful applicants as well as the successful one(s). Remember that it can be frustrating for applicants to wait for a response that never comes. What’s more, if you treat all your applicants with respect, your business will have a positive reputation and attract more candidates – and clients – in the future.

For more technical term definitions, consult the Point Franchise dictionary, or alternatively, take a look at the best recruitment agency franchises on the Point Franchise books.

Alice Tuffery, writer

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