Staff Recruitment: Meaning And Various Stages Of Recruiting

Table Of Contents

  • Meaning Of Staff Recruitment
  • The Various Stages Of The Procedure For Recruitment

Meaning Of Staff Recruitment
Staff recruitment is the process of searching for and securing the best applicants to fill specific vacant positions.
The Various Stages Of The Procedure For Recruitment
The following stages are involved in the process of staff recruitment;
1. Existence of vacancy in the organization
2. Placement of advertisement
3. Response to the advertisement
4. Short listing
5. Invitation for interview
6. Interview
7. Selection
8. Letter of appointment to successful applicants
9. Acceptance of offer of appointment by successful applicants.
1. Existence Of Vacancies In The Organization
The first stage is to determine that vacancy really exist. This is so because an apparent vacancy may be taken care of by the introduction of more machinery or by allocation of duties involved to other employees. Sometimes, a reorganization may eliminate the need for the particular function.
Vacancies may arise in an office because of termination of appointment, promotions, transfers and creation of new posts. Where a vacancy exist, a job description detailing the principal aspects of the job is compiled, setting out the scope of duties, authority and responsibilities of the job, the tasks involved and the working conditions. From the job description, a job specification is drawn up specifying the type of personnel required, the age, skill, qualification, physical characteristics and attitudes etc. It is from these specifications that an advertisement is prepared.
2. Placement Of Advertisement
The Personnel department places advertisement of the existing vacancy in the organization. The advertisement should state some salient points extracted from the job description and the job specification relevant to the post, such as, the salary range and promotion prospects. The closing date and method of application should be specified. The method of application may be to require candidates to write or fill a standard application form supplied by the organization.
The advertisement media that may be chosen include newspapers, radio, television, notice boards, circulars, labour offices, employment agencies etc.
The medium chosen will depend on whether the advert is intended for internal or external placement.
3. Response To The Advertisement
Once an advert is placed on the notice board of the company, or on the national newspapers, prospective employees will start sending in their application letters. Photocopies of credentials are sent along with the application letter. Referees or confidential reports follow thereafter.
Letter Of Application: A letter of application is the applicant’s first introduction to a prospective employer. Therefore, it must be clear and concise, correct and courteous. A neat and coherent letter, its facts well ordered is certain to make a favourable impression. On the other hand, letter badly written creates poor impression. So application letters should be free from errors, correctly punctuated and paragraphed sensibly.
It is essentail to plan and arrange carefully a letter of application in order to create good first impression. The letter should include the essential facts such as:
1. Formal application
2. Reference to the advertisement
3. Age and education
4. Secretarial/business training with a note of standards reached or examinations passed e.g. 50/100wpm in typewriting and shorthand, proficiency in computer packages Excel, Microsoft word etc.
5. Any previous employment or experience.
6. Your willingness to attend an interview.
Other points to remember about a letter of application include; giving name and address of referees. Before quoting a referee, obtain his/her permission, stating simply and clearly the reason for leaving your present job. It is very important to take careful note of the information required by the advertisement. Do not overlook anything that has been asked for when writing your letter application.
Remember also, that if you have no actual working experience, it is important to emphasize your training, particularly the examinations you have passed.
4. Short Listing
This is checking through the application letters and listing the names of the applicants of who meet the criteria set out in the advertisement. Immediately after the closing date of the advertisement, there is a short listing of the applicants received with a view to inviting successful applicants for an interview.
The following steps are helpful guide in the process of short listing especially where large number of application were received:
1. Remove applications which do not meet the exact criteria stated in terms of qualifications, sex etc.
2. Remove applications outside the desired age range.
3. Remove applications with present salary level higher than the salary of the proposed job or very much lower.
4. Remove applications which do not give the information requested in the advert and those badly presented.
5. Invitation For Interview
Letters of invitation for interview are forwarded to the applicants who were successful at the short listing stage. The letter of invitation should contain relevant information such as date, time, venue of interview, document the applicant may need; accomodation or feeding arrangement (if any) or alternatives.
6. Interview
An interview is a face to face verbal exchange between the employment officer and the applicant. It is through an interview that an applicant’s personality and character as well as the more readily ascertainable attributes such as education and qualifications would be known.
The Purpose Of An Interview Include to:
1. Assess the character and personality of the applicants.
2. Check the factual data in the applications.
3. Give the applicant information about thw job.
4. Assess the applicants suitability for the job.
5. Select the most suitable applicant for the job.
Interview Strategy
In order to draw from the interviewee all the information that is necessary to make a wise staff choice, the following seven points generally form the interview topics:
1. Physical Make Up: It tries to find out if the candidate is agreeable in bearing, speech and appearance. Also, if there is any defects in health or physique that might make the candidate unsuitable for the job.
2. Attainment: This tries to find out where the applicant was educated, if there were say educational qualifications acquired and if so what were they and at what levels. Also, the relevany training and experience the candidate has had.
3. General Intelligence: This tries to find out what standard of general intelligence the candidate displays and the extent his career give evidence of general intelligence.
4. Special Aptitudes: This tries to find out if the candidate has special talents, for example, if he has an aptitude in the use of words or any special manual dexterity.
5. Interest: This Tries to find out the sort of non-professional interest the applicant has. Are the activities practical, socially biased or intellectual?
6. Disposition: Find out if the candidate gives the impression of being self-relevant, self disciplined, dependable. Does he appear to be a good mixer or argumentative?
7. Circumstance: This tries to find out what the applicants family and domestic circumstances are.
Since interview is a two way process, the candidate should be given a chance to find out as much as he desires about the job and the organization.
Preparing For The Interview
Applicant’s role before attending the interview, the applicant will have:
1. Obtained information about the organization with regards to performance, prospects, and personalities.
2. Compiled a curriculum vitae under the headings:
– Personal details;
– Education;
– Qualifications
– Work experience
– Interests and circumstances
3. Made a copy of the returned application forms for reference. This is necessary for revision on the day of interview;
4. Made a check-list of anticipated questions and considered their answers;
5. Compiled a list of question to ask on topics such as: Organization’s performance, job prospects, condition of service, duties, salary etc;
6. Assessed the nature on the work locations if possible.
7. Ensure that personal appearance is smart without being overdressed.
8. Arrival at the interview location in good time.
7. Selection
Selection takes place when an applicant is considered qualified to be offered the position from among the rest that attended an interview.
At the end of the interview, the panel of interviewers compare notes. The candidate to be engaged is selected based on his overall performance during the interview.
8. Letter Of Appointment To Successful Applicant
The successful candidate is given a letter of offer of appointment. It should indicate conditions for offer, for example, receipt of satisfactory referee’s/confidential report, medical certificate of fitness, acceptance of offer etc.
The letter should also state when the offer, if unaccepted, should lapse, and the conditions of service.
9. Acceptance Of Offer Of Appointment
On the receipt of the letter of appointment, the applicant should reply immediately either to accept the offer of appointment or the rejection of it.