Recruitment

For other uses, see Recruitment (disambiguation).

Recruitment refers to the process of attracting, screening, selecting, and onboarding a qualified person for a job. At the strategic level it may involve the development of an employer brand which includes an 'employee offering'.

The stages of the recruitment process include: job analysis and developing a person specification; the sourcing of candidates by networking, advertising, or other search methods; matching candidates to job requirements and screening individuals using testing (skills or personality assessment); assessment of candidates' motivations and their fit with organisational requirements by interviewing and other assessment techniques. The recruitment process also includes the making and finalising of job offers and the induction and onboarding of new employees.

Depending on the size and culture of the organisation recruitment may be undertaken in-house by managers, human resource generalists and / or recruitment specialists. Alternatively parts of all of the process might be undertaken by either public sector employment agencies, or commercial recruitment agencies, or specialist search consultancies.

Recruitment process

Job analysis

In situations such as where one or more new jobs are to be created and recruited to for the first time, a job analysis and/or in some cases a task analysis might be undertaken to document the actual or intended requirements of the job. From these the relevant information is captured in such documents as job descriptions and job specifications. Often a company will already have job descriptions that represent a historical collection of tasks performed. Where already drawn up, these documents need to be reviewed or updated to reflect present day requirements. Prior to initiating the recruitment stages a person specification should be finalised to provide the recruiters commissioned with the requirements and objectives of the project.

Sourcing

Sourcing is the use of one or more strategies to attract or identify candidates to fill job vacancies. It may involve internal and/or external advertising, using appropriate media, such as local or national newspapers, specialist recruitment media, professional publications, window advertisements, job centres, or in a variety of ways via the internet. Alternatively, employers may use recruitment consultancies to find otherwise scarce candidates who may be content in their current positions and are not actively looking to move companies may be proactively identified. This initial research for so-called passive candidates, also called name generation, results in a contact information of potential candidates who can then be contacted discreetly to be screened and approached.

Screening and selection

Suitability for a job is typically assessed by looking for relevant skills, knowledge, aptitude, qualifications and educational or job related experience. These can be determined via: screening résumés (also known as CVs); job applications; interviews. More proactive identification methods include performance assessments, psychological, aptitude, numeracy and literacy testing. Many recruiters and agencies use applicant tracking systems to perform the filtering process, along with software tools for psychometric testing and performance based assessment. Performance based assessment is a process to find out if job applicants perform the responsibilities for which they are applying. In many countries, employers are legally mandated to ensure their screening and selection processes meet equal opportunity and ethical standards.

In addition to the above selection assessment criteria, employers are likely to recognise the value of candidates who also have the so-called 'soft skills', such as interpersonal or team leadership and have the ability to reinforce the company brand through their behaviour in front of customers and suppliers. Multinational organisations and those that recruit from a range of nationalities are also concerned candidates will fit into the prevailing company 'culture'.

A British Armed Forces recruitment centre in Oxford.

Lateral hiring

"Lateral hiring" refers to a form of recruiting; the term is used with two different, almost opposite meanings. In one meaning, the hiring organization targets employees of another, similar organization, possibly luring them with a better salary and the promise of better career opportunities. An example is the recruiting of a partner of a law firm by another law firm. The new lateral hire then has specific applicable expertise and can make a running start in the new job. In some professional branches such lateral hiring was traditionally frowned upon, but the practice has become increasingly more common. An employee's contract may have a non-compete clause preventing such lateral hiring.

In another meaning, a lateral hire is a newly hired employee who has no prior specific applicable expertise for the new job, and for whom this job move is a radical change of career. An example is the recruiting of a university professor to become chairman of the board of a company.

Onboarding

Further information: onboarding

"Onboarding" is a term which describes the process of helping new employees become productive members of an organization. A well-planned introduction helps new employees become fully operational quickly and is often integrated with a new company and environment. Onboarding is included in the recruitment process for retention purposes. Many companies have onboarding campaigns in hopes to retain top talent that is new to the company; campaigns may last anywhere from 1 week to 6 months.

Recruitment approaches

There are a variety of recruitment approaches and most organisations will utilise a combination of two or more of these as part of a recruitment exercise or to deliver their overall recruitment strategy. In summary five basic models more commonly found are:-

• An in-house personnel or human resources function may in some case still conduct all stages of the recruitment process. In the smallest organisations recruitment may be left to individual managers. More frequently whilst managing the overall recruitment exercise and the decision-making at the final stages of the selection process external service providers may undertake the more specialised aspects of the recruitment process.

• Outsourcing of recruitment to an external provider may be the solution for some small businesses and at the other extreme very large organisations

• Employment agencies are established as both publicly funded services and as commercial private sector operations. Services may support permanent, temporary, or casual worker recruitment. They may be generic agencies that deal with providing unskilled workers through to highly skilled managerial or technical staff or so-called niche agencies that specialize in a particular industrial sector or professional group.

• Executive search firms for executive and professional positions. These firms operate across a range of models such as contingency or retained approaches and also hybrid models where advertising is also used to ensure a flow of candidates alongside relying on networking as their main source of candidates.

• Internet recruitment services including recruitment websites and job search engines used to gather as many candidates as possible by advertising a position over a wide geographic area. In addition social network sourced recruitment has emerged as a major method of sourcing candidates.

In-house recruitment

Many employers undertake at least some if not most of their own in-house recruitment, using their human resources department, front-line hiring managers and recruitment personnel who handle targeted functions and populations. In addition to coordinating with the agencies mentioned above, in-house recruiters may advertise job vacancies on their own websites and other job boards, coordinate internal employee referrals, target and headhunt external candidates (much like an external agency or search firm), work with external associations, trade groups and/or focus on campus graduate recruitment. Some large employers choose to outsource all or some of their recruitment process (recruitment process outsourcing) however a much more common approach is for employers to introduce referral schemes where employees are encouraged to source new staff from within their own network.

Internal recruiters

An internal recruiter (alternatively in-house recruiter or corporate recruiter) is member of a company or organization and typically works in the human resources (HR) department. Internal recruiters may be multi-functional, serving in an HR generalist role or in a specific role focusing all their time on recruiting. Activities vary from firm to firm but may include, screening CVs or résumés, conducting aptitude or psychological testing, interviewing, undertaking reference and background checks, hiring; administering contracts, advising candidates on benefits, onboarding new recruits and conducting exit interviews with employees leaving the organisation. They can be permanent employees or hired as contractors for this purpose. Contract recruiters tend to move around between multiple companies, working at each one for a short stint as needed for specific hiring purposes. The responsibility is to filter candidates as per the requirements of each client.

Employee referral

Further information: employee referral

An employee referral program is a system where existing employees recommend prospective candidates for the job offered, and if the suggested candidate is hired, the employee who referred receives a cash bonus.

In some cases the organization provides the employee referral bonus only if the referred employee stays with the organization for stipulated time duration (most cases 3 – 6 months). Referral bonus depends on the grade of the referred employee, higher the grade higher the bonus however the method is not used for senior level hiring.

Outsourcing

An external recruitment provider may suit small organisations without the facilities to recruit. In typically the largest organisations a formal contract for services has been negotiated with a specialist recruitment consultancy. These are known in the industry as Recruitment Process Outsourcing. Recruitment process outsourcing may involve strategic consulting for talent acquisition, sourcing for select departments or skills, or total outsourcing of the recruiting function.

On-Campus Recruiting

Job interview 0001

College recruiting may not be living up to its potential:

• Companies may not be realizing full value from their recruitment programs.
• Fewer than half of corporate recruiters receive trainning in the proper techniques for interviewing job applicants.

Recruiters tend to form a positive or negative impression about an applicant's qualifications in the first few minutes of an interview, hardly sufficient time to collect information on which to base a recruiting decision. Recruiters also tend to spend more time talking with applicants they cosider to be qualified and less time with applicants they dismiss on the basis of a superficial judgement. Often, recruiters do not follow the corporate script about:

1. The topics to be covered in an interview
2. Sometimes they fail to discuss important issues with applicants.

All these points reflect a lack of interviewing skills.

Employment agencies

Further information: employment agencies

Employment agencies operate in both the public and private sectors. Publicly funded services have a long history, often having been introduced to mitigate the impact on unemployment of economic downturns, such as those which form part of the New Deal program in the US, and the Job Centre Plus service in the UK.

The commercial recruitment industry is based on the goal of providing a candidate to a client for a price. At one end of the spectrum there are agencies that are paid only if they deliver a candidate that successfully stays with the client beyond the agreed probationary period. On the other end of the spectrum there are agencies that are paid a retainer to focus on a client's needs and achieve milestones in the search for the right candidate, and then again are paid a percentage of the candidate's salary when a candidate is placed and stays with the organization beyond the probationary period.

The agency recruitment industry is highly competitive, therefore agencies have sought out ways to differentiate themselves and add value by focusing on some area of the recruitment life cycle. Though most agencies provide a broader range of service offering, at the two extremes are the traditional providers and the niche operators.

Traditional agency

Also known as employment agencies, recruitment agencies have historically had a physical location. A candidate visits a local branch for a short interview and an assessment before being taken onto the agency’s books. Recruitment consultants then work to match their pool of candidates to their clients' open positions. Suitable candidates are short-listed and put forward for an interview with potential employers on a contract or direct basis.

Niche recruiters

'Specialized recruiters' exist to seek staff with a very narrow specialty. Because of their focus, these firms can very often produce superior results due to their ability to channel all of their resources into networking for a very specific skill set. This specialization in staffing allows them to offer more jobs for their specific demographic which in turn attracts more specialized candidates from that specific demographic over time building large proprietary databases. These niche firms tend to be more focused on building ongoing relationships with their candidates as is very common the same candidates are placed many times throughout their careers. Online resources have developed to help find niche recruiters. Niche firms also develop knowledge on specific employment trends within their industry of focus (e.g. the energy industry) and are able to identify demographic shifts such as aging and its impact on the industry.

Financial arrangements operated by agencies take several forms, the most popular are:

• A contingency fee paid by the company when an agency introduced candidate accepts a job with the client company. Typical fees range from 15% to 25% based on the candidates first-year base salary (fees as low as 12.5% can be found online). This type of recruitment usually has a rebate guarantee should the candidate fail to perform or leave within a set period of time (often up to a 3-month period and as much as a 100% rebate).
• An advance payment that serves as a retainer, also paid by the company, non-refundable paid in full depending on outcome and success (e.g. 40% up front, 30% in 90 days and the remainder once a search is completed). This form of compensation is generally reserved for high level executive search/headhunters
• Hourly charge for temporary workers and projects. A pre-negotiated hourly fee, in which the agency is paid and pays the applicant as a consultant for services as a third party. Many contracts allow a consultant to transition to a full-time status upon completion of a certain number of hours with or without a conversion fee.

Executive search firms ("Headhunters")

Further information: executive search

An executive search firm or "headhunter" are industry terms for a third-party recruiters who seeks out candidates often when normal recruitment efforts have failed. Headhunters are generally considered more aggressive than in-house recruiters or may have pre-existing industry experience and contacts. They may use advanced sales techniques. They may also purchase expensive lists of names and job titles but more often will generate their own lists. They may arrange a meeting or a formal interview between their client and the candidate and will usually prepare the candidate for the interview, help negotiate the salary and conduct closure to the search. They are frequently members in good standing of industry trade groups and associations. Headhunters will often attend trade shows and other meetings nationally or even internationally that may be attended by potential candidates and hiring managers.

Headhunters are typically small operations that make high margins on candidate placements (sometimes more than 30% of the candidate’s annual compensation). Due to their higher costs, headhunters are usually employed to fill senior management and executive level roles. Headhunters are also used to recruit very specialized individuals; for example, in some fields, such as emerging scientific research areas, there may only be a handful of top-level professionals who are active in the field. In this case, since there are so few qualified candidates, it makes more sense to directly recruit them one-by-one, rather than advertise internationally for candidates. While in-house recruiters tend to attract candidates for specific jobs, headhunters will attract both candidates and actively seek them out as well. To do so, they may network, cultivate relationships with various companies, maintain large databases, purchase company directories or candidate lists and cold call prospective recruits.

Headhunters are increasingly using social media to find and research candidates. This approach is often called social recruiting.

Executive research & resourcing firms

These firms are the new hybrid operators in the recruitment world able to combine the research aspects (discovering passive candidates) of recruiting and combine them with the ability to make hires for their clients. These firms provide competitive passive candidate intelligence to support companies' recruiting efforts. Normally they will generate varying degrees of candidate information from those people currently engaged in the position a company is looking to fill. These firms usually charge a daily rate or fixed fee. Executive research can help companies uncover names that cannot be found through traditional recruitment methods and will allow internal recruitment and resourcing managers more time to deal with face to face interviews.

Internet recruitment services

Recruitment websites

Such sites have two main features: job boards and a résumé/curriculum vitae (CV) database. Job boards allow member companies to post job vacancies. Alternatively, candidates can upload a résumé to be included in searches by member companies. Fees are charged for job postings and access to search resumes. Since the late 1990s, the recruitment website has evolved to encompass end-to-end recruitment. Websites capture candidate details and then pool them in client accessed candidate management interfaces (also online). Key players in this sector provide e-recruitment software and services to organizations of all sizes and within numerous industry sectors, who want to e-enable entirely or partly their recruitment process in order to improve business performance.

The online software provided by those who specialize in online recruitment helps organizations attract, test, recruit, employ and retain quality staff with a minimal amount of administration. Online recruitment websites can be very helpful to find candidates that are very actively looking for work and post their resumes online, but they will not attract the "passive" candidates who might respond favorably to an opportunity that is presented to them through other means. Also, some candidates who are actively looking to change jobs are hesitant to put their resumes on the job boards, for fear that their companies, co-workers, customers or others might see their resumes.

Job search engines

The emergence of meta-search engines allows job-seekers to search across multiple websites. Some of these new search engines index and list the advertisements of traditional job boards. These sites tend to aim for providing a "one-stop shop" for job-seekers. However, there are many other job search engines which index solely from employers' websites, choosing to bypass traditional job boards entirely. These vertical search engines allow job-seekers to find new positions that may not be advertised on traditional job boards, and online recruitment websites.

Recruitment Agency Directories

With the emergence of the Internet, also came the functionality to provide recruitment agencies with a low-cost alternative to advertising. Unlike a standard directory, these niche directories have helped those searching for employment representation, a way to narrow down their requirements based on their own job-searching requirements. Recruitment agencies are then able to showcase their services directly to those looking.

Social recruiting

Further information: Social recruiting

Social recruiting is the use of social media for recruiting including sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Talent Acquisition

Talent acquisition is the targeted recruitment/acquisition of high performing teams for example; in sales management or financial traders into a company from a competitor or similar type of organisation. Organisations requiring external recruitment or head-hunting firms are now employing "talent acquisition" specialists whose job it is to identify, approach and recruit top performing teams from competitors. This role is a highly specialised role akin to that of a traditional recruiter/headhunter specialist but carrying greater visibility and strategic importance to a business. In many cases the talent acquisition person is linked directly to a company's executive management, given the potential positive impact a company can benefit from by getting high performing sales people into the business, whilst removing the same performing sales people from competitors.

See also

• Applicant Tracking System
• Candidate Submittal
• Employment agency
• Executive search
• e-recruitment
• Firing
• Human resource management
• Human resources
• Human resource consulting
• Job search
• Onboarding
• Personality-Job Fit Theory
• Recruitment advertising
• Recruitment process outsourcing
• Sourcing (personnel)
• Trends in pre-employment screening

Recruiting Companies

• List of employment agencies
• List of executive search firms
• List of employment websites
• List of temporary employment agencies

External Links

• Recruitment Portal