The Role of the Recruiter in an Effective Recruitment and Selection Process

How Recruiters (have to) Work
Shruti Misra, Coach, India, Member
During a recruitment process, it is important for any recruiter to have in-depth knowledge of the job description that he/she is going to do interviews for. If he/she takes some time to learn and research the job description in question, then he will be well-equipped for head hunting.
In the present scenario, there is often not enough time for recruiters to go through the research aspect of the job description in depth, as there are several recruitment processes happening in parallel and there's too much competition to get the best guy for the job.
I believe this is the biggest issue we face as quite often we end up with employees who are either culturally or technically not fitting in and hence there is a high rate of attrition and dissatisfaction amongst employees.

Gaff in the Recruitment Process
wallace, Consultant, Canada, Member
@Shruti Misra: from a candidate's perspective I've had great experiences with recruiters and frustrating ones a well:
- The great experience was the one when the recruiter took the time to get to know me, helped me promote my strengths and vet out my weaknesses to position and prep me perfectly for the role that "I" was very interested in. That was my experience in NYC.
- In Canada, I'm dealing with an altogether different situation. The recruiters submit me along with 2 other candidates to the client. There is no transparency in the process and the candidate is made to feel that he/she is not presented as a unique and valued individual. I am vetted primarily by qualifications-- not personality or cultural fit or any other considerations. If you look good on paper, there's a good chance you'll get the interview. I think it's an unfavorable approach that certainly doesn't create the necessary trust between a candidate and the recruiter.

The Role of the Recruiter in an Effective Recruitment and Selection Process
Mahmoud
I can tell from my point of view as a candidate not as a recruiter, the process can be proactive between a candidate and a recruiter. A clear, informative, transparent and cultured candidate will affect or influence the recruitment and the selection process, and on the other hand an experienced recruiter will fully impact and influence the process and affect the decision of selection process.
So finally, it is a 2-way articulation process between recruiter and candidate.

Choosing your Third Party Recruiter
Andrew Blaine, Business Consultant, South Africa, Member
From reading the comments, it seems to me that it is of vital importance for candidates to choose their (external) recruiter very carefully.
Choosing a recruiter/headhunter should cover at least the following points:
1. Will they present me to potential employers in the best possible light?
2. How do they guide me in the job selection process? Were they positive and supportive or was it a case of there is the job are you interested?
3. Do they give you the impression that they are really interested in you, or is it simply a job?
Selection is such an important aspect of becoming employed that each and every potential candidate needs to consider carefully before acting. Poor selection of recruiter at this phase of employment could well have seriously negative effects on the candidates subsequent job satisfaction and even their potential "employability". Think before you choose and canvass different agencies before choosing.

Person Character - Must Evaluate
Claudiu Barna, Management Consultant, Romania, Member
Interesting topic. The most important element for the company I work for is a person's character. So, the recruiter must evaluate also the whole of mental and moral characteristics of a person.

Recruitment is a Difficult Job
debahooti basu, Teacher, India, Member
Recruitment is one of the most difficult jobs in HR. Students are educated to give the desired answers and if the recruiter is not conscious enough then s/he can easily make a mistake and that will in future lead to turnover.
So the main focus of the recruiter needs to be to assess the core competency and also the interest of the candidate. Because a dissatisfied employee will never put in a 100% effort and the organization lose. Selection should be done with full dedication and analyzing of competence is a tiring job.

The Role of the Recruiter
ian cockerham
I was once interviewed for a position with Tesco. "What is it that makes you want to work for Marks and Spencer?" asked the recruiter. :-)

In what Ways Does the Recruiter Affect the Recruitment and Selection Process?
julie steel, United Kingdom, Member
Recruiter complacency (Editor ~ self-satisfaction) and cognitive bias can affect the process.
Unconscious biases can affect any recruiter because 'we like what we like' and this can affect our thinking, behavior and decisions about candidates.
Often recruiters get basic training and forget that they are recruiting practitioners who should seek to remain up to date and keep on increasing their own technical skills, knowledge and self awareness about their own biases and how that can affect process.
I wonder how many recruiters debrief after each recruitment process, have peer recruitment supervision/observation, a recruitment mentor etc.
It is a shame that recruiters are not more like coaches - I think they could take a lot from the way that professional coaches operate.

Recruitment is a 2-way Street
KRS Raman, Professor, India, Member
I have recruited more than 250 teaching staff for my university. We believe that indeed "recruitment is a 2-way street" and therefore the interview is more of idea sharing session. We find out the career goals of the interviewee and see if they can align with the varsity's needs. If there is a good match, the interview results in a win-win outcome.
However staff retention is another matter; their goals and aspirations change, and if HR can not meet them, they hop to the next job.

Recruiter Must Focus on Future Market and Future Job Needs
kvssiyer, Consultant, India, Member
Recruitment is the most vital aspect of a typical HR function. I believe recruiters should focus on and study the changing needs of the market place and of the job rather than the present level of mastery of the recruitee.
So I used to give a set of papers mostly related to the jobs for which the recruitees are applying and asked them to glance through. Then we will start with a discussion of the topic of the recruitee's interest or strength and relevant for the job, but progressively advance to other areas of relevance. This will give an opportunity to gauge the candidates ability to pick up things not known to them, but needed for the position performance.

Recruiter Capabilities: Self-Awareness, Long-term View
Kay Hempsall, Management Consultant, Australia, Member
I am aware of a number of recruitment processes where the recruitment team was unaware of their personal biases and where they were victim to concepts such as groupthink - I believe one of the most critical capabilities of a good recruiter is to be very self-aware and to have a good grasp of the strategic long-term view of the organisation and how the capabilities of the person being recruited will contribute to this long term view. It is also frustrating when recruiters decide to appoint someone just to fill the position rather than casting the net wider in a second process.

The Impact of the Recruiter in Successful Job Interviews
Adonis, Business Consultant, France, Member
Mapping the value of a candidate with what the company requires (now and in the future) is complex and means the role of the recruiter is pivotal.
Stereotypes may influence the processes, because interviews are often driven by personalities. Stereotypes become especially important if there are cultural differences between parties.
Both the recruiter's attitude and stereotypes have an impact on the influence the candidate's perception of work values, interest to join the company, etc.
The interview's context may be studied as a political system with powers and hierarchy. Balancing the power (position, knowledge, personality) of each participant in the interview is the most appropriate way for elucidating the impact of the recruiter.

How Recruiters Influence the Hiring Process
Grainne Pulver, Consultant, Ireland, Member
It is really important that the recruiter role models behaviours that align with the company culture.
In one interview I had, one of the recruiters behaved in a way that was adverse to what I believed were the values of the company. This made me rethink my application.
Also, while it is important to do behavioural interviewing I think there has to be a place for conversation. It appears companies have moved so far to the science of interviewing there is little space for intuition which I believe to be important.

The Recruiter as a Guide and Coach Throughout the Project of Recruiting
Lijsen, HR Consultant, Netherlands, Member
In popular management theories and new HR models, the recruiters is assigned to the task of not only selecting participants for the interview, but also finishing the whole process when finding the perfect fit. He or she is the participant's guide and coach throughout the project of recruiting.
Therefore, I think it is very important that recruiters are aware of the fact that they have a massive bunch of influence on the participant. They can make or break the enthusiasm for the position and the company.
A complete focus from the recruiters side and a positive outcome of the interviews has to be completed by a smooth process of selecting and hiring the best candidate, who in turn will start on the job with a good feeling.

Roles of Recruiter in Selection Processes
Rajesh Sharma, Professor, Nepal, Member
The recruiter must be free from all prejudice and personal biases, and see that the candidates fits the organization culture and system.

Role of Recruiter in Effective Recruitment
Natarajan Ramanathan
Excellent topic! It is not just a successful interview that is needed, but it should be a good qualitative one as well. This is where the skill of the interviewer comes to the fore. It is knowledge of the domain, the competencies, being good at sensing the candidate's comfort levels in various aspects that add to the quality of the interview.
I believe it is a holistic perspective and a transparent approach from the interviewer that sets the tone. All this counts up to 50% of the success. The rest is up to the candidate.

Recruiter and Candidate Should Both Try for Their Own Interest
Philip Dietschi, Student (MBA), Greece, Member
The interview is a negotiation meeting. The recruiter has to find the best person for the company and the candidate has to find the best company for his/her needs.
If the recruiter tries to find a job for the candidate s/he is wasting company resources (his/her time, office space etc).
The same way a candidate who doesn't find a job that satisfies him/her, wastes his/her time and effort.
A good recruiter should reflect the organisations values (including stereotypes). Based on that the candidate should decide if s/he wants or doesn't want to work for the organisation.
If both try for their own interest, then it can be a win-win situation.

Role of Tribe of the Recruiter
Ahmed Khator, Manager, Kenya, Member
In my country, selection decisions are purely made on tribal lines before other qualifications are considered. You are the right candidate because you are from a certain tribe and that is why you can find one ministry with staff from a single tribe only. Qualifications and experience are a secondary consideration.
Hence you can work in a department for years and only move one post up with a PhD qualification, while your colleague moves one post every six months with only a first degree qualification. Because he belongs to the right tribe. So let's not bury our heads and pretend all is well. That is why you get inefficiency and ineffective, sloppy jobs as a result!

Nepotism in Recruitment
Grace Tuimaka Henry, Solomon Islands, Member
@Ahmed Khator : Indeed, too much of silent nepotism (Editor ~ favoritism granted to relatives regardless of merit) happens in recruitment even within the top management level. Recruiting one ethnic grouping can cause disharmony amongst employees. Nepotism in recruiting will lead employees not to trust the management as neutral.

The Recruiter in the Recruiting Process
juan camilo caballero, Entrepreneur, Colombia, Member
The role of a company recruiter should be that of an expert and he should be knowledgeable of all internal processes. Often recruitment is done based on psychological tests, and that is a mistake because the result is just a perception. Selection should be done on competence and performance on the job to be performed in the company.
Does the recruiter make a difference? Surely, if you have a knowledgeable recruiter in your company, that can make a positive difference.
What about the impact of stereotypes? The impact depends on the sector people are working in. In sectors such as advertising it can be important, but in sectors such as information technology it's not so problematic.
Can bad practices influence the candidate? Yes and it is very sad to see a person doing a job that he doesn't enjoy, sometime seven for long periods of time.

Unclear or Missing Job Descriptions
Vishal Acharya, Consultant, India, Member
Many a times, the job description and job specification are not clearly demarcated to neither the candidate nor the recruiter.
Understanding the job requirements is very important for both to understand: once the candidate understands the actual requirement, he needs to assess himself first on the appropriateness. And the recruiter needs to understand what he actually wants in the person.

Recruiters Taking Qualifications Above Experience
Maree, South Africa, Member
In South Africa we have a situation where recruiters take qualifications only, and not experience into account when filtering candidates. This is dangerous as we are losing valuable skills gained through practice.

Supporting the Recruiter to have a Professional Recruiting Process
Jean Claude Perrault, Manager, South Africa, Member
The job of recruiting starts long before the recruiting process:
1. The company must first establish the actual requirements for the position. What they think they want, and what they actually need, may sometimes be different...
2. The company must ensure that the right information is passed onto the recruiter (GIGO-principle: Garbage in, Garbage Out...)
3. During the selection process, qualification, experience and company ethos must be taken into consideration.
Ultimately the decision and responsibility lies with company.

Poor Understanding of Company Philosophy, Mission and Vision
oyedeji, Student (Other), Nigeria, Member
Under normal situation the recruiter should be aware of the philosophy, missions and vision of the organisation. This enables him to understand the job descriptions and specifications.
But in most cases, the recruiter is ignorant of these. Even worse is that many recruiters do not ensure that their interest is subordinate to that of the organization.

Issues of the Recruiter in the Recruiting Process
Nana Serwaa Osei-Tutu, Analyst, Member
The recruiter's behaviour (also) makes a lot of difference. Take this example:
A very confident candidate (a lady I know) came to an interview and was excited about the job. She smiled at the panel and greeted them. They didn't look at her or respond to her greeting. This manner in which the recruiters received this candidate confused her. I don't know whether that was part of the interview, but it had an effect on her. The smile on her face disappeared and she became very tense. If the recruiters had done the opposite, she would have been more relaxed and more successful with her answers.
Some recruiters think that showing that kind of behaviour would determine if a candidate is resilient and confident, but I think it is rude and gives a wrong impression of the organization, its culture and the people in it.

Recruitment Policy?
Kidist Yami, Accountant, Ethiopia, Member
In the first place the recruiter should know the recruitment policy of the organization. The policy consists of:
- The minimum and maximum education level
- Work experience
- Department representative for the purpose of professional questions and reference of the candidates
- Etc...
Also the policy enables the selection process to work transparently.

Roles of a Recruiter in the Selection Process
K.Narayana Moorthy, HR Consultant, India, Member
Some traditional top weighted things are:
- Honesty towards the organization and the candidate
- Accountability / responsibility assigned
- Sincerity towards organization and the candidate without any bias
- Effective use of the expertise towards the business tasks
The following things are also essential:
- Good planning for the selection process
- Be an adviser to the candidate in elucidating strengths and weaknesses revealed with judicious clarifications if required to be given
- Act a representative of the organization's elucidating opportunities and threats as per the task analysis
- Be a good listener in getting information regarding candidates career plans
- Negotiate on behalf of the organization regarding remuneration.

The Role of the Recruiter in Effective Recruitment and Selection Process
Daniel Tweneboah, HR Consultant, Ghana, Member
The recruiter needs to know the key issues about the position to be filled exactly. Because by doing so ha becomes aware of the competencies that are needed for that particular role. This will then direct the line of questioning that will elicit the right responses.
The recruiter needs to provide all information in a transparent way to allow the prospective applicant to make a proper decision.
The competency framework and the accountability profile will then be critical tools here. These will help the recruiter to identify what is actually needed and identity what the job aspirant can really achieve.
The recruiter needs to be fair but firm in assessing and getting the best person for the job (both behavioural and technical), one who will be able to operate within the organisation's culture and will stay in the organisation.

The Role of the Recruiter in Recruitment and Selection Process
Amrita Das, HR Consultant, Member
Here are some guidance and tips for recruiters:
- The recruiter has to prepare by going through the job description and job specification to understand the requirements of the job.
- The recruiter has prepare by scanning the application of the candidate to understand his background and experience and to form an idea of the kind of questions that can be asked.
- It is the responsibility of a recruiter to make the candidate feel comfortable and relaxed.
- The interview should be conducted in a serene and soothing atmosphere.
- Ask open ended questions to give the candidate a maximum scope to to speak.
- Allow the candidates to talk and thus gather complete and relevant information.
- The recruiter should listen to the answer of the candidate attentively. (Avoid the situation that in some panel interviews, some panel members start discussing among themselves, answering other members' questions).
- The recruiter should not ask private questions that disturb the candidate.
A proper selection process results in low attrition and employee turnover, low work absenteeism, a low accident rate, improves morale (Esprit de Corps) and improves the organizational commitment of the employees.

Poor Recruitment Expertise / Skills
bakker, Project Manager, Netherlands, Member
Recruiters often (not always) don't have a clue of what the client is really looking for. Old job descriptions are simply copied, forgetting that technology evolves.
Sometimes they really have no expertise on the subject. Once I was asked by a recruiter: "Do you know COBOL?" when I applied for a senior project management position. Upon my counter question, "Why do you want to know this, the job is a senior project manager?" he stated, "Well it is an ICT job and COBOL is an ICT language is it not..." I stood up and I left.
In my opinion, a recruiter is totally obsolete, if he/she has no knowledge of the job content and context.

WHY the Role of Recruiter is Pivotal
Adonis, Business Consultant, France, Member
The recruiter's role is pivotal because of:
- The combination of two powers he has: delegation power from the firm and arbitrary power which grows with the degree of freedom he has within the selection process and the execution of the related tasks.
- Officially a firm hasn't any stereotypes, but simplified rules and processes push to eliminate candidates because of their age, other morphological characteristics, gender, or degree's reputation... Some of them are introduced by the recruiter via his own discretionary power. Unfortunately, if this is self-evident, however we have not so many studies on the lost value in the case of a process without stereotypes...
On the other side, how to intrust so important tasks, as the recruitment ones, to automated processes (supposed transparent) without human intervention? This is technically quasi-impossible or highly costly.

WHY Often Recruiters are Ineffective
K.S.SUBRAMANIAM, Consultant, India, Member
It is observed that "a square peg in a circular hole" happens because the domain head - under whom the candidate has to work - does not provide a sufficient/ effective role definition to HR/recruiter. If this input is precise, with a clear Role & Responsibily (R&R) definition, an estimated 75% of the recruitment jobs will be finished successfully.
It will be even more effective if the R&R is first finalised in a discussion between the domain head and HR/recruiter and THEN the process of recruitment is initiated.

Role and Responsibilities of Recruiter
K.Narayana Moorthy, HR Consultant, India, Member
Yes, a round peg fits into a square hole better than a square peg in a round hole. There are tools for modifications. Apart from this, speaking on the R&R of a recruiter, that may include:
- Focusing new trends in the industry
- Taking line managers suggestions for improvements
- Focusing on operational excellence
- Focusing on development of human capital in terms of:
  * Leadership capability
  * Drive
  * Attitude
  * Ability to adapt and change-combined with technical knowledge and skills
Responsibility: Building a common platform before the recruitment with:
- HR strategic partner views
- HR change champion"s views
- HR employee advocate's view
- HR administrative expert's views

A Few Things to Consider to make Recruiters Succesful
Joe Great, Entrepreneur, Nigeria, Member
It's important for the Recruiter/HR to be professionally unbiased so as not to influenced the selection process to favour a candidate of his/her choice due to personal affinity.
The recruiter should evaluate candidates on soft/social skills in addition to technical abilities which is often lacking in some organization that focuses more on technical skills and experience. The selection process should be based on merits.
Indeed, the Job Description for any candidate should be well defined, discussed and agreed upon with whoever the candidate would be working with before conducting the interview.
Candidates should also be assessed on the level of their knowledge of their environment, industry/sector of their respective disciplines.
The above things could go a long way to enable the Recruiter/HR to profile the candidates appropriately before the final selection is made.

Poor Knowledge of Recruiter of the Position
KATHRYN STEINER, MBA, Entrepreneur, United States, Member
@Bakker: you have presented a very valid concern. I suppose if a recruiter has limited knowledge in some field of expertise, s/he should be accompanied by a representative who has an in-depth knowledge, either from HR, or the department where the applicant will be working, or a potential colleague.

Role of Recuiter - Psychological Factor
ABBAH EDACHE ESQ, Professor, Nigeria, Member
The recruiter must in addition to the traditional requirements, consider the psychological personality of the candidate. This is often indicated in the hobby declared by the candidate.
For example, the candidate may be a chartered accountant with degrees in accountancy, but if he loves travelling and general outdoor life, he can only do the banal things; he cannot be creative in that area.

Obviously the Recruiter Must not Discriminate
haguma brian, Student (University), Uganda, Member
The recruiting desk should be free of any form of bias e.g. ethnic, religion, sex or even race.
All that matters is ability to work.

The Recruiters Role to the Organization and the Prospective Staff Member
ruth owoade, HR Consultant, Nigeria, Member
What's important is to understand what your client wants. No biases.
Work closely with line management and understand what skills can be traded off for what quality. Some may be nurtured (by training, mentoring, learning...) others must already exist.
Find a balance focus on the total package: what the recruiting organization wants, what the interviewee has to offer and how this experience will play out in his career.
Success is when you get the best job for the best person and both the employer and the employee are satisfied.

In What Ways the Recruiter Affects the Recruitment Processes
Adonis, Business Consultant, France, Member
A recruiter may affect the recruitment process in various ways:
- reduce/extend recruitment task duration
- affect the content of the recruitment tasks using discretionary power
- alter the logic of the process execution.
- His objective (personal or collective or corporate) can differ
- Also the impact he has on the candidate's performance and mental state of the candidate may vary following his personality and sensibility.
- Also it depends on the power of the recruiter. I know of a case where a recruiter, a common employee in a HR dept, in order to help recruit one of his friends, set up a fictitious recruitment by officially inviting candidates to show that the recruitment was done properly. All other candidates were given a bad score for their performance. Fortunately, this is an extreme case where recruiters use the processes for other objectives.

Headhunters Get Paid to do a Job
wallace, Consultant, Canada, Member
@Mahmoud: I disagree. The one major difference is that a headhunter gets paid and the candidate, 9 times out of 10, is an object, a resource.
If a headhunter is getting paid by a client, then he or she does not necessarily have your best interest in mind.
Headhunters hold all the cards. There is minimal transparency in the process. Therefore, the greater responsibility falls on the headhunter to act professionally.
If headhunters act professionally and are genuine, then they will be very successful because they will build tremendous loyalty from the people they places.

Relationship is Built with Recruiter
KATHRYN STEINER, MBA, Entrepreneur, United States, Member
A relationship is started and solidified when hired by the recruiter. This is an important relationship, and in my estimation the recruiter should keep in contact with the employee, check in, see how things are going, be more involved than just initially with recruiting. Be involved throughout the employees career. This is my opinion.

The Role and Responsibility of the Recruiter
Andrew Blaine, Business Consultant, South Africa, Member
@Kathryn Pawley Steiner: hi there Katherine, I agree with your sentiments. As we go through life, every person we meet will influence our future, even on a minute scale. The recruiter we choose should have a hugely positive effect on our future.
As an intermediary between the employer and employee, the recruiter should represent both sides openly and fairly each to the other. For success, recruitment has to be more a profession than a form of employment; we must make sure our recruiter thinks the same. Have fun and enjoy your journey.

The Role of a Recruiter
phyllis MUKASA N, Student (University), Uganda, Member
Human resource manager is a pivotal in the recruit process. Therefore, he or she has the responsibility to identify the special abilities of the candidate and general that the organization has set. He/she should not be biased during the selection process.

2 Types of Recruiters (Internal and External)
bakker, Project Manager, Netherlands, Member
Reading through all the reactions, I notice that there is some confusion with the term 'recruiter'.
1. The (internal) recruiter hired by/or part of the company looking for staff
2. The (external) recruiter hired by an individual looking for a job (I prefer to call then job hunters or executive searchers)
I think we should focus on the first category (internal recruiter), since that is the person you will find sitting opposite you when you have your interview.
@wallace and @Mahmoud : a headhunter is something completely different. After "your head has been hunted" you still end up sitting opposite the recruiter. I myself have several job hunters doing the searching for me. This saves me time, so I can do my daily job. Once an project is nearing its completion, I simply call them. They will then start to "hunt". They know what I want, and what my skills are.
But despite all this, if you are faced during the interview with a recruiter who doesn't know left from right...;-)
@KATHRYN PAWLEY STEINER: I totally agree!

The Role of the Recruiter in Recruitment
kvssiyer, Consultant, India, Member
There are many cases of musicians who gave their life to music. Likewise, we can also find cases of sportsmen who gave their life to sports or even writers and actors.
What make these people willing to give their life to the profession they are in?
And if these same people would be placed in another function or assignment than the one they hold at the present, will they demonstrate the same level of life giving commitment?
When we do a root analysis it can be seen that the performance of such people is more correlated to the level and degree of the match between the demands of their job and the inherent interests or talents they possess.
In the case of the musician it is in perfect harmony. The result is that he forgets himself during the course of the music concert.
So the role of the recruiter is to find candidates with the best fit with the job, rather than just academic excellence or excellence in the present job. Because both last things do not correlate to success in the new job for which the recruiter is seeking a candidate.

Role of the External Recruiter
Ahmed Khator, Manager, Kenya, Member
My company recently used an external recruiter to head hunt a certain vacant post. After the exercise three candidates were to be presented to the company board for interview. Two were from other companies while one was from the same company. On the interview day the board was surprised that one was from within. That sent a signal that they had no intention to promote local talent. I feel engaging an external recruiter therefore was a waste of time and resource since even after the external recruiter found talent from within the organization, the employer was still persistent to recruit from outside. This sends a strong message to employees that the employer has no positive future plans in developing existing personnel. When the light of hope is extinguished, despair sets in resulting in low morale, low output, increased expenditure and/or even waste! I therefore support the role of the external recruiter but do not have faith in the internal recruiter who judges on perception instead of performance.

Recruitment: Hiring the Right Person for the Right Job
Kevin M. Adolfo, Management Consultant, Philippines, Member
The recruiter plays a vital role in the recruitment process. He/she establishes the recruitment process, which should basically be aimed to hire the right person for the right job.
In order to live up with this objective, he/ she must be equipped with proper knowledge and skills in screening applicants, conducting interviews, battery of tests, and the like. In other words, the recruiter must consider a lot of factors before he/ she hires the applicant.
Screening the applicants/ candidates is not only about his/ her educational background and experiences. Character, accomplishments, etc are also equally important especially if the candidate is being considered to a key position in the company. Failure to observe and follow proper recruitment can endanger the company. Hiring applicants who are not fitted to the requirements of the job is simply a cost or a "waste" to the company.

Recruitment: Assisting in Making the Right Choices for Life
kvssiyer, Consultant, India, Member
@Kevin M. Adolfo: I agree recruitment must not be selling a position or job, but it should be about identifying the right person for the job or even about (assisting in) making the right choice for life.
Any variation from the above is a cause for performance failure for the company and job dissatisfaction for the employee.

Role of the Outsourced Recruiter - the Internal Job
Andrew Blaine, Business Consultant, South Africa, Member
@Ahmed Khator: I wonder if the outsourced recruiter has not done your firm a favour by removing the preconception that suitable candidates could only be found outside the company? All your workforce should now feel that they are also qualified to meet the challenges ahead for the company and compare favourably with other businesses? To me, what has happened has been to your benefit, not a waste of time at all?

Selection Process in Recruitment
Tanaya, India, Member
My opinion about the Recruiter (R) is that he is a mediator between the company and the applicant.
- The R receives the resumes and sorts them by matching skills.
- The R sends list to the recruiting manager or Department Head (DH).
- The R starts screening applicant by pre-level interview + evaluates each candidate (pre-screening question by DH or the R prepares questions and answers before interview).
- The R sorts the candidate based on applicant answers in the pre-level interview.
- A second round of sorting applicants is done and send to the DH. If DH says OK ⇒ next round. DH provides panel member (interviewer for next round).
- The R schedules the interviews and informs the date and time and location to all the candidates and panel members.
- Follow up with the candidate untill the interview is held.
- Third round of sorting applicant by panel members evaluation.
- Fourth round: applicant is sent to DH for other conversations (it depends on company recruitment policy)
- Finally an HR round where the applicant gets a job offer.

Recruitment Psychology
ABBAH EDACHE ESQ, Professor, Nigeria, Member
I think that recruiting the right person for the job should, after the preliminaries of checking credentials and personal type of questions, go further to investigate the candidate's psychological make-up vis-a-vis the job requirements.
One way of checking this within the short time of the interview, is to look at the resume to see what the employee himself declares to be his preference, I mean hobby.
- A person who declares that his hobbies are travelling and meeting people may not be a good accountant despite qualifications and maybe experience in accounting assignments.
- Ditto a person who declares that his hobbies are reading novels and watching television, may not be the best man for a sales job!

Two Kinds of Recruiters Playing Different Roles
ANUJ KUMAR SHRIVASTAVA, Manager, India, Premium Member
The HR person certainly plays a very important role in the process. There are basically two types of recruiters or ways of interviewing people:
1. A first kind of HR person is interested in knowing you, your hobbies, passion etc. They believe in being kind and in making you feel comfortable first and start questioning you only when convinced that you are relaxed, and can answer to the best of your capabilities.
2. Another kind of HR person believes in stress testing. They will purposely put you under pressure by questions and remarks like: "Why are you wearing this shirt? I don't like the colour" etc. which do not have a relevance beyond causing a situation of stress. The candidate migth automatically get confused, while the answer to this type of questions needs to be as random as the question was.
But the point is: the interview approach or recruiter profile automatically affects the candidates.
Both techniques are right and have their own strengths and weaknesses, and need to be used in job interviews as per the requirement or need of vacancy.

Role of Recruiters Differs in Internal and External Recruiment Process
Raghu Raman, Professor, Sultanate of Oman, Member
We have to distinguish the Internal and the External Recruitment Process:
- Internal within the company
- External by consultants also part of the recruitment process.
The behavior of the recruiter is very important and plays a critical role for the selection of the right person for the right job especially at a senior level. The recruiters are almost an ambassador for the organisation. Most of the recruiters focus on EI rather than on IQ, especially for senior level positions. The recruitment process also differs at the various functional levels and also for various disciplines.
When I was a consultant and CEO of a consultant company, my main focal point was recruitment at senior level. PR + HR skills are very important and success of the recruiter is nog before the candidate joins the company and even stays there till both parties (candidate + company) are mutually satisfied. Even when the HR practices are a foolproof system, at times no one can predict what is in the mind of the candidate and a 100% promise by a candidate may turn out to be untrue at times.

We Need to Combine the Strategies of Test as per Requirement
ANUJ KUMAR SHRIVASTAVA, Manager, India, Premium Member
@Raghu Raman: Thank you Sir. I agree to an extent. But practitioners now use software which records the behavior and carry out truth tests which is unknown to the candidate. This somehow helps in the filtering process.
Depending on the level in the organization, the tests and type of interviews may differ:
- Lower level: technical skills
- Middle level: technical + analytical skills
- Higher level: HR skills, entrepreneurial skills and political skills.

Extended Role Of Recruiter to Observe Candidate in Work Environment
kvssiyer, Consultant, India, Member
Even if you recruit the best candidates of the lot interviewed, it still does not guarantee a good performance from the candidate recruited. The recruited persons may have demonstrated the best of their competence in the air conditioned rooms where they were interviewed, but do they demonstrate the same level of competence in the work place where the working conditions are totally different? Can the actual working conditions be simulated in the interviewing process?

But also this calls for the selected candidatures to be kept under observation for a period of time (one year or so) to assess his/her competence to deal with the situations as they evolve in the workplace and perhaps redeploy certain persons till the best fit with a job is found, matching their talents, inclinations and interests.

HR Practices-Recruitment/Selection
K.Narayana Moorthy, HR Consultant, India, Member
All that I can further add to this is:
To-day business is changing fast. At the same time, implementing new HR practices takes time for any organization.
There are good reasons for this taking time, such as that obviously organizations want to avoid big risks to see that things do not go hay-way in the organization. This takes time. Also people are naturally inclined to feel that new changes to be made are not worth the effort.

Balance Between Bureaucracy and Implementation
KATHRYN STEINER, MBA, Entrepreneur, United States, Member
There should be a balance between locating a useful new HR practice, even in a large organization, and implementation. Feedback is critical, processing the idea-the pros and cons, and implementing the change once approved. There should be several months of examination in my estimation.

HR Practices/Recruitment and Selection
K.Narayana Moorthy, HR Consultant, India, Member
I 100% agree with Madame KATHRYN STEINER as far as balancing act is concerned. A detailed examination will fetch many new thoughts for consideration.

The Background of the Recruiter May Influence Recruitment
kvssiyer, Consultant, India, Member
Recruitments could easily be influenced by the background and interests and inclinations of the recruiter.
For example, a recruiter with a predominantly mechanical engineering background with intense experience in machining might look for strengths in machining in candidates with electrical engineering background and disqualify persons based on their incomplete responses or no responses for a post in quality and quality management.
This becomes a reality when the recruiter is not clear of his role as a recruiter to identify the strengths in the candidates and accordingly classify her/him. Every recruiter is to identify the strengths in the candidates rather than weaknesses alone. This will help placement and matching of the candidate in the right slot.

Human Resources Audit
K.Narayana Moorthy, HR Consultant, India, Member
To-day every business organization will have both short and long term goals. In order that these goals are rewarding and successful, O.D. Is essential. HR Audit is a part of it. It is a comprehensive method to review HR policies; procedures; documentation and system to identify needs for improvement and enhancement of HR function as well as to compliance with changing rules and regulations. It to set and adjust HR practices; measure and assess current practices; co5423mpare current employment against legal requirements; identify and recommend areas for change; implement good HR practices legally; re-evaluate practices.