Recruitment (AQA AS Business): Revision Note

An introduction to recruitment

• Recruitment is the process of attracting and identifying potential job candidates who are suitable for a particular role

  • Recruitment activities include job advertising, job fairs, social media outreach and referrals from current employees

  • The goal of recruitment is to create a pool of qualified candidates who can be considered for the role

The position of recruitment in the human resource flow

• Selection is the process of choosing the best candidate

  • Selection activities often involve reviewing curriculum vitaes (CVs) and conducting interviews or assessment tasks

  • The goal of selection is to hire the most suitable candidate for the job

The recruitment and selection process

1. Define the role

• Businesses should determine exactly what is required, and part of that is developing a job description and a person/job specification

  • A job specification outlines the qualifications, skills, experience and personal qualities required from a candidate for a specific job, e.g. problem-solving, good communication, able to code in Java

  • A job description outlines the duties, responsibilities and requirements of a particular job

2. Determine the best source of candidates

• The business can advertise the role internally, externally or using a combination of both

  • Internal recruitment is the process of hiring employees from within the organisation

    • Internal recruitment can be beneficial as it encourages employee development, builds morale and can save time and money on training

  • External recruitment is the process of hiring employees from outside the organisation

    • External recruitment can bring fresh ideas, experiences and perspectives to the organisation

• These methods are considered in more detail below

3. Advertise

• Businesses with a strong social media presence can use these platforms, e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn or TikTok, to advertise cost-effectively

• Depending on the nature of the business, there may be specialist recruitment portals through which they can advertise — e.g. the Times Educational Supplement (TES) is one of the main publications used to recruit teachers — but these tend to cost more

4. Receive applications

• The application stage involves collecting information from potential candidates

• These methods are discussed fully below

• Someone within the business must be nominated to manage the application process

  • This person (possibly together with others) will draw up a shortlist of candidates from the many applications received

  • The shortlist usually includes three to five candidates who are invited to interview

5. The selection process

• This process varies significantly between organisations

• Businesses must decide on the most appropriate method that will help them to identify the best candidate

• The most commonly used methods are discussed fully below

Internal and external recruitment

• Businesses often use a combination of internal and external recruitment methods, depending on the nature of the job and the availability of suitable candidates

• The method chosen will also depend on the organisation's goals, the level of the position being filled and the industry in which the business operates

Internal recruitment methods

• Internal recruitment involves the promotion or redeployment of staff to fill a vacant post

• Vacancies are advertised internally on staff notice boards, in newsletters or via in-house electronic communications

• Recruiting internally has a range of advantages and disadvantages

Advantages and disadvantages of internal recruitment

External recruitment methods

• If a vacancy cannot be filled internally, it will be necessary to look outside of the business to find suitable candidates

  • New skills, experiences and ideas can be introduced to the business

  • Some methods are expensive, and it can be difficult to target the desired audience

A comparison of external recruitment methods

• External recruitment overcomes some of the disadvantages of internal recruitment 

• However, it is often more expensive than internal recruitment

• There is also a greater degree of uncertainty, as external candidates are unknown to the business

Receiving applications

• Both internal and external candidates typically apply for advertised roles by submitting an application form

• Alternatively candidates are asked to submit a CV with an accompanying cover letter

Selecting the right candidate

• A range of methods may be used to make a choice between job applicants

• Business commonly use a combination of these methods

Common selection methods