Recruiting & Selecting Employees (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE Business): Revision Note

The recruitment process

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

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

Reasons why vacancies arise

• During periods of business growth, more employees are needed as the business expands its operations

• When an employee leaves their job and needs replacing

• Businesses often reorganise their organisational structure, which may result in the need for additional staff

• A new business start-up needs to recruit workers for the first time

• Businesses can choose to use a recruitment agency to carry out the recruitment and selection process on their behalf

  • New employees may be found quickly from its pool of available talent

  • Management time can be saved

  • Recruitment agencies usually charge a finding fee for their specialist services

• Online recruitment has become increasingly popular, with sites such as LinkedIn and Indeed helping businesses to share vacancy details and compare applicants

Stages in the recruitment process

Step 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 (sometimes known as a person specification) outlines the qualifications, skills, experience, and personal qualities required from a candidate for a specific job e.g. problem solver, good communicator, able to code in Java etc.

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

Comparing a person specification with a job description 

Step 2: Determine the source of employees

• Internal recruitment involves a business promoting or redeploying workers that already work for them

Advantages and disadvantages of internal recruitment

• External recruitment involves bringing in new workers from outside of the business

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

Advantages and disadvantages of external recruitment

 Step 3: Advertise the role

• Roles may be advertised internally or externally

  • If the business is seeking an internal candidate, business newsletters, staff noticeboards or internal email can be used to display job advertisements

    • Line managers may be asked to recommend suitable candidates following appraisals

  • External candidates can be targeted with advertisements in newspapers, industry magazines, specialist recruitment websites, agencies and government-run agencies such as Job Centres

    • Existing employees may be asked to nominate people they know for roles , sometimes receiving a reward if their nominee is successfully recruited

    • Headhunting can be used to fill high-level roles

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

    • Specialist recruitment portals may be used to advertise, such as The Times Educational Supplement, one of the main publications and websites in the UK used to recruit teaching staff

Selection methods

• The selection process involves receiving applications, shortlisting candidates and choosing the most appropriate person(s) for the role

Receiving applications

• The business may accept applications from candidates via Curriculum Vitae (CV) and covering letter or application form

• Once applications have been received, the business shortlists suitable candidates

  • Candidates who best meet the essential and desirable criteria for the job opening in question are invited to the next stage of the recruitment process

Comparing application methods

Selection methods

• A variety of methods can be used to select the right worker for the role

Interviews

• Interviews are commonly used to meet with candidates

• They usually include a face to face, telephone or online discussion between a manager and the candidate about their suitability for the role

  • It is important to prepare a set of relevant questions to ask all candidates and to ensure that the interview is conducted in a fair and consistent manner

  • Interview questions may focus on 

    • Skills and experiences that are relevant to the job

    • Successes and failures - and how these were overcome

    • Personal interests and experiences

Selection tests

• Candidates may be asked to undergo a test to demonstrate their skills and suitability for the job

• Candidates may be asked to complete tests individually or within groups to assess how they may work as part of a team

• The different types of tests may include:

  • Skills tests (e.g. numeracy) show the ability of candidates to carry out certain tasks

  • Aptitude tests show the candidate’s potential to improve or increase their skills

  • Intelligence tests are used to assess the candidate’s ability to work at a desired level

  • Personality tests are used to identify desired characteristics or traits such as the ability to work effectively in a team

Assessment centres

• Assessment centres bring together a group of candidates to take part in a range of activities over a day or more

• Candidates may be observed completing tasks such as

  • Group discussions

  • Problem-solving exercises

  • Presentations

  • Role-plays

• This method allows employers to assess a range of skills like communication, teamwork, leadership and decision-making

• Assessment centres are especially useful when selecting for senior or important roles

References

• This involve contacting people who have worked with the candidate before, such as previous employers or teachers

• References provide information about the candidate’s past performance, attitude, reliability and behaviour

• They help to check that the candidate is honest about their experience and suitable for the role

• They are usually collected after interviews but before making a final job offer

Choosing who to employ

• The final decision of which applicant to employ depends on several factors

• Even when a suitable candidate is identified, the business will need to think about whether it can finalise their appointment 

  • Can the business fulfil the applicant's pay and conditions demands?

  • Can appropriate fringe benefits be offered?

  • Are attractive development opportunities available to the applicant?

Factors used to select the best applicant