Recruitment & Selection by Raja Rao Pagidipalli

Human Resource Management – M.B.A. PRINCE
R a j a R a o P a g i d i p a l l i Page 1
RECRUITMENT & SELECTION
RAJA RAO PAGIDIPALLI
M.B.A.(HRM), M.A.(ENG), M.Phil, (Ph.D)

RECRUITMENT & SELECTION
Introduction to Recruitment:
Once the required number and the kind of human resources are determined, the
management has to find the places where required human resources are/will be
available and also work out strategies for attracting them towards the organization
before selecting suitable candidates for jobs. This process is generally known as
recruitment. Some people use the term ‘recruitment’ for employment. These two are not
one and the same. Recruitment is only one of the steps in the entire employment
process. Some others use the term recruitment for selection. These two terms are
different. Technically speaking, the function of recruitment precedes the selection
function and it includes only finding, developing the sources of prospective employees
and attracting them to apply for jobs in an organization, whereas the selection is the
process of finding out the most suitable candidate to the job out of the candidates
attracted(i.e., recruited).
Recruitment Definition:
Recruitment is defined as “a process to discover the sources of manpower to meet the
requirements of the staffing schedule and to employ effective measures for attracting
that manpower in adequate numbers to facilitate effective selection of an efficient
workforce.” Edwin B.Flippo defined recruitment as “the process of searching for
prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organization.”
These definitions can be analyzed by discussing the processes of recruitment through
systems approach.
Objectives of Recruitment: The objectives of recruitment are:
i. To attract people with multi-dimensional skills and experiences that suit the
present and future organizational strategies,
ii. To induct outsiders with a new perspective to lead the company,
iii. To infuse fresh blood at all levels of the organization,
iv. To develop an organizational culture that attracts competent people to the
company,
v. To search or head hunt/head pouch people whose skills fit the company’s
values,
vi. To devise methodologies for assessing psychological traits,
vii. To seek out non-conventional development grounds of talent,
viii. To search for talent globally and not just within the company,
ix. To design entry pay that competes on quality but not on quantum,

x. To anticipate and find people for positions that does not exist yet.
Employee Recruitment Methods: Recruitment can be in two different ways
¯ Internal recruitment is when the business looks to fill the vacancy from within
its existing workforce.
¯ External recruitment is when the business looks to fill the vacancy from any
suitable applicant outside the business.
Internal Recruitment Sources:
They include those who are employed in the organisation or those who were in the past
employ (but quit voluntarily or due to retrenchment) and would return if the
organisation likes to re-employ. The advantage in looking for internal resources is that
they provide opportunities for better deployment and utilisation of existing human
resources through planned placements and transfers. It will also motivate people
through planned promotions and career development when vacancies exist in higher
grades. The law provides preferences to retrenched employees when vacancies arise in
future.
Internal recruitment methods are not only cost efficient, they also support employee
satisfaction and moral. Before looking outside of the company for talent, take the time to
look at the current employees. Nothing causes more dissatisfaction than having
someone new take the position that an employee has been working to get promoted to.
Promoting within requires less training and transition. Here are two ways to accomplish
this:
Job postings – post open positions for employees to apply for before external hires are
considered.
Skills inventory – have HR keep a record of employee skills. Review the inventory to
identify any employees that might qualify for the job. Invite them to apply.
Internal Recruitment – Advantages
1.Cheaper and quicker to recruit
2. People already familiar with the business and how it operates
3. Provides opportunities for promotion with in the business – can be motivating
4. Business already knows the strengths and weaknesses of candidates
Internal Recruitment - Disadvantages :
1.Limits the number of potential applicants
2.No new ideas can be introduced from outside the business
3.May cause resentment amongst candidates not appointed
4.Creates another vacancy which needs to be filled

External Recruitment
The External Recruitment is the source of the fresh blood for the organization. As
a very critical HR Process, the external recruitment process has to be set up very
carefully. The external recruitment is a process, which is very sensitive to changes on the
external market and the managers are very sensitive about that as well.
The most popular ways of recruiting externally are:
Job centres – These are paid for by the government and are responsible for helping
the unemployed find jobs or get training. They also provide a service for businesses
needing to advertise a vacancy and are generally free to use.
Job advertisements – Advertisements are the most common form of external
recruitment. They can be found in many places (local and national newspapers, notice
boards, recruitment fairs) and should include some important information relating to
the job (job title, pay package, location, job description, how to apply-either by CV or
application form). Where a business chooses to advertise will depend on the cost of
advertising and the coverage needed (i.e. how far away people will consider applying for
the job
Recruitment agency – Provides employers with details of suitable candidates for a
vacancy and can sometimes be referred to as ‘head-hunters’. They work for a fee and
often specialise in particular employment areas e.g. nursing, financial services, teacher
recruitment
Personal recommendation – Often referred to as ‘word of mouth’ and can be a
recommendation from a colleague at work. A full assessment of the candidate is still
needed however but potentially it saves on advertising cost.
Unsolicited applicants – most business will have unsolicited resumes. Make sure
these resumes are kept and filed. Review these before beginning to advertise. The right
candidate might very well be in that file.
Events – job fairs, open houses. These are costly to run but can produce excellent
results. The number of positions available can best determine if it is worth the
investment.
Campus Placements – co-op programs and job placement programs are a great way
to bring in new employees. Contact local colleges or universities to see if there is an
opportunity to work together.

Modern Sources of Recruitment: A number of modern recruitment sources are
being used by the corporate sector in addition to traditional sources.
ÿ Employee Referrals: Present employees are well aware of the qualifications,
attitudes, experience and emotions of their friends and relatives. They are also
aware of the job requirements and organizational culture of their company. As
such, they can make preliminary judgment regarding the match between the job
and their friends or relatives. Hence, the HR managers of various companies
depend on the present employees for reference of the candidates for various jobs.
This source reduces the cost and time required for recruitment. Further, this
source enhances the effectiveness of recruitment. HR managers offer various
incentives/rewards including cash incentives to the current employees for
referring the best candidates.
Modern external sources include: Walk in and consult in, head-hunting, body-
shopping, mergers and acquisitions, tele-recruitment and outsourcing.
Ï Walk-in: The busy organizations and the rapid changing companies do not find
time to perform various functions of recruitment. Therefore, they advise the
potential candidates to attend for an interview directly and without a prior
application on a specified date, time and at a specified place. The suitable
candidates from among the interviewees will be selected for appointment after
screening the candidates through tests and interviews.
Ï (ii) Consult-in: The busy and dynamic companies encourage the potential job
seekers to approach them personally and consult them regarding the jobs. The
companies select the suitable candidates from among such candidates through
the selection process.
Ï (iii) Head-hunting: The companies request the professional organizations to
search for the best candidates particularly for the senior executive positions. The
professional organizations search for the most suitable candidates and advise the
company regarding the filling up of the positions. Head-hunters are also called
‘search consultants’.
Ï (iv) Body shopping: Professional organizations and the hi-tech training
institutes develop the pool of human resources for the possible employment. The
prospective employers contact these organizations to recruit the candidates.
Otherwise, the organizations themselves approach the prospective employers to
place their human resources. These professional and training institutions are
called ‘body shoppers’ and these shopping is also known as employee leasing

activity. The leasing firms employ the people and lease them for the use by
various needy companies for payment of a commission.
Ï (v) Mergers & Acquisitions: Business alliances like acquisitions, mergers,
and take-overs help in getting human resources. In addition, the companies do
also have alliances in sharing their human resources on ad-hoc basis.
It does mean that the company with surplus human resources offers the services
of their employees to other needy organizations.
Ï (vi) E-Recruitment: The technological revolution in telecommunications
helped the organizations to use internet as a source of recruitment. Organizations
advertise the job vacancies through the World Wide Web (www). The job seekers
send their applications through e-mail using the Internet. Alternatively, job
seekers place their CVs in the world wide web/internet, which can be drawn by
the prospective employers depending upon their requirements.
External Recruitment Sources: Organisations may look for people outside it. Entry
level jobs are usually filled by new entrants from outside. Also in the following
circumstances organisations may resort to outside sources:
Ï a. when suitably qualified people are not available.
Ï b. when the organisation feels it necessary to impart new blood for fresh ideas.
Ï c. when it is diversifying into new avenues and
Ï d. when it is merging with another organisation.
External Recruitment – Advantages
¯ Outside people bring in new ideas
¯ Larger pool of workers from which to find the best candidate
¯ People have a wider range of experience
External Recruitment - Disadvantages :
Longer process
More expensive process due to advertisements and interviews required
Selection process may not be effective enough to reveal the best candidate
Recruitment Strategies: The recruitment strategies formulated by the companies
include:
In-sourcing or Outsourcing: Companies recruit the candidates, employ them, train
and develop them and utilize the human resources of these candidates. This strategy is

called ‘in-sourcing’. Companies formulate and implement this strategy when the
company’s growth is stable. Some organizations employ and develop the candidates
with a view to provide the human resources to other companies which concentrate on
manufacturing, servicing and such other activities. Some manufacturing and service
companies depend for their human resource requirements on such external
organizations whose core business is to provide human resources. This strategy is called
‘outsourcing’. Most of the IT companies follow this strategy. Even manufacturing
companies also depend on outsourcing for the running the non-core business like
canteens, hospitals, office maintenance, security, house-keeping, plant maintenance etc.
outsourcing strategy is more suitable for both the fast growing and diversifying
companies.
Vast and Fast Source: The fast developing IT industry and high technology oriented
industry invariably require vast human resources within the short span of time. The best
strategy to get vast human resources immediately is through internet.
Recruitment Policy: Recruitment policy of any organization is derived from the HR
policy of the same organization. In other words, the former is a part of the latter.
However, recruitment policy by itself should take into consideration the government’s
reservation policy, policy Regarding sons of soil etc., HR policies of other organizations
regarding merit, internal sources, social responsibility in absorbing minority sections,
women etc. recruitment policy should commit itself to the organization’s HR policy like
enriching the organization’s human resources or serving the community by absorbing
the weaker sections and disadvantaged people of the society, motivating the employees
through internal promotions, improving the employee’s loyalty to the organization by
absorbing the retrenched or laid-of employees or casual/temporary employees or
dependents of present/former employees etc.
Limitations for Recruitment – Challenges:
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation ) Act, 1986: This Act replaces
the Employment of Children Act, 138, and seeks to prohibit the engagement of
children below 14 years of age in certain employment and to regulate the
conditions of work of children in certain other employment. Penalties for
contravening the provisions are fine and imprisonment.
2. The Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act,
1959: The Act requires all employers to notify vacancies (with certain
exemptions) occurring in their establishments to the prescribed employment
exchanges before they are filled
3. The Apprentices Act, 1961: The Act seeks to provide for the regulation and
control of training apprentices and for matters connected therewith. The Act
provides for a machinery to lay down syllabi and prescribe period of training,

reciprocal obligations for apprentices and employers etc. The responsibility for
engagement of apprentices lies solely with the employer. An apprentice is not a
workman.
4. The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970: This Act
seeks to regulate the employment of contract labour in certain establishments
and to provide for the abolition in certain circumstances. The Act applies to every
establishment / contractor employing 20 or more persons.
5. Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act, 1976: This Act seeks to provide
for the abolition of bonded labour system with a view to preventing the economic
and physical exploitation of the weaker sections of society.
6. The Inter-state Migrant Workmen Act, 1979: This Act safeguards the
interests of the workmen who are recruited by contractors from one state for
service in an establishment situated in another state and to guard against the
exploitation of such workmen by the contractors.
7. The Factories Act, 1948, the Mines Act, 1952, etc. : Certain legislation,
like the Factories Act and the Mines Act prohibit employment of women (in night
work, underground work etc.) and children (below 14 years of age) in certain
types of jobs.
8. Reservations for Special Groups: In pursuance of the constitutional
provisions, statutory reservations and relaxed norms have been provided in
education and employment to candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes in central and state services including departmental
undertakings, government corporations, local bodies and other quasi –
government organisations. Most state governments have issued policy directives
extending the reservations to notified backward communities also.
9. Sons -of -the-Soil: The question of preference to local population in the
matter of employment has become more complex toady than ever before. The
Govt. of India has recognised the main elements of the arguments on behalf of
the sons of the soil and laid down certain principles in the matter of recruitment
to its public sector projects, whose implementation, however, is left to the
undertakings themselves.
10. Displaced Persons: Whenever major projects are set up, large tracts of
land are acquired for the purpose, displacing several hundred households in each
case. Payment of compensation for land was at one time considered a sufficient
discharge of obligation towards persons who are dispossessed of land. This alone
did not solve the question of earning livelihood.
Realistic Job Preview:
A Realistic Job Preview is an approach that enables the communication of aspects of a
job to prospective applicants before the applicant accepts the offer of a position.

For a RJP to be effective, it is critical to allow employees to obtain a balanced view of the
positive and negative aspects of the position. Discrepancies between the applicant of the
position and the actual operational requirements of the job role may lead to lower
commitment levels and increased turnover. A RJP works by providing applicants with
information that clarifies their expectations and allows them to have a more realistic
perspective of the role. By providing a well designed and consistent RJP process to all
potential employees, the organization can reduce turnover and increase commitment by
allowing the employer to match job requirements with the applicant’s qualities and the
applicant to match their personal needs with the position requirements and the
organizational culture.
Research on the effects of utilizing a RJP has demostrated cost savings due to increased
performance and job survival; decreased levels in turnover by better meeting employee
expectations, improving their ability to cope, providing a perception of honesty for the
organization and allowing them to self-select themselves for the position. In addition,
there is also increased post-employment job satisfaction by giving them preparation to
cope with the demands of the position and making them feel that the employer has been
honest in their recruitment process.
Using Realistic Job Previews for recruitment
By providing applicants with an insight into the job vacancy – both the attractive and
less attractive aspects of the role – many candidates decide for themselves that the job is
not for them. The Realistic Job Previews (RJP) helps the applicant to really think
through whether the new role is for them – whether they will fit into the organisation
and enjoy the role.
The Realistic Job Preview should be used to: Help unsuitable applicants withdraw
themselves before the formal recruitment process takes place. Ensure such ‘self-
elimination’ is seen in a positive, brand aligned and advisory way. These applicants may
also be customers and it is important to treat them with dignity.
The benefits of Realistic Job Preview
Realistic Job Previews can help with volume recruitment by removing around 15% of
applicants through clarifying and clearly stating the job requirements, thereby
increasing the quality of applications received. It also reduces resignation rate of
recruits and ensures candidates finally selected are likely to align well with the values
and culture of the organization.
Selection:
Selection is a process of measurement, decision making and evaluation. The goal of a
selection system is to bring in to the organisation individuals who will perform well on

the job. To have an accurate and fair selection system, an organisation must use reliable
and valid measures of job applicant characteristics. In addition, a good selection system
must include a means of combining information about applicant characteristics in a
rational way and producing correct hire and no-hire decisions. A good personnel
selection system should add to the overall effectiveness of the organisation.
Organisations vary in the complexity of their selection system. Some merely skim
applications blanks and conduct brief, informal interviews, whereas others take to
resting, repeated interviewing, background checks and so on. Although the latter system
is more costly per applicant, many benefits are realised from careful, thorough selection.
An organisation needs to have members who are both skilled and motivated to perform
their roles. Either such members can be identified by careful selection or attempts can
be made to develop them after hire by extensive training. Thus cursory selection may
greatly increase training and monitoring costs, whereas spending more on the selection
process will reduce these post-hire expenses.
Selection procedure:
Selection procedure employs several methods of collecting information about the
candidate’s qualifications, experience, physical and mental ability, nature and
behaviour, knowledge, aptitude and the like for judging whether a given applicant is
suitable or not for the job. Therefore, the selection procedure is not a single act but is
essentially a series of methods or stages by which different types of information can be
secured through various selection techniques. At each step, facts may come to light
which are useful for comparison with the job requirement and employee specifications.
Steps in Scientific Selection Process
(i) Job Analysis, (ii) Recruitment. (iii) Application Form, (iv) Written Examination, (v)
Preliminary Interview (iv) Business Games (vii) Tests. (viii) Final Interview. (ix) Medical
Examination (x) Reference Checks. (xi) Line Manager’s Decision. (xii) Job offer (xiii)
Employment.
Job Analysis: Job analysis is the basis of selecting the right candidate. Every
organization should finalize the job analysis, job description, job specification and
employee specifications before proceeding to the next stop of selection.
Human Resource Plan: Every company plans for the required number of and kind of
employees for a future date. This is the basis for recruitment function.
Recruitment: Recruitment refers to the process of searching for prospective employees
and stimulating then to apply for jobs in an organization. It is the basis for the
remaining techniques of the selection and the latter varies depending upon the former.
It develops the applicants’ pool.

Development of Bases for Selection: The Company has to select the appropriate
candidates from the applicants’ pool. The company develops or borrows the appropriate
bases/techniques for screening the candidates in order to select the appropriate
candidates for the jobs.
Application Form: Application Form is also known as application blank. The
technique of application bank is traditional and widely accepted for securing
information from the prospective candidates. It can also be used as a device to screen
the candidates at the preliminary level. Many companies formulate their own style of
application forms depending upon the requirement of information based on the size of
the company, nature of business activities, type and level of the job etc. Information is
generally required on the following items in the application forms: Personal background
information, Educational attainments, Work experiences, Salary , Personal details and
References.
Written Examination: The organizations have to conduct written examination for
the qualified candidates after they are screened on the basis of the application blanks so
as to measure the candidate’s ability in arithmetical calculations, to know the
candidates’ attitude towards the job, to measure the candidates’ aptitude, reasoning,
knowledge in various disciplines, general knowledge and English language.
Preliminary Interview: The preliminary interview is to solicit necessary information
from the prospective applicants and to assess the applicant’s suitability to the job. This
may be conducted by an assistant in the personnel department. The information thus
provided by the candidate may be related to the job or personal specifications regarding
education, experience, salary expected, aptitude towards the job, age, physical
appearance and other physical requirements etc. Thus, preliminary interview is useful
as a process of eliminating the undesirable and unsuitable candidates. If a candidate
satisfied the job requirements regarding most of the areas, he may be selected for
further process. Preliminary interviews are short and known as stand-up interviews or
sizing-up of the applicants or screening interviews. However, certain required amount of
care is to be taken to ensure that the desirable workers are not eliminated. This
interview is also useful to provide the basic information about the company to the
candidate.
Business Games: Business games are widely used as a selection technique for
selecting management trainees, executive trainees and managerial personnel at junior,
middle and top management positions. Business games help to evaluate the applicants
in the areas of decision-making identifying the potentialities, handling the situations,
problem-solving skills, human relations skills etc. Participants are placed in a
hypothetical work situation and are required to play the role situations in the game. The

hypothesis is that the most successful candidate in the game will be the most successful
one on the job.
Group Discussion: The technique of group discussion is used in order to secure
further information regarding the suitability of the candidate for the job. Group
discussion is a method where groups of the successful applicants are brought around a
conference table and are asked to discuss either a case study or a subject-matter. The
candidates in the group are required to analyses, discuss, find alternative solutions and
select the sound solution. A selection panel then observes the candidates in the areas of
initiating the discussion, explaining the problem, soliciting unrevealing information
based on the given information and using common sense, keenly observing the
discussion of others, clarifying controversial issues, influencing others, speaking
effectively, concealing and mediating arguments among the participants and
summarizing or concluding apply. The selection panel, based on its observation, judges
the candidates’ skill and ability and ranks them according to their merit. In some cases,
the selection panel may also ask the candidates to write the summary of the group
discussion in order to know the candidates’ writing ability as well.
Test: Psychological tests play a vital role in employee selection. A psychological test is
essentially an objective and standardized measure of sample of behavior from which
inferences about future behavior and performance of the candidate can be drawn.
Objectivity of tests refers to the validity and reliability of the instruments in measuring
the ability of the individuals. Objectivity provides equal opportunity to all the job
seekers without any discrimination against sex, caste etc. standardization of test refers
to uniformity of the total behavior of the prospective employee on the job.
Types of Test: Tests are classified into six types. They are Aptitude tests, Achievement
tests , Situational tests, Interest tests, Personality tests and Multidimensional testing.
Aptitude tests: These tests measure whether an individual has the capacity or latent
ability to learn a given job if given adequate training. Aptitudes can be divided into
general and mental ability or intelligence and specific aptitudes such as mechanical,
clerical, manipulative capacity etc.
Emotional Quotient (EQ): Most of the organizations realized that emotional
involvement and commitment of the employees determine their contribution to the
company rather than their intelligence quotient. As such, emotional quotient (EQ) is
used as important criteria in the employee selection process.
Achievement Tests: These tests are conducted when applicants claim to know
something as these tests are concerned with what one has accomplished. These tests are
more useful to measure the value of a specific achievement when an organization wishes

to employ experienced candidates. These tests are classified into: (a) Job knowledge
test: and (b) Work sample test.
Situational test: This test evaluates a candidate in a similar real life situation. In this
test, the candidate is asked either to cope with the situation or solve critical situations of
the job.
Interest tests: These tests are inventories of the likes and dislikes of candidates in
relation to work, job, occupations, hobbies and recreational activities. The purpose of
this test is to find out whether a candidate is interested or disinterested in the job for
which he is a candidate and to find out in which area of the job range/occupation the
candidate is interested. The assumption of this test is that there is a high correlation
between the interest of a candidate in a job and job success. Interest inventories are less
faked and they may not fluctuate after the age of 30.
Personality Tests: These tests prove deeply to discover clues to an individual’s value
system, his emotional reactions and maturity and characteristic mood. They are
expressed in such traits like self-confidence, tact, emotional control, optimism,
decisiveness, sociability, conformity, objectivity, patience, fear, distrust, initiative,
judgment dominance of submission, impulsiveness, sympathy, integrity, stability and
self-confidence.
Cognitive Ability Tests: These tests measure mathematical and verbal abilities.
Popularly known tests of this category include Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and
Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT).
Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale: this is a comprehensive test including general
information, arithmetic, similarities, vocabulary, picture completion, picture
arrangement, object assembly and similar items.
Wonderlic Personnel Test: This test includes perceptual, verbal and arithmetic.
Polygraph Tests: The polygraph is an instrument that records changes in breathing,
blood pressure, pulse and skin response associated with sweating of palms and plots
these reactions on paper.
Multi-dimensional Testing: However, the need for multi-skills is being felt by most
of the companies’ consequent upon globalization, competitiveness and the consequent
customer-centred strategies. Organization have to develop multi-dimensional testing in
order to find out whether the candidates possess a variety of skills or not, candidate’s
ability to integrate the multi-skills and potentiality to apply them based on situational
and functional requirement.

Employment Interview: Final interview is usually followed by testing. This is the
most essential step in the process of selection. In this step, the interviewer matches the
information obtained about the candidate thorough various means to the job
requirements and to the information obtained through his own observation during the
interview.
Various Types of interviews: 1.Priliminary Interview 2.Core Interview 3.Decision-
Making Interview
Priliminary Interview: Informal Interview & Unstructured Interview
Ï Informal Interview: This is the interview which can be conducted at any place
by any person to secure the basic and non-job related information. the
interaction between the candidate and the personnel manager when the former
meets the latter to enquire about the vacancies or additional particulars in
connection with the employment advertisement is an example of informal
interview.
Ï Unstructured Interview: In this interview, the candidate in given the freedom
to tell about himself by revealing his knowledge on various items/areas, his
background , expectations, interest etc. Similarly, the interviewer also provides
information on various items required by the candidate.
Core Interview: It is normally the interaction between the candidate and the line
executive or experts on various areas of no knowledge, skill, talent etc. this interview
may take various forms like: Background Information Interview, Job and Probing
Interview, Stress Interview, Stress Interview, Group Discussion Interview, Formal and
Structured Interview, Panel Interview & Depth Interview.
Background Information Interview: This interview is intended to collect
the information which is not available in the application blank and to check that
information provided in the application blank regarding education, place of
domicile, family, health, interests, hobbies, likes, dislikes and extracurricular
activities of the applicant.
Job and Probing Interview: This interview aims at testing the candidate’s job
knowledge about duties, activities, methods of doing the job, critical/problematic
areas, methods of handling those areas etc.
Stress Interview: This Interview aims at testing the candidate’s job behaviour
and level of withstanding during the period of stress and strain. The interviewer

tests the candidate by putting him under stress and strain by interrupting the
applicant from answering, criticising his opinions, asking questions pertaining to
unrelated areas, keeping silent for unduly long periods after he has finished
speaking etc. stress during the middle portion of the interview gives effective
results. Stress interview must be handled with utmost care and skill. This type
interview is often invalid, as the interviewee’s need for a job and his previous
experience in such type of interviews may inhibit his actual behaviour under such
situations.
Group Discussion Interview: There are two methods of conducting group
discussion interviews, viz. group interview method and discussion interview
method. All the candidates are brought into one room, i.e., the interview room
and are interviewed one by one under group interview. This method helps a busy
executive to save valuable time and gives a fair account of the objectivity of the
interview to the candidates. Under the discussion interview method, one topic is
given for discussion to the candidates who assemble in one room and they are
asked to discuss the topic in detail. This type of interview helps the interviewer in
appraising certain skills of the candidates like initiative, interpersonal skills,
dynamism, presentation, leading, comprehension, collaboration etc. Interviewers
are at ease in this category of interview because of its informality and flexibility.
But it may fail to cover some significant portions of the candidates’ background
and skills.
Formal and Structured Interview: In this type of interview, all the
formalities, procedures like fixing the value, time, panel of interviewers, opening
and closing, intimating the candidates officially etc. are strictly followed
arranging and conducting the interview. The course of the interview is
preplanned and structured, in advance, depending on job requirements, the
questions for discussion are structured and experts are allotted different areas
and questions to be asked. There will be very little room for the interviewers to
deviate from the questions prepared in advance in a sequence.
Panel Interview: A panel of experts interviews each candidate, judges his
performance individually and prepares consolidated judgment. This type of
interview is known as panel interview. Interviews for middle level and senior
level managers are normally conducted by the panel of experts.
Depth Interview: In this interview, the candidate would be examined
extensively in core areas of job skills and knowledge. Experts test the candidate’s
knowledge in depth. Depth interviews are conducted for specialist jobs.

Information technology brought significant developments in the selection process
of employees. The vital development is on-line interview.
Decision-Making Interview:
After the candidates are examined by the experts including the line managers of the
organization in the core areas of the job, the head of the department/section concerned
interviews the candidates once again, mostly through informal discussion. The
interviewer examines the interest of the candidate in the job, organization,
reaction/adaptability to the working conditions, career planning, promotional
opportunities, work adjustment and allotment etc. the Personnel Manager also
interviews the candidates with a view to find out his reaction/acceptance regarding
salary, allowances, benefits, promotions, opportunities etc.
The head of the department and the personnel manager exchange the views and then
they jointly inform their decision to the chairman of the interview board, who finally
makes the decision about the candidates’ performance and their ranks in the interview.
Most of the organizations have realized recently that employees’ positive attitude
matters much rather than employees’ skills and knowledge. Employees with positive
attitude contribute much to the organization. Hence the interviewers look for the
candidates with the right attitude while making final decision.
Medical examination: – Applicants who have crossed the above stages are sent for a
physical examination either to the company’s physician or to a medical officer approved
for the purpose.
Reference checks: – The applicant is asked to mention in his application form the
names and addresses of two or three persons who know him well.
Final approval: – The shortlisted candidates by the department are finally approved
by the executives of the concerned department. Employment is offered in the form of
appointment letter mentioning the post, the rank, the grade, the date by which the
candidate should join and other terms and conditions in brief.
HR Interview
The goal of an HR interview is to determine the potential job performance of an
applicant based on the answers that they give to questions. The HR interview is
excellent for jobs that will require applicants to have communication skills. It will also
allow the company to obtain important information that is related to the client. During
the HR interview, the applicant will be able to demonstrate how much they know about
a particular task.

The HR interview is designed to make sure the best candidates are selected. The
interview will also allow the human resources department to determine if the
applicant can work well with the other employees. However, there are a number
of disadvantages to the HR interview process. The evaluations that are made by
the HR department will often be subjective. The decision on whether or not they
will hire the applicant is generally made during the first few minutes of the
conversation. The rest of the interview is used by the HR department to
determine if the decision is valid.
Ï There are a number of ways that can be used to make the HR interview more
successful. The use of stereotypes should be reduced as much as possible. Sex and
race should not play a role in the selection process of the company. Studies have
shown that interviewers who do not have an advanced knowledge of the job are
much more likely to use stereotypes than those who do understand the job
requirements.
ÿ The questions that are asked during the interview should always be related to the
job. When applicants are asked questions which are not related to the job, this
can damage the credibility of the company. To solve these problems, it is
important for a company to make sure they train their employees, especially
those who will be interviewing applicants. The interviewer must have
interpersonal skills. They should not make quick decisions about those they
interview, and they should never use stereotypes. The emphasis should never be
placed on any one characteristic, especially if the job requires the applicant to be
skilled in multiple areas.
¯ Reliability of the Interview: In the interview context, reliability is consensus,
or agreement, between two interviewers on their assessment of the same
candidates. This is called Interrater Reliability. Research shows that it is rather
weak.
¯ Similarity Error: Interviewers are positively predisposed to candidates who
are similar to them (in hobbies, interests, personal background). They are
negatively disposed to candidates who are unlike them.
¯ Contrast Error: When several candidates are interviewed in succession, raters
tend to compare each candidate with the preceding candidates instead of an
absolute standard. Thus an average candidate can be rated as higher than average
if he or she comes after one or two poor candidates and lower than average if he
or she follows an excellent candidate.
¯ First Impression Error: Some interviewers tend to form a first impression of
candidates rather quickly, based on a review of the application blank or on the
first few moments of the interview. Thus, this impression is based on relatively
little information about the candidate. Nevertheless the initial judgment is

resistant t change as more information or contradictory information is acquired.
In addition, the interviewer may choose subsequent questions based on the first
impression, in an attempt to confirm the positive or negative impression.
¯ Traits Rated and Halo Error: Halo error occurs when either the interviewer’s
overall impression or strong impression of a single dimension spreads to
influence his or her rating of other characteristics. For instance, if a candidate
impresses the interviewer as being very enthusiastic, the interviewer might tend
to rate he candidate high on other characteristics, such as job knowledge, loyalty
and dependability.
Placement: Placement refers to assigning rank and responsibility to an individual,
identifying him with a particular job. If the person adjusts to the job and continues to
perform per expectations, it means that the candidate is properly placed. However, if the
candidate is seen to have problems in adjusting himself to the job, the supervisor must
find out whether the person is properly placed as per the latter’s aptitude and potential.
Usually, placement problems arise out of wrong selection or improper placement or
both. Therefore, organizations need to constantly review cases of employees
expectations / potential and employee related problems such as turnover, absenteeism,
accidents etc., and assess how far they are related to inappropriate placement decisions
and remedy the situation without delay.
Induction: Induction refers to the introduction of a person to the job and the
organization. The purpose is to make the employee feel at home and develop a sense of
pride in the organization and commitment to the job. The induction process is also
envisaged to indoctrinate, orient, acclimatize, and acculturate the person to the job and
the organization. The basic thrust of Induction training during the first one or few weeks
after a person joins service in the organization is to:
þ introduce the person to the people with whom he works
þ make him aware of the general company policies that apply to him as also the
þ specific work situation and requirements,
þ answer any questions and clarify any doubts that the person may have about the
job and the organization ……and
þ provide on-the-job instructions, check back periodically how
the person is doing and offer help, if required.

Recruitment & Selection by Raja Rao Pagidipalli

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