LESSON 2

Recruitment
 Definition of Recruitment

Recruitment – a set of activities designed to

attract qualified applicants for job position
vacancies in an organization.

Recruitment may either be external or internal.

 EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL
RECRUITMENT

 external recruitment, outside sources are considered in the process of locating potential
individuals who might want to join the organization and encouraging them to apply for
actual or anticipated job vacancies.
 Unsolicited applications and referrals from employment agencies and schools are examples
of sources outside the company from which management could select an applicant who best
fits the job opening.
 internal recruitment, filling job vacancies can be done through promotions or transfer of
employees who are already part of the organization. In other words, recruitment is within
the organization.
Methods of External and Internal Recruitment

 External recruitment methods include:

 Advertisements – through websites, newspapers, trade journals, radio,
television, billboards, posters, and e-mails among others.
 Unsolicited applications – received by employers from individuals who
may or may not be qualified for the job openings.
 Internet recruiting – independent job boards on the Web commonly used
by job seekers and recruiters to gather and disseminate job opening
information.
 Methods of External and Internal Recruitment

 Employee referrals – are recommendations from the organization’s

present employees who usually refer friends and relatives who they
think are qualified for the job.
 Educational institutions – good sources of young applicants or new
graduates who have formal training but with very little work
experience. For technical and managerial positions, schools may
refer some of their alumni who may have the necessary
qualifications needed for the said job positions.
 Methods of External and Internal
Recruitment

 Professional associations – may offer placement services to their members

who seek employment. Employers may make use of the listings that they
publish in their journals regarding members who are available for possible
recruitment or hiring.
 Public and private employment agencies – may also be good sources of
applicants for different types of job vacancies for they usually offer free
services while private ones charge fees from both the job applicant and the
employers soliciting referrals from them.
 Methods of External and Internal
Recruitment

 Internalrecruitment is done within the organization. Most managers prefer to

follow a policy of filling job openings through promotions and transfer.
 Recruitment may be done by using company bulletin boards, company
intranet, company newsletters, and recommendations from department or
unit heads, among others.
 Both external and internal recruitment have their own advantages and
disadvantages.
 External Recruitment Advantages

 1. Advertising and recruiting through the Internet reach a large number of possible applicants,
thus, increasing the possibility of being able to recruit applicants suited for the job.
 2. Applicants who submit applications and resumes through their own initiative are believed
to be better potential employees because they are serious about getting the job.
 3. Employee referrals from outside sources are believed to be high quality applicants because
employees are generally hesitant to recommend persons who are not qualified for job
openings.
 4. Executive search firms usually refer highly qualified applicants from outside sources
because they make an effort to check applicants’ qualifications before recommending them to
client firms who pay for their services.
 External Recruitment Disadvantages

 1. The cost and time required by external recruitment are the typical
disadvantages of using this recruitment method. Advertising job openings and
the orientation and training of newly hired employees from outside sources,
as well as sorting out large volumes of solicited or unsolicited job
applications present challenges in budgeting time and money.
 2. Another disadvantage of external recruitment is the possibility of practicing
bias or entertaining self-serving motives in the referral of friends and relatives
by current employees and in the recommendation of private employment
agencies of job applicants.
 Internal Recruitment Advantages

 1. Less expenses are required for internal recruitment advertising; newsletters,

bulletin boards, and other forms of internal communication may disseminate
information to current employees interested to apply for job openings within the
company.
 2. Training and orientation of newly promoted or transferred current employees
are less expensive and do not take too much time since they are already familiar
with company policies.
 3. The process of recruitment and selection is faster because the candidate for
transfer or promotion is already part of the organization.
 Internal Recruitment Disadvantages

1. The number of applicants to choose from is limited.

2. Favouritism may influence a manager to recommend a
current employee for promotion to a higher position
3. It may result in jealousy among other employees who
were not considered for the position. Some may also
accuse the management of bias for choosing an employee
who is perceived to be less qualified for the job opening.