Planning is very important for every company before going into recruitment.

• Recruiting for immediate project requirements is chaotic but unavoidable. Avoid the temptation to relax selection criteria and procedures, instead prepare a contingency procedure to be followed in all such cases.
• Plan recruitment in advance, try to get a fix of requirements at least 2-3 months in advance.
• Review job description and review application against description.
• Rewrite job description and job analysis whenever necessary.

Advertising

• The image of your company conveyed by appointment advertisements should be very carefully managed, budget for using an advertising agency.
• Define an objective for each advertisement released in terms of number of responses, expected shortlists and expected selections. Give a specific reference code to each advertisement to monitor results.
• Monitor actual response by tracking against reference code for the advertisement.
• In newspaper advertising, ensure immediate action by announcing interview dates in the immediate future. Avoid Walk-ins, ask people to make an appointment instead.
• Plan on the minimum period given below to complete the advertisement process from preparing the ad to selection, 3 weeks for newspapers, 6 weeks for weekly magazines and 2 months for monthly magazines.

Screening

• Have all shortlisted candidates fill in a standardised form.
• Conduct a preliminary interview to review shortlisted candidates.
• Screen out those shortlisted by mistake.
• Conduct a suitable test for all shortlisted applicants before moving them to the next stage.
• Prepare a basic shortlist by using pre-defined basic guidelines for reviewing the candidates resume such as age, education, experience etc.
• Review and summarize with candidate.
• Verify the accuracy of your notes and change where appropriate.
• Summarize candidate’s major skills, abilities, and preferences.
• Use active listening techniques and probing questions to clarify facts, opinions, and feelings.
• Test tentative conclusions.

Using Search Consultants

• Develop a panel of consultants addressing specific categories of jobs based on the consultant's expertise.
• Give a detailed brief for each position assigned to the search consultant, make sure each consultant understands the overall organisation before talking to any potential candidate.
• Maintain a relationship with the consultant such that they give higher priority to your assignments over other companies and ensure that they convey a positive image of your company always. Avoid one off arrangements.

Interviews

• Involve the Project Managers the candidate is likely to work with in the interview. It is also useful to involve peer level professionals also during interviews, wherever possible.
• Structure the interview into distinct stages introductory, technical, personal and negotiation. Move to each stage only after you are satisfied with the previous one, avoid things such as beginning with technical interviews without any introduction, negotiating without being technically satisfied etc.
• Train all interviewers on interviewing skills.

Check List

• You have a plan for requirements in the next quarter. You have discussed them in detail with the requisitioning department.
• Selection criteria and procedures are not side stepped for urgent requirements.
• There is a written job description for every position you advertise.
• Your advertisements are attractive, they accurately convey your company's image.
• There is a defined set of criteria to screen resumes received and it has been communicated to the Search Consultants.
• A structured resume format is used for reviewing shortlisted candidates.
• Employees are encouraged to refer candidates, you advertise opportunities internally.
• Search consultants send their best candidates to you, respond immediately and talk good things about the company to candidates.
• You use technical and aptitude tests for entry level candidates.
• All candidates go through a structured psychological test.
• All interviewers have been formally trained in interviewing techniques.
• Project managers always meet potential candidates before selection.
• Nobody has second thoughts after making an offer to the candidate.
• Potential candidates are aware of kind of projects they are being considered for.

Pre-empoyment Guidelines

It is best to avoid any non-job-related inquiry, either verbal or through the use of an application form, which directly or indirectly limits a person’s employment opportunities because of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, medical condition, physical handicap, marital status. sex, or age (40+).

It is the employer’s right to establish job-related requirements and to seek the most qualified individual for the job. It is presumed that the information obtained through application forms and interviews is used by the employer in making selection and assignment decisions. For this reason, the employer should make only those inquiries necessary to determine the applicant’s eligibility to be considered for employment. Documents required for legitimate business purposes which reveal protected information (such as birth certificates, naturalization papers, or medical histories), may be requested at the point of hire, not before. (The point of hire is reached once the employer has decided to hire and so informs the applicant.)

The information below is not intended to be an exhaustive compilation of all acceptable and unacceptable inquiries. The examples listed are representative of questions frequently asked.

Information that may be asked on an application includes:

Personal Information

• Date
• Name
• Present Address
• Permanent Address
• Phone number
• Referred by

Employment Desired

• Position
• Date you can start
• Are you employed no?
• If so, may we inquire of your present employer?
• Have you ever applied t9o this company before? Where? When?

Education (For elementary school, high school, college, trade, business or correspondence school)

• Name and location of school
• Did you graduate?
• Subjects studied
• Subjects of special study or research work
• Activities (You may exclude those activities that indicate race, creed, sex, marital status, age, color, national origin, or physical handicap.)

Former Employers (In California, relevant volunteer experience needs to be considered as well as job experience)

• Date (From/To)
• Name and address of employers (List employer, starting with most recent.)
• Position
• Reason for leaving

References

• Name
• Address
• Business