Recruitment Process1
Recruitment or Hiring is the process of searching and attracting the right candidates for hiring them
for vacant jobs in an organization. There are two sources of recruitment, internal sources and external
sources. Recruitment refers to the process of searching for potential employees and influencing them
to work for their organization. The purpose of the recruitment process is to find talented and qualified
individuals for the growth and development of their organization. It is part of the human resource
management(HRM) department.
Meaning of Recruitment Process
Edwin B. Flippo defined the recruitment process – ‘Recruitment is the process of searching the
candidates for employment and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organization.’ In the words
of Dale S. Beach ‘Recruitment is the development and maintenance of adequate manpower resources.
It involves the creation of a pool of available labor upon whom the organization can draw when it
needs additional employees.’ The recruitment process leads to a collection of candidates for any
vacancies an organization might have.
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Sources of Recruitment
There are many sources of recruiting potential employees but all of them can be grouped into two
categories, namely.
Internal Sources of Recruitment
Internal sources of recruitment consist of employees who are already on the payroll of a firm. It also
includes former employees who have returned to work for the organization. Recruitment from internal
sources is done to fill up vacancies through promotion, re-hiring and transferring employees within
the company.
Advantages of Internal Sources of Recruitment
Selecting and transferring existing employees is a simpler process.
The managers are aware of the talents and abilities of already existing employees.
Internal recruitment serves as a tool to boost the morale of employees as internal hiring creates
job and promotion opportunities for existing employees.
Internal hiring promotes a feeling of loyalty amongst the employees.
Existing employees are already aware of the company’s working methods and don’t take a
long time to adjust to new positions.
However, there is a potential drawback to the internal recruitment process. It can lead to a stagnation
in the company’s workforce. No introduction of new employees or fresh ideas.
Often employees who are not suitable for a higher position are given promotions just because they
have been at the organization for a long time, not because of their skills and qualifications.
Characteristics of Internal Sources of Recruitment
Quick process.
Cheaper than the external recruitment process.
Works as a tool of motivation for the staff.
The company’s choice is limited to existing employees of the company.
Hiring fresh employees is a lost prospect.
External Sources of Recruitment
External sources of recruitment refer to the sources that lie outside or exist external to the organization.
Sources of external recruitment include:
1. People joining an organization, specifically through recommendations.
2. Employment agencies( e.g. [Link]) or employment exchanges.
3. Advertising
4. Institutes like colleges and vocational schools (e.g. campus selection)
5. Contractors
6. Hiring unskilled labor
7. List of applications
8. Temporary workers.
Encouraging existing employees to recommend suitable candidates can thus lead to the hiring of the
right individuals for the right jobs. A higher level of teamwork and synchronization among employees
would, therefore, be achieved. However, it might also lead to employees picking their close friends
and family members who are unfit for the jobs. Thus, talented individuals might lose out on good
opportunities. Whereas, external recruitment provides a wider collection of potential employees with
the necessary skillset. It has proven to be a successful recruitment process when hiring for managerial
and technical positions.
Characteristics of External Sources
Long and time-consuming process.
It is an expensive process.
When external people are given opportunities over them, then existing workers lose morale
Hiring new employees can lead to the introduction of new blood and thus the introduction of
a new set of skills and ideas.
Question: A company hired a software engineer through a reference. Which of the two types of
recruitment process does this come under?
Answer – This type of recruitment is part of an external source of the recruitment process because the
software engineer who has been hired was not an existing employee of the organization. He was hired
through an external source, specifically by the recommendation of an existing employee.