Selection

1. Why is it important for organization to perform effective selection?

Selection is the process of staffing the right type of candidates for various
positions in the organization. It involves time, effort, and money in
selecting the right type of applicant for the job; therefore, it is a critical
process that should be carried with utmost care. We know that employees
are the most valuable assets of any organization and no work can be
carried out without them. Therefore, selection forms a very important
activity of HRM. Selection is considered as a negative process as
compared to recruitment. Selection involves rejecting unfit applicants and
offering employment to the suitable candidate only, whereas recruitment
aims to attract a pool of candidates for the job.
After selecting the right candidate in terms of qualities and skills
required, the organization would ensure that the hired employees would
perform well, make positive contribution to the organization, and remain
with the organization for a reasonable period. Thus, though the selection
process, an organization ensures that the required number and type of
employees are available to perform organizational activities and
accomplish organizational objectives successfully. It involves gathering
information about job applicants and using this information to make
hiring decisions. It seeks to discriminate fairly among job applicants to
examine, which job applicant would perform the job successfully and
which one would be unsuccessful, if hired.

2. Explain the process of selection.

Every candidate has to cross a number of hurdles before actually being

selected for the job and getting the final letter of appointment. If they are
found unsuitable at any stage, they are rejected and are not considered for
further stages. Selection process varies from organization to organization.
An organization designs its selection process depending upon its
suitability budget, and requirements.
 The following are the basic steps of selection.

 Preliminary interview
 Application blank and scrutiny of application
 Employment tests
 Employment interviews
 Reference checks
 Physical examination
 Appointment letter
 Final selection

3. What are the techniques used in the selection of employees in an

organization?

The techniques used in the selection process are as follows:

1. Employment Tests – Measures the psychological and

mental attributes of an individual. These tests have gained
wide acceptance, thus are considered as a standard selection
technique. Employment test mainly help in predicting what
an individual will do in future with respect to the attributes
tested. These tests also help in knowing the current abilities
of an individual with respect to the abilities required for the
specific jobs. The employment tests help in eliminating
those candidates who have very little probability of job
success. The importance of employment tests lies in its
ability to reduce the selection and placement costs, as a large
number of candidates can be assessed within a short period.
These tests also help in revealing the talent that could be
overlooked otherwise.

2. Employment Interview – Judges the overall personality of

the candidate. An interview is a face-to-face, oral,
observational, and personal appraisal method. “The main
purpose of the interview is to find out the suitability of a
candidate for a given job. An interview could be as long as
45 – 50 minutes or as short as five minutes depending upon
the nature of the job and the capability of the candidate. In
 an interview, various questions are asked from the candidate
related to personal, technical, or professional matters. The
interview helps in judging the candidates’ ability,
knowledge, qualifications, expertise, and aptitude. The
interviewer may also clarify the candidates about the plans,
policies, job profile, working conditions, and terms of their
employment with the company. Thus, an interview involves
two-way communication where it gives an opportunity to the
candidates to clarify their doubts, if any. Physical presence
of candidates helps the employer to get an abstract view of
their potential and traits, such as knowledge, body language,
manners, communication skills, and confidence. Generally,
an organization interviews more than one candidate for a
particular position. It is important for an organization to
assess the performance of each candidate in the interview
immediately post the interview and record the assessment for
further processing.

3. Group Discussion – Involves an exchange of thoughts and

ideas among a group of people by modes of discussion. A
typical GD involves 8 – 12 members, sitting in a circle and
discussing a topic for a stipulated time, usually, for 15 – 20
minutes. It also involves an observer, who examines the
performance of each individual during the GD. Thus, the
judgment is made in a GD based on the actual behaviour of
each individual in the group. The observer does not take part
in the discussion, but simply directs and guides the
discussion. In addition, the observer silently observes the
group members and draws conclusions based on the way the
individuals participate and lead the discussion ahead. In
other words, the observer examines leadership qualities,
behaviour, and personality of the individuals in a GD. GD is
a good method to judge the individuals in those
organizations where an employee has to work in cooperation
with other members of a group (teamwork).
 4. Assessment Centre – Refers to a method used for making
effective selection of candidates for a particular job. An
assessment centre comprises numerous activities, such as
role plays, simulation games and in-basket exercises that aim
at deriving the full competence of a candidate. In addition, it
judges the personal attributes of the candidate in a precise
manner. Some of the personal attributes that can be
calculated using assessment centre technique are leadership
skills, analytical ability, affinity for teamwork, and stress
handling ability. The assessment center is an exercise that
last for not more than two days during which a group of 6 –
9 people are asked to take up various tasks on both the
individual and group levels. After that, the performance of
the candidates is judged and selections are made by
matching the organizational requirement with the abilities of
candidates.

4. Briefly discuss the steps involved in the selection process.

The process of offering jobs to one or more candidates from all the
candidates who have applied for the job is called selection. Every
candidate has to cross a number of stages before getting selected for the
job. If he/she is found unsuitable at any stage, he/she is rejected and not
considered for the further stages. Selection is said to be a negative
process as more candidates are rejected than hired.

The selection process varies from organization to organization. An

organization designs its selection process depending on its suitability and
requirements. The main steps in the selection process of organization are
as follows:

 Preliminary Interview – Involves scrutinizing the

applications and eliminating the unqualified candidates in
the first round. If done effectively and carefully this step
could save a lot of time and money of the organization in
later stages. Preliminary interview is a sorting process and
 helps to determine whether it is worthwhile for a candidate
to fill up the application form or not. Scrutiny at the very
early stage of the selection process enables the HR manager
to reject the unqualified job seekers.
 Application Blank and Scrutiny of Applications –
Represents the second stage of the selection procedure.
Candidates who pass the preliminary screening are required
to fill the application blank, which asks for information, such
as applicant’s name, educational qualification, age, and
experience. An application blank, identifies the applicant
who fulfils the minimum necessary condition for the job.
 Employment Tests – Refer to various tests, such as
intelligence tests, aptitude tests, personality tests, and
achievement tests, which are used by the organizations to
select the right person for the right job. These tests try to
obtain information that is not available from application
blanks. In addition, these tests provide key information about
a candidate’s personality, emotional intelligence, and ability
to work under stress. For instance, Wipro uses psychometric
tests to examine the interpersonal skills, communication
skills, and analytical capabilities of the candidates before
hiring them on senior jobs.
 Employment Interviews – Provide more information about
the candidate. An employment interview provides an
opportunity to the organization to meet the potential
employees face to face and crosscheck the information
previously collected from the candidates. An organization
can obtain information of candidates on various aspects,
such as knowledge, attitude, and communication ability, by
means of interview. The main purpose of the interview is to
find out the suitability of the candidates for the job and give
them details about the terms and conditions of their
employment, the organization and the HR policies. The
employment interviews used for the selection procedure can
be structured or unstructured.
 Reference Checks – Provide useful and reliable information
to the organization. Most application forms require a
 candidate to provide names of two or three referees whom
the organization can contact to verify the information given
by the candidate. These references may be work related or
personal, including family or friends. The basic purpose of
reference checks is to verify the factual information provided
by the candidate and crosscheck if the applicant has hidden
any information, such as a criminal record. A limitation of
this step is that the candidates may give names of only those
referees who they feel would speak in their favour.
 Physical Examination – Discloses the physical
characteristics of candidates that are significant from the
point of view of their efficient performance on the job. This
test ensures medical fitness of the candidates for the job. The
potential employees are required to submit a medical
certificate when they start working. It protects the
organization against false claims under Workmen
Compensation Act for any inquiry. For instance, those
willing to join police services or army must meet the criteria
of minimum required height.
 Appointment Letter – Signifies the process of offering a
job to the selected candidates through an appointment letter.
When the candidates have cleared all the rounds of the
selection procedure, they are formally appointed by issuing
an appointment letter. The appointment letter notifies that
now they have become the employees of the organization. It
mainly includes the date by which the employees must join
the job. An organization must provide appropriate time to
the selected candidates to relocate, if required. In addition, if
the selected candidates are already working with some
organization, they should be given sufficient time to serve
notice period and obtain the relieving certificates from the
present employers.
 Final Selection – Constitutes the last step of the selection
process. When the selected candidates accept the job offer
and sign the joining agreement, they are placed on the job. It
is the responsibility of the organization to introduce the
newly joined employee with the organization and its culture.
At the initial level, the selected candidates may be kept on a probation
period, say for three or six months. After the completion of probation
period, they are confirmed as permanent employees if they are found
suitable for the job. On the contrary, if the candidates are found
unsuitable during their probation period, they may be transferred to some
other job or department, given training to improve, or may be terminated
from the organization.