The “Course Topics” series from Manage Train Learn and Slide Topics is a collection of over 4000 slides that will help you master a wide range of management and personal development skills. The 202 PowerPoints in this series offer you a complete and in-depth study of each topic. This presentation is on "Groundwork for Hiring".

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Groundwork for Hiring
Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
RECRUITMENT AND
SELECTION
Groundwork for Hiring

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Groundwork for Hiring
Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
The Course Topics series from Manage Train Learn is a large collection of topics that will help you as a learner
to quickly and easily master a range of skills in your everyday working life and life outside work. If you are a
trainer, they are perfect for adding to your classroom courses and online learning plans.
COURSE TOPICS FROM MTL
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Groundwork for Hiring
Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
ARE YOU READY?
OK, LET’S START!

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Groundwork for Hiring
Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
INTRODUCTION
All good projects, like good buildings and structures, need
good groundwork. In the case of buildings, these are solid
foundations. In the case of a recruitment and selection
project, it is the work that goes into establishing, before the
recruitment begins, what job, if any, needs to be done, to
what level of performance and outcomes, and what skills
and attainments the person doing it will need. It is unlikely
that such information can be obtained without the use of
some kind of analysis, based on observation and study. That
is why the groundwork for effective recruitment requires
the detailed study of a job analysis, a job description and
the laying down of a person specification.

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Groundwork for Hiring
Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
THE EXIT INTERVIEW
Every person who leaves a position either to move on
elsewhere within the organisation, or to move on outside
the organisation, should receive some form of an exit
interview.
It is an excellent opportunity to...
1. say a formal thank you and goodbye to the employee
2. catch up on the job, bearing in mind that some people
will talk up what they've done while others will talk the
job down
3. think about what changes may be needed if the job is to
continue.
You often get straight and honest answers from people
leaving which you wouldn't necessarily get if they were
staying!

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
DO WE HAVE A VACANCY?
It is highly wasteful to instigate an automatic job search
when someone leaves and only then ask the question "do
we really need to fill this job?"
There should be a presumption against filling a job until a
clear case can be made out in its favour. It is wise to check
out the alternatives.
These could be:
1. do nothing. You might be able to cover the job, re-
organise or use new technology.
2. re-allocate tasks to others in the team
3. recruit but at a different level
4. re-organise by using, say, job sharers or temporary staff
5. use internal transfers, secondments, development
spells, internal promotion.
Only when it is clear that there is no alternative but to
recruit should you go to the next stage.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
THE JOB ANALYSIS
The Job Analysis is the first step in compiling or re-compiling
a Job Description. A Job Analysis can be put together by the
job-holder, by a trained specialist or by job-holder and
expert together.
It involves analysis of the duties in a job, their frequency and
importance. The job analysis can be put together by a
combination of observation, recording and questioning of
the job-holder.
A thorough job analysis is the best way to put together a Job
Description and a Person Specification.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
WRITING A JOB DESCRIPTION
A job description is a list of duties which a person performs
in a job. These duties can be observed at first hand as part
of a Job Analysis exercise or they may be the duties agreed
on paper with individuals and groups.
Nothing important should be left out of the job description.
Where duties might change, some covering phrase such as
"duties as agreed from time to time with the team leader",
should be included.
Job descriptions are often designed to show the background
to the job, reporting relationships and the purpose of the
job. Skills can be grouped together under separate headings,
for example, "communications", or listed in order of
frequency, for example, daily duties, weekly duties, monthly
duties. The job description can be included in the send-outs
which applicants receive.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
WEIGHTING CRITERIA
A list of duties in a job description on their own is of limited
value to a recruiter who is not totally familiar with a job or
an applicant who wants a more detailed picture of the job.
Two techniques can help:
1. Weightings. Weightings can be given to each duty to
show the relative importance of the task to the overall job
performance. This could be done by prioritising tasks, eg as
"essential", or giving them a frequency rating, eg 80%.
2. Reasons. Reasons are useful additions to the description
of each task.
Not: "Carries out induction."
But: "Carries out induction so that new employees are fully
integrated into the organisation in the shortest possible
time."

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
THE PERSON SPECIFICATION
The person specification should not be confused with the
job description. The job description describes the job; the
person specification describes the person you want to fill it.
The specification should not describe a particular person,
the last postholder, similar postholders or the perfect
person but someone who can do the job to the required
standard.
When completed, the person specification becomes your
principal recruitment tool. It is central to...
1. writing the advertisement
2. shortlisting candidates
3. writing relevant interview questions
4. making assessments of applicants
5. giving interview panels an idea of what is required
6. forming the basis of training new starters.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
LISTING ATTRIBUTES
To write your job specification, you need to decide what
attributes are needed to perform the job to an acceptable
minimum standard.
To do this, you need to be familiar with how the job needs
to be carried out and familiar with the skills people possess
in the labour market. The attributes you select are aimed at
finding the right people to perform the job.
Attributes include:
1. personal characteristics (eg a height or weight)
2. a status (eg currently earning no less than £30,000)
3. a set of skills and expertise (eg the ability to programme
a computer; the ability to lead others)
4. an IQ level
5. experience (eg overseas work; work with children)
6. qualifications (eg a degree, an apprenticeship).

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
THE OVERALL PLAN
A Person Specification is usually designed around a
specification plan. This plan lists the criteria which
applicants must meet if they are to be able to perform the
job well. The criteria usually fall into obvious groups such as
"Skills", "Experience", "Education" and so on.
An organisation can use one type of plan for all its
vacancies. However, each recruiting panel may produce
different criteria depending on how they see the job and
how they see their ability to attract suitable candidates in
the market place. For example, one panel might believe two
years' experience is necessary for a job while another panel
might believe no experience is necessary as training will be
given if the right person has the skills.
It is important that once criteria have been decided, no
changes should be made to them.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
CORE SKILLS
Booksellers and stationers W H Smith use nine core skills as
the basis of their person specification for recruiting graduate
trainees.
These skills are:
1. clear, precise and structured written communication
2. spoken communication that is logical, clear and well-
expressed
3. natural authoritative leadership
4. good team member sharing ideas with others and willing
to seek help from others
5. thoughtful organizer and planner
6. flexible thinker, firm decision-taker
7. personally motivated, enthusiastic, ambitious
8. self-confident, handles pressure well, willing to learn
9. quick to understand verbal and numerical arguments;
able to analyse information.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
SPECIFIC & MEASURABLE
The value of a person specification is that it allows recruiters
to compare evidence from each candidate against the
requirements of the job. It is important therefore for
information to be specific and measurable.
Verbs like "to know how to... ", "to grasp...", "to
understand...", "to appreciate..." are not specific and should
be avoided. It is much better to describe specific
requirements such as "the ability to bring conflict to positive
outcomes", "at least one year's experience of leading
teams". These can be measured.
Criteria such as "sense of humour" or "must fit in" are
equally unspecific and should be replaced with actual job
requirements, such as "an ability to meet deadlines"; "a
detailed knowledge of programming". In these cases,
applicants' abilities can be measured.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
FIGHTER PILOTS
In the Second World War, psychologist John Flanagan was
commissioned to increase the number of suitable fighter
pilots joining the Royal Air Force.
When he asked what qualities were needed in fighter pilots
he was told they had to be "daring", "courageous" and
"quick-thinking". Flanagan realised this didn't help in the
process of selection; we can all be daring and quick thinking
if we want to be. Instead Flanagan carried out a detailed job
analysis of the duties of fighter pilots which led to effective
performance. These included a detailed knowledge of
Spitfires, map-reading ability and the ability to follow
instructions to the letter.
Flanagan was, in fact, devising a person specification and
thus able to make better selections.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
FAIR, RELEVANT...
The person specification you use to recruit must contain fair,
relevant, and justifiable criteria.
1. don't ask for qualifications unless they are essential as
an entry requirement for the job (eg a doctor, an
architect) or desirable to do the job well
2. don't equate a qualification with a skill
3. don't confine yourself to looking only at work
experience if you want a skill: it could have been
acquired outside work
4. don't talk in terms of minimum time periods for
experience since we all learn skills at different rates.
"Around three years' experience" is better than "a
minimum of three years' experience"
5. avoid unnecessary qualifications just because "we've
always asked for two "A" grades for that job"
6. add the phrase "or equivalent" when specifying
qualifications, just in case similar qualifications were
obtained abroad or by a different method.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
MINIMUM CRITERIA
There is a temptation in drawing up a person specification to
ask for more than you need. This, it is argued, gives you
more flexibility to move the person later on into other jobs.
For example, specifying "A" levels when you want manual
labourers may suit your future development needs but is
likely to be both unfair and unfruitful.
If you specify that applicants need two "O" level passes, this
should be the minimum needed to do the job to a
satisfactory standard. Or if you specify, as they do in certain
firefighting units, a minimum height of 5' 6" then that
should be enough for people to be suitable.
It is tantamount to unfairness to give unjustified preference
to someone who possesses qualifications above the
minimum purely on those grounds alone.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
DISQUALIFIERS
It is useful to have a section in the Person Specification on
disqualifiers or "contra-indicators". Just as the other
sections of the specification outline the experiences, skills
and characteristics an applicant needs, so the disqualifiers
indicate the things they don't need. Like all other criteria,
disqualifiers should be fair, reasonable and justifiable.
Disqualifiers include:
1. a legal requirement, for example, a clean driving licence
2. hours of work, anyone unable to work a rota, for
example, being disqualified
3. fitness, for example, someone who is a carrier of a food
poisoning organism would be disqualified from working
in food production.
In these cases, the disqualifier would rule a person out,
even if they met all the other job requirements.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
PRIORITISED CRITERIA
Not all the criteria you list in a person specification will have
equal weight with other criteria. To present a more
balanced picture of what you need, you must therefore
prioritise criteria.
There are two ways to do this:
1. give each job requirement a weighting eg 20 points for
communication skills, 5 points for report writing, 30
points for customer handling skills, and so on, adding up
to a total score of 100 points. Score candidates
accordingly.
2. define each job requirement as "essential" or
"desirable". If a requirement is "essential", the job
cannot be properly performed without someone having
it. If the requirement is "desirable", it is not absolutely
critical but the performance of the job is enhanced if it
is possessed.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
ESSENTIALS AND DESIRABLES
The essential criteria in a person specification are the
requirements which all applicants need to possess if they
are to be considered for the job. The desirable criteria are
the extras which make the difference between the
candidates and allow you to select.
Essential criteria = minimum requirements;
the basis for rejection.
Desirable criteria = optional extras;
the basis for selection.
Since nobody can be considered for the job unless they
possess all the essential criteria, you shouldn't make things
too hard by listing a large number of essentials (eg perhaps
more than ten) or too few essentials (eg say under five). A
norm of seven to ten criteria in total is about right.

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
THAT’S
IT!
WELL DONE!

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Recruitment and Selection
MTL Course Topics
THANK YOU
This has been a Slide Topic from Manage Train Learn