Recruitment refers to the process of screening, and selecting qualified people for a job at an organisation or firm, or for a vacancy in a volunteer-based some components of the recruitment process, mid- and large-size organizations and companies often retain professional recruiters or outsource some of the process to recruitment agencies. External recruitment is the process of attracting and selecting employees from outside the organization.

The recruitment and selection is the major function of the human resource department and recruitment process is the first step towards creating the competitive strength and the strategic advantage for the organizations. Recruitment process involves a systematic procedure from sourcing the candidates to arranging and conducting the interviews and requires many resources and time. A general recruitment process is as follows:

Identifying the vacancy:

The recruitment process begins with the human resource department receiving requisitions for recruitment from any department of the company.

These contain:

-- Posts to be filled

-- Number of persons

-- Duties to be performed

-- Qualifications required

• Preparing the job description and person specification.
• Locating and developing the sources of required number and type of employees (Advertising etc).
• Short-listing and identifying the prospective employee with required characteristics.
• Arranging the interviews with the selected candidates.
• Conducting the interview and decision making

Recruitment Process

1. Identify vacancy
2. Prepare job description and person specification
3. Advertising the vacancy
4. Managing the response
5. Short-listing
6. Arrange interviews
7. Conducting interview and decision making

The recruitment process is immediately followed by the selection process i.e. the final interviews and the decision making, conveying the decision and the appointment formalities.