Guide To the HR Selection Process
The HR selection process involves hiring the best applicants for a job opening and often represents a funnel. Selection is the systematic process of hiring the right person for the right job. A good selection process is vital in finding talent. It forms a backbone for effective performance management. Let us look closely at the selection process and some best practices to design a strategy to help you find the best candidates. For instance, 50 candidates may apply for a position; assume 9 are invited for an interview, and one is finally selected.
The Selection Process
The selection process always starts with a job opening. Once this is published and advertised, candidates begin to flow. This is precisely where the selection process starts. The funnel or process has 7 stages typically:
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The Application
Once the job advert is live, candidates can apply. the number of applications you receive depends, among other things, on the company, the specific job you are hiring for, and the availability of the work and the workers.
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Screening & Preselection
The second step is in the initial screen of the candidates. They can take place in multiple ways, such as resume screening. The screening and pre-selection stage is the most commonly used approach, and it helps determine whether candidates comply. It helps in deciding if the candidates comply or not with the criteria for the job. Various tools available in the market can do resume screening for you, saving you time. Another alternative is the use of phone screening. Phone screening helps align expectations between the employer and the candidate. A third possibility is using the pre-employment assessment tool. These types of tools can include cognitive testing, a job sample or other tests that help predict the quality of a new hire. The main goal of the second stage is to reduce the number of candidates from large to small management groups. The applicants are called for a personal or virtual interview from the small group.
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The Job Interview
The job interview involves candidates being interviewed by their future manager, colleagues and usually the recruiting manager. It offers insights into a person’s verbal fluency and sociability while also providing both the candidate and the hiring manager opportunity to ask questions about the job, the company, the culture, etc.
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The Assessment
When used well, an assessment is a highly accurate and reliable tool for selecting the best candidates. Good assessments are, for example, a general mental ability test or a personality test that uses the five-factor model of personality. Other reviews include work sample tests, integrity tests and job knowledge tests.
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References and Background Check
By this stage, you have typically reduced a long list of candidates to a short list of one to five potential people, which is an essential next step in the reference check. Reference checks are an excellent way to confirm your perceptions and doubts about a candidate.
On the other hand, a background check is commonly used for government functions and other jobs involving access to highly confidential information. Otherwise, the use of background checks tends to be culturally determined. For example, counties like the United States use them more than European countries. -
The Hiring Decision
Now it’s decision time. Here it would help if you decided which candidate has potential for the organization. Data driven approach is prominently employed in having a hiring decision. This means predefined criteria for each candidate being rated during the process thus far.
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The Job Offer and Contract
Once the company has made the hiring decision, the selection process isn’t over. The candidate still needs to accept the offer. At this point, the company should have all the information necessary for the candidate to say yes. If the candidate ends up saying yes and the employment contract is signed by all parties, the selection process will finally be complete.
Parting Thoughts:
Hiring managers should track several crucial metrics during the selection process to keep improving and optimizing your selection funnel—for instance, time to fill and 90-day attrition, candidate experience and quality of hire.
Check out a great course on Hiring A-Players.
Related readings:
Professional Leadership Institute (PLI) is an educational website providing professionals from all types of businesses with practical education in human resources and leadership. To keep evolving your leadership toolkit, additional PLI resources below will be useful:
7 HR Functions And 5 Must-Have Skills
24 Tips for Making a Great Hire
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