What Exactly Is Recruitment? Suggest Books Please.

Hi All,

This is Swapna. I have started my career in a recruitment firm where I didn't find much about recruitment. It's more like a sales process. I want to understand the perfect recruitment process that companies follow. Please suggest some book titles that can help me learn about all the roles and responsibilities of HR, as well as the various designations in HR.

Thanks

Hi Swapna,

The recruitment process starts with identifying the human resources required, followed by the selection process up to the exit process. There are many books available on recruitment and HR-related topics. Instead of buying books, you can search for particular topics, share your queries, and enhance your knowledge. If you need more information, I can share the documents I have with you.

Thank you.

Dear Swapna,

Recruitment is the process of finding and attracting capable applicants for employment. The process starts when recruits are sought and ends when applications are submitted. Sometimes, recruiters are also responsible for conducting interviews.

Thank you.

Please find attached herewith the process of recruitment and selection. Hopefully, it may be useful for you.

Hello Swapna,

You can try typing "RECRUITMENT" in the FIND INFORMATION BOX above and then press the "Research" button. You will get plenty of information. You can also refer to the "Download Thread," "Popular Discussions," and "Related Information" that you see alongside these postings.

V. Raghunathan

Hello Swapna,

Recruitment is not merely about finding someone or filling a position. It is, in fact, a very key and sensitive responsibility. The challenge for a recruiter is to find the RIGHT candidate who has the right job fit and cultural fit. Therefore, a recruiter should have a definite and clear understanding of the job profile, the skill sets needed, and the traits required for the job in order to hire the RIGHT candidate.

The importance of hiring can be understood from the potential damage that can be caused by a bad hire.

B. Saikumar

How did you land in a recruitment firm first? What is your background? Did you not try to understand the job requirements before embarking on the assignment? It is essential to know the basics before starting something. One should not simply jump into the water without having some basic knowledge. As my learned professionals mentioned above, there is an abundance of information and documents available on the internet.

Best wishes

When you were interviewed for this job, what questions were you asked about your knowledge of recruitment? I am very curious as to how you achieved a position such as this with no knowledge of the actual work. We have had endless discussions here on CiteHR about recruitment. Check my previous postings in the various threads. It seems to me that your organization has failed even the basic tenets of successful recruiting.

Hi to all,

Wow, great answers from two of my friends. One is, I guess, quite senior - Mr. Aussiejohn, and the other one is Mr. Sundaram. Do you think that this girl is expecting these kinds of answers from you as a level of seniority? She just asked about recruitment. She might be working in some small consultancy or it could be a mid-sized one, but I think she is a fresher and only knows the basic definition of recruitment and the rest is in her communication skills. This is the reason she got selected there and started her job. Consultancies don't hire a fresher solely based on recruitment knowledge; they also consider her study and communication skills, which are most important. And yes, of course, in terms of female candidates, looks are preferred. Many other minor things are also noticed. So, I don't think she is unfamiliar with the recruitment process. Obviously, she knows that, but it seems like she was expecting something different before starting her job. This is why she came here and is asking you about the exact recruitment process. She is not asking for book knowledge; she asked about the recruitment process we all use in our companies. I don't think all companies follow the complete recruitment process step by step; it's more of a general guideline. In reality, we all just try to hire the right candidate and suitable talent for the position who can meet all the criteria. So, she is just trying to learn from your experience (practical experience) about recruitment. She also wants to explore more about recruitment and the depth of this term.

Instead of giving her a lesson on her knowledge, you should please share your experience about recruitment so that she can understand the fundamentals and recommend any books or posts where she can read more about recruitment.

Hey Swapna, I am not very experienced in recruitment, but since I have been working in this field, I would like to say that it's like the sales process - but here, you have to sell your words and convince the person to come for the interview if you think he or she is capable. However, it's not exactly the sales process. Communication is the key part of this role, and you have to learn how to communicate effectively with others. But there are other things you should learn to excel in recruitment. For starters, you should understand how to screen resumes, become an expert in job portals and social networking sites for recruitment as soon as possible, learn how to use keywords to search for the best profiles according to your requirements, and how quickly you can find the right candidates. Your communication skills will be essential in interacting with them. So, strive to be effective, learn coordination skills so that you can easily coordinate with your clients and line up the candidates. Later on, your seniors will teach you how to create job descriptions for different roles. This will come later. Initially, there will be a lot of calling, and it also depends on the type of profiles you are hiring for your consultancy. Are you limited to hiring for 2-3 specific companies, or is it a mass recruitment profile for a KPO or BPO? In these scenarios, you have to make calls but also gain knowledge of job portals, if possible, social networking sites like LinkedIn, how to do mass mailing through portals, how to post ads on portals, and how they respond. Search for the terms you need in the search box above on this site. Suitable replies are there. You can also search on Google to understand the process of those terms.

I am really disappointed by seniors who talk like this. Please be polite. We are not very experienced and do not know much about the industry, which is why we are here to learn from you. All of you have gone through this phase. Please, if possible, use soft words, not insulting ones. Harsh words can demotivate a person, and they may not feel comfortable asking questions here again.

Hello Swapna,

Atul has listed some basic skills required for the role of a recruiter. Though I am not from the recruitment field, from the interactions I have had with some people who worked as recruiters, I understand that a recruiter's job, as you said, is akin to that of marketing. Your performance is rated based on the conversion ratio you achieve, which means converting a contact into a candidate ready to accept the offer. However, you need to ensure that the candidate fits into the job and culture of the organization for which you are hiring so that they can stay in the job for a considerable period. Therefore, before hiring, try to gather information about the organization in the following areas:

1) What kind of organization is it? Whether BPO, IT, banking, insurance, manufacturing, etc. Each requires candidates with different skill sets, knowledge bases, and aptitudes.

2) What is the work culture of the organization? What kind of hierarchy is there? Whether any induction practices exist in the company? Whether timings are flexible or fixed? What facilities does the organization offer to make employees comfortable? What is the level of employee engagement, etc.? You can match employees' expectations with this feedback. This helps you understand whether the prospective candidate fits into the culture of the organization.

3) Study the job profile and the key competencies required for the job. You need to have this knowledge about the job to ensure that the candidate fits the job.

4) Have an assessment of the tendencies and value system of the candidate to understand whether they are serious about a job or just a job hopper, etc., to eliminate the prospect of such candidates entering a company only to leave later. The objective of a recruiter is to select a candidate who can stay in the company for a considerable period, if not for life.

I hope the above will give you some idea of the function of recruitment. Regarding the book on recruitment, one name that comes to mind is Brian Tracy on recruitment.

B. Saikumar
Navi Mumbai