Best Recruitment Process
What do you believe is the best type of recruitment method? And how effective are they?
Jaime,
There are many ways to recruit effectively. Probably one of your best methods is referrals from your faculty and staff. At least the person referred is a known entity and perceived to be a potentially high performing employee. Because of thise, many positions are not even posted. Retained searches work well for high level positions where professional recruiters make the contact to determine interest in your position. The recruitr does the initial screen which can save a tremendous amount of time sorting through resumes to determine whether a candidate meets the minimum qualifications. Career fairs, LinkedIn, other social network sites are becoming good sources as well.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
I have found that referrals from your current staff is an effective method of recruiting. You must be careful of the source of the reference, but I have recruited very good candidates for my campus.
STEPHANIE,
I agree that referrals are an excellent way to create a pool of candidates for a particular position. It is, however, only one method for creating that pool but tends to be a fairly reliable source. At least the employee making the referral knows the work habits of the candidate and can make a judgement regarding his/her organizational fit.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
Referrals from your current employees who are in good standing are often reliable. Individuals tend to associate with like minded individuals. Somone with a good work ethic usually associates with similar individuals. Another good method is networking with individuals you know in associations, groups in your chosen field. When the time comes to hire you can ask your associates if they know someone. You may receive a referral or they themselves may be interested.
Paul,
You have identified a number of great resources for creating that pool of candidates. We continue to say that most positions are not advertised. That is still true today. With technology we have so many more ways to locate qualfied candidates.Do you use any of the social networking sites? I know that the recruiters that we contract with use them, LinkedIn, in particular. Once the pool is defined, a well-written job description helps you screen and select the best.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
I am responsible for hiring faculty. I always look at our graduate list as recruitment starter. I feel that they would be the best qualified since they have been through the programs and know what I would expect from them. They can also relate better since they know what were the challenging areas in the curriculum.
I agree that starting with a graduate list is a good place to start, but one should always keep other avenues of referrals open so the best choice can be made for the position in question. I have had both positive and negative experiences regarding the utilization of a graduate list as a recruitment tool.
Desiree,
Graduates are certainly a good source of candidates. I never hire them fresh out of their program, however, since you want them to gain some experience in their field before you put them into the classroom. Our career colleges have always promoted the fact that our teachers are practitioners from the field. It gives them credibility with the students in their classrooms if they have that "real world" experience.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
Andrea,
In my opinion, the value of hiring new graduates is a disservice to both the graduate and the students in the class. Until they have actual experience, their credibility in the classroom is suspect. In our sector, we talk about the value that our faculty bring to the classroom from their "real world" experience. If a faculty member has not had the opportunity to experience what it is like to work in that field, he/she won't bring much to the classroom. If, however, the graduate/alumnus has been out working in the field, now they have added value which they can share with their students.
Dr. Patricia Kapper
I agree some of my best candidates were hired because my staff gave me input on them or they knew them. You just have to be careful on who the staff is in your department that gives you the candidate sometimes it does not work out because that staff member is not considered a realiable employee.
Cindy,
I agree with your post. When we look at referred workers, they are less likely to quit,are generally more innovative and/or creative and generally have fewer human resource issues. Typically the referred person has similar characteristics as the person who referred them, e.g. work ethic, personality, educational background, cognitive and non-cognitive abilities and will generally blend into the organization's culture quicker because of the relationship they have with the person who referred them. I am not aware of any differences in productivity of a referral vs. a non-referral, but that would be an interesting study. This is all predicated, as you observed, on the referring person being reliable and having these positive attributes as well. If they are not considered reliable, in all probability, the referral won't be either.
Dr. Robert Roehrich
