Recruitment Process: 6 Necessary Steps in HRM
Last Updated : 21 Apr, 2025
What is Recruitment?
Recruitment can be considered the principal function of the Human resource department. It is a process that includes sourcing, screening, and shortlisting. It refers to the process of identifying the staffing need and then filling it. The whole process includes identifying, attracting, interviewing, selecting, and onboarding the right candidates for the organization.
What is the Recruitment Process?
A recruitment process involves activities like identifying different sources of labour supply from which applications of prospective employees may be obtained; evaluating the validity of different sources; choosing the most suitable source; and attracting and motivating prospective candidates to apply for the vacant jobs.
Every organization follows its own recruitment process, but there are some basic steps that are followed by most organizations, which are listed here:
Step 1: Preparing
Once the job opening is approved internally, the recruiter contacts the hiring manager. This step is about gathering details about the open position. During the discussion, the recruiter has to gather information, like the required skills, roles, responsibilities, etc., and use this information to write a clear and inclusive Job description. Based on the job description, they can write the job posting.
Step 2: Sourcing
Once the job description is ready, the next step is to start the sourcing. It refers to identifying and contacting qualified candidates rather than waiting for the candidate to apply for the position. The primary goal is to pull qualified candidates. A recruiter uses a variety of job portals to pull the resumes, but it is not essential that for every position, sourcing is required. In some cases, if there are a large number of applications, there may not be any need to source more candidates.
Step 3: Screening
The Screening of a candidate can take place in many ways. Generally, the first step is Resume screening. If the resume meets the criteria required for the job opening, then the next step is the phone screening, in which, the recruiter can cover topics, like the candidate's availability, current role, and responsibilities, current salary, salary expectations, Notice period, etc., and if he seems to be the right candidate, an organization can process further with his profile.
Step 4: Selecting
This process is about sending the assignments, psychometric tests and scheduling interviews, participating in the interview process, and also keeping the hiring manager in the loop for the whole process. It is about maintaining a good relationship with the candidate and keeping the candidate updated about the interview feedback.
Step 5: Hiring
This step includes the final discussion with the candidate about salary, joining date, etc. Once the joining date is confirmed, the offer letter is released. In some cases, this step also includes background checks.
Step 6: Onboarding
Once the candidate has accepted the offer letter, the process is not over yet. This is where the pre-boarding period starts. This is the time between the joining date and when the offer letter was accepted. And it's very important to be in touch with your candidate during this period to keep them engaged. If not done so, it can result in them joining another company. It also includes sharing the new hire's email and other details with the team. Once the candidate starts the first day, it's time to begin the onboarding process.
Recruitment techniques
Here are some recruitment techniques that can help you attract candidates:
- Internal recruitment: You can post the opening on your internal company site so that current employees can apply if they want to switch their roles. This technique can save a lot of time.
- Retained recruitment: You can reach third-party consultancies to fill the open positions, but you have to pay a fee for the recruitment work and even some additional pay once the position is closed by them.
- Contingency recruitment: In this option, you can reach third parties but have to pay only when the employee is hired.
- Career fairs: Going into this event provides an opportunity to hire the best candidate for your organization and also helps to market your company.
- Campus Recruiting: If you are looking for freshers and there is a good amount of vacancies in your organization, then going to campus and conducting the hiring drive can be a good option.
- Social Media: You can post the openings on Linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter to attract more and more candidates.
1. What are Job portals?
Job portals are websites that help applicants find a job and also, help the employer search for the best candidates by posting job openings and searching for resumes by just applying a Boolean Search and choosing the best candidates that exactly match the job description. It also helps in employer branding.
Boolean search is a search process that allows you to insert some keywords along with boolean operators to limit or broaden your search results. By using this search, you can narrow down the pool of candidates. There are mainly three operators used, which are (AND, OR, and NOT), and can be used in the search according to your requirement.
Three Boolean Search Operators you should know:
A. AND Operator
The 'AND' operator shows the result that includes both keywords. For example, if you will search for candidates having skills in (React AND Django), this search will deliver results that have both the keywords 'React' and 'Django'. But if any one of the skills is missing in that resume, it will not be shown on the result.
B. OR Operator
When you use the 'OR' operator, the search shows the result that includes both keywords or any one of the keywords. For example, if you will search for a candidate having Skills in (React OR Django), this search will deliver the result that has both the keyword, i.e., 'React' and 'Django' or either one of the keywords, i.e., 'React' or 'Django'.
C. NOT Operator
When you use the 'NOT' operator the search shows the first word only and excludes the second word completely. You can also combine this operator with another operator. For example, searching (React OR Django) NOT (JAVA) will show the result having 'react' or 'Django' keyword and will exclude the resume having Java keyword.
3. What are the benefits of using a Boolean search while sourcing candidates?
If you master the art of boolean search, it can help you find the exact match for the role. It also helps in hiring niche profiles. For example, let's say you are sourcing a react Developer in Noida and you search directly “react Developer resumes Noida” it will show a bunch of irrelevant resumes, but what happens when you apply a boolean string? You will get resumes of potential and relevant candidates.
4. What is the role of Psychometric Tests in the recruitment process?
Psychometric test is the type of test which is used while the recruitment process. This can be used to measure various attributes like behavioural characteristics, personality, aptitude, etc. An employer can use different types of tests. Generally, there are two types of psychometric tests, one is the ability test, and the other is the personality test. The ability test checks the candidate's ability, which usually includes numeric reasoning, verbal reasoning, logical reasoning, and situational reasoning, while the personality test focuses on understanding the candidate's behaviour and attitude.
Psychometric tests are playing a vital role these days as the market is highly competitive, which is making the recruitment process challenging for employers and the . If you hire someone who finds it hard to settle in can be time-consuming, and costly too, so this has to be kept in mind that the right candidate is hired. A recruiter can not judge the candidate on their personality and ability like this, so to make the process more reliable and fair recruiter can use psychometric testing to get a clear picture of the personality and behaviour of the candidate in the workplace.
To conclude the article, recruitment is a process where employers hire suitable profiles available and reach out to people who match the requirements of the current job openings or vacancies available in the respective organization. The aforementioned points in the article state the important steps and points that are required in the process of recruitment. Several topics, such as the frequently asked questions, recruitment techniques, etc., have been discussed in this article, which will therefore help the recruiters to get a clear understanding of how exactly recruitment takes place and why is it an important step for both employees and employers in order to get the most suitable candidates of your interest.
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