The staff selection procedures are aimed at assessing the characteristics and circumstances of the candidates for a job.
The person most suited in professional profile is then chosen among a crowd of applicants to fill the post. At this point it is important to note that companies usually do not choose the best candidate in absolute terms, but the ones that are best suited to the characteristics of the pertinent position.
Since selection procedures are rather complex and specialized procedure, as well as being difficult and expensive to carry out, more often than not companies, especially small and medium size ones, opting to outsource them to specialized entities in recruitment.
Regardless of the whether the process is to be outsourced or performed by the organization itself, there are four phases involved in a through recruitment process.
Preselection
Normally, especially now that employment figures in most companies are going through a low time, the number of candidates applying for a job is quite high, it is necessary to make an initial screen that makes the recruitment process less long and expensive. The objective is to reduce the number of candidates to a suitable amount to perform various tests scheduled ahead.
The most common way to do this screening is based on the curriculum vitae of the candidates. In the first screening, those candidates should be ruled out who do not have adequate training to the workplace or whose professional experience is not enough. The screening is difficult and has to assume the risk of discarding candidates who might fit well in the job at hand. Subsequent screenings, filter out candidates based on educational records and/or lack of required certifications.
Testing
Candidates who have passed the previous phase are often called upon to perform a series of tests. Sometimes, the first thing you do is a preliminary interview to establish a first contact, but usually it is passed directly to the performance of the tests.
The main types of tests that are commonly performed include psychometric tests to determine the skills and personality of the candidate, professional tests related to the position in question, knowledge tests on pre-established agendas (usually reserved for jobs in public administration), and even graphology tests.
Interviews
Thanks to previous tests, the number of candidates for the job are reduced to the optimal amount. At this point, recruiters must meet each candidate individually in a personal interview. The goal is simply to confirm that the empirical information gleaned in the previous tests is correct.
In addition, interviews are used to determine the disposition of the candidates for the job once they have been provided with more information on it (tasks, working hours, wages, etc).
There are different types of interviews and the best choice must be made in terms of the requirements at hand: Individual, group (several respondents at once), in panel (several interviewers and one interviewee), or structured (multiple interviews).
Final phase
After the interview stage the number of candidates has been reduced to the minimum, so it's time to choose the person or group of people who will be joining the company. To do this, all information collected in previous phases is taken into account while being as objective as possible.
After the decision, many companies conduct a medical examination and, if required, a trainee program to acclimatize the individuals to the working environment and allowing them time to make a final decision in regards to the contract, if any.