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Sources of Recruitment

Definition: Recruitment is referred to as the process which involves searching for potential candidates and influencing them in order to fill the vacant positions in the organisation. The purpose of recruitment is to find qualified candidates for the development of the organisation.
Sources of recruitment refers to various modes of connecting with the job seeker for completing the task of finding potential employees. In simple words, sources of recruitment is the medium through which communication regarding the vacant positions is made aware to the prospective candidates.

The various sources of recruitment are generally classified as internal source and external source:

(a) Internal Sources: This refers to the recruitment from within the company. The various internal sources are promotion, transfer, past employees and internal advertisements.

(b) External Sources: External sources refers to the practice of getting suitable persons from outside. The various external sources are advertisement, employment exchange, past employees, private placement agencies and consultants, walks-ins, campus recruitment, trade unions, etc.

The following external sources of recruitment are commonly used by the big enterprises:
1. Direct Recruitment: An important source of recruitment is direct recruitment by placing a notice on the notice board of the enterprise specifying the details of the jobs available. It is also known as recruitment at factory gate. The practice of· direct recruitment is generally followed for filling casual vacancies requiring unskilled workers. Such workers are known as casual or badli workers and they are paid remuneration on daily-wage basis. This method of recruitment is very cheap as it does not involve any cost of advertising vacancies.

2. Casual Callers or Unsolicited Applications: The organisations which are regarded as good employers draw a steady stream of unsolicited applications in their offices. This serves as a valuable source of manpower. If adequate attention is paid to maintain pending application folders for various jobs, the personnel department may find the unsolicited applications useful in filling the vacancies whenever they arise. The merit of this source of recruitment is that it avoids the costs of recruiting workforce from other sources.

3. Media Advertisement: Advertisement in newspapers or trade and professional journals is generally used when qualified and experienced personnel are not available from other sources. Most of the senior positions in industry as well as commerce are filled by this method. The advantage of advertising is that more information about the organization job descriptions and job specifications can be given in advertisement to allow self-screening by the prospective candidates. Advertisement gives the management a wider range of candidates from which to choose. Its disadvantage is that is may bring in a flood of response, and many times, from quite unsuitable candidates.

4. Employment Agencies: Employment exchanges run by the Government are regarded as a good source of recruitment for unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled operative jobs. In some cases, compulsory notification of vacancies to the employment exchange is required by law. Thus, the employment exchanges bring the jobs givers in contact with the job seekers. However, in the technical and professional area, private agencies and professional bodies appear to be doing most of the work. Employment exchanges and selected private agencies provide a nation-wide service in attempting to match personnel demand and supply.

5. Management Consultants: Management consultancy firms help the organisations to recruit technical, professional and managerial personnel They specialise middle level and top level executive placements. They maintain data bank of persons with different qualifications and skills and even advertise the jobs on behalf their clients to recruit right type of personnel.

6. Educational Institutions or Campus Recruitment: Jobs in commerce and industry have become increasing technical and complex to the point where school and college degrees are widely required. Consequently big organisations maintain a close liaison with the universities, vocational institutes and management institutes for recruitment to various jobs. Recruitment from educational institutional is a well - established practice of thousand of business and other organisations.1t is also known as campus recruitment. Reputed industrial houses which require management trainees send their officials to campuses of various management institutes for picking up talented candidates doing MBA.

7. Recommendation: Applicants introduced by friends and relatives may prove to be a good source of recruitment. In fact, many employers prefer to take such persons because something about their background is known. When a present-employee or a business friend recommends some one for a job, a type of preliminary screening is done and the person is placed on a job.

8. Labour Contractors: Labour contractors are an important source of recruitment in some industries in India. Workers are recruited through labour contractors who are themselves employees of the organisation. The disadvantage of this system is that if the contractor leaves the organisation , all the workers ,employed through him will also leave That is why this source of labour is not preferred by many businesses, organizations. Recruitment through labour contractors has been banned for the public sector units.

9. Telecasting: The practice of telecasting of vacant posts over T.V. is gaining importance these days. Special programmes like 'Job Watch‘, 'Youth Pulse‘, Employment News‘, etc, over the T.V have become quite popular in recruitment for various types of jobs. The detailed requirements of the job and the qualities required to do it are publicized along with the profile of the organisation where vacancy exists. The use of T.V. as a source of recruitment is less as compared to other sources.

10. Raiding : Raiding is a technical term used when employees working elsewhere are attracted to join organisations. The organisations are always on the lookout for qualified professionals, and are willing to offer them a better deal if they make the switch. There are always some employees who are professionally very competent, but dissatisfied with something or the other in the organisation. They form the 'easy‘ group to attract. The other group is formed of those who are equally competent but are quite satisfied with their present position. To attract them, the organisation has to offer a very lucrative package of perquisites. Whatever may be the means used to attract, often it is seen as an unethical practice and not openly talked about.