Difference between Recruitment and Selection: In this post, we will discuss the various differences between recruitment and selection in like meaning, purpose, actions, process and functions etc.
Definition of Recruitment
The process of recruitment is held to prompt people to provide for selection within an organization. It involves looking for interested candidates and motivating them to apply for the available job which is the topmost for employment.
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According to Yoder, “Recruitment is a process to discover the sources of manpower to meet the requirements of staffing schedule and to employ effective measures for attracting the manpower to apply for the job in the organization.”
Definition of Selection
It is the process of picking up the best and suitable candidates from the ample number of applications available with relevant educational qualifications, skills, knowledge and experience as per the vacant position. This is the tool for management to differ qualified candidates from unqualified by applying various scientific techniques such as interviews, tests and so on.
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According to Yoder, “Selection is the process in which candidates for employment are divided into two classes- those who are to be offered employment and those who are not”.
Difference between Recruitment and Selection
Tabular Difference Between Recruitment and Selection
Basically, both the process of hiring employees is different at recruitment and selection stages of HR Planning. Let us have a look at various differences between recruitment and selection in the table given below:
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| Basis | Recruitment | Selection |
| Meaning | It is the process to attract more and more talented candidates to apply for the vacant post. Moreover, this is a way to establish a connection between the applicants and the employer. | It involves picking up competent, efficient and suitable candidates out of available according to the job in the organization. |
| Functions | The function of the recruitment process is to get more and more applications to proceeds with the selection process. | On the contrary, it functions to give employment letters to the selected candidates. It is also associated to provide the job offer letter at the end of the selection procedure. |
| Specifies | The goal of recruitment is specified by the policies of the recruitment and showcases the rules as well as regulations to properly implement the program of recruitment. | The whole selection process is conducted to evaluate the candidate perfectly with the help of various methods and steps. |
| Involves in | Two vital realms of the recruitment process are to searching the appropriate number of applicants and approach them to apply for the job. | A mutual decision of the management of an organization is required in the selection process whether or not to provide a job offer letter to the candidate according to the tested skills, knowledge and experience. |
| Action | It establishes a link between the candidates who are doing a job and others who are unemployed or self-employed. | It made a comparison between the attitude, behaviour and performance of all the candidates. |
| Process | It is a very optimistic procedure that motivates job seekers to apply for vacant positions. | However, it is quite a negative process and rejection may lower the morale of candidates due to non-suitability for the job. |
| Usefulness | This process must be effective as the needs of the job role must be satisfied and the applicants are matched with the requirements. | The management get benefits by selecting the best candidates so that the working of the organization is done in an effective way to achieve the goals. |
| Goals | The secondary aim of the recruitment process is to encourage and motivate a large number of interested applicants to apply for the available job. It comprises of all the candidates whether or not they are suitable for the job or not. | The goal of the selection process is to filter as well as reject all the unsuitable candidates. Only selected candidates are suitable for the vacant job role. |
| Process | The entire process of recruitment is straightforward and less level of cumbersome is involved. | It is entirely a complex and complicated process as per the different facets of the selection procedure. |
| Pitfalls | There are no such hurdles involved in the process of recruitment and they can easily reach the organization. | Different techniques and tests are used to identify the candidate and it has more hurdles that needed to be crossed by the candidate. |
| Approach | This is a positive approach towards recruiting employees and encouraging all prospective job seekers to apply for the vacant job position. | On the contrary, it is a negative approach and includes the rejection of some unfit candidates. |
| Sequence | It is the first and the foremost step and it proceeds further with the selection step. | Various techniques and procedures follow after the recruitment process. |
| Economy | Recruitment of applicants is a more economical way and good as per the budget. | The selection procedure is a costly method for hiring and selecting candidates. |
| Time Consuming | The recruitment process is less time consuming as compared to the selection process as it includes a collection of applicants for a job role. | The beginning and completion of the entire process of selection is time taking as it includes the various types of tests and techniques to analyze candidates. |
| Key factor | Advertising in an attractive way is the key factor of the recruiting process and get the attention of interested candidates for the vacant position. | It includes hiring the competent candidates for the job offer. |
| Process | The job vacancies are notifying in front of the public via different sources. Moreover, the application forms are also provided to receive the applicants from the interested candidates. | The interested candidates go through the various level of the selection process such as submission of forms, written tests, interviews, medical examinations and so on. The most eligible candidates get the offer of employment. |
| Contractual relations | It only involves the job openings for job seekers that can fit in the job duties. But it does not include any sort of | It results in the formation of contractual relationships between the employer and the employee. |
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Difference between the activities/tasks involved
The analysis of the requirement is done through the first step of recruitment. The appointment of fresh candidates concludes the whole process of recruitment. Overall, the process of recruitment has an entire life cycle that is a singular process. It begins with the identification of organizational requirements and then, ends with the appointment of a candidate for the vacant job role. Here are some of the vital tasks that are involved in the employee recruitment procedure. Let us have a look.
- Deep analysis of the job posts and the requirements within the premises of the business firm.
- Advertise all the vacant posts with the help of media communications such as newspapers, employment portals, periodicals, social media networking and so on. Outsourcing is also done in case of the recruitment process by some big business companies.
- Proper advertising the vacancies via the various channels of preference.
- Interested and competent candidates fill up the application forms and apply for the job openings on various portals.
- Manage all the responses of interested candidates.
- Scrutinize the field job seekers.
- Short-listing of candidates on the basis of qualification, experience and skills as it fits the job role.
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On the other side, the term “Selection” defines the picking up of suitable and efficient candidates as fits to the vacant post. An ample number of job seekers applying for a single job vacancy and it is obvious that not every candidate will grab the job opportunity to work with an organization, so the capable candidate is selected for the job vacancy according to the education, skills, knowledge and experience required for successfully doing a job in a proper manner.
The selection of candidates perfectly matches with the goal of the organization and it affects in a positive way or maybe in a negative manner in some cases. In a nutshell, the whole procedure of selection comprises of screening, interviewing and analyzing the candidate to a great extent and finalizing the suitable candidate according to the job role. This process involves the various activities that are required to do the selection process successfully. Let us begin.
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- Proper Screening of the candidates who have applied for the vacant post.
- Filter candidates to eliminate the most unsuitable candidates who have applied for the job.
- Afterwards, various tests are conducted such as intelligence tests, aptitude tests, written tests, personality tests, performance tests and so on.
- Now, a personal interview is conducted.
- Keep a check over the references of the selected candidates after the required examinations and interviews.
- Lastly, medical examinations and health checks.
The selection process of candidates is quite time consuming as not all the procedures are performed on a single day. This is the reason as the Human Resource Manager go through the proper analysis of the candidates such as skill sets, attributes, behaviour and other features and then shortlisted them on the basis of eligibility for the job position. Apart from these factors, other requirements for the job role are vital like the educational qualification, previous experience, background, age, etc. that is also crucial from the point of view of selection.
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Video: Difference between Recruitment and Selection
Bottom Line
The efficiency of employees clearly describes the success metrics of an organization. These two processes of finalizing the candidates and is helpful in recruiting the candidates that are well-deserved to be a part of the organization for fulfilment of the organizational goals. During the process of recruitment and selection, if the candidate fits well to the position and its responsibilities then the organization get the benefit from the abilities and knowledge of the candidate. At the same token, it leads to an increase in the profit margin of the organization and results in the better accomplishment of all the objectives.
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This article explains the definition of two aspects of Human Resource Planning and Difference between Recruitment and Selection Tabular