Recruiting the right candidate to fill a vacancy can be a difficult and costly task. Appointing the wrong person could be an expensive mistake which could cause personnel problems for the whole department. And, as every HR Manager knows, it is much more difficult to get rid of someone than it is to employ them.
The HR Manager's first decision is whether to recruit internal applicants or advertise the vacancy outside the company. Internal applicants are easy to recruit by memo, e-mail, or newsletter. Furthermore, they are easy to assess and know the company well. However, the rarely bring fresh ideas to a position. Moreover, a rejected internal candidate might become unhappy and leave the company.
Recruiting outside the company means either advertising the vacancy directly or using an employment agency.If the company decides to advertise the vacancy directly,it has to decide where to place the advertisemengt. Traditionally this has meant newspapers and professional journals but now the Interent is also very popular.The decision normally depends on the vacancy.Companies advertise bule-collar or clerical jobs in local newspapers and senior management positions in national papers or professional journals,while the Internet is one of the best ways of advertising IT vacancies or recruiting abroad.However,with the Internet there is a risk of receiving unsuitable applications from all over the world.
An agency can be either a commercial business or a government emloyment centre.A company often use a government agency to recruit bule-collar works but normally prefers a commercial agency for its white-collar staff.However,a commercial agency could be very expensive and the applicants are less likely to stay with the company for a long time.