week 17 & 18 Selection

 Find examples of three different selection methods used in an organisation with which you are familiar and identify when they are used and why, along with the pros and cons of each.

Short listing
Mullin (2007) stated that short listing information on CVs and application forms is one of the fastest way to process the information. The advantages of using short listing from CVs are that the HR department can identify the skills and knowledge they want straight away, outline the candidates qualifications and previous jobs. The disadvantages of short listing is that HR department will skim read the CVs and may miss out some important points of the candidates (Mullin, 2007).

Role play – demonstration

The advantages of using this type of method is that it can see how the candidate reacts in the working environment and show their skills and knowledge of the role they have applied for. Another advantage is that the interviewer can assess more than one interviewee at a time(Cox and Dufault, 1992).
The disadvantages of using this type of method are that it’s too expensive to carry out and time consuming. For example, the personnel that are involve.
Another disadvantage that was stated by (Cox and Dufault, 1992) is that if the company demonstrates through live customers on the shop floor it can affect the company image due to inappropriate manner or customer services.
For example, during an interview with John Lewis, the interviewee was told to go on the shop floor and assess how the organisation is run. During that activity I was lucky enough to serve some customers but we had to pass the sales to a member of staff because at that moment my status was an interviewees also all of the interviewee was giving a badge so customer can identify interviewee straight away.

Assessment centres
Armstrong (2006) stated point out the advantages of assessment centre is that the company can carry out more than one interview at the same time, for example, everyone will be doing the same activity and the candidates can show their abilities and skills.
But the down side of this method is that it is time consuming. One of the major drawbacks of the method is that the candidate may have done that version before and this will affect the result.

Another disadvantage that was explained in the lecture was the number of staff that is needed to carry out the tasks, for example, an assessment centres needs a panel of judges(Week 17 lecture notes).

 Describe an interview that you have taken part in. It may have been for a job, but could also have been within your school or university. Was the interview effective? If so, why.

According to the Business dictionary, that an interview is a formal meeting where two parties exchange information. For example, the interviewer will interview the potential candidates and this will improve their understanding of each other background, skills and experiences.

One of the most effective interviews that I was involved in was hosted by Tie Rack for a sales assistant post. The interview was a one to one situation. Firstly the interviewer gave me a brief history of the company, for example, how it started and this improved my knowledge of the company. Then she briefly explained how they operate. Also during the interview she asked me series of questions and one of them was why do you want this job? I answered was that it links to the course that I am studying at Milton Keynes College which was BTEC national diploma in business. Also it can improve my knowledge and skills of this type of industry. Another question was what is your understanding of the job role and the sector. I answered; apart from serving customers and providing advice to them. For example, giving customers fashion advice and teaching customers on how to do a tie up. I also mentioned that just by adding on little accessories, such as; tie, scarf and cufflinks it can change the entire look of the person. One of the main reasons why this interview was effective was that I got the job at the end.

 Interview a member of your family, or a friend not at university, to ask them whether they feel personality tests used within a selection procedure are advantageous. Describe and explain their views.

I interview my sister and she said it will be appropriate to use a personality test because it provides more information about the candidate, and they can see do they fit in with other employees personality. In a working environment people usually get along with people that have similar interest or character and it is one of the main reasons why employees stay with their organisations. Also she mentioned it covers some of the information that is needed which is not in the CVs (Tsim, A, 2010).

 In your own organisation or one with which you are familiar what recommendations would you make to improve selection processes?

The organisation I have chosen is my parents’ Chinese takeaway called China Garden. The recommendation that I would suggest is improve on recruitment structure because in one month they have two staff leaving and they were only there for 2 weeks each.
To solve this matter I would recommend them to ask more questions about the candidates during the interview, for example, ask for pervious job reference and their backgrounds(Tsim, C and Tsim, L).

Remember to write a brief conclusion about this topic
It is very important for organisations to plan everything to the smallest detail, for example, job description, contract of employment and during their recruitment process because different selection method can affect the result of candidates that they hire. Also each type of method has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Bibliography and References

Armstrong, M (2006) A handbook of human resource management practice. 10th ed. [online] available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=D78K7QIdR3UC&pg=PA430&dq=assessment+centre+in+human+section&ei=0JqXS-P_OpCwMpiR2bIH&cd=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false [Accessed 18 March 2010]

Business Dictionary [n.d] Interview definition. [online] available at: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/interview.html [Accessed 17 March 2010]

Cox, G and Dufault, C (1992) Twenty five role plays for interview training. [online] available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=JTZ_H1hAaucC&printsec=frontcover&dq=role+play+interview&cd=1#v=onepage&q=role%20play%20interview&f=false [Accessed 18 March 2010]

Lecture notes (week 17) Jane Godson

Mullins, L (2007) Management and organisational behaviour. 8th ed. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall.

Sam Cotter (2007) Store manager of Tie Rack

Tsim, A The interviewee

Tsim, C and Tsim, L owner of China Garden