HRM in the 21st century – make it or break it (II) - Selection

As in the case of online recruitment, the main objective of your process should be to obtain a maximum of results (a.k.a. the best employees for the position you have advertised) at the lowest cost. Because of the Internet, that is now a much simpler proc

The initial selection phase can be safely conducted through the email. This allows you to cut down on the volume of CVs that you have received and reduce the amount of time spent on the direct interviews.

Proper screening is important in order to fulfill the objective mentioned in the first paragraph. In order to make sure that this is a rational process, request from candidates the documents that you feel can help you in the selection process. A CV is a must, because in a short document you get a great summary of the candidate's professional and academic activities, his interests etc. but do you really need a letter of intention? You will probably receive a standard form of writing in which the candidate will tell you it has been his dream since childhood to work for you. Replace the letter of intention with something that can make you see some of the professional competency of your potential future employee: if you are looking for a software developer, ask for a short sample of coding; if it is a business analyst, ask him who caused the global financial crisis.

Google! With Google, you can have access to public information on the candidate that he may have failed to include in his resume. It only takes a couple of minutes and you may find more things that can help in the selection process.

Ask for recommendations from past employees or teachers. With the online selection process, contacting them can be much simpler for you: simply drop an email pointing out that you have received an application from the candidate and asking about their past performances.

Interviews can now be successfully completed online without either party needing to move from their location, thus lowering overall costs for all involved. All you need is a program that facilitates online interaction (choose between Skype, Yahoo Messenger any other similar options. Note that in order to have a professional interview, your user account should reflect that professionalism and should not be named after your dog or favorite baseball player) and, preferably, a web camera that can also allow you to visually interact with your potential hire.

As always, remember that the goal is to save time while obtaining results. It can help if, before the actual Skype interview, each candidate that has made it so far will receive a brief list of questions (4-6 should be the right number) that can help you further in the process. It should take you about 15 minutes to send it together and only about 15 seconds to send it out.