What's the difference between recruitment and staff selection?

The difference between recruitment and staff selection lies in their respective objectives and the stage at which they come into play during the hiring process. During recruitment, the company tries to generate as many suitable candidates as possible, to then, during the selection stage, try to find the one that best fits the job requirements.

How technology is changing recruitment and selection processes

It would be misleading to say that selection and recruitment processes are changing. They have already changed. And HR veterans know it. Many still remember when jobs were advertised in newspapers and hard copy CVs arrived in the post. 

This transformation reached its first milestone with the arrival of the Internet and the emergence of job portals. Suddenly, with this technology we could advertise job vacancies in a matter of minutes, reach countless professionals and receive applications in real time. However, we still relied on good old paper copies to sift through CVs and take notes during interviews. 

Social networks, and LinkedIn especially, brought about the next shift in selection and recruitment processes, by providing another route to connect with professionals around the world.

In parallel, a technological evolution was taking place in terms of enhanced internal processes. This fuelled the advent of database management software and even the selection processes themselves. While the earliest ones were installed on computers, the emergence of cloud computing gradually moved data storage onto the internet. 

Now, companies have sophisticated cloud software that incorporates process automation and artificial intelligence to accelerate staff recruitment and selection.

The concept of recruitment

Recruitment is the process in which we search for, gather and identify candidates who may fit the requirements of a given job vacancy and the company culture. 

The aim, at this stage, is to attract the largest possible number of candidates to give us more options to choose between. This may involve an external recruitment process (looking for applicants on the labour market) or internal (offering the opportunity to current staff).

The main features of the recruitment process

We can think of recruitment as one of the steps we must take during the hiring process, which can often be lengthy and involve a series of tasks: from the initial analysis of the position’s requirements to appointing the new employee. 

The activities involved in recruitment are: 

• Analysing the criteria an employee must fulfil to take on the position.  
• Advertising the vacancy on job portals and social networks, for example, to broadcast the opportunity. 
• Encouraging candidates to apply for the vacancy.
• Managing responses and contacting candidates.
• Evaluating the applications.

It is usually down to human resources teams, whether they are internal or external, to carry out the recruitment efforts. 

The concept of staff selection

To understand the difference between recruitment and selection we also need to look at the latter in detail. 

Staff selection involves screening the CVs received during the recruitment stage and selecting the professionals who meet the job requirements. 

The aim is to identify an individual among the applicants with the qualities and abilities required to perform the specific work duties within the organisation. The most challenging part of this process is being able to differentiate between qualified and unqualified candidates.

The main features of the staff selection process

So, in the selection phase we use different techniques to decide who is the most suitable candidate. 

We will need to:

• Analyse the applications received.
• Reject unsuitable candidates.
• Ask candidates to complete tests.
• Organise interviews to get to know the professionals in person.
• Check references.

The selection process requires time and experience to evaluate and determine whether a candidate is a good match for the vacancy. This is a critical moment as it will determine the success or failure of our ultimate selection. 

How can recruitment software help with these processes?

Recruitment software accelerates and optimises both the recruitment and selection processes. An all-in-one tool enables you to follow the new hire from the very start of the process and throughout their career with the company. 

The recruitment stage

With Kenjo, during the first stage, you can advertise vacancies on LinkedIn and job portals simultaneously and receive all applications on a single platform.

1. Promote vacancies on the most important portals.
2. Maximise the possibilities of attracting the best talent.
3. Find out the number of candidates available for each position.
4. Store the candidate information on the CRM.

Kenjo Interface

The staff selection stage

When it comes to the selection stage you can easily screen the CVs received, organise interviews, automate communications with the applicants and note down your impressions of each candidate plus their results. 

1. Analyse each candidate’s rating.
2. Personalise the hiring stages.
3. Automate the communications for each new stage. 
4. Add internal comments on the interviews.

Patently, recruitment software is a useful tool that saves HR departments time and money throughout the hiring process.