GROUP ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET

STUDENT DETAILS

Student name: Le Tran Hai Student ID number: 31161025600

Student name: Le Hai Quynh Student ID number: 31161023551

Student name: Vo Thi Huynh Nhu Student ID number: 31161022468

Student name: Nguyen Thi Khanh Hang Student ID number: 31161024875

UNIT AND TUTORIAL DETAILS

Unit name: Human Resource Management Unit number: HRM-DH42ISB-3

Tutorial/Lecture: Class day and time:
Lecturer or Tutor name: Le Thi Thanh Xuan
ASSIGNMENT DETAILS

Title: Group Project 1 – RECRUITMENT PROCESS

Length: Due date: March 28th Date submitted: March 28th

DECLARATION
I hold a copy of this assignment if the original is lost or damaged.
x
I hereby certify that no part of this assignment or product has been copied from any other student’s work
x
or from any other source except where due acknowledgement is made in the assignment.
I hereby certify that no part of this assignment or product has been submitted by me in another
x (previous or current) assessment, except where appropriately referenced, and with prior permission
from the Lecturer / Tutor / Unit Coordinator for this unit.
No part of the assignment/product has been written/ produced for me by any other person except
x
where collaboration has been authorised by the Lecturer / Tutor /Unit Coordinator concerned.
I am aware that this work may be reproduced and submitted to plagiarism detection software programs
x for the purpose of detecting possible plagiarism (which may retain a copy on its database for future
plagiarism checking).

Student’s signature: Le Tran Hai

Student’s signature: Le Hai Quynh
Student’s signature: Vo Thi Huynh Nhu
Student’s signature: Nguyen Thi Khanh Hang
Note: An examiner or lecturer / tutor has the right to not mark this assignment if the above declaration has
not been signed.
 RECRUITING PROCESS PROJECT
CONDUCTING A RECRUITMENT INTERVIEW
---
Vo Thi Huynh Nhu
Le Hai Quynh
Nguyen Thi Khanh Hang
Le Tran Hai
University of Economics HCMC — ISB
 Abstract
Recruitment is a crucial task Human Resource Managers must do proper in order to maintain the

company’s workflow and keep the performance towards organizational goal on the right pace.

With the introduction of Industry 4.0, job requirements are constantly changing, which affects

worker’s demand of their ability to use new tools and worker’s supply who are able to acquire

new knowledge and ability in the new Industry. Therefore, the recruitment, selection and

replacement process plays an indispensable role. This project aims to conduct a demonstrated

interview of the volunteered candidates based on Human Resource Management textbook 13th

version compiled by Robert L. Mathis and John H. Jackson, so that future marketers can

understand the importance of recruitment process and how to hire the right employee.
I. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE:

This chapter is mainly retrieved from Textbook Human Resource Management –

Thirteenth edition compiled by Robert L. Mathis and John H. Jackson.

1. Human Resource Planning

According to the textbook page 146, it is defined that Human Resource Planning is the

process of analyzing and identifying the need for and availability of human resources so

that the organization can meet its objectives. The focus of HR planning is to ensure the

organization has the right number of human resources, with the right capabilities, at the

right times, and in the right places. Additionally, one of the vital contents to be mentioned

for Human Resource Planning definition is its process. From the figure 1.1 shown in the

appendix, the process begins with considering the organizational strategic planning

objectives Then the possible available workforce must be evaluated by identifying both

the external and internal workforce. Once those assessments are complete, forecasts must

be developed to identify both the demand for and supply of human resources.

Management then formulates HR staffing plans and actions to address imbalances, both

short-term and long-term. One means of developing and measuring HR planning is use of

a team of subject matter experts (SMEs) to increase the validity and reliability of the HR

planning results. Finally, HR plans are developed to provide specific direction for the

management of HR activities related to employee recruiting, selection, and retention.

2. Recruiting

Recruiting is part of overall HR planning and strategy. Particularly, it is the process of

generating a pool of qualified applicants for organizational jobs and becoming more

important as labor markets shift as stated by the textbook page 178.

Recruitment requires an employer to know the industry and where to successfully recruit

qualified employees. Identification of the employees’ must-have qualities to success in

the labor market, including competitors recruiting efforts; cultivation of relationships

with sources of prospective employees; promotion of the “company brand” so that the

employer is known as a good place to work; use of recruiting metrics in order to measure

the effectiveness of recruiting efforts; are all deemed necessary. Recruiting decisions can

identify not only the kinds and numbers of applicants, but also how difficult or successful

recruiting efforts may be by type of jobs. In addition, effective recruiting focuses on

discovering talent before it is needed. In other words, effective recruiting is needed to

integrate efforts involving labor markets, recruiting responsibilities and goals, and

recruiting sources, including the Internet; focuses on discovering talent before it is

needed.

3. Human Resource Employment Functions:

The employment function in any organization may be concerned with some or all

of the following activities:

● Receiving applications

● Interviewing applicants
 ● Administering tests to applicants

● Conducting background investigations

● Arranging physical examinations

● Placing and assigning new employees

● Coordinating follow-up of new employees

● Exit interviewing departing employees

● Maintaining employee records and reports.

4. Structure Interview:

The project is highly related to structured interview owing to the fact that it uses a

set of standardized questions to ask all job applicants which is useful for initial

screening and comparisons. Structured Interviews—in any of several forms,

including biographical, behavioral, competency, and situational—are useful when

making selection decisions. To be more specific, first of all, Biographical

Interview is the way to focus on a chronological exploration of the candidate’s

past experiences. The second is Behavioral Interview where applicants are asked

to give specific examples of how they have performed a certain task or handled a

problem in the past. Next is Competency Interview, which is similar to the

Behavioral Interview, except that the questions are designed specifically to

provide the interviewer with something to measure the applicant’s response

against—that is, the “competency profile” for the position, which includes a list of

competencies necessary to do that particular job. Last but not least, Situational

Interview shows that applicants are asked how they would respond to a specific
job situation related to the content of the job they are seeking. All the information

provided above is based on the textbook from page 230 to page 231.

5. The expectations:

A difficult factor that always furrow HR managers and businesses’ eyebrows

when making an additional labour is the candidates’ expectations. The truth

remains that unless the organizations match the demands of the best candidates,

they are going to lose the war on talent placement and competitive advantages in

labour attraction. The Manila Recruitment, who is one of the leading firm in

recruiting, has pointed out the four expectations of candidates during the

recruiting process include:

● Visibility and transparency: allows future employees to observe the vision,

the aims and a crystal clear destination, therefore, they can have good

demonstration of what they are going to do in the collaboration.

Furthermore, the candidates want to be aware of where they stand amongst

the numerous others they are up against, thus, just let them know.

● Efficient interviews: The candidates are also one’s customers, and if they

feel hard to communicate or unintentionally find out flaws in their

interviews such as unskillful interviewers or unprofessional physical

evidence of the interviewee, they can lose good impression and create

more choices in applying for the rivals. This also influences the company’s

reputation and brand image.

● Clear salary and compensation delivery: Acknowledgement regarding the

compensation package when the recruiting process starting to come to an

 end is the one of the rights of the candidates. This allows managers to

know the non-negotiables of the candidates, as well as the things that can

be negotiated like compensation, bonuses, and among others. Settling a

deal early is good for both the candidate and the recruiter, as you’re letting

them know what else they can get and how your company can fulfill their

needs.

● Upright treatment: Keep the interview informative and short. Treat it as a

two-way communication that promotes proactive exchange of information

and ideas.

In short, for the expectations of a candidate as well as recruitment process,

remember that the relationship between them and the company is the exchange

each other’s information by an equal way.

6. What need to be prepared in advance for an interview:

● Icebreakers: are used to build rapport and set candidates at ease before beginning

the formal interview.

● Prepare your interview questions: decide what you’re going to ask, first use the

job description to determine which skills are most important and should be

assessed during the interview.

● Know your candidates: Make some notes for each candidate, so you’ll remember

who they are when you meet them.

● Plan your time and agenda: It’s best not to leave candidates waiting while you

finish up a meeting, or having to rush them out if you have a meeting right after
 the interview. Giving them time and your full attention is more likely to earn their

respect.

● Have a clear understanding of the position: To recruit the best match for the job.

● Be ready to provide feedback: Feedback after the interview is the way to give the

candidates a general view for the criteria of the job.

● Questions to Avoid: Yes/No questions; Obvious questions; Questions that rarely

produce a true answer; Leading questions; Illegal questions and Questions that are

not job related.

II. BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

1. Company services:

KPMG has been one of the largest professional firms in Vietnam. Established in 1994, the

company have more than 20 years of experience and work with more than 6,000 clients, 28

partners, 1000 staff with many offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Da Nang.

KPMG provide full range of services for the customers including:

a) Audit

- Financial statement audit

- Regulatory audit

- Accounting advisory services

- International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS)

- Audit data & analytic

- Assurance services
b) Tax

- Corporate tax

- International tax

- Personal income tax

- Indirect tax

- Global mobility services

- Transfer pricing

- Tax disputes resolution & controversy

- M&A tax

- Tax due diligence

c) Advisory

- Financial due diligence

- M&A

- Strategy

- Valuations

- Forensic services

d) Legal

- IT advisory services

- Customer & Operations

- People & Change

- Internal audit, risk and compliances services

- Forensic

- Financial risk management

 - Governance & Risk compliance

The Ministry of Finance and VACPA recognized KPMG Vietnam as the leading audit firm

in Vietnam in terms of revenue, number of clients and number of qualified accountants. In

addition, the company also gained many other achievements:

🏆️ Vietnam Transfer Pricing Firm of the Year

International Tax Review, 2017 -2018

🏆️Vietnam Tax Firm of the Year

International Tax Review, 2014 -2018

🏆️Advisory Firm of the Year

Global Sourcing Association, 2017

🏆️ M&A Advisory Firm of the Decade

Ministry of Planning and Investment, 2007 -2017

🏆️ Best Place To Work in Financial Service

Anphabe (2018)

🏆️ Golden Dragon Award

Vietnam Economic Times, 2006 -2018

2. KPMG Philosophy:

“We aim to ensure our employees have broad perspectives while also being able to go deep

into one specialized area”- said Ang Fung Fung Audit Partner and Head of People,

Performance, and Culture at KPMG Singapore. Additionally, she mentioned that the
 organization is driving the concept of equipping every employee with what she calls “T-

shaped skills”.

⇨ “It takes a top-performing team to operate a company of our size and scope”.

Furthermore, KPMG has not only focused on technical skills but also soft skills such as

communication skill, problem- solving and presentation skills.

* T-shaped skills is a model which has a horizontal axis stands for complimentary skills such as

project management, business, accounting, finance, politics, selling, legal and a vertical axis

stands for specific skills such as deep, technical, specific to trade or profession, certification and

professional recognition.

III. RECRUITMENT CHANNELS

1. Candidates:

KPMG adds new staff resources to its departments through sources, for instance,

graduated students from some famous and international universities in Vietnam or final

year students in overseas universities. The organization's internship programme is also a

source of high-potential, enthusiastic, and invested talents. They ensure to give priority

access to full-time jobs for students who have performed well during the short-term

assignments after the completion of their studies.

2. Position:

We are recruiting a Secretary position for HR manager.

3. Department:
 Integrated Operations Network (ION): The Integrated Operations Network (ION)

delivers quality, value-added, customer-focused services local to the practices and

national processes in a consistent, highly effective, and efficient manner. The foundation

for the success of the Integrated Operations Network is the quality of its people and a

single-minded focus on service excellence in the following areas: Office Services, which

includes Office Operations, Facilities, Hoteling, Mail, and Reception; National Design,

Proposal & Production Services (NDPPS); and Administrative Assistant Support

Services.

4. Sources:

a) External Sources: Advertisements, Schools, Colleges and Universities, Casual

Callers, Labor Unions, Labor Contractors, Recruiting market events, Recruiting

Group on Facebook, LinkedIn…

b) Internal Sources: Transfers, promotions and present employees.

5. Aim of recruitment:

This recruitment was conducted with the aim to find a long-term, hard-working secretary

who will dedicate himself/ herself to the HR manager as well as contribute to the success

of KPMG.

IV. JOB DESCRIPTION AND JOB SPECIFICATION:

1. Job Description:

Below are the details of the job description as well as the characteristics of the secretary

position for an HR manager:

- Assist in travel booking, printing, stationary ordering and other administrative requests

of department needs (Ticket & hotel accommodation).

 - Coordinate logistics needed for training, meetings.

- Assist on policy compliance for department including timesheets, overtime, and clean

desk.

- Process all staffing schedule requests including book, change, and inform requestors if

there is conflict

- Check timesheets, reconcile overtime claim forms and send weekly reminders of

missing timesheets.

- Make sure start and end time are correctly inputted in IBS timesheet entries

- Prepare proposal and/or engagement letter/ contract with existing clients, type or

translate document (for internal or external use)

- Always proofread the deliverables you are providing to the client (engagement teams).

2. Job Specification:

A secretary for the HR manager position needs to meet these following requirements in

order to be considered for admission:

- A university degree holder; additional qualifications would be advantageous

- 1 - 2 year working experience in secretarial/ administrative role, preferably in

professional services environment

- Good command of written and spoken English - Very good computer knowledge and

skills (MS Word/ Excel/ PowerPoint)

- Conscientious, service and customer-oriented - Detail focused and good commitment

- Strong organizational skills are essential in order to manage and prioritize your

workload

- Able to work under high pressure with all levels of staff

- Strong communication and interpersonal skills
V. The Recruitment Process:

The recruitment process consists of four key steps: preparation; attracting and assessing

candidates; decision making and negotiation; and communication and transition process.

Different activities are divided and shared among groups. Those groups are the recruitment sub-

committee, the executive search consultant (or those performing these duties), the selection

panel; and sometimes the Board Chair or the whole Board, depending on the position recruited.

It is important to remember that the Chair should also be a member of the recruitment sub-

committee and selection panel, so that the Chair could see the decision making process and make

necessary changes or interventions as required.

The first step to a successful recruitment is the preparation. In this step, the Human Resource

Management department must quickly do the followings:

● Identify the hiring needs

● Establish a recruitment sub-committee

● Establish the brief

● Check legislation

● Develop a project plan and contingencies

● Establish employment terms and conditions

● Engage an executive search consultant (optional)

● Set up the selection panel

● Approve the preparations

It is important for the HRM manager to see if there are any gaps in terms of ability, performance

or personality in job positions that need to be addressed. Work overload, incompetence and

turnover are some of the few problems that need to be monitored closely and considered when

identifying whether the job position is in need for hiring.

The most crucial task, however, is the establishment of the recruitment sub-committee, as their

responsibility for making key decisions regarding the recruitment process and keeping the

process on the right track and on time is indispensable. The sub-committee will be given clear

terms of reference which will specify what kind of authority given to them, what decisions they

are allowed to make, and when and how they need to consult with the whole Board.

The second step of the recruitment process the attracting and assessment of the candidates.

After recognizing the need for a particular position, the HRM department/the recruitment sub-

committee must prepare and update the job description with haste. A comprehensive job

description (JD) will assist the team what their potential employees must have in order to meet

the demands in that role. The JD also acts as a checklist that the candidates can do some self-

comparison and self-evaluation before applying, which helps increase the effectiveness of the

recruiting process because it will help the employers get the applications from the most suitable

candidates.

This is also when promotional materials need to be made public and easily accessible through

channels such as YBOX, company’s webpage, careerbuilder, vietnamworks, timviecnhanh,

LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. in order to attract the candidates. After that, the sub-committee must

collect evidence about the abilities of each candidate, which normally includes, but is not limited
to written documents provided by the candidate, and interviews with the candidates. The short-

list is made soon after the closing of the job advertising, and is reviewed by the sub-committee to

see which applicants are best suitable for the position. Then, the selection panel (employers) will

conduct interviews with the short-listed applicants (those who meet the selection criteria best)

with the intention to see the extent to which applicant best “fit” the position. Finally, the

selection panel ensures that due diligence has been undertaken, meaning they need to make sure

the documents and claims from the applicants are true, and is eligible for employment (i.e. no

illegal background).

The third step of the recruitment process is the decision making and negotiation with the

candidates. This is where the selection panel will see which applicants from the interviews are

best “fit” the position required in a ranking system. This ranking list then is approved by the

HRM manager/Chair/Board depending on the recruiting position. After the approval has been

made, the corresponding manager will make offers to the candidates, from top to bottom. If the

first candidate decline the offer, they will commence negotiations with the second candidate and

so on. In the case of recruiting CEO however, if none of the candidates accept the offer, the

contingencies established by the recruitment sub-committee in the preparatory stage are put into

place. Finally, all of the recruitment process and decision makings are recorded.

The final step of the recruitment process is the communication with the successful candidate

and helping the candidate transition smoothly into the position and fit in with the company. The

manager/Chair will feedback to the candidate should consists of an explanation about why they
were preferred in comparison to other candidates, and any weaknesses that became apparent

through the interview, and will need to be looked into through the training and development

process once the candidate started working.

The manager/employer will also provides feedback to the unsuccessful short-listed candidates,

giving a clear explanation about where their standing was in the final ranking, reasons for this

ranking and how they might better themselves for similar roles in the future. This is important

because it shows appreciation towards the candidates who actually put time and effort for this

position, giving something back and acts as an encouragement to the candidates.

KPMG’s top 2 candidates CV:

Top 2 candidates for KPMG’s Secretary for HRM manager – POST INTERVIEW

ANALYSIS

Candidate #1: Le Hai Quynh

Graduated from well-known university; had working experience in E&Y; Plan to get CPA in the

near future; not very fluent in English; very ambitious

Candidate 2: Le Tran Hai

Graduated from well-known university; had considerable working experience as a secretary for

Administration Officer in Manulife; seems loyal to his previous company; fluent in English,

clear tone of voice; hard-working; learn from mistakes

VI. The Interview Criteria:

To evaluate the performance of candidates, there are 5 factors using to compare between

two of them including Creativity, Experience, Negotiation ability, Appearance &

Manners, and Personality & Lifestyle. These elements are divided based on the

importance and effect of it to the quality of the employees.

1. Creativity (20%) Creativity is what fuels big ideas; challenges employees’ way

of thinking, and opens the door to new business opportunities because of the fierce

competition and under the harsh pressure from the world-wide economy in

operation of many organizations. According to an IBM’s survey with more than

 1,500 chief executive officers shows the result that: Creativity was seen as the

number one factor for future business success. Taking this fact into consideration,

it is necessary and useful for manager to hire a creative employee who could

differentiate himself with other candidates, show unique skills, intelligence and

ability to complete tasks. Therefore, creativity is ranked 20% in total to measure

the performance of candidates in the interview.

2. Knowledge (30%): According to some studies from Canada Business Network,

they found that useful and important knowledge already exists in business through

some channels:

- The experience of employees

- The designs and processes for company’s goods and services

- The files of documents (whether held digitally, on paper or both)

- The plans for future activities, such as ideas for new products or services

Hence, to make sure that candidates have enough experience and knowledge to

complete the tasks and not to make any serious and/or basic mistakes during

working in the company, the company should evaluate the candidates carefully on

some different business knowledge, especially in Secretary’s area - such as

customer knowledge, employee and supplier relationship, knowledge of the

business environment… Besides some soft skills like organizational memory,

problem solving skills, the basic knowledge about computers and electronics such

as how to operate electronic equipment, computer hardware and software,

including but not limited to applications, programming, computer setups; the

 knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word

processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing

forms, and other office procedures and all of the terminologies necessary for a

good secretary. This is the most important element which has strong connection

with the manager, thus percentage of this criteria is 30%.

3. Negotiation ability (15%): In many situations, a secretary has to deal with many

different people and must be an expert communicator. A fine secretary should

have the ability to make visitors feel at ease by being gracious and welcoming or

able to ease the ruffled composure of someone who must wait because of a

temporary emergency. The ability of communicating key facts quickly and

logically, along with creating a positive working environment, plays a vital role in

keeping the smooth workflow of the company. They also need the proper

judgment to share only what is appropriate in a given situation. The advantages of

having strong negotiation skills provides to candidates the key to grow and thrive

in the future. These tools might make an employee especially a secretary become a

strong supporting staff for their manager. Therefore, the managers should always

look for the candidate who have some soft skills as a good negotiation skill to help

them communicate with partner and competition and convince them or be able to

work with many kind of people and employees to get information. Interpersonal

skill is an indispensable skill for a secretary, and therefore consists of 15% of the

total score.
4. Appearance and Manners (15%): Secretary is a position who delivers managers

messages and is an individual who is expected to act professionally, representing

their managers to maintain and enhance the relationship with customers and

colleagues. The candidates should show their professional attitude with this job

through their manners and outfit in this interview to give a good impression with

the interviewers. By this way the managers could choose their suitable supporters

who could demonstrate personal pride, confidence, the ability to promote health

and safety to comply with workplace legislation; to maintain the organization’s

brand image and to meet job requirements. This criteria takes 15% of the total

score in our ranking system.

5. Personality and Lifestyle (20%): Secretaries routinely have to keep track of

many tasks and projects, such as scheduling meetings and appointments, taking

and transcribing minutes, handling phone calls, making travel arrangements for

one or more superiors, filing and many other responsibilities. Therefore, the

candidates having a suitable lifestyle is the best choices for the managers. Besides

that, because of the requirement of this job, the best secretary also have other

personalities such as integrity - being honest and ethical; attention to detail – the

abilities to be careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks;

dependability – the candidates have to be reliable, responsible, and dependable,

and fulfilling obligations; cooperation - being pleasant with others on the job and

displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude are the qualities that the candidates

should present before the interviewers; concern for others - being sensitive to

others' needs and feelings so they can be understanding and helpful on the job.
 References

(2015, April 24). THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS. Retrieved from: https://vpsc.vic.gov.au/html-

resources/recruiting-a-ceo/the-recruitment-process/

About KPMG in Vietnam. Retrieved from:

https://home.kpmg/vn/en/home/about/overview/kpmginvietnam.html

Corporate Secretary Career. Retrieved from: https://www.mymajors.com/career/corporate-

secretary/skills/

Robert L. Mathis & John H. Jackson. Human Resource Management – Thirteenth edition.
Importance of knowledge to a growing business. Retrieved from:
https://www.infoentrepreneurs.org/en/guides/importance-of-knowledge-to-a-growing-
business/

Katie Shonk. The Importance of Negotiation in Business and Your Career. Retrieved from:
https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/business-negotiations/the-importance-of-negotiation-
in-business/

Lauren Landry. (2017, November 9). The importance of creativity in business. Retrieved from:
https://www.northeastern.edu/graduate/blog/creativity-importance-in-business/

Sam Majid. (2017, December 18). KPMG’s dynamic skills development approach. Retrieved
from: http://hrmasia.com/kpmgs-dynamic-skills-development-approach/

Sources of Recruitment of Employees: Internal and External Sources/ Recruitment. Retrieved

from: http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/recruitment/sources-of-recruitment-of-
employees-internal-and-external-sources-recruitment/25954

Thuy An. (2018). Tập Đoàn Kiểm Toán Quốc Tế KPMG Tuyển Dụng Secretary Full-time 2018.
Retrieved from: https://www.ybox.vn/tuyen-dung/hcm-tap-doan-kiem-toan-quoc-te-
kpmg-tuyen-dung-secretary-full-time-2018-5c3711880ef1493b57846594

TJ Pestano. (2018, April 19). 4 expectations of candidates during a recruitment process.

Retrieved from: https://manilarecruitment.com/manila-recruitment-articles-
advice/expectations-candidates-recruitment/
What goes into a Perfect Recruitment Process?. Retrieved from:
https://www.jobsoid.com/recruitment-process/
 Appendix

Figure 1.1: HR Planning Process