Recruitment is of the most crucial roles of the human resource professionals.

The level of performance of and organisation depends on the effectiveness of its recruitment function. Organisations have developed and follow recruitment strategies to hire the best talent for their organisation and to utilize their resources optimally. A successful recruitment strategy should be well planned and practical to attract more and good talent to apply in the organisation. For formulating an effective and successful recruitment strategy, the strategy should cover the following elements: 1. Identifying and prioritizing jobs Requirements keep arising at various levels in every organisation; it is almost a neverending process. It is impossible to fill all the positions immediately. Therefore, there is a need to identify the positions requiring immediate attention and action. To maintain the quality of the recruitment activities, it is useful to prioritize the vacancies whether to focus on all vacancies equally or focusing on key jobs first.

2. Candidates to target The recruitment process can be effective only if the organisation completely understands the requirements of the type of candidates that are required and will be beneficial for the organisation. This covers the following parameters as well:
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Performance level required: Different strategies are required for focusing on hiring high performers and average performers.

Experience level required: the strategy should be clear as to what is the experience level required by the organisation. The candidates experience can range from being a fresher to experienced senior professionals.

Category of the candidate: the strategy should clearly define the target candidate. He/she can be from the same industry, different industry, unemployed, top performers of the industry etc.

3. Sources of recruitment The strategy should define various sources (external and internal) of recruitment.

Which are the sources to be used and focused for the recruitment purposes for various positions. Employee referral is one of the most effective sources of recruitment.

4. Trained recruiters The recruitment professionals conducting the interviews and the other recruitment activities should be well-trained and experienced to conduct the activities. They should also be aware of the major parameters and skills (e.g.: behavioural, technical etc.) to focus while interviewing and selecting a candidate.

5. How to evaluate the candidates The various parameters and the ways to judge them i.e. the entire recruitment process should be planned in advance. Like the rounds of technical interviews, HR interviews, written tests, psychometric tests etc

eaning Of Recruitment

Recruitment Home Meaning Of Recruitment

According to Edwin B. Flippo, Recruitment is the process of searching the candidates for employment and stimulating them to apply for jobs in the organisation. Recruitment is the activity that links the employers and the job seekers. A few definitions of recruitment are: A process of finding and attracting capable applicants for employment. The process begins when new recruits are sought and ends when their applications are submitted. The result is a pool of applications from which new employees are selected. It is the process to discover sources of manpower to meet the requirement of staffing schedule and to employ effective measures for attracting that manpower in adequate numbers to facilitate effective selection of an efficient working force. Recruitment of candidates is the function preceding the selection, which helps create a pool of prospective employees for the organisation so that the management can select the right candidate for the right job from this pool. The main objective of the recruitment process is to expedite the selection process.

Recruitment is a continuous process whereby the firm attempts to develop a pool of qualified applicants for the future human resources needs even though specific vacancies do not exist. Usually, the recruitment process starts when a manger initiates an employee requisition for a specific vacancy or an anticipated vacancy. RECRUITMENT NEEDS ARE OF THREE TYPES PLANNED i.e. the needs arising from changes in organization and retirement policy. ANTICIPATED Anticipated needs are those movements in personnel, which an organization can predict by studying trends in internal and external environment. UNEXPECTED Resignation, deaths, accidents, illness give rise to unexpected needs.

Sources Of Recruitment
Every organisation has the option of choosing the candidates for its recruitment processes from two kinds of sources: internal and external sources. The sources within the organisation itself (like transfer of employees from one department to other, promotions) to fill a position are known as the internal sources of recruitment. Recruitment candidates from all the other sources (like outsourcing agencies etc.) are known as the external sources of recruitment.

SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT

FACTORS AFFECTING RECRUITMENT

Every organisation has the option of choosing the candidates for its recruitment processes from two kinds of sources: internal and external sources. The sources within the organisation itself (like transfer of employees from one department to other, promotions) to fill a position are known as the internal sources of recruitment. Recruitment candidates from all the other sources (like outsourcing agencies etc.) are known as the external sources of recruitment

Recent Trends in Recruitment

The following trends are being seen in recruitment: OUTSOURCING In India, the HR processes are being outsourced from more than a decade now. A company may draw required personnel from outsourcing firms. The outsourcing firms help the organisation by the initial screening of the candidates according to the needs of the organisation and creating a suitable pool of talent for the final selection by the organisation. Outsourcing firms develop their human resource pool by employing people for them and make available personnel to various companies as per their needs. In turn, the outsourcing firms or the intermediaries charge the organisations for their services. Advantages of outsourcing are:

1. Company need not plan for human resources much in advance.

2. Value creation, operational flexibility and competitive advantage

3. turning the management's focus to strategic level processes of HRM

4. Company is free from salary negotiations, weeding the unsuitable resumes/candidates.

5. Company can save a lot of its resources and time

POACHING/RAIDING Buying talent (rather than developing it) is the latest mantra being followed by the organisations today. Poaching means employing a competent and experienced person already working with another reputed company in the same or different industry; the organisation might be a competitor in the industry. A company can attract talent from another firm by offering attractive pay packages and other terms and conditions, better than the current employer of the candidate. But it is seen as an unethical practice and not openly talked about. Indian software and the retail sector are the sectors facing the most severe brunt of poaching today. It has become a challenge for human resource managers to face and tackle poaching, as it weakens the competitive strength of the firm.

E-RECRUITMENT Many big organizations use Internet as a source of recruitment. E- recruitment is the use of technology to assist the recruitment process. They advertise job vacancies through worldwide web. The job seekers send their applications or curriculum vitae i.e. CV through e mail using the Internet. Alternatively job seekers place their CVs in worldwide web, which can be drawn by prospective employees depending upon their requirements.

How To Select A Recruitment Consultant

If an organisation decides to outsource its recruitment processes or activities, it is very important to find and select a suitable recruitment consultant or consultancies, which can deliver results according to the needs of the organisation. Today, there are thousands of consulting firms (consultancies) as well as freelance consultants working independently. An organisation looks for various considerations and qualities before selecting the suitable

recruitment consultant. The reputation of the consulting firm in the job market (based on expertise and experience). Who are the consultants or firms past and present clients?

Consultants expertise and experience (from how long has he/firm been in the business)

Does the recruitment consultant have the requisite resources to complete the targets on time?

Get the idea of the effectiveness and the services of the recruitment consultant from its current and past clients.

Qualities of an independent recruitment consultant: Some of the qualities or characteristics looked in recruitment consultants are:

Marketing skills

Flexibility and adaptability

Wisdom

Exuberance

Ability to prioritise

Ambition

Resourcefulness

Diplomacy/ delicacy

Selecting the right recruitment consultant is essential for the effective recruitment processes. A successful Recruitment consultant is someone who is determinative, focused, and able to create opportunities for him, works harder and smarter than competitors and continually set and achieve higher standards

Types Of Job Seekers

Types Of Job Seekers 1. Quid Pro Que These are the people who say that I can do this for you, what can you give me These people value high responsibilities, higher risks, and expect higher rewards, personal development and company profiles doesnt matter to them. 2. I will be with you These people like to be with big brands. Importance is given to brands. They are not bothered about work ethic, culture mission etc.

3. I will do you what you want These people are concerned about how meaningful the job is and they define meaning parameters criteria known by previous job. 4. Where do you want me to come These people observe things like where is your office, what atmosphere do you offer. Career prospects and exciting projects dont entice them as much. It is the responsibility of the recruiter to decide what the employee might face in given job and thus take decision. A good decision will help cut down employee retention costs and future recruitment costs.

Recruitment Management System

Recruitment management system is the comprehensive tool to manage the entire recruitment processes of an organisation. It is one of the technological tools facilitated by the information management systems to the HR of organisations. Just like performance management, payroll and other systems, Recruitment management system helps to contour the recruitment processes and effectively managing the ROI on recruitment. Those who are looking for detailed
recruitment procedure - here's it.

The features, functions and major benefits of the recruitment management system are explained below:

Structure and systematically organize the entire recruitment processes.

Recruitment management system facilitates faster, unbiased, accurate and reliable processing of applications from various applications.

Helps to reduce the time-per-hire and cost-per-hire.

Recruitment management system helps to incorporate and integrate the various links like the application system on the official website of the company, the unsolicited applications, outsourcing recruitment, the final decision making to the main recruitment process.

Recruitment management system maintains an automated active database of the applicants facilitating the talent management and increasing the efficiency of the recruitment processes.

Recruitment management system provides and a flexible, automated and interactive interface between the online application system, the recruitment department of the company and the job seeker.

Offers tolls and support to enhance productivity, solutions and optimizing the recruitment processes to ensure improved ROI.

Recruitment management system helps to communicate and create healthy relationships with the candidates through the entire recruitment process.

The Recruitment Management System (RMS) is an innovative information system tool which helps to sane the time and costs of the recruiters and improving the recruitment processes.

To be taken in the campus computer network -

Recruitment Policy Of a Company

In todays rapidly changing business environment, a well defined recruitment policy is necessary for organizations to respond to its human resource requirements in time. Therefore, it is important to0020have a clear and concise recruitment policy in place, which can be executed effectively to recruit the best talent pool for the selection of the right candidate at the right place quickly. Creating a suitable recruitment policy is the first step in the efficient hiring process. A clear and concise recruitment policy helps ensure a sound recruitment process. It specifies the objectives of recruitment and provides a framework for implementation of recruitment programme. It may involve organizational system to be developed for implementing recruitment programmes and

procedures by filling up vacancies with best qualified people. COMPONENTS OF THE RECRUITMENT POLICY

The general recruitment policies and terms of the organisation Recruitment services of consultants Recruitment of temporary employees Unique recruitment situations The selection process The job descriptions The terms and conditions of the employment

A recruitment policy of an organisation should be such that:

It should focus on recruiting the best potential people. To ensure that every applicant and employee is treated equally with dignity and respect. Unbiased policy. To aid and encourage employees in realizing their full potential. Transparent, task oriented and merit based selection. Weightage during selection given to factors that suit organization needs. Optimization of manpower at the time of selection process. Defining the competent authority to approve each selection. Abides by relevant public policy and legislation on hiring and employment relationship. Integrates employee needs with the organisational needs.

FACTORS AFFECTING RECRUITMENT POLICY

Organizational objectives Personnel policies of the organization and its competitors. Government policies on reservations. Preferred sources of recruitment. Need of the organization. Recruitment costs and financial implications.

Recruiting Expatriates
Expatriate is a person who leaves his country to work and live in a foreign country. Generally, expatriates are the nationals from the other countries than the host and the MNCs parent country, i.e. expatriates are the third country nationals. The unavailability of the required skills and talents takes the organisation to source talent from other countries. The procedures and processes of recruiting and selecting the human resources are never uniform even within a single organisation. The procedures vary according to the post, the skill set required, the nature of work etc. More of it is seen in the case of recruitment of expatriates. The recruitment and selection procedures and considerations are drastically different for expatriates than that of the domestic employees. Recruitment of expatriates involves greater time, monetary resources and other indirect costs. Improper recruitment and selection can cause the expatriates to return hastily or a decline in their performance. A mismatch between job (its requirements) and people can reduce the effectiveness of other human resource activities and can affect the performance of the employees as well as the organisation. Recruiting expatriates require special considerations and skills to select the best person for the job. Except for a few expatriate selection policies, the expatriate selection criterion is generally organisation and nation specific. The recruiters for recruiting the expatriates should be carefully selected and trained. The recruitment strategies for expatriates should be aligned with requirements of the job. The interviews of expatriates are designed in a manner to judge their:

Adaptability to the new culture

Intercultural interaction

Flexibility

Professional expertise

Past international work experience

Tolerance and open-mindedness

Family situation

Language ability

Attitude and motivation

Empathy towards local culture

A few researches in this field also suggest that women are morel likely to be successful in certain positions as expatriates as they are more sensitive towards new culture and people. Recruitment of expatriates should be followed by cultural and sensitivity training, and language training.

HR Challenges In Recruitment
Recruitment is a function that requires business perspective, expertise, ability to find and match the best potential candidate for the organisation, diplomacy, marketing skills (as to sell the position to the candidate) and wisdom to align the recruitment processes for the benefit of the organisation. The HR professionals handling the recruitment function of the organisation- are constantly facing new challenges. The biggest challenge for such professionals is to source or recruit the best people or potential candidate for the organisation. In the last few years, the job market has undergone some fundamental changes in terms of technologies, sources of recruitment, competition in the market etc. In an already saturated job market, where the practices like poaching and raiding are gaining momentum, HR

professionals are constantly facing new challenges in one of their most important functionrecruitment. They have to face and conquer various challenges to find the best candidates for their organisations. The major challenges faced by the HR in recruitment are:

Adaptability to globalization The HR professionals are expected and required to keep in tune with the changing times, i.e. the changes taking place across the globe. HR should maintain the timeliness of the process

Lack of motivation Recruitment is considered to be a thankless job. Even if the organisation is achieving results, HR department or professionals are not thanked for recruiting the right employees and performers.

Process analysis The immediacy and speed of the recruitment process are the main concerns of the HR in recruitment. The process should be flexible, adaptive and responsive to the immediate requirements. The recruitment process should also be cost effective.

Strategic prioritization The emerging new systems are both an opportunity as well as a challenge for the HR professionals. Therefore, reviewing staffing needs and prioritizing the tasks to meet the changes in the market has become a challenge for the recruitment professionals.

TCS Campus Recruitment Procedure

1. Aptitude Test: 90 Minutes for 90 questions

The test contains many aptitude questions which aren't very tough. You can move around questions and revisit the questions if you skipped them in the first 'go around' the question set. However, there are three sections [Verbal, Quantitative & Reasoning] and you *cannot* return to a section once you've left it.

2. Psychometric Test: 30 Minutes for 120 questions

I always wondered why TCS has this test in its campus recruitment process. Lot of students fear this test as there is 'nothing' really prepare for. So here's a tip for all of you: Just answer all the questions with positive attitude. This test is a multiple-choice question. For example if the question is "While organizing a friend's birthday party", opt for answer that is most positive and energetic (like "I take the lead and organize it").

Also, another most important tip is "Stick to the 'positive' tone" you've adopted. It's very important as the questions will be presented to you random order.

3. Technical Interview:

You'll be questions mostly on your final year/third year project and basic programming skills. Also be prepared to answer few questions on your engineering trade.

4. Personal Interview:

If you've reached the Personal Interview, there's a 99% chance you'll get through. Just answer all the question, have good communications skills and be confident, not over-confident.

If you want further tips or have questions, do ask in this thread. We've couple of CEans who work in TCS and they might want to respond to your questions

1ST HAND EXPIERENCE OF A STUDENT

Satish and I am from St.Jospehs College of Enggineering,Chennai!! TCS was the first company to come for recruitment to my campus...and by Gods grace i got placed in the same Company!!I was just as nervous as every fresher is...but still,apt preparation and luck(more of the former though) helped me through!! I will give a detailed explanation of the Three Phases used in the Selection Process at my Campus.....the entire interview process happened in the MBA/MCA block of my college.

Labels: A Prologue

The first common phase...

0 comments Posted by saTish at 1:10 PM

PHASE ONE: APTITUDE TEST We had an Online Aptitude Test...NO NEGATIVE MARKING & NO SECTIONWISE CUTOFF(so everyone attend every single question,provided you have the same conditions). We had three sections in the Aptitude Test: VERBAL was difficult....in the sense that it did'nt have words from previous papers!!! QUANTZ(Quantitative Aptitude) was the easiest,i had already seen 90% of the questions from this section,in the previous TCS papers!! LOGICAL REASONING or whatever one calls it,was Latin and Greek for me...I think one can get a good idea about it from BARRONS 12th EDITON.

When the time eventually ran out,I thought I would get the message "Sorry better luck next time, but by God's grace the message "Congratulations,you can move to the next level". I was on cloud nine...I was then given a TCS application form which I duly filled. The form was given to my placement in-charge.I started for my house at around 7.45pm and I reached home at 9 pm.My Technical Interview was scheduled at around 9am the very next day,which meant i had minimum time to prepare for the Interview. NOTE: The TCS application form is your key from here on.

Labels: Phase-I

Phase Two of the Selection Process

2 comments Posted by saTish at 12:48 PM

PHASE TWO:TECHNICAL INTERVIEW Once you clear the aptitude test(level one)..ur 75% done!We then move on to the Technical interview.The interviewers were really friendly...especially mine.There was a lady and a gentleman. I opened the door and asked their permission to enter,with a 1000W smile on my face.They asked me take my seat...I thanked them and sat down.My resume was on my lap..they never asked for it.All they reffered to was the application form that I had filled the previous day. The gentleman(sadly i do not remember his name) asked me as to,why i had scored low in my 10th and semester(70% cbse and 71.25% aggr respectively).Maybe he wanted to break the ice by asking an imformal questions...anyway my reply was confident.He then asked me about my favourite subject,which was as i said,Physics(surprised??so was i,when he asked

about school subjects!!). He asked me what SONAR meant...i really did'nt remember..so i managed by telling him,it was related with sound and had DOPPLER EFFECT as a basis.He said,"Thats good.But can you explain?"Now where was I to go for an explanantion??I told him i did'nt remember. Then he asked me about Concave & Convex Lens and Keplers Law Of Gravitation.I did not answer those questions correctly,so we moved on to the core subjects(at last!!!!). My areas of interest are DBMS and s/w engg..and the madam started this time around.She asked me about the Various Phases of S/w Enggineering (a very genreal question)..I was able to answer it. Then i was asked to write a c-program to reverse a string(a success) and later on,the question was about Singularly Linked-List from Data-Structures.And finally,DBMS concepts were touched upon....i spoke confidentally for two minutes,when they asked me to stop!!I had the feeling things were going to turn out well...! In between I had actually stammered once,but I was not reprimanded.They reassured me by letting me know that they knew exactly how I was feeling.I was asked to relax,ask a cup of water if needed and then to continuefrom hereon I spoke confidently till the end of the HR,making sure i made no lapse in speech. At the end,they asked me wether I had any questions..I enquired about the prospect of higher education through TCS.After giving me satisfactory answers,they asked to wait outside. And there I was,waiting nervously outside my TECHNICAL interview room...and when finally,I was asked to go down for the MR(same as HR) interview.....RELIEF ebbed through my entire body.I knew for sure that once I had reached this level,i was not going to return home disappointed.

Labels: Phase-II

Phase Three of the selection process...

1 comments Posted by saTish at 12:42 PM

THE FINAL PHASE: I could see happy faces outside the HR room..evidently fuelled by the fact that they will get selected.I had to wait a long time to meet my HR interviewer(he was a bit busy) which I did not mind at all.Meanwhile I asked my other friends as to what they were askedsome unlucky guys were drilled a lot on tech..most of the ppl had had just a casual chat.

PEOPLE...the important thing is not what u say..it is...how u say it!!! COMMUNICATION is what people expect from u here...you communicate effectively, your through.Finally i went in to meet my interviewer.I was beaming at him and when I reached the table,I shook hands and sat down.He was really sweet.He actually apologised for the delay(3hours actually)..i said it was no problem. He intially asked me why i wanted to join TCS..i answered it from my heart(i had selected my college during counselling to get placed in a dream company like urs sir.and here I am,watching my dream come through). Next,"ok these are the reasons u want to join TCS. Why should we hire you??". My answer was "I do all the work tht i undertake with utmost sincerity and dedication"....(I finished it with an example of how I handle my exams.)

Moving on,he asked meabout the books i read(my hobby is reading)..i told him that I had started reading in my 3rd class with Enid Blyton then moved on to Nancy Drew-Sherlock Holmes-Sydney Sheldon-Michael Crichton-Dan Bbrown ...at this juncture,we started conversing about THE DA VINCI CODE!! Finally he asked me as to wether i have any questions....i asked him not one,but THREE!!

#1.sir,the prospects of higher education in TCS. #2.What does TCS actually expect from its newly-joining freshers?? #3.What actually happens during the training?and after the training?? When we were finished ...i shook hands and left with the words,"it was a pleasure meeting u Sir." I had a feeling of jubiliation when i came out.

It was a long wait for ther results starting at 5pm..which eventually ended at 730pm. When my name was read out it was like, oh my god, I really made it through.I was delighted!!!I thanked GOD and congragulated all my friends.

Labels: Phase-III

The final results...

2 comments Posted by saTish at 12:39 PM

And the results were announced to a voracious crowd!!! Total students appeared: 400 odd Students cleard for tech: 191

Filtered no. for HR : 145 No. selected for placement: 122