Human Resources

Attracting Applicants

You have now established the criteria for recruiting the kind of person you are looking for; the next step is to find someone who meets these criteria. Obviously, you must make it known to people that a vacancy exists. Before placing an expensive advertisement in a newspaper or professional journal you should consider alternatives. There are a variety of methods of publicising recruitment in addition to the traditional media advertisement (see Box 2).
Box 2: Sources of recruits

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  Internal advertisements
  
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  Advertising in a range of newspapers and professional and specialist publications
  
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  Employment agencies and job centres
  
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  Selection consultants who advertise on your behalf and may screen applicants
  
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  Executive search consultants (headhunters) who will try to track down suitable candidates for your post
  
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  Introductions by existing staff, word of mouth. To prevent discrimination this should be accompanied by more formal mechanisms
  
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  Previous applicants
  
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  Unsolicited applications
  
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  The Internet
  
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  School or university contacts
  
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  Planned promotions from formal assessment schemes