Employee Recruitment and Selection Blog

As someone who wants to have a career in Human Resources, every thing we learned in this class was valuable to me. The first part of the term talked about some of the same concepts that I learned in the Compensation Management class I took last term which was really helpful. Knowing the importance of the Job Analysis and Job Description is crucial to people who work in HR.

I also thought the week that we learned about Discrimination, EEO, and employment law were extremely important as an HR professional but also as an applicant in the hiring process. Learning about these laws and organizations was valuable as well as hearing some of the defenses that businesses can take.

The most important thing that I learned through this class was from Week 6 and Week 7. The information I learned on testing and measurement, criteria of effective tests, and reliability and validity of these tests. These sections were valuable to me because I feel like I really learned the science behind developing criteria and tests to measure that criteria in a way that has theory and research behind it. I loved learning about the different types of cognitive and non cognitive predictors and found the analysis of each type of predictor very useful in my own understanding but also useful in seeing how each type of predictor compared in to others in relation to criterion validity, subgroup differences, user acceptability, and test utility. In the final project, one of my other group members is presenting on the testing we decided to use in our recruitment plan, but I really enjoyed helping her come up with ones that would fit well with the job that we picked. I feel like I have a strong grasp on these ideas and am able to use them in order to make a fair assessment of candidates.

Overall, this class more so than any other that I have taken, has been the most beneficial as far as preparing me for my professional career after graduation. I loved the format and the way that the content was presented. Everything that we learned was important and valuable to me.

• What am I good at?

I am good at working with people. I have an ability to work well with a lot of different people and this is one of my biggest strengths. I also am really driven and hardworking which are two things that I bring to the table at a job. Another strength of mine is my good attention to detail which is really useful in all of the jobs that I have had and helps with overall organization. Additionally, I think that my time management skills are another major strength of mine. I am able to work on multiple things at a time without getting overwhelmed like other might.

• What do I value?

In terms of a job, feeling like I have a say in what is going on is very important to me. I care about salary somewhat but more than that I care about the type of insurance and other benefits that keep me and my family happy and healthy. Flexible hours and being able to work from home a couple days of the week is extremely important to me in a job. Also, having a job that allows employees reasonable vacation time is another major thing that I value. Lastly, working for a company that values continued education is another big factor for me. I would like to eventually get my MBA and hope to work for a company that encourages and maybe even helps pay for this because they see the value in it too.

• How did I get here?

I got here because I was sick of working for jobs that bored me and didn’t push me to my full potential. I began college in order to get a business degree so that I could qualify for the kinds of jobs that I was interested in. Deciding on business management was not planned but happened because I needed 66 residency credits to graduate from OSU but I have ended up really enjoying the required classes for this degree and also think that in the end, being in the management major has better prepared me for a career in human resources. When I think about just this past year at OSU, my decision to apply for the HR internship turned out to be one of the best things I could have done for my future.

• Where am I going?

When I think about the path that I am currently on, I think that I will end up exactly where I want to go. Through courses like this one and the Leadership class, I think that I have learned some great skills with which to guide my professional career by. Therefore, when I think about my future following the path that I’m on now, I think that I will be able to get the HR Generalist job and then progress to an HR Manager because I will be aware of the steps I need to take in order to achieve this. I already investigate companies in order to see if they seem like a good place for me to work and know that there are certain things that I value too much in order to accept jobs at other places. I also know to maintain a great network and to never underestimate an opportunity. Going forward I will have an open mind about where my career may go based on my values and interests.

My results were:

Extraversion- low

It was really nice to see the breakdown within these categories and see my scores in the subdomains. Although I had a low score overall for extraversion, I had quite high scores in several of the subdomains including: friendliness, cheerfulness, and very high on assertiveness.

Agreeableness- high

My highest scores among the subdomains were in: trust, altruism, and cooperation. My lowest score was in sympathy which made me feel a little concerned. The test result said that those who score low in sympathy typically make judgements based on reason which I found helpful for understanding that score.

Conscientiousness- high

This domain was my highest score for the entire test and my number was at the top of the scale. I had mostly all high scores in the subdomains but my highest were self-efficacy, self discipline, and cautiousness.

Neuroticism- low

I scored very low overall in this domain but had a higher score in the sub domain of anxiety. People with higher scores in this area may be afraid of specific situations which I definitely identify with!

Openness to Experience- low

This was my lowest domain in the entire test. A low score, as indicated by the results page, suggests that I like to think in plain and simple terms. I identify with being labeled down to earth and practical so this makes sense! My one high sub domain was intellect, which means that I am open-minded and like to debate intellectual issues.

Looking at my results among these dimensions of personality, I think an employer would definitely notice my super high scores in conscientiousness. I think this would favorably impact their decision to hire me because as we learned in lecture, this is one dimension that has been shown to correlate to job performance. Because of these high scores in the area, I think they would know that I am a hard worker and that I push myself to do my best. They can trust that if they give me a job to do, I will see it through and accomplish the objectives of the task.

Although the other dimensions are not as good at predicting job performance, I think my high score in agreeableness would indicate to employers that I work well with others and enjoy helping and collaborating. These are skills for working in a team that many employers look for in an individual.

Scoring low in neuroticism is a good thing in terms of what it means to someone reviewing the scores. A low score tells them that I am level-headed and calm which is clearly a good sign to have in an employee and for the climate of the company. Being scored low on neuroticism I feel lets an employer know that I have control over my emotions.

My score for extraversion is low which could be seen as a negative to an employer. This is where my high scores among the sub domains would be really beneficial in showing an employer my strengths. Although I may not thrive in huge groups of people, this doesn’t mean that I’m not friendly or cheerful and does not impact my ability to make friends and make people feel comfortable! Scoring high on assertiveness also I feel is a major strength to an employer, especially for a management type of position.

Lastly, my super low score in openness to experience could also maybe be seen as a negative but could also be taken as a positive to an employer. If I was looking for a creative or artistic position this would be a weakness but given the types of jobs that I am interested in, I don’t think this would impact me negatively in the eyes of the employer.

1. Ideally, I would love to know more about the position and the company before being faced with this decision of choosing who would be best to hire. Going on just what was presented in the prompt, as the business owner in this situation I would probably pick Jaime. This is based on the fact that I personally prefer consistency in people and respect a good work ethic. I think that Avery’s attitude would bother me and other people at the company and also I would be worried that the low effort could become contagious to other employees which would create a much larger issue.
2. Someone like Avery who is really capable but doesn’t consistently apply themselves would be best suited to a job that has a lot of variety. Avery seems to be a person who probably is very smart and maybe gets bored easily doing the same thing all day, everyday for work, which is why a person like this doesn’t give full effort. An example of a job that fits this description is a project manager. This type of job has a lot of pressure but each day is very different from the next. I believe someone who has a high potential may thrive in an environment that others consider stressful because it would make them use their intelligence, problem solving, and creative skills.
3. In contrast, the type of job someone like Jaime would be best suited to is one where there is not much variety or pressure. Because of this, a person who has this consistency but does not have as high of potential would be better at doing jobs that some would consider monotonous. They could take a job that many would get burned out doing and still give it their best everyday. An example of a job like this is a medical receptionist where the employee does the same 5-10 tasks constantly. Someone more like Jaime would probably be better in customer service for this reason as well because they are more predictable with customers than someone like Avery.

Personal Brand–Katharine Sullivan

Strengths: organized, confident, driven, critical thinker, problem solver, and friendly personality.

Qualities that set me apart: ability to work well in teams and get along with anybody, attention to detail and love of intricate sometimes tedious tasks, and a positive attitude.

I have experience working in many different industries including agriculture, healthcare, and manufacturing in a variety of positions. This has made me very versatile and I welcome challenges. Because of the variety in my past jobs, I am not afraid to explore new opportunities that are unfamiliar to me. I am a great listener and communicator. If you hire me you will be adding an incredible employee to serve and represent your company.

To present myself and convey my brand to potential employers I would create a situation wanted ad and use a couple different recruitment techniques.

My first idea would be to send this and my resume by mail to some many organizations in the area. Even if they are not hiring or interested they may pass on my information to someone in their network who is looking for someone.

My second idea is to get permission from coffee shops and restaurants that I love to put up my ad and contact information either on their bulletin boards or by the register. I think this would be a good way to get my information out to professionals who stop by these places during the work week and also connect with me over our love of the same small businesses!

My last idea is to put my ad on social media. Specifically, I think making a Facebook post could be beneficial. Showcasing my skills, my strengths, and letting people know I am available and a great option as an employee wouldn’t be difficult to do on Facebook and then it is also easy to make it shareable too. This way, even more people could be exposed to my ad and the likelihood of people interested in me as a candidate increase. In this scenario, I picture making a website that I have this advertised on and using a link in the post on social media to direct people to get more information about me.

For this post I am using the job description for my current internship.

I found the internship through Handshake and since I was specifically interested in Human Resources, the fact that this internship was with an HR department really intrigued me. The description they offered for this internship majorly impacted my decision to apply for the position because after looking through it, I realized even though I had never worked in an HR position before, I had all the qualifications and skills that they were looking for in a candidate.

Not every single item listed within the “Duties and Responsibilities” section matched exactly with my experience but I knew that I had done work that was similar to what they were describing and thought that it would be transferable. For example, one of their tasks listed was:

• “maintain and ensure accurate data in the HR Department’s HRIS and filing systems”

I had never used an HRIS before but I had recently worked in a doctor’s office where I scanned and uploaded all of the medical documents into an electronic health record system for the clinic’s patients. Because of the way that the task was written I felt that I had the skill this job required.

Similarly, the posting had many qualifications listed, most of which I think would qualify as abilities and competencies like:

• “ability to prioritize tasks”
• “exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail.”

Because I feel that I have those qualities and have experience in other jobs using these skills, the fact that they were listed in the job description made me feel that I was a good fit for the position they were advertising.

In the scenario we have been given, the company is faced with a large lawsuit for discrimination against a group that I associate myself with. Knowing that this company has treated employees differently and unfairly would definitely influence my feelings toward the company. It would be important for me to know if the allegations were true but just the fact that there were accusations among many employees would have a big impact on my opinion toward the company initially.

A lawsuit surrounding discrimination in the workplace would really make me question whether this is a good company. I would feel reluctant to support the company with my business. If it was a company that I really liked and had thought was doing good things, this kind of information would make me feel incredibly disappointed. I would ultimately decide that there must have been more going on behind the scenes than the company portrayed to the public. Knowing that the company had treated employees poorly that were part of a group that I am part of would also make me really angry as well as empathetic to those who had faced the discriminatory treatment.

This kind of information would have an even bigger impact on any future decisions to apply to work at the company. It would make me very wary of purposefully putting myself in a situation where I may face similar treatment and discrimination solely based on my membership within a certain group.

Although staffing clearly is important to the success of an organization, there are also good reasons as to why a company may focus on other critical areas instead of prioritizing resources for recruitment and selection. Many companies may choose to focus their money on the product or service that they sell. This might be in research and design or just into the materials and equipment needed to produce the product or service. It is easy to see how leadership within a company would look at the product/service as the organization’s most important function because this is how the company creates revenue. It can be difficult for many people to see the connection that staffing has with creating value within a company whereas it is much easier for people to see how something more concrete and product focused (like design or materials) adds value.

The strengths that arise from an organization’s decision to focus on other areas of the company are that the money is still being invested in the company. In the case of my example, an investment is being made in the company’s product which is not a bad thing. This type of investment still has the opportunity to bring the company and customer value. The weakness faced by a company that does not prioritize recruitment and selection is that they are missing out on an opportunity to invest in a process that brings in people who can contribute to the company and add value in many different areas, not just one department or function.

The most recent job that I have applied for I am actually still in the application process for as well. After I applied on the company website I got an email within a week setting up a phone interview with a recruiter. After the phone interview I got another email a week or so after that instructing me to pick a time to have an in person interview with two managers in Portland. Shortly after that, this was changed to a Skype interview because of the public health safety concerns we have been facing this month. About a week after these interviews I got another email from a senior manager setting up another phone interview, which I have tomorrow morning!

From the start the application process was easy to follow and the software they use didn’t seem outdated or sub par which a lot of other internships I’ve applied for the companies have had some funky HRIS situations, at least from the applicant side. The communication from the company to me about the process has been timely and clear which is another thing I have really appreciated. I think this also has made them seem more organized to me which is something I am looking for in a company that I work for even just for an internship. All three of the people I have spoken to so far have been professional and organized in their process as well. The way they acted in the interview gave me confidence in the company. I also like that they used Skype to do the interview instead of just canceling, this also gave me confidence and more of an interest in the company because they were using technology in this way. Overall, throughout the process I have seen positive behaviors and signs from the start until now that convey to me that the company culture is such that I would fit in and enjoy working there. I am hoping to hear good news after this last interview tomorrow!