The last job I applied for was a safety coordinator internship with a contractor working on site at the Intel campus in Hillsboro, OR. The application process was very informal. I was put into contact through one of my parents who had worked with the company in the past on a different project. She knew they were offering an internship and suggested I apply. I reached out to the superintendent expressing my interest. He replied back and told me that they were looking for an intern in the near future. We emailed back and fourth a few times and agreed to meet in Hillsboro at their office for an informal interview where we discussed the position as well as what the company does. After this, I did not hear anything from them for almost a month. When I reached out to them, they said they were still making their decision, after another few weeks they gave me a call and said that they would like to have me as an intern this Summer. The whole experience was interesting because I never had a formal interview, just a short talk about what I wanted to do in my career and what they were looking for. In the past, I have applied and worked for retail jobs which have a much more straightforward and traditional approach to the application/ interview process.
Companies might be more inclined to spend more money/ resources on marketing and product design than employee recruitment and selection because they want a faster, more tangible return on investment. When spending money on marketing or improving products, the company is able to see quick, measurable results that can be directly attributed to the investment. When spending more money on doing a great job at employee recruitment, the company is not able to easily attribute the success of the company to this in-depth recruiting and selection process. Prioritizing employee recruitment and selection over other functions of the business can be beneficial in the long run because it ensures that the company is comprised of the best people in their respective positions available. Putting employee selection/ recruitment behind other aspects of the business can also be benefical by allowing the improvement of other components of the business such as sales, marketing, product development, etc. This can be beneficial by improving sales, reducing profits, growing the business, and other forms of short-term success.
