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275 Recruitment Essay Topics & Examples

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🔝 Top-10 Recruitment and Selection Research Topics in 2024

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Recruitment and selection are the key factors in building a strong and effective team. In your recruitment essay, you might want to focus on the importance of this processes. Another option is to concentrate on their purposes. Whether you need recruitment topics for a thesis, research paper, presentation, discussion, essay, or a different project, our article will be helpful. In it, you will find everything you might need to write an essay on recruitment. Topics for research papers and essays are collected here together with writing tips.

• Recruitment and selection processes and their importance
• Recruitment process: the factors of success
• Recruitment and selection: compare and contrast
• The role of selection process
• The key methods of selection in HR
• Recruitment and selection: external factors
• The main types of recruitment
• Various models of recruitment and selection
• Measuring the success of recruitment strategies
• Recruiting and its stakeholders
• Recruitment and Selection in Hospitality Management The process involves reviewing the job and needs for the job identifies the existing gaps in the organization and the need for them to fill.
• Recruitment and Selection Report Example The core purpose of recruitment and selection is to ensure that only the right person is appointed for the right job.
• Recruitment and Selection Process of Apple Company Management is a broad practice that entails the organization and harmonization of activities and practices in a firm especially in regard to the organization’s policies, plans, and objectives.
• Planning Recruitment and Selection in Human Resources Management Human resource management is a very essential function in every organization as it enhances overall efficiency and effectiveness of the organization through smooth running of all the activities and operations that are carried out in […]
• Toyota Motor Corporation: Strategic Human Resource Planning and Strategic Recruitment Strategic human resource management has been described as the process of linking the human resource function in an organization with the strategic objectives of the organization with the aim of improving performance.
• Recruitment and Selection Process of Emirates Airlines – A Case Study To deliver sustained service excellence and effectively manage its staffs, Emirates Airline recognizes human assets as the most crucial and important facets in any service industry. Moreover, the frontline service and general staffs are regarded […]
• Amazon Firm’s Personnel Recruitment and Selection Practices However, it is the responsibility of the junior workers to take specific actions, in line with the policies set by the superiors, meant to facilitate the success of the firm.
• Employee Recruitment in Educational Institutions In organizations, the purpose of the recruiting and selection processes is to identify and hire the best-qualified candidates to fill vacant jobs.
• HR Department Selection and Recruitment Functions The job description entails trying to give the purpose of the job, tasks involved in the job, and the entire scope of the job.
• Kentucky Fried Chicken Restaurant’s Recruitment Framework The first theory is the person-position theory, which matches the personal and professional qualities of the candidate with the required position.
• Action Plan for Recruiting Teachers The spreadsheet has columns that indicate the goals set at the beginning of the years and the actual performance of the teachers at every juncture.
• Recruitment and Selection Strategies for Coffee Shop To get the best employees, the organization must focus on communicating the vision and the mission of the business to the potential applicants.
• Southwood School: Recruitment and Selection The selection process arrangement used by Southwood School to select the most appropriate candidates is the combination of interviewing method, testing and the teaching methods.
• Nepotism in Recruitment and Hiring The main problem in the firm is nepotism, which is evidenced by the hiring of Mary Smith, a daughter of the firm’s boss, as an administrative assistant even though she does not have the skills […]
• Recruitment Scenarios: Experiences This ensures the firm hires quality staff who will meet the client’s demands and ensure the continuity of the business in years to come.
• Graduate Employees Recruitment in Aviation Industry The current study is limited to the review of the selection and recruitment of graduates in the aviation industry. Employers in the aviation sector adopt a number of strategies to select and recruit graduates.
• Coca-Cola Company Recruiting Mechanical Engineers The process will consist of various strategies to ensure the hiring of the right and competent candidates. The aptitude test will be in form of a proficiency exam or a set of questions on various […]
• Liberty Engineering Recruiting Recreational Vehicle Surveyors This paper seeks to analyze the case of recruiting employees for a government project by Liberty Engineering Co after the company won the bid knowing afterward that it is difficult to recruit the needed employees […]
• Recruitment, Selection and Onboarding These needs relate to the actual tasks that the engineers will need to perform, the strategic needs of the company, and the responsibility of the company towards the community.
• Impact of Organizational Image on Recruitment Process However, the problems of attracting the best people in the market to apply for the jobs that arise have not been fully investigated to determine how the image of the recruiting organisation influences potential applicants […]
• HR Managers Challenges: Recruiting Expatriates It is possible to note that, when it comes to training concerning the use of some machinery, software, tools and so on, expatriates can be very effective irrespective of their cultural competence, so-to-speak.
• Employee Recruitment Through Social Media The only thing that the employers need to do to reach the potential employees is to post the jobs on the social media sites.
• Expatriate Recruitment and Selection That is why the managers sent to the Zurich office will need to carefully review the plans for their work trip and demonstrate active participation in implementing them.
• Employee Recruitment & Selection Process Job description entails what the office should achieve, roles and responsibilities of the occupier of the office, the person the officer in that office will be answerable to and the remuneration that the office caries.
• Recruitment Challenges in the UAE As a result of the increased competition in the UAE and with every organization competing to meet the world class standards, UAE selects the best human resources mostly non-nationals.
• Billing Clerk Job Description and Recruitment The essential duties of the billing office in the hospital will include the following: Process the bills settled by the customers, collect the payments from the customers and do a billing report to the management […]
• Selection and Recruitment in the School Sector For teachers, the strategy entails the creation of a Priority Placement Pool that is centrally maintained and given preferential consideration for all openings.
• E-Recruitment The appeal of E-recruitment is that if not only increases the productivity of HR personnel but it also significantly cuts the cost of the recruitment process and saves time. The CIPD elaborates that e-recruitment necessitates […]
• Abu Dhabi Accountability Authority Recruitment Process As a result, the manner in which the process is carried out is paramount and may have a significant impact on the overall output of the human resource department.
• Solving the Supreme Problem: 100 Years of Selection and Recruitment The article “Solving the Supreme Problem: 100 Years of Selection and Recruitment at the Journal of Applied Psychology” provides a summary of the research into recruitment and selection over the journal’s history.
• Coffee Shop’s Recruitment and Staffing The progress of the coffee will be a great determinant in the subsequent employee recruitment plans that the company would probably seek to adopt.
• Recruitment and Selection in management The key to effective and hence successful recruitment and selection is to ensure that the criteria of suitability to the job are overt and relevant to the job itself.
• The Impact of Recruitment and Selection on Staff Retention It contains the job title, the rank of the employee, and a description of the employees’ roles and duties. The impact of recruitment on screening The term recruitment refers to the procedure of identifying the […]
• “Reengineering the Recruitment Process”: Summary The article appeared in the March–April 2021 issue of Harvard Business Review. It raises an acute topic of recruiting under the current conditions, including COVID-19.
• Talent Recruitment at Marks and Spencer To fulfill this goal, good practice in talent recruitment and the current approaches in place in Marks and Spencer will be analyzed, and recommendations for improvement will be provided based on results. Some of the […]
• Expatriates’ Recruitment in Saudi Arabian Companies Based on the attitude, perceptions and expectations of organizations and foreign workers, this paper seek to establish perceived organization support and organization identification of expatriate workers in Saudi Arabia.
• Job Analysis and Recruitment Process Moreover, he personnel has to define the time frame, establish the tools for measurement of success of the exercise, establish other players in the recruitment process, define the skills and knowledge specific fro the job, […]
• Introduction Interviews and Staff Recruitment These areas include the role of the interview panel, the relevance of the interview process and the aspects of the interviewee which are going to be analyzed.
• Talent Management and Recruitment As such, many organizations have increasingly acknowledged the input of the talent acquisition process, as opposed to the recruitment process, because talent management is more focused on results than recruitment and selection.
• Recruitment Techniques in HRM The use of the right recruitment technique enables an organization to reduce recruitment costs, find the best talent and reduce the time needed to hire new employees.
• Internet Recruiting In spite of the increased use of internet in the department of human resource, few researches have been involved in investigating the outcomes of internet in HR processes.
• Artificial Intelligence for Recruitment and Selection As a result, the hiring process has changed considerably, and it is crucial to comprehend how social media and technology affect it. In conclusion, technology and social networking have had a big impact on both […]
• Java Corp’s Recruitment and Selection Plan When a company is examining several applicants for this important position, the right recruiter could be a huge advantage and a helpful partner in the talent acquisition process.
• Diversity Recruiting in Multinationals The workforce will also involve a cultural and social mix of people that promotes employee engagement and retention. The multinational will be better placed to understand and observe cultural, legal and social differences.
• Recruiting Strategies in the Technology Industry Once I have identified the type of candidates I need and which will fit best within the organization’s culture, it is time to start looking for them.
• Recruiting and Retaining the Nursing Staff Although the techniques’ intentions are admirable, it was determined that none are vital due to the lack of information on the relative costs or efficacy of different staffing tactics and the scant proof of their […]
• Recruiting, Hiring, Training, and Evaluating a New Administrative Assistant In the context of the assistant’s evaluation, it is also necessary to use the correct frequency of the assessment and the use of incentives for meeting the given criteria.
• Virtual Recruiting Operations and Tools However, virtual recruitment is limited by a surplus of unqualified applicants, difficulty in measuring effectiveness, informality, stiff competition in the labor market, and the ability to attract fraudulent and wrong candidates.
• Digital Recognition for Top Talents Recruitment Therefore, launching a platform that will recognize talent and attract them to work in the company can be in great demand.
• The Exxon Mobil Firm’s Recruitment Methods The Exxon Mobil Corporation works in the energy sector and produces and develops natural gas and crude oil. Exxon’s recruiting methods are fair and in keeping with the economic and political circumstances of the modern […]
• The Internationally Educated Nurses Recruitment The recruitment of IENs offers a suitable and long-lasting solution to the nursing requirements in Canada and relevantly meets the healthcare delivery goals of the country.
• Recruitment and Orientation in Medical Office Once hired to the organization, it is vital to offer training and ensure they have a perfect orientation to the organization, other workers, and their duties.
• Current Recruitment Strategy at WeCare As a general rule in human resource management, an employee retention rate of 90% or higher is considered good for an organization, which implies that the turnover rate should have a maximum of 10%.
• Employee Recruitment and Retention Factors To develop a robust benefits program, knowing what the employees need and want is good. There is a need to provide benefits that make employees see some growth potential in the organization.
• Analysis of Recruiting at Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co Based on the education and work experience of the applicants, the report provides the top three people who are the best suited for the company.
• Employer Recruitment’s Role in Organizational Success This paper discusses the strategies associated with the recruitment of employers, how training and development of activities contribute to the success of an organization.
• Silicon Valley Company Recruiting and Selecting Employees Despite the fact that the company was intended to hire employees in various countries and aimed at the residents of each, the results show that the majority of them are the United States citizens who […]
• Nurses’ Recruiting and Retaining One of the burdens of the nursing profession is the need to work long hours, some of which sometimes take up half of the entire day.
• Analysis of Meta’s Recruiting Options When the company opens new branches in other locations, it uses recruitment agencies to find suitable candidates for the open positions.
• Recruitment and Retention of Correctional Staff Unfortunately, most of the prisons in the United States are facing numerous challenges that have the potential to disorient their objectives.
• The Supreme Court Chief Justice Position: Recruitment Plan Afterward, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court must be appointed by the President, with the following approval by the Senate. As a result, fairness and the absence of bias in court judgment will be […]
• Recruitment Sources and Their Pros and Cons The major advantage of the source is that numerous people use social media, and the vacancy will be seen by numerous specialists. For this reason, it is critical to consider the advantages and disadvantages of […]
• Recruiting Team Members: Motivational Manager To attract an appropriate candidate for the position of Motivational Manager, it is essential to evaluate motivational techniques and theories that may help perceive a vacancy as desirable, develop a job posting promotional introduction on […]
• Prevalent Concerns in the Recruiting Process Nevertheless, fairness or diversity, attracting the right candidates, the establishment of a strong employer brand, engaging qualified candidates, and efficiency are prevalent concerns in the recruitment process.
• Negligent Recruitment in McDonald’s Legal Case If a McDonald’s fails to vet a worker before hiring them thoroughly and they cause harm to others, the corporation may be held accountable for their conduct.
• Federal Judges: Recruitment and Appointment of Judges The U.S.senior judges refer to the retired professionals who wish to continue their services to serve the law. If the Senate does not approve the nomination, the candidate returns to the president for a re-nomination.
• The Beefsteak: Recruiting and Selecting Therefore, it is vital to construct and implement recruitment strategies to ensure the employment of the best candidates for managerial and staff positions. The recruitment strategy for the candidates for positions at the restaurants should […]
• “Problems Recruiting Volunteers” by Hager & Brudney As the authors of the article state, “motivation to volunteer is the individual question; recruitment of those volunteers is the organizational one”.
• Personnel Recruitment: Research Project The employer needs to conduct a complete study of the cost of labor, supply, and demand for highly skilled workers of the right profile, changes in work motivation, and other factors in the movement of […]
• Equal Opportunity Policy in Recruitment and Selection It has therefore become essential for The British government to recruit nurses from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean in order to substitute the already ageing population of indigenous nurses.
• Human Resource Management: International Recruitment Basic assumptions indicate that every employee contribute towards organization growth, hence development of organization culture.
• LIFEbeat: Recruiting and Training Volunteers The preventive interventions in the form of talks are supposed to help young people resist negative influences, the urge, and potential pressure to participate in risky behaviors.”Touring, Talking, and Taking Action” is the slogan that […]
• Internet Recruiting and Job Posting: Amazon, Schneider, Indeed, Simplyhired and CapraTek This presentation assesses the various job postings and sites overview of such companies as Amazon, Schneider, Indeed, Simplyhired, and CapraTek.
• Demographic and Technological Factors in Recruitment Companies can use technology to improve productivity and collaboration practices in the workplace. Communication breakdowns in the workplace can lead to delays, errors, and inefficiencies within the organization.
• Social Networks and Recruitment The phenomenon of recruiting new employees through social networking both targeted at building work relationships and non-related to business has attracted researchers’ interest.
• Innovative Recruiting Approaches As a result, the level of competition for talents in this industry is high, and HR managers need to adopt rather unique and innovative strategies and approaches in order to attract professionals.
• Replacing the Police Chief: Spanning’s Recruitment Plan Thirdly, due to the political and non-reforming nature of some of the council members, Spanning had another advantage of performing proper background vetting and presentation of the appointee to the council.
• The Social Networking Sites: Drawbacks in Recruiting As most of the experienced staffs rarely use social networks, organizations using it for recruitment may not have a chance to get them.
• Criticism of the Police Recruitment Method This paper will criticise the police recruitment process and the criteria used in the selection of police officers, particularly the use of background investigation to determine a participant’s integrity and personality testing using psychological tests, […]
• The Recruitment and Selection Process at the Law Enforcement Agency As a result, the selection and recruitment process is a challenge for the agencies to hire qualified human resources who can respond to the requirements of the police services and the provided standards.
• Roles of Organizations in the Recruitment of Nurses in Saudi Arabia There are some questions that have been asked time and again in the world of nursing, and the role of this research, is to try and bring the answers to the minds of people, who […]
• Recruiting and Social Networking The main themes of the article identified in the memo can be summarized into three distinct points: Legal issues Authenticity of information available Personal profile management and self-marketing The first theme derived from the article […]
• Hiring Employees: Modern Recruitment Practices to Consider My recommendation is that a candidate’s credentials should be examined carefully and the recruiters should be professionally trained in order to handle the recruitment process efficiently.
• Police Recruiting and Hiring in Jurkanin’s Article He likens police work to sports because it requires officers to be highly dedicated to their duties. Police officers need to acquire advanced skills to help them deal with different crimes that happen in areas […]
• Recruitment in Health Care Industry Applications for the post should be given a deadline and measures taken to ensure there is equality and objectivity in receiving the application.
• Corrections Recruitment and Retention The recruitment of correctional officers is faced with several challenges as a result of retention of the qualified and experienced staff is of great importance.
• Recruitment and Selection Principles and Stages It means that planning the further expansion or the functioning of the firm, managers should possess a high level of awareness of the existing pool of specialists to guarantee that there are no employees with […]
• Analysis of Recruitment Strategy in Ya Kun’s Organization The primary mission of HR is to determine the sincerity and honesty of the recruit and their attitude towards work shifts.
• Employee Recruitment and Selection: Bonuses for Work and Compensation Method In this case, the job analysis done for the position of an operational processes manager will be the guide to creating the perfect and balanced pay plan for the right candidate for the position.
• Outback Steakhouse: Recruiting, Selection and Retention This process is essential to Outback steakhouse because the best candidates are selected through this process thus enabling the company to stay ahead of competition. Outback steakhouse restaurant has been successful in the recruitment and […]
• Employment Recruitment Process: Red Hot Chilli Restaurant They will be writing down the orders for either food or drinks and passing them to kitchen. They will be collecting meals from the kitchen and taking them to the correct table.
• Recruitment and Selection: Child Employment A school aged child is any child under the age of 16 years. A child of this age or below can only work under a written permission of the parent.
• Approach to Job Description for Effective Recruitment The overall purpose of having an analysis of the job is to establish the relatedness of the job and several procedures involved e.g.training, selection, compensation and appraisals.
• Friendly Financials: Recruiting, Selection, Retention After hiring the best, it is up to the company to make sure that the best stays with the company for a longer time.
• Problems Facing Police Departments in Recruiting and Retention People think that as the time goes along, no or little increase in the salary does not satisfy the employees of police departments and compel them to leave the job.
• Payroll: Recruitment and Selection The author also provides the framework for the assessment of those skills and capabilities of the candidate which will be considered while taking decision on this position.
• Staffing Levels: Recruitment and Selection The objective of the staffing review is to identify the need for staff and to decide the qualities and skills required for the post and to make recruitment and selection processes.
• Recruitment & Selection. Sales Manager Job Analysis Following are the key functions to be performed by the company’s sales manager: The sales manager will be the link between the company and its customers.
• Recruitment and Selection Survey, Methods of Attracting Applicants Sourcing from within would be good for the department because the recruited candidate will not need to be oriented about the company and its organizational culture, and thus save the department a lot of resources […]
• Discrimination in Recruiting & Promotional Aspects: Tanglewood Company As required, the writer has assumed the role of an independent consultant retained by the Board of Directors Of Tanglewood Co.to examine and report on aspects of professed racial bias in the Company and suggest […]
• Recruitment Agencies and Graduate Job Seekers This methodology will test an idea that might get the recruitment agencies to be more interested in assisting students to get a job through them.
• Employees Recruitment and Selection: Personality Tests It is different from the attainment tests because it helps to predict the performance of the person, whereas the attainment tests focus on the person’s achievement in the past.
• Recruitment and Retention in the Australian Context When the right people are not placed in the right positions the organization faces the problem of a higher employee turnover ratio.
• Effective Recruitment and Retention Program Such models encourage HR managers and leaders to implement powerful recruitment and retention measures that resonate with the changing demands of both the industry and the identified individuals.
• Google Inc.’s Talent Recruitment and Retaining It represents a variety of personal qualities that contribute to the quality, productivity, and timeliness of the provided service. Stands for communication skills and the ability to present a point to others in an efficient […]
• Recruiting New Staff: Criteria and Guidelines The number of errors made during the manufacturing process should be seen as the first ground rule to establish in the context of a manufacturing firm.
• Musanada Company’s Recruitment Practices and Ethics The line manager conducts the interview with the assistance of the director of the related department and the recruitment specialist. When the interview panel approves the candidate, the recruitment specialist calls the candidate to request […]
• Designing a Recruitment Program for the WA Police This is one of the advantages that this strategy can bring to the recruiters. This is one of the arguments that can be advanced.
• American University in the Emirates’ Student Recruitment To discover the specifics of the AUE student recruitment strategy. To discover the competitive advantage of the AUE.
• Recruiting vs. Retraining in Hospitality Industry To compare recruitment and retraining of staff in the hospitality industry, the paper looks at various aspects associated with the merits and demerits associated with any of the approaches adapted A firm might consider recruiting […]
• Recruitment Officer: Professional Development It is possible to distinguish the following communication methods that can be applied by an HR professional. It is possible to focus on the following areas.
• Talent Management: Recruiting the High Potentials This does not only keep the organisation on the competitive edge but also help to encourage the talented employee to achieve the goals of the company.
• Recruitment Strategies and Workforce Planning The recruitment agency is the last identified recruitment strategy in the matrix used by the health care organizations to ascertain and employ personnel.
• Job Analysis, Recruitment and Selection Techniques This means that every measure taken in the process of optimizing the work of employees should be adjusted to the duties and terms of the work of a definite employee.
• Information Technology Position: Recruitment Plan A resources plan as part of the job analysis process at BITTCORE.com can identify arising issues related to factors like the growth of the job holder, the value of the job, the effect of the […]
• Parsons Brinkerhoff Firm Recruiting Construction Manager To attract a large number of applicants, the company will advertise the position in the newspaper. To be successful, the company will take into consideration the existing laws in the foreign labor market.
• Recruitment and Retention in the Healthcare Sector The article discusses best practices for the recruitment and retention of employees in the health care sector. Besides, it is important to make changes in the delivery of health care services.
• The Office Assistant Company’s Recruitment Strategy It helps everyone on the interviewing panel to understand the goals of the organisation and how recruiting can have an impact on the organisation.
• The Internet as the Recruitment Platform In addition, the online recruitment saved the job applicants the cost of recruitment in terms of transport, meals, and other expenditures.
• Recruiting, Developing and Retaining Staff The experience of a given teacher is considered to create appropriate teams capable of supporting the learning needs of the children.
• Management of Recruitment and Retention In this paper, special attention will be paid to such ideas as the establishing of flexible work schedules, employee empowerment through life-long learning, and communication encouragement for managers to succeed in recruitment and retention of […]
• Organizational Policy for the Recruitment Process One of the positives of the implementation process is in the encouragement of workers to shift roles within the company or department provided the move is in line with their career plans and they have […]
• Poverty as a Factor of Terrorist Recruitment In spite of the fact that there is no evidence to state that the relationships between poverty and terrorist recruitment are positive, direct, and causal in their nature, researchers still pay much attention to analyzing […]
• Blossom Children Nursery Recruiting Foreigners The essence of the legal requirements is to ensure that the institution employs individuals with legitimate qualifications, and to meet the various legal requirements because the company takes the responsibility of the conduct of the […]
• Human Resource Practices: Recruiting and Staffing The area of recruiting and staffing was chosen for the analysis of recent trends and subsequent provision of recommendations for change.
• Employing an Intern: Recruitment and Training When recruiting an intern to work in the HR department, the job description and specification suggested below can be utilized. Duties of the Intern: Renewal of job descriptions and requirements;
• Recruitment and Selection Techniques For any company, and especially those working in highly competitive environments, it is crucial to ensure that the people who are selected to become part of the firm are reliable, capable of performing duties, and […]
• Discrimination During the Recruitment Process The recruitment stage is the point at which employers evaluate candidates and make decisions on the acceptability of the individual in the labor market.
• Suitable Recruitment Methods for Company One of the challenges during the expansion of a company is the recruitment of new staff. The three effective recruitment methods recommended for the company are internship recruitment, graduate recruitment and open public recruitment.
• Manufacturing Division’s New Recruitment Methods The first aspect should involve the appraisal of the resources of the department, including the HR staff available for the recruitment.
• Midwest Education Inc. Recruiting Software Developers According to the head of the HR department of the division, there is an urgent need to find employees who would be simultaneously highly professional software developers and creative individuals; there is also the requirement […]
• Talent Planning, Recruitment, and Selection Finally, business-specific operational features can also trigger the search for new talents; seasonal production peaks, new projects, and business expansion will require new employees to be recruited.
• Tyson Foods Company’s Discriminating Recruitment In the meantime, in order to avoid additional expenses associated with the trial procedures, it agreed to pay the compensation to the involved parties.
• Afya Hospital’s Recruitment of Volunteers One of the processes that need improvement in Afya Hospital is the management of the recruitment of volunteers. The third objective is to streamline the process of empowering volunteers to perform well in the hospital.
• Management Positions and Proper Recruitment In particular, an individual who is to be hired in a museum company in the current operating environment must have credible knowledge of the maintenance and expansion of cash collections.
• Universities’ Recruitment Strategies The starting point in linking organizational culture with recruitment is making an inventory of the nature of candidates that the university wants to have.
• Volunteers Recruitment and Managment Volunteers can be recruited using several methods, including making contacts to the local volunteer center, making use of existing volunteers in the organization, advertising the positions in the media, and announcing the vacancies in the […]
• The Effectiveness of Recruitment and Selection Strategy The impact of the hired senior employees on the junior workers is another metric that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategy.
• Google Company’s Recruitment and Retention Strategies Therefore, it is possible to conclude that recruitment and retention strategies employed at Google are effective as they contribute to employees’ and the company’s performance.
• Labor Law: MEGAQUIPMENT Company’s Recruiting Techniques According to this plan, the company will ensure that at least 12% of the total employees hired in the executive and managerial levels are veterans.
• Technology in Recruitment and Communication This paper looks at the use of technology in recruitment and also examines the significance of technology based recruitment to the study of organizational communication.
• Google’s Innovation and Recruitment Management Policies have been put in place to foster the use of advertising agencies and spokespersons to conduct marketing, a factor that has seen it gain popularity and experience exponential growth.
• UAE Recruitment Agency’s Business Plan It is especially true in the light of the upcoming Expo 2020 that is expected to boost the demand for the workforce despite the oil prices plunge.
• Recruitment and Selection: HR Competency Models The paper analyzes the use of competency models by HR professionals within SHUUA Capital, in the UAE. In addition, an organization could assess the capabilities of an individual by testing him or her on specific […]
• Recruitment: Why Men Still Get More Promotions Than Women? With regard to this disparity, it has been noted that more men get their own mentors compared to women who are assigned through a formal program of the organization.
• Recruiting an Employee: Procedure and Requirements When asked the respondents were asked about the relevance of academic portfolios in the recruitment process, most of them stated that it enabled them to assess applicants’ knowledge and skills effectively.
• How Is Political Recruitment Gendered? Terrorists and other belligerent actors in the international system believe that women are soft sports and are likely to be targeted with an aim of intimidating the state and world leaders.
• Recruitment and Selection Process Analysis Every potential employee should have the best information when visiting the careers section of a potential employer’s website. The potential employee should analyze this information before applying for the job.
• E-Recruitment Implementation in Saudi Arabia It also contains the summary definitions and base theory, the background of the host organization, the rationale for the research area, the research objectives, and the research hypothesis.
• Staff Recruitment and Retention in Healthcare Management Any healthcare managers understand that the value of healthcare practice is only as good as the staff. Other nurses have noted that the absence of new opportunities for career and personal growth has also led […]
• Recruitment Strategies – Global Business Management These positions are strategic in the organization; therefore, highly sensitive to the entire staffs in the firm. This means that the need for the new staffs and the urgency with which they are needed is […]
• Human Resource Management: Recruitment The last question that the recruiter should answer is how the overall scores obtained from the predictors can be utilized in making selection decisions.
• Management of Human Resources: Sound Recruitment and Selection Systems The authors discuss the importance of reward systems in regard to persuading, and influencing workers to support the goals and objectives of organizations.
• E-Recruitment: Analysis of Current Trends E-recruitment has revolutionalized the process of recruitment because it is cheap, fast, and allows organizations to hire employees from a wide assortment of talents from around the world. A common consequence of e-recruitment is selection […]
• Are Social Networking Sites Good Recruitment Sources Use of SNSs increases the speed of the recruitment process ensuring that the organization is able to hire new employees in a timely manner.
• ABC marketing Company Recruitment and Selection Processes According to Huselid, It should however be noted that, a number of companies that fail in the process face a lot of difficulties and rather than inviting success for the company or organization, the recruitment […]
• Change Management in Recruitment Sometimes, a change occurs due to challenges or forces from within or outside the business, which make it necessary for the organization to adjust to be at a better position to face the challenges, or […]
• The Recruitment of Employees and Discrimination This is the best approach that he can take in this situation. This is one of the first suggestions that one can make in this case.
• Final Selection and Recruitment The majority of the selection methods use the behavior and cognition of an individual; as such they are useful in determining the ability and skills of an employee.
• HRM Practices at Atkins: Training, Development, and Recruitment Atkins proves to be very successful in its recruitment practices in the view of the fact that in the year 2010, the company was classified in the category of the best recruitment teams.
• Recruitment and Selection Strategies
• HR Approach in Recruiting Senior Managers
• Recruiting and Maintaining Top Talent
• Recruitment and Selection Strategies Recommendations
• Stephen Taylor and Emma Perry on Online Recruitment
• Recruitment Concept in an Organisation
• Recruitment Process Stages
• Recruiting in Al-Andalus School
• Recruitment and Selection Process
• E-Recruitment Strengths and Weaknesses
• Harrods HR Management: Recruiting and Retaining Employees
• E-recruitment Advantages and Drawbacks
• Web-Based Recruiting Practices and Benefits
• E-Recruitment Advent: Pros and Cons
• International Student Recruitment Program
• How Can the Objective of Equality at Work be Promoted through Recruitment and Selection?
• Human Resource Management: Recruitment Process in Healthcare
• Effective Recruitment and Transnational Managers
• Social networking sites for recruiting and screening job candidates
• Models and Concepts of Recruitment
• An Innovative approach to recruitment and selection
• Recruiting Job Applicants
• Recruitment Practices: Different Levels of Qualifications
• Recruitment and selection practices at Sunshine Steel (China and Australia)
• How and Why the Notion of ‘Psychological Contract’ Can Be Applied To an Employer’s Recruitment and Selection Process
• Deloitte Company Recruitment Process for Graduate Program
• Procedures of the Recruitment Process
• Explore the Process of Recruitment and Selection of Staff in Casinos, in Las Vegas
• Implications of the Credit Crunch on Recruitment and Selection, and Training and Development
• HR Management in the Hospitality: Recruitment Process
• Standard life’s recruitment & selection procedure
• E-recruitment Development and Process
• Melbourne: Army Recruitment
• Employee Recruitment: Information and Recourse Management
• First Impression in Recruitment
• Concept of Recruitment Model in HRM
• People Resourcing: Fairness During the Recruitment
• The Role of Social Media in Recruitment
• Rio Tinto Company Recruitment Programs
• Human Resource Planning and Recruitment
• Management Team Recruitment and Selection of Employees
• The Internet as a Method of Recruitment
• Recruiting a Manager for a New Organization
• Concepts of Match on Recruitment
• Recruitment of Foreign Nurses and the Effect on Healthcare Systems
• Forecast Staffing Requirements and Develop Recruitment Tools
• Recruitment and Staff Selection Recommendations
• Organizational Psychology Role in Recruiting
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• What Are the Seven Steps of Recruitment?
• What Are the Types of Recruitment?
• Why Are Recruitment and Selection Important?
• What Are the Three Phases of Recruitment?
• What Is a Good Recruitment Process?
• What Are the Two Sources of Recruitment?
• Can Recruitment and Selection Methods be Chosen to Promote Equality at Work?
• Can Recruitment Improve the Organizations Performance?
• What Is the First Step in the Recruitment Process?
• What Is End to End Recruitment?
• What Are the Five Recruitment Strategies or Methods?
• What Is the Difference Between Recruitment and Selection?
• What Are the Policies of Recruitment?
• Does Branding Impact Student Recruitment?
• What Is the Difference Between Recruitment and Staffing?
• What Is Positive Recruitment?
• How Do Organistaions Plan Their Recruitment Process?
• How ‘Person Job Fit’ and ‘Person Organisation Fit’ Affects Recruitment Strategy?
• How Recruitment and Selection Are Tied to Strategic HRM?
• What Is the Difference Between Talent Acquisition and Recruitment?
• Does Recruitment Fall Under Talent Management?
• How Recruitment and Selection Strategies Influence Business Success?
• How Social Media Affects HR Practices in Recruitment?
• How the Latest Advances in Technology Have Impacted on the Recruitment?
• How Do You Fix Recruitment Issues?
• What Is the Biggest Challenge in Recruiting?
• What Are the Issues in Recruitment and Selection?
• What Causes Poor Recruitment?
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195 Recruitment and Selection Research Topics

🏆 best essay topics on recruitment, 👍 good recruitment research topics & essay examples, 🌶️ hot recruitment ideas to write about, ✍️ recruitment essay topics for college, 🎓 most interesting recruitment research titles, 💡 simple recruitment essay ideas, 📌 easy recruitment essay topics, ❓ recruitment research questions.

• Recruitment and Social Media
• Dunkin’ Donuts: Organizational Structure, Recruiting, Training, & More
• Police Recruitment and Training
• The Coca-Cola Company’s Employee Recruitment and Retention
• Selection and Recruitment Process in the Organization
• Coca-Cola Company’s Recruitment Effectiveness
• The Recruitment Process for the Early Childhood Centre
• Recruitment Process: The Use of Online Platforms The motivation for the study aims to establish the effectiveness of the use of online platforms in the recruitment process.
• Legislative Requirements for Recruitment and Selection This paper is designed to outline the impact that legislative and regulatory requirements and agreement regulations have on selection and recruitment.
• Google’s Recruitment Strategy: Analysis The development of a function recruitment approach is particularly crucial for a company such as Google, which works in a highly competitive setting.
• Methods of Recruitment and Selection Analysis The terms selection and recruitment, are often not differentiated and in most cases are assumed to mean the same, but in realty, they have different meanings
• Importance of Recruitment and Selection of Sales People Recruiting and selecting the right salespeople is one of the key determinants of whether a company will remain in operation or not.
• Human Resources Recruitment and Selection Planning and controlling the staffing and selection process is a vital means by which organizational productivity can be improved.
• Recruitment & Selection and Human Resource Management The recruitment process could provide insights into how recruitment policies have been set to achieve organizational objectives.
• Recruitment and Selection: Firefighter An organization’s enduring competitive edge in today’s hypercompetitive economic climate is predominantly generated from intangible assets: human, social, and cognitive capital.
• Recruitment and Selection Process: Team Leader This paper looks at the attributes that were required of the prospective holder of that post-project team leader.
• Internal Promotion vs External Hiring: Advantages and Disadvantages Human resource managers ought to consider numerous factors before deciding to promote existing employees or hire workers from outside.
• Global Recruiting: Advantages and Disadvantages There are several advantages and disadvantages to global vs local recruiting. A negative aspect is a need for applying different approaches to hiring personnel.
• Forensic Psychology for Police Recruitment and Screening The quest for competitive and effective police officers led to the introduction of some measures to help in the recruitment of individuals.
• XYZ Inc.’s Recruitment Strategy Proposal Outlined in this proposal are the strategies, processes, and procedures used by the company that make it fit to help the State University choose the right candidate.
• Techtonic Group: Recruiting Strategies Techtonic Group has already introduced a program of training people without experience and providing paid internships when they show positive results.
• Recruitment and Selection in “The New Public Personnel Administration” The objective of this reflection paper is to discuss why learning about the topic of recruitment and selection is relevant to aspiring personnel in public administration.
• Variable Pay Under the Hiring: Recruitment Plans Variable pay is a way to retain candidates with potential. Such a program is optional for high-risk plans, allowing you to vet a candidate for credibility.
• Hiring and Recruitment Plan for XYZ Company The operation manager is a fundamental part of the managerial team that supervises high-level duties such as talent attraction, and the establishment of training standards.
• Understanding the Nursing Recruitment and Retention Process The purpose of this paper is to evaluate specific and credible information that pertains to understanding the nursing recruitment and retention process.
• Nursing: Recruitment, Retention, and Future A nurse is an increasingly prosperous profession today since it encompasses various tasks and duties that other healthcare professionals cannot perform.
• Healthcare Employee Recruitment and Selection Recruitment and selection are the starting points of staffing, which emphasizes their importance for providing the healthcare industry with employees.
• Online Platforms in the Recruitment Process Online platforms provide crucial information on candidates to the recruiters. Many organizations use the platforms as an additional tool to the traditional recruitment processes.
• Java Corp’s Recruiting Process Java Corp is looking for new employees for leadership positions due to a sharp increase in staff, which requires the help of a professional recruiter.
• The World War II Recruitment Poster Analysis This paper discusses a poster that was created during World War II to recruit men and women for the Women’s Army Corps and the U.S. Marines.
• Recruitment and Training in the Criminal Justice Field During the hiring process, it is ethical to consider equality, while ensuring the workforce fit in the available positions skillfully.
• Jackson Hotels: Determining Recruitment Sources Bearing in mind the specificity of the business and a wide range of positions requiring filling, the best option for Jackson Hotels is to use of internal and external sources of recruitment.
• Recruitment and Branding: Apple, Netflix, Google, and Amazon Recruitment is the method by which organizations pursue and acquire personnel for their various job positions.
• Hotel Recruitment Practices Case Study Having compared Elba Hotels’ hiring practices to a more traditional approach, several advantages and disadvantages of their unique methods were determined.
• The Rock Blocks Company’s Recruiting Issues and Solutions The work aims to analyze the issue, propose a solution to the Rock Block company’s problem, and answer several questions.
• Analysis of Amazon Recruitment and Staffing The paper will detail a recruitment plan and a selection plan of Amazon, including the tools and strategies to be used.
• Recruitment and Retention in the Medical Field Medical institutions and healthcare facilities encounter challenges in recruiting and retaining qualified medical technicians, nurse aides, and other support staff members.
• Recruitment as a Human Resource Management Function Recruitment is the process of finding and attracting capable applicants for employment to form a pool of job seekers from whom the right people for the right job may be selected.
• Effective Employee Recruitment Strategies An overview of diverse and innovative recruitment strategies, including mentorship programs, equitable hiring procedures, social media utilization, etc.
• Employees Recruitment Process: Behavior The efforts and talents of employees impact the achievements of the company in which they work, and the search for new workers are crucial task of the HR manager.
• Recruitment Strategies in Hotel Industry: A Comparative Study Hotel Carrick and Hotel Black Rock in Scotland currently have different recruitment and selection strategies, and the ones adopted by the latter seem to be effective and practical.
• Recruiting Expatriate Staff Over Local Hiring expatriates to cover a significant number of operational jobs is simply too costly. One talented person may be worth three newcomers to the trade acts.
• Analysis of Discrimination in Recruitment Discrimination in the workplace has become a major challenge facing an increasingly diversified world, especially in recruitment and selection of workers.
• Discussion on Google Recruitment When hiring new employees, Google prioritizes four main characteristics: intelligence, leadership, googlability, and relevant experience.
• Workforce Planning: Recruitment and Selection Poor communication between the city management and the firefighters’ representatives. The mayor ordered for employment of new firefighters, a total of 25 rookie firefighters.
• Recruitment Tactics and Interview Questions One of the recruitment tactics is a method of recruitment in which a candidate is suggested by a company worker. Thus, there is no need to place ads in the media.
• Recruitment of Minorities in Law Enforcement Recruiting minorities in gender, ethnicity, and race into the police force is one of the methods of improving community relations.
• Job Recruitment Process: A Case Study on J.P. Morgan J.P. Morgan company can benefit by employing the strategies because they will enable it to choose the candidate, which will help the company to achieve its goals.
• Employment Discrimination in Recruitment The literature review presents, summarizes, and compares important findings from a number of works the issue of employment discrimination in recruitment.
• Psychology of Recruitment, Selection and Retention The primary reason that cannot be overlooked is the need to give applicants all the reasons and opportunities to perform to appeal to the employer.
• Internet Recruiting: Stages and Benefits The use of internet recruiting allows contracting staff members from remote areas while saving on the transportation and the related issues.
• Nursing Specific Recruitment and Retention Plan The implementation of a recruitment and retaining plan in nurse staffing has several economic implications. Funds are required to mobilize other policymakers.
• Recruitment Plan Overview The paper contains a recruitment plan according to which a night shift supervisor will be chosen and analyzes the workforce demographics in the US.
• Recruiting Staff in Multinational Organizations There are essential factors involved in the selection decision of potential candidates for positions in multinational organizations.
• Recruitment and Selection. Empowering Entrepreneurial Capacity The corporate environment of the 21st century is highly changeable, as conditioned by rapid technological progress and intense globalization.
• Sales Associate Recruitment Strategies by Tanglewood This essay will discuss which strategies are the most suitable for Tanglewood in its search for a sales associate.
• The Role of Business Ethics in Recruiting New Employees Using Social Media Social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter have been actively used by organizations to promote new job opportunities.
• Human Resource Recruitment Strategy For the better enroll and retain proficient employees, it’s important to develop a hiring process and implement up-to-date technology solutions to reinforce the entire procedure.
• Current Nursing Shortage and Foreign Staff Recruitment There will be more than 400,000 vacant nursing positions in the next 10 years. This paper will discuss nurse retention and the hiring of foreign nurses to fill the gaps.
• Shooting at Military Recruiting Center: Identification, Description, Historical Background The attack occurred at Chattanooga, when a 24-year old Kuwaiti gunman stormed a military recruiting station and opened fire to trainees.
• Inappropriate Nurse Staffing vs. Professional Recruitment Inappropriate staffing in the nursing environment is a severe problem that leads to several negative consequences.
• US Marines TV Recruitment Spot: Warfare and Soldier-Ship in Clips The US Marines TV Recruitment Spot advertises serving in the army as a personal challenge, something noble, and a self-improvement opportunity.
• How Coronavirus Impacts Recruitment and Selection The quarantine allows businesses and employers to understand that they can find new talents without the help of conventional recruitment methods.
• Diverse Employees: Attraction, Selection, and Recruitment Achieving diversity in the workplace starts with attracting diverse employees. This paper describes some ways companies may attract, select, and recruit diverse employees.
• Different Ways the Recruiting and Hiring Process Evolutionary and globalization processes determine the trend in the labor market, characterized by a diversification of the workforce, carrying difficulties and advantages.
• Recruiting Foreign Nurses in the United States The numerical relationship between the number of nurses and patients increased so much that hundreds of nursing positions remained unfilled.
• Employees Recruitment and Selection: Personality Assessment Approaches Potential employers carry out personality assessment tests of applicants whose academic qualifications are satisfactory to determine the most suitable candidate
• The Selection Process: Recruiting New Employees The primary goal of the selection process is to assess the candidates’ knowledge and skills and to select those who are worth the job more than the others.
• ComInTec Case Analysis: International Staff Recruitment and Selection The case of ComInTec demonstrates that multinational companies need effective selection and recruitment strategies based on cultural and cross-cultural principles.
• Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Recruiting Challenges The development of mass media suggests the rise of the competition and requires the necessity to acquire the right talent that upgrades the recruitment process at ABC Australia.
• Recruitment and Retention in Global Management The company should acknowledge the problem of personnel recruitment and retention on the local and the international level.
• Attracting, Recruiting, Retaining Talented Staff The “best practice” approach is based on the belief that there is a set of superior HRM practices which, if adopted, will lead to better organization performance.
• Personnel Recruitment and Equal Opportunities Law The provisions of the Federal Employment Anti Discrimination law developed by the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission obstruct any company from unfair hiring policies.
• CAVA Company’s Recruiting Practices There is a critical need for the introduction of effective recruiting practices in CAVA company that might help to solve the situation and avoid understaffing.
• Recruiting Junior Buyer: Preparing a Job Interview This paper analyzes the major issues that the interviewers at the manufacturing company can consider throughout the recruitment process for a new junior buyer.
• Diversity Recruiting Materials: Online Analysis The paper analyzes the websites of the top companies: Nielsen, Time Warner, AT&T and Verizon. The analysis is based on the questions formulated by Canas and Sondak.
• Male Teacher Recruitment Issues and Efforts Few male teachers are teaching in the majority of schools around the world. This is an indication that the teaching profession is more feminized.
• Employee Unionization and Recruitment Process The quest to unionize could be informed by the desire to get better pay. Some nurses in The Saga of Truly Good Hospital were complaining about low salary increments.
• Bank Loan Manager: Job Analysis and Recruitment Bank loan manager is a rather profitable and respectable job, and its popularity and prestige have been growing during the last decade.
• Baylor Scott & White Health Center’s Recruitment Methods This paper discusses the initiatives Baylor Scott and White uses to attract and employ new health professionals.
• Director Recruitment for New Shanghai Department Choosing a business development director will be the first decision due to the necessity to develop business in a relatively new business environment – Shanghai.
• Recruitment for Customer Service and Manufacturing There are many options for human resource managers to find skilled employees. Some methods of recruitment prove more efficient than others.
• American Sales Company’s Recruitment and Selection This paper examines how American Sales Company performs sales selection and recruitment practices as a way of sustaining its market revenues.
• Tanglewood Company Recruitment Process During the recruitment it is important to emphasize that culture is vital for Tanglewood employees and that embracing the culture is the best way to fit in. Besides, the recruiters are to shorten the hiring process in order to address the hiring lag.
• The Kroger Co.’s Diversity and Recruitment Strategy The problem is in the fact that the corporate hiring and recruitment practices incorporate the ideas of diversity and inclusion partially, and they need revision.
• Developing Learning and Reflective Practice: Structured Interviews and Tools Companies use structured questionnaires to analyze work, while the organizational structure is hierarchical, where senior management can make important decisions.
• USPC Company: Recruitment and Selection This paper seeks to come up with steps that should be followed in the recruitment of senior and junior members of staff in USPC.
• GCS Recruitment Ltd.’s Human Resource Management GCS Recruitment Ltd. does not have an effective HR manager, nor somebody to handle human resource. The staff is focused on getting a deal with clients and candidates.
• Recruitment Techniques and Equal Employment Opportunity The concept of equal employment opportunity has gained enormous acceptance across the world, and many firms have been forced to implement the laws.
• ABASCO Company’s Recruitment and Implementation Plan This report discusses the employment market in the fashion industry and evaluates the retention strategies for ABASCO to deal with the challenges in its human resources.
• St. Patrick’s Nursing Home: the Recruitment of People It is important to consider some factors when making plans for the recruitment of people to work at St. Patrick’s Nursing Home in order achieve the good results.
• Nurse Manager Position: Recruitment Process The paper overviews the recruitment experience, which concerned the application for the position of a nurse manager. It is critical to assess the essential duties of the specialist.
• Challenges and Practices for Ethical Recruitment
• Effective Recruitment Methods for a New Market
• Recruitment and Selection Practices of HFC Bank Limited
• United States Army Recruitment Training and Compensation
• Urban Inequality and Political Recruitment Networks
• Law Enforcement Recruitment Challenges
• Headscarf and Job Recruitment-Lifting the Veil of Labour Market Discrimination
• Employer Recruitment Strategies and the Labor Market Outcomes of New Hires
• Differences Between Internal and External Recruitment
• Filling Vacancies: Identifying the Most Efficient Recruitment Channel
• Employment Recruitment, Placement, Perceptions, and Research Studies
• Problems of Recruiting and Retaining Academic Personnel in Russia
• Development, Activities, Planning, and Recruitment
• Internal Promotion Versus External Recruitment in Industrial Plants in Spain
• Employer’s Recruitment Behaviour and Re-Employment Probabilities of Unemployed
• International and Recruitment Challenges for Wal-Mart
• Ethical Perspective: The Role of Social Media in Recruitment and Selection
• Project General Hospital Recruitment Strategy
• Firm Recruitment Behaviour: Sequential or Non-Sequential Search
• Employee Motivation, Recruitment Practices and Banks Performance in Nigeria
• Information, Bilateral Negotiations, and Worker Recruitment
• Biochemical Research Manager Recruitment Criteria
• Improving Recruitment Strategies for the Australian Post Office
• Analysis of Recruitment and Retention of Health Personnel
• Employee Recruitment and Retention on the Plumbing and Heating Industry
• Key Factors Affecting Recruitment in the UK
• Opportunities and Challenges for Recruitment in South Asia
• Employability and Personal Skills in the Recruitment and Retention of Staff in Thorpe Park
• GMG Airlines Objective, Human Resources Management, Recruitment Policy
• Existing Recruitment and Selection Process Item in India
• Discrimination, Diversity and Recruitment Processes
• Human Resource Management-Recruitment Plan Issues
• China and UK: Recruitment and Selection Procedure
• Effective Recruitment and Retention of Staff
• Application Submissions for DHS Internal Recruitment
• Factors Influencing the Employees’ Job Placement Through Recruitment Agencies in Karachi, Pakistan
• Cultural Influences and the Recruitment of New Employees
• Employee Recruitment and Development at Wal-Mart
• Employability and Personal Skills in the Recruitment
• Effective Recruitment and Staffing Process: Job Fair
• Current Recruitment and Selection Process of Fonterra Sri Lanka
• Civil Servants’ Recruitment and Selection Practices in European Union Member States
• Examining the Recruitment Process of ABC Company
• Landslide Limo’s Recruitment and Selection Strategy Plan
• Workforce Planning: Recruitment and Selection of Employees
• Employers Squeeze Recruitment Budgets as Jobs Cost More to Fill
• Googles Recruitment and Selection Process Commerce
• External Recruitment and Intra firm Mobility
• Recruitment Processes and Labour Mobility: The Construction Industry in Europe
• Employee Recruitment and Job Performance Appraisal Procedures of S. S. Information Technology
• Human Resources Management Recruitment and Selection
• General Information About Competence-Based Recruitment and Selection
• Unemployment and Recruitment With Heterogeneous Labor
• Principles of Effective Recruitment Interviewing
• Human Resource Management for Recruitment and Selection Process
• Employer Recruitment Preferences and Discrimination: A Stated Preference Experiment
• Recruitment and Selection Plays a Vital Role in Every Industry
• Employer Recruitment and the Integration of Industrial Labor Markets 1870-1914
• New York Police Department Recruitment and Challenges
• Employers’ on‐Line Recruitment and Screening Practices
• Existing Practice of Dubai Bank in the Uae and Its Recruitment Practice
• Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa Recruitment Campaign
• Human Resource Management: Internal Recruitment
• How Organisations Plan Their Recruitment
• Why Use Social Media as a Form of Recruitment?
• Electronic Company Sales and Recruitment
• Internal Promotion vs. External Recruitment of Chief Executive Officer’s
• Effective Recruitment Plan for Hotel Paris
• Well-Being Lessons for Improving Charities Online Recruitment
• Employee Selection, Recruitment, and Retention Strategic Value
• Analysis Main Approaches to International Recruitment
• Union Growth, Recruitment Strategy and Women Workers
• Characteristics Associated With Recruitment and Re-Contact in Mayo Clinic Biobank
• Employee Recruitment and Selection Process at Smeda
• The Recruitment and Selection Strategy Employed by Serco Dubai
• Why the Recruitment Method of Hiring Is Not Working?
• When Do Environment–Recruitment Correlations Work?
• What Is Transcriptional Activation by Recruitment and Where It Can Be Used?
• What Are the Effects of Information Technology on Recruitment?
• What Are the Stages of the Recruitment Process and the Referrer’s Performance Effect?
• What Are the Best Practices for Using Social Media as a Recruitment Strategy?
• How Does Recruitment and Training in Small Firms Go?
• What Sources of Human Resources Recruitment Organization Are There?
• What Are Motivating Factors and Implications for Recruitment?
• How Personal and Situational Factors in the Recruitment Interview Can Help You?
• Does Branding Impact Student Recruitment?
• How to Increase Diversity through Your Recruitment Practices?
• What Is The Impact of Semantic Web Technologies on Job Recruitment Processes?
• How Teacher Recruitment Evolved through the Years?
• How Does HR Literature Inform the Recruitment Process?
• What Key Factors Influencing Student Satisfaction Are Related to Recruitment?
• How Recruitment Procedure Effects Sainsburys Performance?
• How Internet Recruitment and E-mail Interviews Are Better in Today’s World?
• What Are Ethical Considerations in AI-Based Recruitment?
• What Role Does Recruitment Play in Staffing Utility Analysis?
• What Is the Influence of Resident Adults on Recruitment?
• What Prerequisites Are Essential for Recruitment in Nursing?
• Is There Less Discrimination in Occupations Where Recruitment Is Difficult?
• What Is the Impact of Facilities on Recruitment and Retention of Students?
• What Is Effectiveness of Specificity in Recruitment Advertising?

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StudyCorgi . "195 Recruitment and Selection Research Topics." November 12, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/recruitment-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2021. "195 Recruitment and Selection Research Topics." November 12, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/recruitment-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on Recruitment were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on June 24, 2024 .

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• 09 Jul 2024
• Research & Ideas

Are Management Consulting Firms Failing to Manage Themselves?

In response to unprecedented client demand a few years ago, consulting firms went on a growth-driven hiring spree, but now many of these firms are cutting back staff. David Fubini questions whether strategy firms, which are considered experts at solving a variety of problems for clients, are struggling to apply their own management principles internally to address their current challenges.

• 21 Nov 2023
• Cold Call Podcast

Cold Call: Building a More Equitable Culture at Delta Air Lines

In December 2020 Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian and his leadership team were reviewing the decision to join the OneTen coalition, where he and 36 other CEOs committed to recruiting, hiring, training, and advancing one million Black Americans over the next ten years into family-sustaining jobs. But, how do you ensure everyone has equal access to opportunity within an organization? Professor Linda Hill discusses Delta’s decision and its progress in embedding a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion in her case, “OneTen at Delta Air Lines: Catalyzing Family-Sustaining Careers for Black Talent.”

• 14 Nov 2023
• What Do You Think?

Do We Underestimate the Importance of Generosity in Leadership?

Management experts applaud leaders who are, among other things, determined, humble, and frugal, but rarely consider whether they are generous. However, executives who share their time, talent, and ideas often give rise to legendary organizations. Does generosity merit further consideration? asks James Heskett. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 07 Nov 2023

When Glasses Land the Gig: Employers Still Choose Workers Who 'Look the Part'

Is an eyeglass-wearer more likely to be a strong web developer? Employers that use online talent platforms tend to consider profile photos in final hiring decisions, says research by Isamar Troncoso. What's the role of recruiting platforms in preventing bias?

• 16 Oct 2023

Advancing Black Talent: From the Flight Ramp to 'Family-Sustaining' Careers at Delta

By emphasizing skills and expanding professional development opportunities, the airline is making strides toward recruiting and advancing Black employees. Case studies by Linda Hill offer an inside look at how Delta CEO Ed Bastian is creating a more equitable company and a stronger talent pipeline.

• 26 Sep 2023

Unpacking That Icky Feeling of 'Shopping' for Diverse Job Candidates

Many companies want to bring a wider variety of lived experiences to their workforces. However, research by Summer Jackson shows how hiring managers' fears of seeming transactional can ultimately undermine their diversity goals.

• 21 Aug 2023

You’re More Than Your Job: 3 Tips for a Healthier Work-Life Balance

Younger workers are rejecting the idea of sticking with one employer for the long haul and are instead finding happiness by job-hopping and creating dramatically different boundaries with work. In a new book, Christina M. Wallace maps out a step-by-step guide to building a flexible and fulfilling life that includes rest, relationships, and a rewarding career.

• 26 Jul 2023

STEM Needs More Women. Recruiters Often Keep Them Out

Tech companies and programs turn to recruiters to find top-notch candidates, but gender bias can creep in long before women even apply, according to research by Jacqueline Ng Lane and colleagues. She highlights several tactics to make the process more equitable.

• 18 Apr 2023

The Best Person to Lead Your Company Doesn't Work There—Yet

Recruiting new executive talent to revive portfolio companies has helped private equity funds outperform major stock indexes, says research by Paul Gompers. Why don't more public companies go beyond their senior executives when looking for top leaders?

• 31 Jan 2023

It’s Not All About Pay: College Grads Want Jobs That ‘Change the World’

Many college graduates will accept lower salaries for roles that have the potential to give back to society, says research by Letian Zhang. Could trading pay for altruism help shrink the income gap?

• 05 Dec 2022

5 Companies Where Employees Move Up the Ladder Fast

IBM, Southwest Airlines, and other companies proactively help workers advance their careers to try to retain them, says research by Joseph Fuller. The findings show just how important an employer can be to future salary and job prospects.

• 30 Nov 2022

Recruiters: Highlight Your Company’s Diversity, Not Just Perks and Pay

Many job seekers want to join inclusive companies that reflect their values. Research by Joseph Pacelli shows how employers can attract more talent by promoting the diversity of their workforce.

• 22 Apr 2022

Companies Can Expand Their Talent Pool by Giving Ex-Convicts a Second Chance

People with criminal convictions often have trouble finding work and face double-digit unemployment rates. Yet employers would be more willing to hire them under certain conditions, says research by Zoë Cullen. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 05 Nov 2021

How to Tap the Talent Automated HR Platforms Miss

Companies are struggling to fill open positions, but the job platforms they use often screen out promising candidates just because they don't tick every box. Joseph Fuller probes the challenges—and opportunities—of "hidden workers." Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 08 Dec 2020

Why Companies Hunt for Talent on Digital Platforms, Not in Resume Piles

Rather than sit back and wait for applicants to send resumes, companies are proactively targeting prospective employees on digital platforms and social media, often with a recruiter's help, says research by Rembrand Koning. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 17 Nov 2020

Why a Blended Workforce May Be Key to Lasting Competitive Advantage

Companies are increasingly blending full-time staff with skilled on-demand talent. The problem: Few companies have developed cultures that accommodate gig workers, says Joseph B. Fuller. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 30 Jun 2020

Is a Business School-Industry Collaboration Needed to Attract Black Talent to Campus?

SUMMING UP:James Heskett's readers suggest that recruiting minority students to business school must be matched with programs to retain them. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 01 May 2020

Does Remote Work Mix with Organizational Culture?

SUMMING UP: Readers who themselves work from home think differently about how organizations should respond to remote work initiatives. James Heskett sums up the dicussion. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

• 13 Nov 2019
• Working Paper Summaries

The Gender Gap in Self-Promotion

Many organizations and job applications require individuals to assess their own ability and performance. When women communicate to potential employers, however, they systematically give less favorable assessments of their own past performance and potential future ability than equally performing men. The study rules out potential explanations for the gap and discusses implications.

• 05 Sep 2019
• Sharpening Your Skills

Making the Right Technical Hire

CEOs are usually more comfortable making key hires on the business side of the house than the technology side. Here is what executives need to understand about technical hires, according to Julia Austin. Open for comment; 0 Comments.

Human Resource Management Research Paper Topics

Human resource management research paper topics are a critical area of study for students and professionals aiming to understand and advance the field of Human Resource Management (HRM). With the rise of complex organizational structures, diverse workplace environments, and evolving employment laws, HRM has become an essential part of any successful organization. This abstract provides an overview of the multifaceted world of HRM research and introduces a comprehensive list of research paper topics that cater to various aspects of HRM. From talent acquisition to employee retention, performance evaluation, training, and legal compliance, the following sections will offer detailed insights into these areas. Students interested in pursuing research in HRM will find these topics engaging and highly relevant to the current organizational landscape. Additionally, they will be introduced to iResearchNet’s writing services that provide expert assistance in producing custom HRM research papers, ensuring quality, depth, and adherence to academic standards.

100 Human Resource Management Research Paper Topics

Human Resource Management (HRM) is a field that delves into the multifaceted interactions between employees and organizations. The role of HRM has evolved over time to include not only the management of recruitment and employee relations but also strategic planning, legal compliance, and organizational development. Here, we present a comprehensive list of Human Resource Management research paper topics divided into 10 essential categories, each containing 10 specific topics.

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HRM is a dynamic and broad field that demands multidimensional approaches to study. As students explore various topics, they will find intricate connections between management strategies, organizational behavior, and employee satisfaction. The following list serves as an inclusive guide to inspire research and academic inquiry.

• The role of HRM in organizational strategy
• Integrating HRM and business planning
• Talent management strategies
• Outsourcing HR functions: Pros and cons
• Technology and HRM
• Cross-cultural HRM
• Mergers and acquisitions: HRM challenges
• Strategic HR planning and organizational success
• The future of strategic HRM
• Best HR practices in top-performing companies
• Innovative recruitment techniques
• Bias and discrimination in the recruitment process
• Role of artificial intelligence in recruitment
• Recruitment marketing strategies
• Social media as a recruitment tool
• Ethics in employee selection
• Assessing the effectiveness of recruitment strategies
• Diversity and inclusion in recruitment
• Remote hiring practices
• Campus recruitment strategies
• The effectiveness of training programs
• Employee development and organizational growth
• The role of mentors in employee growth
• E-learning and virtual training methods
• Personalized training approaches
• Training evaluation methods
• Cross-training and skill development
• The future of corporate training
• Impact of continuous learning culture
• Leadership development programs
• Modern performance appraisal techniques
• 360-degree feedback system
• Employee engagement and performance
• Performance management and job satisfaction
• Aligning performance goals with organizational objectives
• Challenges in performance evaluation
• Performance-based rewards
• Emotional intelligence and employee performance
• Performance management in remote work environments
• Real-time performance tracking systems
• Building trust and collaboration among employees
• Conflict resolution strategies
• Impact of organizational culture on employee engagement
• Managing generational differences in the workplace
• Role of leadership in fostering engagement
• Employee wellness programs
• The psychology of employee engagement
• Communication strategies for employee relations
• Remote employee engagement tactics
• Work-life balance initiatives
• Salary negotiation techniques
• The psychology of compensation
• Pay equity and gender wage gap
• The impact of benefits on employee retention
• Flexible compensation models
• Global compensation strategies
• Linking compensation to performance
• Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs)
• Non-monetary benefits and motivation
• Compensation transparency
• Labor law compliance in multinational corporations
• Whistleblowing and ethical considerations
• HRM in unionized workplaces
• Workplace harassment laws
• Employee rights and employer responsibilities
• Managing employee terminations ethically
• Diversity and anti-discrimination policies
• Legal aspects of employee benefits
• Remote work and legal challenges
• Ethical dilemmas in HRM
• Building a diverse workforce
• Strategies for fostering inclusion
• The impact of diversity on team performance
• Gender diversity in leadership roles
• Managing cultural diversity
• Age diversity in the workplace
• Disability inclusion strategies
• LGBT+ inclusion in the workplace
• Ethnic diversity and organizational success
• Bias reduction training
• The role of HRM in shaping organizational culture
• Employee behavior and organizational success
• Workplace norms and values
• Emotional labor in organizations
• Organizational change management
• Strategies for building a positive work environment
• Employee motivation and organizational culture
• The psychology of workplace relationships
• Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and culture
• The role of leadership in defining organizational culture
• Emerging Trends in HRM
• HRM in the gig economy
• Artificial intelligence and HRM
• Employee mental health and well-being
• Sustainability and HRM
• The future of remote work
• Integrating HRM and corporate social responsibility (CSR)
• Blockchain in HRM
• Personal branding in HR
• The role of big data analytics in HRM
• HRM challenges in the post-pandemic world

The list of human resource management research paper topics presented above offers a rich and diverse avenue for exploration. Each category delves into core aspects of HRM, reflecting the ever-changing nature of this field. As students embark on their research journey, they will discover a world that intricately connects people, organizations, and societal values. Whether focusing on traditional practices or emerging trends, these topics provide the starting point for meaningful inquiry and the creation of knowledge that contributes to the continued growth and evolution of HRM.

Human Resource Management and the Range of Research Paper Topics

Human Resource Management (HRM) is an interdisciplinary field that integrates aspects of management, psychology, sociology, economics, and legal studies. It is the art and science of managing people within an organization to maximize their performance, well-being, and alignment with strategic goals. As a broad and multifaceted domain, HRM opens doors to a wide array of research opportunities. This article will explore the essence of HRM, its historical evolution, theoretical frameworks, practical applications, and the myriad of research paper topics it offers.

Historical Background

The history of HRM can be traced back to the early 20th century, during the rise of the industrial revolution. The scientific management theory introduced by Frederick Taylor sought to apply scientific principles to worker productivity. As the business environment grew more complex, the Hawthorne studies emerged, highlighting the importance of social factors and human relations in the workplace. The evolution from personnel management to modern HRM reflects a shift from viewing employees as mere resources to recognizing them as valuable assets.

Theoretical Frameworks

HRM is underpinned by several key theories that guide practice:

• Resource-Based View (RBV): Emphasizes the role of human resources as a competitive advantage.
• Equity Theory: Focuses on fairness and justice in employee relations.
• Expectancy Theory: Explains how employees are motivated by the expected outcomes of their actions.
• Human Capital Theory: Regards employees as assets whose value can be enhanced through training and development.

These theories offer diverse perspectives for research, ranging from organizational behavior to strategic HRM.

Key Functions and Practices

The scope of HRM encompasses various functions that address the needs of both the organization and its employees:

• Recruitment and Selection: Designing and implementing processes to attract and hire suitable candidates.
• Training and Development: Enhancing employee skills and knowledge through continuous learning.
• Performance Management: Assessing and managing employee performance to align with organizational goals.
• Compensation and Benefits: Structuring pay and rewards to motivate and retain talent.
• Labor Relations: Navigating the legal landscape and fostering healthy employee-employer relationships.

Contemporary Challenges

Modern HRM faces several challenges that provide fertile grounds for research:

• Diversity and Inclusion: Creating a workforce that represents various backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives.
• Technology and Automation: Leveraging technology to enhance HR processes while considering its impact on jobs.
• Globalization: Managing HR practices across different cultures and jurisdictions.
• Ethical Considerations: Balancing organizational needs with ethical treatment of employees.

Emerging Trends

The ever-changing business landscape leads to new trends in HRM:

• Remote Work: The rise of virtual workplaces and the associated management challenges.
• Well-Being and Mental Health: Prioritizing employee health and well-being as part of HR strategy.
• Sustainability: Integrating social responsibility into HR practices.

Range of Research Paper Topics

The complexity and diversity of HRM lead to an abundance of research paper topics. Here are examples from different areas:

• Strategic HRM: Examining the alignment of HR practices with business strategy.
• Employee Engagement: Exploring factors that influence engagement and its impact on performance.
• Legal Aspects of HRM: Investigating laws and regulations affecting HR practices.
• Organizational Culture and Behavior: Analyzing the influence of culture on employee behavior and organizational success.

Human Resource Management is a vast and dynamic field that intertwines various disciplines, theories, practices, and challenges. From historical roots to contemporary issues, HRM offers a rich tapestry of research opportunities. Whether investigating traditional functions or delving into emerging trends, students and scholars can find a wealth of topics that resonate with their interests and contribute to our understanding of human interactions within organizational contexts. The spectrum of human resource management research paper topics reflects the depth and breadth of a field that continues to evolve, shaping the way we work, lead, and thrive in an ever-changing world.

How to Choose Human Resource Management Research Paper Topics

Selecting the right topic for a research paper in Human Resource Management (HRM) is a critical step that can shape the entire trajectory of your project. The topic you choose should align with your interests, academic level, the specific requirements of the assignment, and the current trends in the field. Here’s a guide to help you navigate the decision-making process and pinpoint a topic that resonates with you.

The realm of Human Resource Management is vast and diverse, encompassing various theories, functions, challenges, and emerging trends. Choosing a suitable research paper topic within this multifaceted field requires careful consideration and strategic thinking. This section will outline ten essential tips to guide you in selecting a meaningful, relevant, and engaging topic for your research.

• Identify Your Interests: Begin by reflecting on what aspects of HRM intrigue you. Are you passionate about organizational behavior, talent acquisition, employee welfare, or strategic HRM? Your research will be more enjoyable if it aligns with your interests.
• Understand the Assignment Requirements: Review the guidelines and grading criteria provided by your instructor. Consider the scope, length, and expected complexity of the paper.
• Conduct a Preliminary Literature Review: Explore existing research in areas that interest you. Identify gaps, controversies, or emerging trends that could form the basis for your study.
• Consider the Target Audience: Think about who will read your paper. Tailoring the topic to your audience’s interests, knowledge level, and expectations can enhance its impact.
• Evaluate Available Resources: Assess the availability of data, tools, and resources needed for your research. The feasibility of a topic depends on your ability to access relevant information and support.
• Align with Current Trends: Consider choosing a topic that relates to contemporary issues or recent developments in HRM. This alignment can make your research more relevant and appealing.
• Seek Guidance from Instructors or Peers: Don’t hesitate to consult with your instructor, classmates, or academic advisors. They may offer valuable insights, feedback, or suggestions.
• Ensure Ethical Consideration: Ensure that your chosen topic complies with ethical standards, particularly if it involves human subjects, sensitive data, or controversial subjects.
• Consider the Broader Impact: Reflect on how your research could contribute to the field of HRM. A topic with potential practical implications or theoretical advancements can add value to your work.
• Create a Shortlist and Evaluate: Draft a list of potential topics and weigh them against the criteria outlined above. This systematic approach can help you identify the most suitable option.

Selecting a research paper topic in Human Resource Management is a thoughtful and iterative process that requires introspection, exploration, and strategic thinking. By considering your interests, academic requirements, available resources, current trends, ethical considerations, and potential impact, you can identify a topic that not only resonates with you but also contributes to the vibrant discourse in HRM. Remember that your choice is not set in stone; it’s a starting point that you can refine and adapt as you delve into your research. Embrace the journey, for the right topic is a gateway to discovery, learning, and growth in the multifaceted world of human resource management.

How to Write a Human Resource Management Research Paper

Writing a research paper on Human Resource Management (HRM) is a complex task that requires a clear understanding of the subject matter, a methodical approach to research, and strong writing skills. The following section will guide you through the process of crafting a well-structured, insightful, and academically rigorous research paper in HRM.

Human Resource Management is at the core of organizational success, shaping the way businesses attract, retain, and develop talent. As a field that intertwines with psychology, sociology, business strategy, and law, writing a research paper on HRM is both challenging and rewarding. The following guide provides a step-by-step approach to help you navigate the research, writing, and revision stages, ensuring that your paper is thorough, coherent, and impactful.

• Understand the Assignment: Before diving into research and writing, clarify the assignment’s objectives, scope, format, and grading criteria. Ensure you understand what is expected in terms of content, structure, style, and depth of analysis.
• Choose a Relevant Topic: Select a topic that aligns with your interests, the course objectives, and current HRM trends. Refer to Section IV for guidance on choosing the right topic.
• Conduct Comprehensive Research: Utilize reputable sources such as academic journals, books, and industry reports to gather data, theories, and insights related to your topic. Evaluate the credibility and relevance of each source.
• Develop a Thesis Statement: Craft a clear and concise thesis statement that outlines the central argument or focus of your paper. The thesis should guide the reader on what to expect and provide a roadmap for your analysis.
• Create an Outline: Develop a detailed outline that breaks down the main sections and sub-sections of your paper. An outline will help you organize your thoughts, maintain coherence, and ensure a logical flow of ideas.
• Write the Introduction: Begin with an engaging introduction that introduces the topic, provides background information, highlights its significance, and presents the thesis statement.
• Develop the Body Paragraphs: Divide the body of your paper into clear sections and subsections. Use headings and subheadings to guide the reader. Each paragraph should have a clear topic sentence, supporting evidence, and a concluding sentence that links back to the thesis.
• Include Practical Insights and Case Studies: Where appropriate, include practical examples, case studies, or industry insights that illustrate your points. This application of theory to real-world scenarios can enhance the depth and relevance of your paper.
• Write the Conclusion: Summarize the key findings, restate the thesis in light of the evidence, and discuss the implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research or practice.
• Revise and Edit: Review your paper multiple times to check for clarity, coherence, grammar, and formatting errors. Consider seeking feedback from peers or instructors, and use plagiarism check tools to ensure originality.

Writing a research paper in Human Resource Management is a multifaceted process that requires careful planning, diligent research, critical analysis, and thoughtful writing. By following the tips outlined above, you can create a paper that not only meets academic standards but also contributes valuable insights to the dynamic field of HRM. Remember that writing is a process of continuous refinement; embrace revisions, seek feedback, and strive for clarity and depth. The journey of crafting an HRM research paper is an opportunity to deepen your understanding, hone your skills, and contribute to the ongoing discourse in a field that shapes the heart of organizations around the world.

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

The discriminatory potential of modern recruitment trends—a mixed-method study from germany.

• 1 WZB Berlin Social Science Center, Berlin, Germany
• 2 Department of Psychology, Psychological Diagnostics, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
• 3 Deutsches Zentrum für Integrations- und Migrationsforschung (DeZIM-Institut), Berlin, Germany

People from marginalized groups are often discriminated against in traditional recruitment processes. Yet as companies faced with skill shortages change their recruitment strategies, the question arises as to whether modern recruitment trends such as the use of professional social network sites, active sourcing, and recruitment assignment to external agencies are affected by implicit or explicit discrimination. In our mixed-method study, we first conducted expert interviews with different types of recruiters to explore the potential for discrimination in the modern recruitment process. We then analyzed panel data from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Germany to see whether there is quantitative evidence of discrimination in modern recruitment. A content analysis of the interviews shows that active sourcing and assignment of recruitment to private agencies are potentially affected by explicit discrimination. We identified three sources of discrimination in personnel selection: recruiters’ own attitudes, explicit instructions from managers, and the recruiters’ assumptions regarding companies’ preferred candidates. The results of mixed multilevel analyses with the company as a second level resonate with the qualitative findings: companies actively approach female employees, older employees, and employees who are born in Southern/Eastern Europe less often and offer women jobs less often. The effects for gender were still significant when we included far-right voting as a moderator variable on the employee level, but the interactions were not significant. Effects for gender and older people in active sourcing were also significant and robust when controlling for income, number of children, level of school completion, and educational background. Our findings suggest that current legislation may be insufficient to protect candidates who belong to marginalized groups from discrimination in modern recruitment.

Introduction: Discrimination in a Changing Recruitment Environment

From various correspondence tests, we know that applicants who belong to marginalized groups have a higher likelihood of being discriminated against ( Lane, 2016 ; Zschirnt and Ruedin, 2016 ; Quillian et al., 2017 ; Baert, 2018 ). While researchers found clear evidence for hiring discrimination, the question of what cognitive mechanism drives this discrimination in the classic application process is still an open one. In addition, the recruitment environment is currently changing. A substantial number of companies are using more active strategies and Internet recruitment to fill job openings ( Roulin and Levashina, 2019 ). This raises the question of whether new forms of recruiting strategies are affected by discrimination as well. We conducted a mixed-method study to focus on both issues: (a) the cognitive underpinnings of hiring discrimination, and (b) discrimination in new forms of recruitment strategies. The corresponding research question reads as:

RQ: To what extent are modern recruitment processes affected by discrimination against candidates who belong to marginalized social groups?

Discrimination is defined as “harmful actions toward others because of their membership in a particular group” ( Fishbein, 2002 , p. 6). Discrimination violates the fundamental principle of equal treatment, which is protected by the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany—the equivalent to a national constitution ( Bundestag, 1949 ). In this law, it reads in Article 3(3) that “No person shall be favored or disfavoured because of sex, parentage, race, language, homeland and origin, faith, or religious or political opinions. […]” ( Bundestag, 1949 ). Additionally, the German Bundestag, Germany’s federal parliament, passed the General Equal Treatment Act (GETA) in 2006 ( Bundestag, 2006 ). This law protects the rights of people who are affected by discrimination. In hiring decisions, employers have now the burden of proof ( Bundestag, 2006 ). When someone feels they have been discriminated against in a hiring decision the company must therefore be able to prove that their recruitment process has been fair. German law also assigns certain rights to a company’s works council. Every final selection must be approved by the works council ( Bundestag, 1972 ). If a works council suspects that a shortlist is discriminatory, they can demand that more diverse job candidates be included.

With regard to the first issue, the cognitive underpinnings of hiring discrimination, previous research has shown that hiring discrimination is partially based on implicit prejudices that affect recruitment decisions automatically. To study this, researchers have often used indirect measures such as the Implicit Association Test ( Greenwald et al., 1998 ). These studies have shown that recruiters’ selections were partially affected by implicit prejudices against ethnic groups ( Agerström and Rooth, 2009 ; Derous et al., 2009 ; Rooth, 2010 ).

Our study contributes to this line of research by examining whether or not selection based on modern recruitment strategies is implicitly driven/automatic or explicitly driven/controlled.

Implicit associations and explicit propositions are two basic assumptions that can drive discriminatory behavior: implicitly driven or automatic discrimination, and explicitly driven or controlled discrimination. According to Bargh (1994) , an automatic behavior starts involuntarily, cannot be stopped voluntarily, is unconscious, and requires low cognitive and time resources. It is not, however, necessarily unconscious ( Gawronski et al., 2006 ). In line with this reasoning, Fazio (1990) developed the MODE model (“motivation and opportunity as determinants of the attitude-behavior relation”; see also Olson and Fazio, 2008 ), which proposes that people are only able to behave in a controlled or explicitly driven manner if they are motivated and have sufficient opportunities to control their automatic behavior. Time pressure and cognitive overload reduce the opportunity to engage in controlled behaviors such as deliberative decisions, and increase the likelihood of implicitly driven behavior.

Previous research often used the elaborated likelihood model (ELM) ( Petty and Cacioppo, 1986 ) to study implicit influences in hiring, for instance, from an applicant’s perspective ( Dineen and Soltis, 2011 ). Both the ELM and the MODE model belong to the general class of models that describe automatic and controlled behavior. The ELM model suggests that information that is less deeply elaborated has a higher likelihood of affecting behavior automatically. Nevertheless, the MODE model has two key advantages that make it a valuable alternative theoretical approach. A first advantage is that the MODE model avoids the difficulty in determining whether information is deeply elaborated because it uses time and cognitive constraints as pre-conditions for implicitly driven behavior. In interviews, we are able to ask recruiters about the amount of time they spend on each task and about general structural features of the modern recruitment process. This provides an indirect way to estimate the extent to which potentially discriminatory selections were made implicitly. A second advantage of the MODE model is that it takes into account past research on automatic and controlled behavior that has challenged the assumption that there are two distinct attitudes—implicit and explicit. Recent research suggests instead that there is just one attitude, but also a cognitive or motivational mechanism that might control automatically driven behavior. The MODE model incorporates this idea.

The consequences of explicitly and implicitly driven recruitment behavior will differ. When recruitment decisions are implicitly driven, recruiters will have less voluntary control over their selections. Yet it might be possible to prevent discrimination by modifying the recruitment procedure: for instance, by reducing time pressure or defining and implementing more structural decision-making rules. When recruitment decisions are explicitly driven, recruiters are able to control for potentially discriminatory decisions in the selection of job candidates. In this context, diversity management approaches may help to foster anti-discriminatory motivations in recruiters.

With regard to the second issue, discrimination in new forms of recruitment strategies, recruiters currently use strategies that are not covered by classic correspondence tests. Correspondence studies are the gold standard for detecting discrimination ( OECD, 2013 ) but they can only be used with classic job application processes. Our study, however, examines whether there is evidence of discrimination in modern recruitment approaches. We focus on the discriminatory potential of three modern recruitment strategies: screening profiles on social network sites (SNSs), active sourcing, and recruitment assignment to outside recruitment agencies.

Although an abundance of training programs for active sourcing and e-recruitment can be found on the Internet, research on modern recruitment approaches such as active sourcing and the use of SNSs is still very limited ( Coverdill and Finlay, 2017 ; Roulin and Levashina, 2019 ). Nevertheless, there is high interest in this subject. In addition, researchers have frequently called for a focus on questions of fairness and systematic exclusion when studying modern recruiting approaches ( Anderson et al., 2004 ; Fountain, 2019 ).

In the classic recruitment process, recruiters most often use CV information to screen candidates ( Robertson and Smith, 2001 ; Cole et al., 2007 ). In modern recruitment, recruiters can also screen candidates using SNSs. The common feature of SNS is that they contain web-based profiles of people whose aim is to connect with others ( boyd and Ellison, 2007 ). Professional SNS have a different function in the recruitment process than private SNS. While decision makers use private SNS like Facebook to search for information on candidates ( Ziegler et al., 2012 ), professional SNS like XING and LinkedIn are important in earlier recruitment stages ( Roulin and Levashina, 2019 ). They provide as much information as CVs and are often structured similarly to CVs. Roulin and Levashina (2019) showed that profiles on professional SNS show high validity when comparing the personality assessments of profile owners and recruiters. However, screening in general is shown to be prone to automatic decisions ( Bäckström and Björklund, 2017 ). Therefore, selections might be affected by implicit discrimination when screening on SNS is conducted under time pressure or in an unstructured way.

Social network sites are useful not just for screening but also for active sourcing . Active sourcing is often used when it proves difficult to find suitable job candidates. In this approach, recruiters themselves take the initiative to find job candidates with the right skills ( Caers and Castelyns, 2011 ; Kane et al., 2014 ; Melanthiou et al., 2015 ). Active sourcing is a completely different approach than classic recruitment. Because it requires additional skills and resources, some companies prefer to assign their recruitment process to experienced agencies. This recruitment assignment thus constitutes a further recruitment trend that is closely related to active sourcing ( Cappelli and Keller, 2014 ; Coverdill and Finlay, 2017 ). Generally, active sourcing is not new approach. It has been used for some time in headhunting for executive positions ( Hamori, 2010 , 2014 ; Cappelli and Hamori, 2014 ). What is new in recent years is that recruiters use active sourcing for a wide range of jobs for which they have difficulty finding candidates. Headhunting may show evidence of systematic discrimination against marginalized social group members ( Dreher et al., 2011 ). Little is known, however, about the potential mechanisms of discrimination in active sourcing. Additionally, we know very little about the circumstances under which companies assign the recruitment process to external agencies. The question of whether the use of active sourcing or recruitment assignment is affected by implicit or explicit discrimination is still an open one.

We chose a mixed-method approach because it combines the advantages of qualitative interviews and quantitative analyses ( Kelle, 2013 ). In a first step, we conducted expert interviews about modern recruitment processes with different types of recruiters. We aimed to explore the discriminatory potential of modern recruitment trends. Qualitative interviews are explorative in nature and not restricted to a specific set of questions. This is an advantage because it allows hypotheses to be adjusted. However, qualitative interviews are limited in generalization. Therefore, we wanted to combine the use of qualitative interviews with a quantitative study. In a second step, we analyzed panel data from the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Germany. Here, we sought to examine whether there is quantitative evidence of discrimination in modern recruitment processes, especially in active sourcing. These quantitative analyses allow us to draw conclusions about the generality of our propositions. However, the panel study is restricted to predefined questions and is also limited in its insights about the reasoning that underlies behavior. Taking advantage of our mixed-method approach, we combine both sources and use the insights gained from the qualitative interview study to interpret the quantitative results.

Qualitative Interview Study

We explored the use of three recruitment approaches in qualitative interviews and assessed to what extent they are susceptible to discriminatory recruitment decisions. If we found evidence of discrimination, information on the recruiters’ resources and motivation provided further information on whether the discrimination was based on implicit or explicit cognitive processes.

One recruitment trend is profile screening on SNS. Screening in general tends to be implicitly driven or automatic rather than explicitly driven or controlled. It is important to bear in mind that recruiters’ explicit motives might differ from their implicit stereotypes or prejudices. We therefore did not use verbal expressions directly but searched for pre-conditions of implicit behavior following the MODE model. Pre-conditions for implicit behavior are a lack of resources available to decision makers to control their behavior and/or a lack of motivation to control the behavior. We were especially interested in the time available for screening and the structure of the screening process. According to the MODE model, behavior is automatic when time and cognitive resources are lacking. We assume that profile screening on SNS is conducted under time pressure and in an unstructured way.

P1: Profile screening on SNS is conducted under limited cognitive resources and is potentially affected by automatic discrimination.

The research on headhunting has found that recruiters approach marginalized group members less often. We are not aware of a study that focuses on the cognitive underpinnings of this unequal treatment. Coverdill and Finlay (2017) discussed in detail the importance headhunters attribute to a candidate’s fit to an organization. It appears that such decisions are driven more by the recruiter’s motivation than by time or cognitive constraints. According to the MODE model, decision makers are more likely to control their decisions when they have sufficient resources available and also when they are highly motivated to avoid mistakes. We assume that recruiters are highly motivated when they engage in active sourcing, as is the case in headhunting.

P2: Active sourcing is conducted under high motivation and is potentially affected by explicit discrimination.

In a similar vein, the trend toward recruitment assignment appears to increase recruiters’ motivation to select the right candidate. This trend seems to be closely related to active sourcing. We treated this as an individual trend because: (a) in-house recruiters might also use active sourcing, and (b) another motivational aspect might come into play when outside recruiters are seeking personnel. In the case of recruitment assignment, similarly to active sourcing, we assume that there are no time or cognitive constraints but a high motivation to avoid mistakes. According to the MODE model, this elicits a specific form of recruitment behavior.

P3: Recruitment assignment to private agencies is conducted under high motivation and is potentially affected by explicit discrimination.

Methods and Materials

This interview study was carried out in accordance with the recommendations and ethical research guidelines of the Ethics Committee at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center. The protocol was approved by the WZB Ethics Committee in March 2017. All subjects gave their written informed consent to participate in this study.

We used snowball sampling to contact the interviewees and searched for interviewees at a job event hosted by a professional SNS in March 2017. We conducted interviews with eight experts between April and July 2017. The same interviewer was used for all interviews. Table 1 provides some descriptive information about the interviews and the interviewees.

Table 1. Sample description for the qualitative interview study.

We conducted a content analysis ( Mayring, 2008 ; Mayring and Fenzl, 2014 ) to analyze the interviews. We coded the interviews, first driven by theory and then by data. The five major themes of the coding were: (1) current changes in recruitment, (2) structural features of the recruitment process, (3) the process of external recruitment and in-house recruitment, (4) the use of SNS in the recruitment process, and (5) discriminatory recruitment behavior.

In the online Supplementary Material , we describe how we conducted the content analysis in detail.

Results of the Content Analysis

The structural features of modern recruitment processes.

Our analysis revealed that modern recruitment processes have a typical structure consisting of three stages (I–III) and six steps (1–6): The pre-search stage (I) starts with the job opening (1) and is followed by the recruitment assignment (2) . The second stage, search activities (II) , includes searching channels (3) and the shortlisting of candidates (4) . In the post-search phase (III) , the companies conduct an evaluation (5) of the shortlisted final candidates and make a final decision (6) . Figure1 shows a process model of modern recruitment processes.

Figure 1. A model of the modern recruitment process. Three stages are represented in the upper boxes in white typeface. Six recruitment steps are represented in the arrows (second line) in black typeface. The main actors are listed with dots under each step.

P1: Profile Screening on Social Network Site Is Conducted Under Limited Cognitive Resources and Is Potentially Affected by Automatic Discrimination

It turned out that SNS are indeed relevant in modern recruitment processes. All interviewed recruiters use SNS on a daily basis. We therefore explored whether recruiters screen profiles on SNS under limited resources. This may increase implicit discrimination.

Our analyses suggest that the screening of profiles on SNS is a highly automatic action that does not require substantial cognitive resources. All interviewees had difficulties describing clear rules and structural procedures for how they screened a list of candidates. Recruiter i4 explained that s/he screens profiles in the same way one would carry out a Google search. In this case, s/he admitted that s/he might sort out Indian candidates faster.

This gives evidence that profile screening on SNS might be prone to implicit discrimination. But this evidence is limited to only a few recruiters. Generally, we found very little evidence in support of the assumption that profile screening on SNS is affected by implicit discrimination, for instance, by ethnicity, age, or gender.

Hence, profile screening might not be the most important purpose for which recruiters use professional SNS. Many recruiters explained that they seldom screen profiles on professional SNS. They admitted that their search on SNS is often limited to a handful of candidates and sometimes is even unsuccessful. According to recruiter i6, many employers are searching for employees with specific qualities, and the pool of qualified candidates is very small:

(1) And I have had requests where I just entered the name of the position and Berlin and Brandenburg and got zero hits—that happens too. (i6)

When recruiters look at the profiles on professional SNS platforms, they seem to have no time pressure. The recruiters we interviewed often described taking several minutes to get a first impression of each candidate. Recruiter i7 explained that the amount of time spent reading a profile depends on how much information a candidate provides. When reading time depends on the amount of information, it seems that there is no time pressure. This is evidence that recruiters might have sufficient opportunities to control their implicit preferences.

On this basis, we must reject Proposition 1. Although profile screening on SNS might be affected by discrimination, it appears not to be important for modern recruitment processes.

P2: Active Sourcing Is Conducted Under High Motivation and Is Potentially Affected by Explicit Discrimination

Interviewees described a shift from traditional to active sourcing approaches. For many job openings, passive sourcing activities seem to be insufficient. Job advertisements attract too few applicants, even when they are published on professional platforms. Many recruiters therefore prefer to actively contact suitable candidates, whether those candidates are currently searching for a new job or not. When recruiters want to make contact with suitable candidates, they use an active sourcing channel.

Recruiters often use their own professional networks as a first step when they get a new recruitment assignment, especially when recruiting executive personnel. Our analysis revealed that the use of these exclusive networks may discriminate against some candidates. It seems that not everyone has access to these kinds of networks. Recruiter i8 explained that, officially, his/her recruitment agency is willing to work with all candidates, but—unofficially—only if they are highly qualified, if they work in the field that the agency is specialized in, and if they have several years of experience. However, recruiters often do not think that recruitment through exclusive networks prevents people outside their networks from getting fair access to jobs. Recruiter i2 felt that this was the obvious approach based on the excellent referrals his network guarantees:

(2) The network plays a role in that sense that I have access to the network and can see: Who is in this network? Because as the old saying goes, good people only know good people. (i2)

Only one recruiter, i3, openly discussed the exclusiveness of these agencies:

(3) There are still old men running around who have their little black books and their networks and know how to use them. Personnel consulting in the area of executive search is a “good old company”; an old, slightly antiquated and outdated industry that lives off of personal referrals and—yes—also very particular network activities. (i3)

Another feature is the use of keywords, which limit the pool of potential candidates. When recruiters search actively on professional platforms, they filter profiles using keywords. The keywords depend heavily on the skills required for the job. Yet some keywords systematically exclude candidates with specific personal characteristics. Recruiters commonly limit their searches to a specific geographical area. This may discriminate against candidates who do not live in urban areas or candidates who are based in a foreign country. Recruiters explained that they use geographic restrictions because they think many candidates are not flexible enough. They often sort out candidates who are not located in the area rather than asking them about their willingness to relocate:

(4) If you know that your customer is located in a specific city, you have good reasons to give it some thought: Do I really want to ask this big question about relocating or don’t I?—Whether that’s a good idea is another question, but it would be an option. (i3)

Another reason might be that placing no geographic restrictions on the search would lead to a pool of candidates that is too large to handle. Recruiter i6 said that no geographic restrictions would increase the search results dramatically:

(5) If I searched on a national level using just the search term “electrical engineer,” I would get search results in the four-digit range. (i6)

The analysis suggests that recruiters are fully aware that this restriction can potentially exclude some candidates who are equally qualified.

P3: Recruitment Assignment to Private Agencies Is Conducted Under High Motivation and Is Potentially Affected by Explicit Discrimination

Interviewees reported that active sourcing is time-consuming and expensive. But in their opinion, it sometimes is the only way to fill a job opening. The business model of external recruitment agencies generally involves being specialized in sectors with a high demand for labor, such as engineering and IT. Some recruiters believed that a recruitment agency is able to recruit qualified personnel better than internal human resources (HR) departments.

Recruiters from external agencies are able to use some active sourcing strategies that in-house recruiters do not use, for instance, headhunting. Several of the recruiters interviewed thought that the possibility of headhunting is an important reason for companies to have external agencies do the recruiting. Headhunting has a negative image and is often considered unethical. Companies therefore often hire external agencies for this task. In-house recruiter i4 stated that his/her company sometimes outsources headhunting to external recruitment agencies:

(6) Headhunting means poaching people directly, calling them in the office at a competing company. We just can’t do it because it can damage our image. (i4)

Our analysis suggests that recruitment by external agencies is potentially affected by explicit discrimination. One reason is that external recruiters often get paid only if recruitment is successful. External recruitment agencies carry the entire financial risk. This implies a high level of economic pressure on the individual external recruiter as recruiter i6 explained:

(7) We work, for instance, like almost—or like the great majority of personnel consultants, based on our success. That means we are only rewarded if we fill an open position. The company does not bear any financial burden when they bring personnel consultants on board. (i6)

Another reason is that external recruiters are especially motivated to avoid mistakes in their shortlists. They try to avoid a feedback loop in the recruitment process because this would be a waste of time and money. Recruiters are highly motivated to understand what the company “really” wants:

(8) We wouldn’t be able to carry out our task correctly or we wouldn’t be able to fulfill it if we were presenting candidates and didn’t know that they would end up running into a glass ceiling. (i8)

External recruiters feel bound to fulfill companies’ expectations. They explained that the economic pressures leave them no space to select candidates who violate these expectations. As a consequence, recruiters only select candidates who closely resemble the stereotypical “ideal” candidate. This selection might be biased by availability heuristics (What types of people work for this company? What candidates did this company hire recently?) as well as representativeness heuristics (What is the probability that the company will approve my shortlist?) ( Tversky and Kahneman, 1974 ). These expectations and the preferences of managers therefore involve a high risk of making discriminatory selections.

Three Sources of Discrimination

In analyzing the interview data, we identified three sources of discrimination: recruiters’ own attitudes, managers’ explicit instructions to exclude certain candidates, and recruiters’ assumptions about managers’ preferences.

Recruiters’ Attitudes

The first source of discrimination is the recruiters’ own attitudes, which may potentially motivate recruiters to exclude certain candidates. Recruiters often seem to evaluate candidates based on their first impressions. This is a form of stereotypical decision. Candidates’ photographs, for example, are very important for recruiters’ first impressions. All recruiters emphasized that a “business look” is the most important aspect of professional photos. When recruiters see private photos, they doubt the candidate’s professionalism.

Recruiters often evaluate whether or not a candidate’s profile provides “complete” information: gaps raise suspicion. When candidates cannot reasonably explain the gaps in their CVs, recruiters interpret this as an indication that the candidate lacks professionalism. Recruiter i5 explained that s/he strictly sorts out candidates with gaps in their CV:

(9) I have to admit, maybe sometimes I don’t give those people the chance they deserve. But if someone has a sizeable gap in there [in his/her CV] and there is no further education, nothing, then I feel like—[…] the commitment is lacking, and they’re out! Or things like a 3-year sabbatical! That, to me, is actually like a red flag to a bull. (i5)

However, we found very little evidence that recruiters generally have negative attitudes toward job candidates from certain social groups, such as ethnic minorities, women, or older candidates. Only one of the recruiters revealed negative attitudes toward Indian candidates:

(10) It’s often the case among Indian applicants—and I’ve been told this by my department as well, also by the IT department, who work a lot with consultants in India—that loyalty to the company is extremely different there. In India, if someone earns a few euros more at a different company, he will change employers. (i4)

Managers’ Explicit Instructions to Exclude Certain Job Candidates

The second source of discrimination is the explicit instruction by managers to exclude candidates from certain social groups. Almost every interviewee reported that at some point in time, a manager or HR department staff member stated explicit preferences for candidates’ gender, age, ethnicity, or country of origin—for instance, recruiter i7:

(11) And we have some companies—or we have HR or other departments— clearly saying: I only want a woman. Or: I only want a man. Or sometimes they also state a specific age. (i7)

According to our interviewees, managers express gender preferences in both directions: Some want female employees, especially in very technical and male-dominated areas. Others want male candidates. Many interviewees considered gender preferences to be a valid and not discriminatory recruitment criterion. Recruiter i5 stated that in male-dominated areas, companies hope to improve the working environment by hiring more women:

(12) There are often clients who say straight out: I have too many men here. It’s so—it makes things so rude and crude. It might be nice to have a woman on the team again. For instance, so the burping would stop, or so people would clean up their desks again, or things like that. (i5)

Recruiters explained that knowing companies’ preferences is essential for the recruitment success. Often recruiters ask explicitly about some characteristics, for instance, age, gender, and regional preferences. They ask the question about preferences as casually as possible, as recruiter i3 reported:

(13) I ask, for instance: “Could it also be—does the candidate necessarily have to be male?”— Yes—“From what age upward is he no longer acceptable to your company?”—Yes, it sounds very blunt, but the more bluntly you ask, the better the answers you get. We are all very sensitive to anti-discrimination issues. (i3)

At the same time, recruiters are aware that these preferences are discriminatory. If such preferences become public, it could have severe legal consequences and would be extremely damaging to the company’s image. Recruiter i3 admitted that companies will only express their preferences if they completely trust their business partner’s loyalty.

Assumptions About Stereotypical Preferences

The third source of discrimination is recruiters’ assumptions about managers’ preferences.

Interviewees commented that ethnic preferences are rare, compared to regional, age, and gender preferences. Many recruiters explained that language barriers are the only reason why ethnic minorities are sorted out. But all of the recruiters were able to relate at least one anecdote about ethnic preferences from their experience in recruiting. Recruiters admitted that managers often do not explicitly express their ethnic preferences because it is a very sensitive topic. Recruiters implicitly draw conclusions about their clients’ ethnic preferences or prejudices. According our analysis of recruitment processes, recruiters draw conclusions mainly from two situations: their meetings when being given the recruitment assignment and the company’s explanations for why they rejected a candidate who seemed suitable to the recruiter. Recruiter i3 put it like this:

(14) There are companies where you cannot present a person of color as a candidate. And the company absolutely insists that there are rational reasons for that. But you don’t believe it. (i3)

The second recruitment step seems to be critical for the recruiters’ impressions of managers’ preferences. Recruiters use these meetings not only to get to know what skills are needed for a position or what kind of budgets are available for recruitment, but also to get an idea about the preferred characteristics of the job candidate. If a company has a very conservative atmosphere, recruiters may assume that the company’s managers have reservations about employing ethnic minorities. Our analysis showed that recruiters do not always wait for managers to reveal their personal preferences explicitly. If recruiters have a strong sense of hidden recruitment agendas, they will ignore some candidates to avoid management rejecting their shortlist. Recruiter i5 admitted that s/he adjusts his/her search behavior to ethnic stereotypes on his/her own when companies are located in Eastern Germany—an area where very few immigrants live and where many people have negative attitudes toward immigrants:

(15) If I’m searching for candidates for a company in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, for instance, I won’t be able to approach the task in such a multicultural way, because I’ll get more “nos” than “yeses.” That means, depending on the region, I sometimes look at where the companies are from. And then—unfortunately—I have to exclude some great candidates who actually would have fit. (i5)

Note, however, that it remains unclear whether companies in Eastern Germany actually have ethnic prejudices or if the recruiter has a stereotypical image of companies in Eastern Germany. We consider this a meta-cognitive process.

Discussion of the Qualitative Results

Our qualitative interviews suggest that the modern recruitment approaches “active sourcing” and “recruitment assignment” are potentially affected by explicit discrimination. Recruiters are highly motivated to exclude certain candidates. At the same time, we found little evidence that modern recruitment is potentially affected by implicit discrimination. Screening on SNS might be implicitly driven because it often is unstructured. But recruiters rarely screen candidates on SNS. They tend to use SNS for active sourcing instead. We identified three sources of discrimination that potentially motivate recruiters to systematically exclude marginalized candidates: the recruiters’ own attitudes, the managers’ instructions to exclude certain candidates, and the recruiters’ assumptions about managers’ preferences.

Old-Fashioned Discrimination in Modern Recruitment Trends?

Our results show that modern recruitment trends such as active sourcing and recruitment assignment to external agencies are potentially affected by discrimination against marginalized candidates. More generally, profile screening seems to be of minor importance in modern recruitment processes. However, professional SNS appear to be important for active sourcing. In active sourcing, recruiters are motivated to reduce the pool of candidates, for instance, by limiting the search geographically or by searching through personal networks. But these active sourcing practices may exclude some candidates systematically, for instance, those who live outside major urban areas or who are outside the established networks of people in power. The same holds true for recruitment assignment by external recruiters, who work under relatively high economic pressure. External recruiters are therefore motivated to avoid taking risks in their shortlists, which in turn increases the likelihood of discrimination, for example, if recruiters believe that the company has discriminatory preferences.

Many interviewees explained that discrimination does not play an important role in hiring. Yet not only do recruiters apparently take candidates’ qualities into account; all participants were also able to describe stereotypical and prejudicial preferences in recruitment processes that potentially lead to a discriminatory selection. We found little support for the idea that modern recruitment processes are potentially affected by implicit discrimination. The reason is that screening, which might be done in an unstructured way, does not play an important role in modern recruitment. However, we found high support for the idea that recruitment trends may be affected by explicit discrimination. Recruiters seem to be motivated to engage in discriminatory decisions, and they do not seem to lack the opportunities to control for automatic influences. This implies that recruiters are able to control discriminatory decisions, for instance, due to gender, ethnicity, or age. Thus, our results point more in the direction of old-fashion racism or blatant prejudices than toward modern racism ( Devine, 1989 ) or subtle prejudices ( Pettigrew and Meertens, 1995 ; Coenders et al., 2001 ).

Own Stereotypes, the Others’ Stereotypes and Meta-Stereotypes as Drivers

We found three sources of discrimination. The first source consists in the recruiters’ own stereotypical selections. These are often based on the recruiters’ first impressions of the candidates. Photographs and a gap-free CV are very important for these first impressions. Beside this, we found very little evidence that first impressions are based on recruiters’ personal preferences. The second source is the managers’ explicit preferences for some candidates. This seems to be a major reason why recruiters exclude minority candidates. Recruiters and managers are aware that such preferences are illegal and may have severe consequences. However, recruiters feel responsible for keeping these preferences strictly confidential. The third source of discrimination consists in recruiters’ assumptions about managers’ preferences. These impressions may motivate recruiters to explicitly exclude candidates who they think do not fit the client’s preferences. Ethnic preferences fall into this category due to the sensitivity of racial prejudices.

While previous research has tackled the first two sources of discrimination ( Brief et al., 2000 ; Petersen and Dietz, 2005 , 2000 ; Carlsson and Rooth, 2012 ; Derous et al., 2012 ), the last source has been studied relatively little in the context of recruitment. Brief et al. (2000) pointed out that discrimination in hiring is sometimes based on “obedience to authority.” In their laboratory setting, participants adapted their selections to accommodate their client’s assumed negative attitudes toward marginalized people. These negative attitudes were expressed explicitly in a “client’s letter” instructing that the participant should “not hire anyone that is a member of a minority group” ( Brief et al., 2000 ). This leaves open the question of whether recruiters would draw indirect conclusions about company’s preferences as well. Future recruitment research might focus on these metacognitive processes ( Greifeneder and Schwarz, 2014 ) in hiring.

Quantitative Panel Study

Exploring the cognitive mechanism of the decision-making process was the first step to assess discrimination in modern recruitment. We found initial evidence that recruitment through active sourcing and recruitment assignment are potentially affected by discrimination. In a second step, we wanted to investigate whether there is quantitative evidence that active sourcing discriminates against employees from marginalized groups.

Our interview study revealed that, in contrast to the findings of Roulin and Levashina (2019) , real recruiters often do not review SNS profiles systematically. Recruiters use SNS more to gain access to potential candidates—that is, for active sourcing rather than for screening. Our research looked at whether people in marginalized groups are actively sourced by recruiters less often than others. The question of whether SNS was used for this active sourcing is not important.

We therefore modified the research question. It now reads:

RQ: To what extent is active sourcing affected by discrimination against candidates who belong to marginalized social groups?

Research on headhunting shows that members of some social groups are headhunted less often than others. We assume that active sourcing might show similar effects because active sourcing is carried out in a very similar way to headhunting. While headhunting is used prominently in executive search, active sourcing is applied to a broader range of jobs where there are labor shortages. We focused on three sociodemographic characteristics that were often mentioned in our interviews as potential criteria for excluding candidates: age, gender, and migration background. When marginalized group members are actively sourced less often, we consider this evidence that active sourcing as a recruitment trend might be affected by discrimination.

H1: Candidates from marginalized groups are actively sourced less often than candidates who do not belong to marginalized groups.

H1a: Older candidates are actively sourced less often than younger candidates.

H1b: Female candidates are actively sourced less often than male candidates.

H1c: Candidates with a migration background are actively sourced less often than native German candidates.

As a second outcome, we studied the extent to which marginalized group members are offered jobs less often than non-marginalized groups. While active sourcing is considered a search strategy, this variable gives valuable information on potential unequal treatment in hiring decisions. This variable differs from active sourcing. Here, we compare people who were offered jobs to people who were not offered jobs. It is not important whether these people were actively sourced or whether they applied for the jobs themselves. Again, we focused on the three sociodemographic characteristics: age, gender, and migration background. Through this approach, we are able to compare whether it is only active sourcing that is affected by discrimination or whether job application processes are potentially affected as well.

H2: Candidates from marginalized groups are offered jobs less often than candidates who do not belong to marginalized groups.

H2a: Older candidates are offered jobs less often than younger candidates.

H2b: Female candidates are offered jobs less often than male candidates.

H2c: Candidates with a migration background are offered jobs less often than native German candidates.

The interview study revealed that recruiters take into account where the company is located. They use this information to draw conclusions about the companies’ openness to marginalized candidates. Therefore, we examined whether effects were moderated by the regional share of far-right voting. Previous research found a relationship between far-right support and negative attitudes toward candidates from some marginalized groups, such as people of foreign descent and women ( Hogan and Haltinner, 2015 ; Träbert, 2017 ; Donovan and Redlawsk, 2018 ; Mills et al., 2020 ). Studies have also reported an association between far-right attitudes and negative attitudes toward older people ( Sigelman and Sigelman, 1982 ; Henry et al., 2019 ). Van Assche et al. (2017) argued, however, that this is counter-intuitive, and that far-right attitudes are intuitively associated with an appreciation of older people. When recruiters make assumptions about managers’ preferences, they might share the same intuition. Our hypothesis therefore reads:

H3: The effects of age, gender, and migration background are moderated by the regional variance of far-right voting.

H3a: Older candidates are actively sourced and offered jobs more often in regions with a high share of far-right voting.

H3b: Female candidates are actively sourced and offered jobs less often in regions with a high share of far-right voting.

H3c: Candidates with a migration background are actively sourced and offered jobs less often in regions with a high share of far-right voting.

Quantitative data on recruiting trends is limited. Fortunately, the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) in Germany, which hosts the data from the German Federal Employment Agency (BA), collects panel data on personnel and recruitment issues.

The Linked Personnel Panel Data

We used the Linked Personnel Panel (LPP) to address our research question ( Mackeben et al., 2018 ; Schütz et al., 2018 ; Tschersich and Gensicke, 2018 ). This data allowed us to make quantitative estimates of how often marginalized social groups were approached when companies applied active sourcing.

The LPP is a panel study that enables the linkage of employer and employee data. Data were gathered in structured interviews. The panel data are available for three waves: 2012/13; 2014/15; 2016/17. Our main dependent variables (DVs) were from Wave 2 (2014/2015) and 3 (2016/2017) of the employee panel. Additionally, we added Wave 1 (2012/2013) to complete the employees’ personal data, such as age and country of birth. We also used the employer panel data and the IAB Establishment Panel for sample description and to consider far-right voting in the company’s geographic area. We restricted the data to the first answer of an employee when a person answered our DVs in Waves 2 and 3 to avoid overestimation.

Employees were interviewed by telephone. Most of the employees interviewed were part of the panel. Refresher samples and the first wave were selected based on the companies’ employment history ( Schütz et al., 2018 ). The companies were the same as in the IAB Establishment Panel. The companies are a random but disproportional sample, stratified by company size, economic sector, and region ( Mackeben et al., 2018 ).

Analytical Strategy

The LPP employee survey asked respondents in the second and third waves of the study whether those who intended to change jobs had searched for a new job or had been approached by another company. We consider this a question about active sourcing. People who answered that other companies had approached them were actively sourced. People who answered that they “actively” searched themselves took the classic approach. Everyone who answered the question about active sourcing was also asked whether or not they had been offered a job by another company. We consider this an attempt to entice an employee to another company and used this question as a second DV.

We conducted our analysis in four steps. In the first, we calculated the null models, followed by mixed logistic regressions in the second step. In the third step, we calculated interactions between our independent variables (IVs) and far-right voting. In the fourth and final step, we included four control variables to our initial mixed logistic models to see how robust the effects are. In each step, we conducted separate analyses for the two DVs.

We analyzed two DVs: whether people were approached actively by another company (DV1: active sourcing) and whether they were offered a new job (DV2: job offer). Both variables are dichotomous. We used four IVs that describe marginalized groups: the employee’s age (IV1), gender (IV2), the employee’s country of birth (IV3), and the employee’s citizenship (IV4). In the literature, the threshold for discrimination against older people is often considered to lie between 45 and 55 years ( Macdonald and Levy, 2016 ). Therefore, we studied age effects both as a continuous variable and as a dichotomous variable (younger vs. older than 50 years). The employee’s country of birth (IV3) and the employee’s citizenship (IV4) refer to the employees’ migration background. The variable “country of birth” (IV3) has five categories: Germany (base), Southern/Eastern Europe, Asia, Northern/Western/Central Europe, and remaining countries. The variable “citizenship” (IV4) has three categories: German citizenship (base), German and foreign citizenship, and foreign citizenship only. For all our analyses, we used the company ID (L2V) as a second-level variable. Additionally, we were interested in whether regional differences in attitudes toward diversity moderate the effects of marginalized groups. The LPP does not include any data on the local share of attitudes. Therefore, we used far-right voting from the 2013 German federal elections as a proxy for anti-immigrant attitudes or attitudes against working women. We merged the LPP data with the IAB Establishment Panel, which is representative of the German labor market and is the host survey of the LPP, and linked the results of the federal elections in 2013 to the region where the employee’s company was located. This allows us to use the percentage of far-right voting in the 2013 federal elections in the region where the employee works. Here, we use the fact that recruiters usually restrict their active sourcing attempts to the region in which the company is located. Far-right voting includes three parties—the “NPD,” the “Republikaner,” and “Die Rechte.” The percentage of the population who voted for these far-right parties was 1.84% on average, with a minimum of 0.39% and a maximum of 5.55%. We used far-right voting as a moderator variable (MV) at the employee level.

We used STATA in its 14th edition for all our calculations ( StataCorp, 2015 ). In addition, we used the ggplot2 package ( Wickham, 2016 ) of R ( R Core Team, 2018 ) to visualize the results. Data access was provided on-site at the Research Data Centre (FDZ) of the German Federal Employment Agency (BA) at the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) and subsequently through remote data access. This means that we did not have direct access to the data. All outputs were double-checked, automatically and by hand, before we were allowed to report them. In cross-tabulations, every cell with fewer than 20 people was deleted due to data protection regulations of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB).

When we put all three waves of the LPP employee panel together, we had a sample of 13,999 employees. However, we had to deal with a substantial amount of missing data. The sample for active sourcing included 3,949 employees (28% of the full sample) from 1,413 companies as higher-level units (min. = 1 employee, max. = 28 employees, M = 2.8 employees). Concerning the second DV, job offers, the sample included 2,356 employees (17% of the full sample) from 1,109 companies as higher-level units (min. = 1 employee, max. = 18 employees, M = 2.1 employees). When we included far-right voting, our sample was further reduced by almost half of the available cases. The reason for this reduction is that we needed to merge the employee data with two further datasets, the LPP employer data and the IAB Establishment Panel, to get the regional district codes (German: Kreiskennziffer ).

Figure 2 shows a flowchart on our sample.

Figure 2. The flow chart of the quantitative sample derived from the Linked Personnel Panel (LPP). DV = dependent variable.

We restricted our sample to people who were younger than 65 years because people in Germany usually retire in that age. Additionally, we restricted the sample to those who earn 450 euros or more per month. This is the typical income from mini-jobs and excludes volunteer workers. There are very few people born in Northern/Western/Central Europe and in the category “remaining countries.” For this reason, we only go into detail for Southern/Eastern Europe and Asia. Table 2 gives a sample description for the full sample and the samples of the two DVs.

Table 2. Sample description for the quantitative analyses.

Main Effects for Marginalized Groups

We conducted our analyses in four steps. The full STATA output of the calculations is provided in the Supplementary Material .

Table 3 gives an overview of the calculated effects for active sourcing. Table 4 gives an overview for job offers.

Table 3. Mixed multilevel analyses for active sourcing with fixed effects for employees and random intercepts for company as second level.

Table 4. Mixed multilevel analyses for job offers with fixed effects and random intercepts for company as second level.

We started with null models to estimate what amount of variance can be explained by nesting participants in companies. In null models, differences between companies (L2V) explained about 6.50% (ICC = 0.065, SE = 0.022, 95% CI[0.033; 0.124]) of the overall variance in active sourcing (DV1) and about 1.62% (ICC = 0.016, SE = 0.023, 95% CI[0.001; 0.216]) of the overall variance in job offers (DV2).

In the next step, we calculated separate mixed effects logistic models, predicting active sourcing (DV1) and job offers (DV2) from age, gender, country of birth, and citizenship. We allowed the intercept to vary across different companies, our level-two variable. Note, however, that our IVs are categorical and that we did not center them.

Figure 3 shows the predicted values of being actively approached or getting a job offer for the level-one predictors.

Figure 3. Predicted values for the two dependent variables, active sourcing (DV1) and job offers (DV2). The first row of boxes refers to active sourcing, the second row to job offers. The dots represent the predicted values, the angled lines represent the 95% confidence interval. The reference categories are younger than 50 years for age, male for gender, Germany for birthplace, and German for citizenship.

We found significant effects of gender, age, and migration background for active sourcing. The odds ratios of female employees being actively approached were significantly lower than for male employees ( OR = 0.555, SE = 0.051, p < 0.001). This showed that female employees had a 45% lower chance of being approached by a recruiter. In addition to this gender effect, we found a significant age effect ( OR = 0.783, SE = 0.066, p = 0.004) for active sourcing. Older employees had a 22% lower chance of being actively approached by recruiters than younger employees.

For ethnic minorities, we found mixed evidence with regard to active sourcing. People who were born in Southern/Eastern Europe were approached significantly less often than people who were born in Germany ( OR = 0.620, SE = 0.131, p = 0.024), while there was no significant main effect for people born in Asia. If we instead looked at foreign citizenship, we found that people with dual German and foreign citizenship were even at an advantage. They had a significant higher chance of being actively approached than people who have German citizenship only ( OR = 2.334, SE = 0.565, p < 0.001). However, there was no effect for people with foreign citizenship only.

Concerning the second DV, job offers, we only found a significant effect for gender ( OR = 0.691, SE = 0.065, p < 0.001). Female employees had a significant 31% lower chance of getting job offers from another company than male employees. All other effects for marginalized social groups were not significant at p < 0.05 or did not show any trend at p < 0.10.

We did not find any interaction for gender, age, and migration background, either operationalized via country of birth or via citizenship. However, we had to exclude the category of remaining countries due to collinearity to compare models with and without interactions (Likelihood ratio tests for the inclusion of interactions for active search: LRchi2(16) = 16.06, prob > chi2 = 0.449; for job offers: LRchi2(16) = 11.37, prob > chi2 = 0.786).

While migration effects were ambivalent, gender and age effects were more prevalent in our models. Therefore, we calculated models with age as a continuous variable and added squared terms for age and interactions of age and gender. Gender effects were significant for both DVs. The squared age term was not significant for both DVs but showed a trend for active sourcing ( OR = 0.999, SE < 0.001, p = 0.058). The interaction of gender and age was not significant for both DVs. Figure 4 shows the predicted values for male and female employees in different age groups for active sourcing and job offers.

Figure 4. Predicted values for age and gender. The left side refers to active sourcing, the right side to job offers. The dark lines represent the effects for male employees, the lighter lines the effects for female employees. Solid lines represent the predicted values over the ages. The dashed lines indicate the 95% confidence interval.

Interaction With Regional Far-Right Voting

In the third step, we looked into interaction effects with far-right voting. We first added the share of the federal election’s (2013) far-right voting to our Model 2 and second, its interactions with the IVs—age, gender, country of birth, and citizenship. We used z-standardization for far-right voting to improve the possibilities for interpretation of interactions.

When we added far-right voting without interactions, we found a significant main effect for far-right voting on active sourcing ( OR = 0.861, SE = 0.053, p = 0.017). It shows that in areas with one standard deviation more far-right voting, all employees had 14% less chance of being actively sourced. There was still a negative main effect for female employees. All other effects were not significant. However, this might also be a selection effect. Age and ethnic effects already disappeared in the reduced sample before we added far-right voting.

When we included interactions of IVs and far-right voting, the effect for far-right voting was even larger ( OR = 0.785, SE = 0.068, p = 0.005). We did not find any significant interactions with far-right voting. However, we found a trend for a positive interaction for older people and far-right voting. Older people tend to be more actively sourced in districts with higher far-right voting ( OR = 1.253, SE = 0.149, p = 0.058). This might be an artifact, however. There are more older people living in East Germany. At the same time, East Germany has numerous regions with a high share of far-right voting.

Concerning the DV2, job offers, we found no main effect for far-right voting when we included far-right voting without interactions. The negative effect for female employees was similar regardless whether interactions or just the main effect of far-right voting were included. We found one significant interaction with people who have foreign citizenship only ( OR = 7.431, SE = 7.320, p = 0.042). However, due to the large standard error, we are hesitant to interpret this effect. We found two trends, one negative trend for people born in Southern/Eastern Europe ( OR = 0.456, SE = 0.216, p = 0.098), and a positive trend for people who have foreign citizenship only ( OR = 3.432, SE = 2.372, p = 0.075) when far-right voting and its interactions terms were included. The trend for Southern/Eastern Europe emerged only when all interactions were included simultaneously, however. The other trend for foreign citizenship has a large standard error. Therefore, we suggest caution in interpreting both trends.

Robustness Check

In a last step, we added several control variables to our model from step two to check the robustness of our effects. We controlled for level of school completion, vocational training, net income (z-standardized), and number of younger children in the household at the employee level. Originally, we also wanted to add far-right voting as a control variable, but this would have reduced our sample to less than 1,200 people for active sourcing and less than 700 people for job offers.

We first calculated our model using the reduced sample but without including the control variables themselves. In this reduced sample for active sourcing, we found no effect for age but a negative effect for gender ( OR = 0.464, SE = 0.065, p < 0.001), a positive effect for people with dual citizenship ( OR = 2.960, SE = 1.025, p = 0.002), and a negative trend for people born in Southern/Eastern Europe ( OR = 0.603, SE = 0.176, p = 0.082).

The main effects for gender and for people with dual citizenship were still significant with controls at the employee level. Additionally, we found a negative effect for older people when control variables were included ( OR = 0.637, SE = 0.091, p = 0.002). This might be a suppressor effect, which is difficult to interpret. Effects for income and vocational training were significant, but not for children or school education.

A multilevel analysis for job offers (DV2) with the reduced sample but without control variables showed negative effects for gender ( OR = 0.754, SE = 0.106, p = 0.045) and for people who were born in Asia ( OR = 0.438, SE = 0.176, p = 0.040). When we included the control variables on the employee level, the main effects for gender and people who were born in Asia were not significant but showed a trend. The question of whether the effects lacked robustness on job offers or whether the effects were mediated by the control variables is still an open one.

Figure 5 shows the average marginal effects for both DVs calculated with and without control variables. Average marginal effects were calculated using marginal predicted means for active sourcing and linear regression for job offers.

Figure 5. Average marginal effects for the two dependent variables, active sourcing and job offers. The first column refers to active sourcing, the second column to job offers. The reference categories are younger than 50 years, male, born in Germany, and German citizenship. The average marginal effects are represented by dots, the 95% confidence interval is represented by the horizontal lines at each point. Dark lines represent the effects with control variables, light lines the effects without control variables. The vertical dashed line at zero represents the threshold for positive and negative effects.

The Discussion of Quantitative Results

We found evidence that female candidates, older candidates, and candidates who were born in Southern/Eastern Europe were actively sourced less often. Female candidates were also offered job offers less often. Our mixed multilevel models showed that the company has a substantial impact on the likelihood of being actively sourced.

Effects for Marginalized Groups in Active Sourcing

We found significant gender effects in our analyses. Female employees were actively sourced less often and were offered job offers less often from other companies. This effect was robust when conducting multilevel analyses and when controlling for school education, vocational training, income, and number of young children in the household. We consider this initial evidence of potential unequal treatment of female employees in the current recruiting environment. Companies use more active sourcing strategies, especially for high management and well-paid jobs. We regard this as a risk that gender inequality in labor market will not only continue but also increase with the enhanced use of active sourcing strategies. Researchers might take this into consideration when conducting studies on hiring discrimination.

We also found that older employees were actively sourced less often, while they were not at any disadvantage when it came to job offers. However, this effect was not very robust in multilevel analyses and in analyses controlling for school education, vocational training, income, and the number of young children in the household. Further research is required to examine whether or not active sourcing strategies systematically discriminate against older people.

We found mixed effects for potential discrimination based on ethnic origin. People who were born outside Germany tended to be sourced less often; but this effect was significant only for people born in Southern/Eastern Europe. In addition, we were not able to control for language barriers. At the same time, people with dual citizenship were sourced more often than people who only had German citizenship. However, information on employees’ ethnic origin in the IAB data is very rough and makes it impossible to identify the offspring of migrants. Our sample was therefore able to identify the first generation but not the second and third generations. It was not possible to operationalize migration background in the same way as in the federal statistics, where at least one parent needs to be born in a foreign country ( Statistik der Bundesagentur für Arbeit, 2020 ). This weakness of the data also had consequences for the reference category. Ideally, the reference category is all Germans without foreign roots. Our reference includes any person in Germany without foreign citizenship and a German birthplace. This made it even more difficult to find significant effects.

The Influence of Far-Right Voting

When we included far-right voting, we did find a main effect for far-right voting but no significant interactions with the marginalized groups as we assumed. One reason might be that we were able to add election data for the regional district code—which is a rather large regional unit—but not for the constituency. We found a main effect for female but not for older people. The interactions of older people with far-right voting showed a positive trend that is in line with our hypotheses. But the interactions with other social groups did not reach significance. Far-right voting apparently has no moderating effect on active sourcing or job offers to members of marginalized groups, but it does have a negative main effect on active sourcing. This suggests lower use of modern recruitment strategies in regions with a more right-wing normative climate. Note, however, that this is an ad-hoc explanation. We hope that this will be addressed in future research.

General Discussion, Implications, and Limitations

Our research question was to evaluate to what extent modern recruitment is affected by discrimination against marginalized group members. We conducted a mixed-method study with two separate empirical data sources. The combination of qualitative interviews with quantitative analyses provides a better understanding of the discriminatory mechanisms at work in modern recruitment. We conducted eight semi-structural qualitative interviews and explored the contemporary recruitment process and the potential for implicit or explicit discriminatory decisions. Subsequently, we conducted mixed multilevel analyses to find out whether or not employees who belong to marginalized groups were less often actively approached and less often offered a new job.

Content analyses of our qualitative interviews identified some aspects in the modern recruitment process that might bear a risk for discrimination against these candidates. This risk is not related to implicit or uncontrolled processes but is mostly motivated in an explicit manner. We consider active sourcing together with recruitment assignment to pose a major risk of explicit or controlled discrimination. In contrast to previous research on traditional recruitment, our findings suggest that time pressure is not a major problem in the modern recruitment process. The initial idea that recruitment is affected by implicit discrimination does not appear to be confirmed. In fact, it seems that screening, which is potentially affected by implicit discrimination, does not play a major role in modern recruitment. This is an important insight, which could only be obtained because qualitative interviews were not restricted to predefined questions. It is a valuable advantage of the qualitative interviews that recruiters had the opportunity to describe in their own words how they conducted the recruitment process. If we had followed standardized interview guidelines, it might not have become clear that screening is unimportant in modern recruitment. Our analysis revealed that personnel selection is partly based on personal preferences and not strictly on best qualification. We identified three sources for this potential discrimination: the recruiters’ own prejudices, the managers’ expressed preferences, and the assumed company’s or managers’ preferences.

In our quantitative analyses, we were able to test our hypotheses in a representative sample. We found further evidence that employees who belong to marginalized groups were actively approached less often in active sourcing attempts. While it is too early to claim ethnic discrimination, we found evidence that female and elderly people might indeed be discriminated against in active sourcing. Female and older employees as well as most people who were born outside Germany were less often actively approached. Additionally, female employees were offered job offers less often than male employees. These gender effects also reached significance when controlling for school education, vocational training, income, and numbers of children. It is important to note that in the quantitative analyses, we were not able to ask about the motivational underpinnings of the behavior. We focused instead on evidence of discrimination in active sourcing. We used the results of the interviews to identify this approach as the main one potentially affected by discrimination. The discrimination that is driven by this mechanism might therefore be explicit and controlled. We found no significant interaction of our predictors and far-right voting. However, we found a significant negative main effect for far-right voting. This ties back to our interview study, in which recruiters reported that they take into account the region where their client is based. We consider the latter further evidence that the third source of discrimination—the assumed preferences of companies’ managers—might have an impact on recruitment decisions. Assumed preferences or meta-stereotyping might also be important when exploring the potential discrimination in contemporary recruitment, among individual recruiters’ and managers’ prejudices. Some strands of psychological research point to this process. Research about meta-cognition ( Greifeneder and Schwarz, 2014 ) or social norms ( Cialdini and Trost, 1998 ) show how individuals assume preferences from other people and base their behavior on these assumptions. The concept of shared mental models ( Mathieu et al., 2000 ) describe how members of a team understand each other.

All these models are helpful to explore this effect. However, there is a lack of recruitment research taking this into account. While much research has been conducted on traditional recruitment, less has been done on recruitment trends such as active sourcing and recruitment assignment. More research needs to be conducted to apply models of meta-stereotyping in recruitment.

Undermining the General Equal Treatment Act

We think that the recruitment trends active sourcing and recruitment assignment might undermine current German legislation that aims to protect future employees from discrimination. The GETA was passed by the German Bundestag, Germany’s federal parliament, in 2006, with the aim of preventing or eliminating discrimination “on the grounds of race or ethnic origin, gender, religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation” ( Bundestag, 2006 ).

However, our results show that employee protection legislation might be insufficient to protect future employees in modern recruitment environments. The first problem relates to equal treatment requirements. Employers increasingly hire external agencies to do their recruiting, and recruiters from external agencies feel much more bound by the companies’ (hidden) preferences than by GETA. As a consequence, companies can avoid candidates from groups they dislike without getting into conflict with the law. Companies’ official documents—for instance, job advertisements or business profiles—would not arouse any suspicion among job candidates. Companies put a great deal of effort into the wording of these official documents so that everything that is published conforms to GETA.

(16) What important aspects are not covered in job advertisements? Because job advertisements are all consistent with GETA, but of course positions are often filled based on different criteria. (i7)

The second problem is related to active sourcing activities in modern recruitment processes. Here—unlike in classic recruitment process—job candidates do not apply for jobs. The recruiters select the candidate who they are interested in. Candidates would not know if they were being actively sourced less often by recruiters. When diverse job candidates do not know about the discriminatory selection, they cannot lodge a complaint. Therefore, it is almost impossible to accuse anybody of discrimination in active sourcing.

These problems illustrate how recruitment trends like active sourcing and recruitment assignment to external agencies might undermine the intended purpose of GETA.

Weakening of Works Councils’ Impacts on the Modern Recruitment Process

Works councils in Germany are allowed to demand more diversity among shortlisted job candidates if they feel a shortlist has been discriminatory ( Bundestag, 1972 ). One might state that a strong works council is able to prevent hiring discrimination. We argue that works councils’ impacts are limited to classic recruitment and in-house recruitment processes, whereas they might lose their anti-discriminatory control in modern recruitment processes.

When a private agency is contracted to complete the recruitment process, works councils will only see the shortlisted candidates. The same holds true for active sourcing. When recruiters use active channels, there will be no official list of candidates before shortlisting. Often, external recruiters will not present more than three final candidates in their shortlist. This makes it impossible for works councils to prevent discrimination. Off the record, an interviewed recruiter put it like this: When the manager has a preference for male candidates, then the recruiter will pretend that—coincidentally—only male candidates were interested.

Additionally, the company does not necessarily have information on how the external recruiter has conducted the recruitment and which candidates the recruiter has already excluded. The works council, on the other hand, does not have the right to demand information from outside firms—which is the case with external recruitment agencies. Therefore, the works council might not be able to protect marginalized candidates from discrimination in recruitment processes that have been assigned to recruitment agencies.

Limitations

Our mixed-method study has several limitations.

Limitations in the Qualitative Interview Study

Our qualitative interviews were selected through snowball sampling. This bears the risk of a certain selectivity. Therefore, the content might not be representative of the entire labor market in Germany. We welcome further research that overcomes this selectivity with a better sampling method.

It was difficult to find in-house recruiters for our expert interviews. Only two in-house recruiters took part. Our findings may therefore reflect the drivers of discrimination among recruiters in recruitment agencies better than among in-house recruiters.

Apparently, the modern recruitment process reflects the current labor market situation in Germany. For the period of time under study, the German labor market was very tight. This meant that employers had difficulties filling job openings, especially in fields where there were labor shortages. This might motivate companies to use more active sourcing tools or assign recruitment to external recruitment agencies. However, if the labor market changes, the recruitment process will change in the years that follow. Accordingly, our conclusions need to be assessed in future recruitment landscapes.

Selectivity and Small Group Sizes in the Panel Study

One problem of our panel study was that our sample might be selective. Our main DVs were conditional on the people’s turnover intention. Only employees who answered that they were thinking about changing jobs were asked whether companies had approached them and whether they had received job offers. This bears the risk that our sample includes many people who were unhappy or even unsuccessful in their job. Moreover, our interviews with recruiters suggest that recruiters do not wait until a person has a turnover intention. They try to convince potential candidates by making attractive job offers. We consider this a substantial potential selection bias of our study.

A further limitation is that our sample included very few people of non-German origin. This might be a reason why we did not find overall effects for people who were born outside Germany. We did report the effects for reasons of completeness, but we urge caution in interpreting them. Further research is needed to explore these specific effects in more detail.

Missing Data

A strong limitation of our quantitative analyses is the high share of missing data in the variables of interest. We “lost” almost half of the sample when merging data from employee and employer surveys. This becomes particularly evident when controlling for employee characteristics in step four. This is why we chose the control variables very carefully and included only those with relatively little missing data. This made it very difficult to confirm significant differences and made the analyses prone to selection biases. The high share of missing data was also the reason why it was not possible to control for local characteristics, such as unemployment ratios and the percentage of foreigners. Both control variables would have been very valuable in checking the robustness of the effects, but these variables are only available in other data sources and matching more data sources would have further reduced our sample. In this case, the balance between need for controls and research interest is a delicate one. To the best of our knowledge, however, there is no better data available for the German labor market than the LPP. The LPP is an add-on survey study of the establishment panel—the official panel study used by the German government to survey labor market trends and needs. This means that the sample is selected in a very thorough process and allows for generalization of effects. What we found interesting was that, although the data are very limited, we found meaningful initial evidence that active sourcing might be affected by discrimination against women and—to a certain extent—older candidates. We hope that future research will follow up on this finding with a better data source.

Unequal Treatment Due to Qualification Differences

The last point refers to the interpretation of the effects. We are not able to decide whether this unequal treatment reflects discrimination or differences in qualification. Our interviews show that recruiters use active sourcing in jobs with high labor shortages and in top management positions. Female employees are underrepresented in many fields with labor shortages, such as IT and engineering. We were not able to control for the jobs that employees held in our models. Therefore, we cannot test for discrimination but only describe differences in averages. Nevertheless, our models with control variables for income and vocational training give further evidence that this unequal treatment might be discriminatory, at least against female employees. Controlling for income and vocational training rule out the explanation that women are often employed in low-wage and low-skilled occupations and are therefore sourced less often than men. However, further research is needed to explore in more detail whether candidates from marginalized groups are being discriminated against in modern recruitment.

Implications: Training Companies to Value Diversity

Our findings about potential discrimination in modern recruitment have significant practical implications. Many companies have labor shortages and need to hire new talent. Our mixed-method study suggests that recruiters sometimes assume preferences and might sort out employees who are indeed qualified but who belong to marginalized groups. Companies are well advised to explicitly highlight the value they place on diverse employees when they meet with recruiters. This might prevent recruiters from assuming preferences and sorting out qualified candidates. Sometimes, assumed preferences might dovetail with managers’ expectations. We think it is important that companies understand that stereotypical preferences are not helpful in finding qualified personnel. The world of work is becoming more and more globalized and so is the world of recruitment. In our view, companies that understand the importance of fairness and that value diversity will profit from the so-called “war for talent.” In the end, it is not only a question of individual diversity but also one of how diversity can be achieved on a team and company level. Fairness is not just a moral question but also a pull factor for job applicants. In addition, studies have revealed that diverse teams seem to be more creative in finding solutions to problems. Many organizations already invest significant resources in diversity management. Knowing more about the discriminatory mechanisms at work in modern recruitment strategies might help them to become more effective in their diversity management practices. To achieve more diverse and more equitable workplaces, a clear focus should be placed on increasing fairness in all recruitment processes in the years to come.

Data Availability Statement

The qualitative datasets presented in this article are not readily available because interviewees were guaranteed that we do not share the interview transcripts. Requests to access the qualitative datasets should be directed to EK, [email protected] .

Ethics Statement

The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in the qualitative study. This approach allows us to self-certify ethical approval for the qualitative study at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center in March 2017.

Author Contributions

All authors made valuable contributions to the manuscript’s structure and content, and contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

We gratefully acknowledge a research grant to EK from the Hans Böckler Foundation, the foundation of the German labor unions. Open access publication fees are covered by the WZB Berlin Social Science Center.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Acknowledgments

We cordially thank Carina Sprungk, Luca Solari, and Werner Eichhorst for their valuable comments on previous versions of the manuscript.

Supplementary Material

The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.634376/full#supplementary-material

Supplementary Table 1 | Methods of the qualitative interview study.

Supplementary Table 2 | Original German interview quotations.

Supplementary Data Sheet 1 | STATA output of the calculations.

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Keywords : discrimination, recruitment, marginalized groups, social network sites (SNSs), active sourcing, recruitment assignment, MODE-model, far-right attitudes

Citation: Kroll E, Veit S and Ziegler M (2021) The Discriminatory Potential of Modern Recruitment Trends—A Mixed-Method Study From Germany. Front. Psychol. 12:634376. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.634376

Received: 27 November 2020; Accepted: 16 September 2021; Published: 25 October 2021.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2021 Kroll, Veit and Ziegler. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Esther Kroll, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Recruitment Research: A New Way to Find Top Talent

​Attracting and retaining top talent was the prevailing crisis for company leaders and HR heading into 2020. That was before a deadly virus wreaked havoc on the nation's economy and the unemployment rate went from a historic low to the highest since the Great Depression. COVID-19 has left millions of Americans out of work, yet some companies are still in a hiring mode. The challenge for hiring managers now is that they must wade through mounds of resumes to find the perfect candidate, and they must do it with a much smaller recruitment budget.

"For many companies, revenues are down, but there are still critical positions to fill," said Kathleen Duffy, president and CEO of Duffy Group, Inc., a global sourcing and recruitment firm based in Phoenix. What may come as a surprise is that some jobs are still tough to fill, she said.

Before the health crisis, companies addressed the talent shortfall by stockpiling high-demand workers with specific skill sets, even if there were no jobs available for them. This included a large percentage of hiring managers—about 77 percent—who hired for positions that did not exist a year earlier, according to research by Korn Ferry.

"Whether in traditional industries such as home health care or technology, or emerging fields like baby tech, CBD products or selfie services, there still don't seem to be enough qualified candidates to go around," Duffy said.

One way to combat the problem is for hiring managers to re-evaluate how they recruit candidates. That means considering approaches beyond adding more in-house recruiters, as well as contracting for retained and contingency searches. One often-overlooked alternative that has emerged in the last decade is recruitment research.

Recruitment Research Defined

An offshoot of the executive search industry, recruitment research is a multistep methodology that targets desired candidates and connects them with employers using a flexible pricing model.

"The process is equal parts detective and skilled salesperson," Duffy said. "It begins with taking a deep dive into the company and its business, and ends with a list of interested, qualified candidates."

At the core of the process is strategy, according to Marcia Mintz, CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Phoenix. When Mintz was hired to lead the organization four years ago, she had two key positions to fill immediately. "I needed to see a diverse pool of candidates with fundraising and staff coaching experience," she said.

Because the internal environment of Boys & Girls Clubs was changing, it was imperative to find leaders who not only had the skills to do the job, but whose personalities would fit into the new culture. The recruitment team leveraged its network to identify passive candidates at top local competitors and nonprofits in other parts of the nation, Mintz said.

"Ultimately, the process helped us increase the scope and quality of candidates while providing a highly cost-efficient alternative to traditional recruitment," she said.

The Building Blocks

Part art and part science, recruitment research entails some key steps. The foundation is a sourcing strategy, which includes an in-depth situation assessment to understand the culture and personality of the hiring company, along with the job's requirements, responsibilities and specific skill set needed. Using a comprehensive intake form, the recruitment team collects data about the company's recruiting targets, geographic preferences, salary and compensation levels, communication expectations, and industry-specific vernacular.

Next comes name generation. Armed with information from the hiring manager and others, the recruiter can identify candidates whose backgrounds, education and experiences dovetail with their company's needs. This is accomplished using a variety of methods, from cold-calling and Internet tools to probing professional organizations, trade shows and chambers of commerce. The goal is to find not only people who are looking for new careers but also those passive candidates who may not be looking at all.

"It's important to think outside of the box," said Victoria McCoy, former executive vice president of organizational strategy at the global information technology company Cyberscout in Cranston, R.I. "That means knowing where the best talent is working today, whether it is at one of your competitors or in another role at your company."

List in hand, the recruitment team is then ready to contact and prequalify candidates as part of the recruitment candidate vetting. Duffy said it is important to create sizzle around why potential hires should consider the opportunity. "In addition to courting the candidate, this is also the time to ask some all-important questions, including their interest in relocating to a particular area, if they have the right education and experience, and if they have a genuine interest in the job the client is trying to fill," she said.

Duffy's firm may search as many as 100 candidates for one position and then present the top three to five most qualified and fully screened candidates for interviews. These candidates are typically seen within 15 days of the start of the search. That's important, given that recruitment research takes a different approach to finding top talent, using a model based on billable hours, much like a CPA or an attorney.

The final step—presentation and reporting—gives hiring leaders a recap of the results and a database of all candidates for the open position that they can keep on hand for future searches.

Recruitment research isn't limited to outside recruitment firms. Internal company hiring managers have the institutional knowledge to use recruitment research effectively as well.

"They should apply the same elements of the process, starting by learning all they can about the company or the business unit for which they are hiring," Duffy said. "And they should put themselves in the candidate's shoes to create a story that will pique interest in the position and differentiate their company from competitors."

Whether internally, externally or as a collaboration, recruitment research can be a cost-effective, efficient approach to helping companies find their next new hire.

Janie Magruder is a freelance journalist and a former senior reporter at The Arizona Republic .

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Recruitment: A Comparative Study of Modern v/s Traditional Methods

2018, Excel India Publishers

HRM in a professional business context entails the effective and efficient management of an organization's employees toward the achievement of desirable objectives. The search for the best people is a constant battle between companies wherein HR personnel are trying to develop relevant strategies in order to find best employees. Recruitment aims to attract applicants and fill vacancies to maintain proper staff levels to correspond with an organization's strategy to achieve the desired objectives. Since 2000, research on Recruitment covered wider perspectives (i.e., Recruitment process, methods, message, media etc.); we have studied the methods being used by companies to recruit employees. Social Media, Online Recruitment, Employee Referrals, Job Advertisements etc. are various methods covered by researchers in the field of Recruitment. Employers determine to apply particular method to recruit people mainly based on certain outcomes (Quality and diversity of applicant pool; no. of individuals apply for a position etc.). As being change in technology along with the time, recruiters also move ahead by applying new technologies & methods to attract potential talent. The proposed paper aims at comparing the modern methods with traditional proven methods of recruitment. Available literature has also been studied to forecast the likelihood of concerned methods.

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E-Recruitment using Social Networking Sites is very emerging topic in modern era. Before the invention of online recruitment organisation have to go through long process of recruitment, which is more costly, and time consuming. Due to lack of spread information recruiter cannot reach to the huge qualified potential candidate. With the invention of internet, Social Media become an important part of the recruitment process. In this way candidate can keep themselves aware about new developments and connect with the world around them. Recruitment through the social networking sites is a win-win situation for both potential employees and the organisation. The role of social media does not limited to hiring process, though it also play important role in internal communications, keeping individuals engaged once recruited. The purpose of this paper is to study the differences between the E-Recruitment (Using Social Networking Sites) and the traditional recruitment. Through structured questionnaire method, a sample of 400 respondents (100 from employer and 300 from employee) respondent " s data was collected. The study found that recruitment through the social networking sites is more cost effective, less time consuming, effective and efficient in accomplishing the recruitment objective.

ABSTRACT Recruitment refers to the systematic process of searching for prospective employees and stimulating them to apply for jobs in an Organisation. It results in a pool of applicants from among whom the right employees can be selected. Social Media Recruitment (SMR) refers to recruitment with the help of Social Media sites. Social Media has become an integral part of recruitment; through which people stay in touch, keep themselves aware of new developments and connect with the world around them. Human Resource professionals observed this pattern of behavior in regards to the usage of social media tools among employees and crafted innovativeness in HR practices and processes. As a result, social media got introduced into the world of human capital management. Such practices of social media applications were captured and categorized under various HR functions critical for organization’s success. As part of an organization’s recruitment strategy, social media is compelling. It is also still in the stages of being formulated and adapted and which for many human resource practioneers is a new tool for the purpose of recruitment. In this climate of slow economic recovery and severe competition, companies have a need to get it right when it comes to hiring decisions. These practices were brought to the notice of Job seekers to know their preferences towards such practices. This research paper aims to understand the Job seekers perception on recruitment through social Media application practices that were identified. This was performed to conduct a reality check between the expectation from the HR sorority and the employees for whom these applications are embattled in order to bring the overall fulfillment of organizational goals. KEYWORDS: Social Media, Recruitment Strategies, Talent Pool, Job Search

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During over the last few years, the world of communication has been changing rapidly. The Internet and modern information technologies have led to the increasing popularity and using social media in different areas: in communication, new markets, new businesses, advertising and promotion companies. The main purpose of this article is to show the possibility of using social media in recruitment process and to present the impact of social media on Human Resource Management. Over 150 respondents, who participated in the research help us explore the risks and benefits of using social media by employees for the organization's reputation, and deliver suggestions for Human Resource Management policy.

IJAR Indexing

In the contemporary scenario the traditional and conventional recruitment practices has been revolutionized by the origin of internet. E-Recruitment is the recent trend and it has been adopted by various organizations. Importance of internet can be seen as searching for best suitable job is just a click away. Even so many organizations are already adopted and conducting their recruitment through E-recruitment channel to post their jobs and accept resumes on the internet, and correspond with the applicants via e-mail. E-recruitment or online recruitment or internet recruitment is the process of recruiting personnel by consuming the technology and e-resources. The E-Recruitment practice has made the process more efficient and effective. Key words: E-recruitment,internet recruitment,internet

Anjali Patel

Khalil Ghazzawi

People are at the core of every organization, they are integral part of any organization today. Organizations cannot exist without staff to complete the production cycle. Therefore the organizations do not take their staff for granted. Choosing the right candidate at the right place has implications for an organization’s goals. Employee well selected and well placed would not only contribute to the efficient running of the organization but offer significant potential for future replacement. The recruitment strategy needs to be dynamic to let the organization grow. This research aims to help professionals in the HR departments and management to consider and improve how they recruit, develop and look after their staff. E-Management is one of the most challenges that organizations are facing in their businesses processes. Those processes are supported by the usage of electronic information system and applications. New technologies have been increasingly facilitated and speed up the communication and business process between the internal and external users. E-recruitment considered as a part of e-HRM and defined as the implementation of recruitment activates by involving the internet and using web solutions to operate and at the end it has the same goals of the traditional recruitment. Online recruitment is becoming more attractive for the employers and job seekers. Advantages and disadvantages of e-recruitment system were determined by examining the overall process. Throughout this research we will identify the influential factors that affect the success of using online recruitment instead of traditional recruitment and measure the effectiveness of each factor. The research is going to provide the organizations and HR members a wider vision how would they set up their recruitment strategies and retain their employees.

The article aims to focus on new ways of recruiting and its effectiveness, advantages such as accessibility and its impact on management. This paper will also present the findings of descriptive research involving the views of job seekers as well as the views of organizations regarding social media as a recruiting tool. The study will help in understanding the effectiveness of social media recruiting and its impact on the organization to achieve optimum utilization of human capital.

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Well-conducted recruitment and selection process is extremely important for the organization, permitting in-depth and objective verification of candidates in terms of meeting employer’s expectations and leads to their employment. Up to now, there has been little research on the impact of e-recruitment on the recruitment process as a whole. The present study fills part of this gap by investigating the effect of e-recruitment on the design of the recruitment process. Therefore, the main purpose of the paper is to analyze how new technology has influenced the recruitment process as a whole. The recruitment process will be presented on the example of ItutorGroup. The paper considers the possibilities of including modern technologies in the recruitment and selection strategies of the organization based on a case study method. The case study describes the project of cooperation of the Work Service personnel consultancy with the international organization ItutorGroup. Its selection and rec...

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How To Successfully Recruit Participants for A Study (2023 Edition)

Whether you’re recruiting participants for a B2B or a B2C research study, here the steps you need and the best recruiting methods for a successful project.

At its very core, successful, informative, useful research is dependent on the participants that are recruited for a study. Recruiting is not about finding a certain number of people, but about identifying the exact “right” people specific to the study and that study’s objectives.  

5 STEPS TO A SUCCESSFUL RECRUITMENT STRATEGY FOR PARTICIPANTS

To do this involves several steps. When you take the time to meticulously go through these steps, the results will be a successful recruit and a successful recruit will mean a successful project and that means a happy client or team and research results that can make a positive impact on your business or initiative.  

STEP 1. DEFINE YOUR IDEAL PARTICIPANT PROFILE

If you don’t take the time to specifically define your participant profile you might as well not conduct the research because without the “right” participants your results will be skewed or invalid and could lead you down the wrong path.  

The first step to figuring out who the study participants should be is to determine the objectives of your project. To do this bring your team and your client team together to discuss and answer these questions:  

• What do you want to learn from doing this research that you don’t already know?
• What do you already know, or think you already know in terms of what you want to learn?
• Why do you want to learn this? What business decisions do you want to be able to make, or actions do you want to take, when this research is complete?  In other words, what do you want to DO with the insights and learnings after you have them?

Be very specific in your answers and your final objectives. Too broad an objective or too many objectives and you won’t learn enough about any one thing to be valuable.  

Now that you’ve determined the objective of your research you are ready to create a profile based on who has the knowledge, background, education and experience to answer the questions you’ll need answered.  

Whether your research is B2B or B2C, along with the specific objectives of your research will determine how extensive the requirements are for your participants.

For example, if you’re doing a B2C study exploring new candy flavors for children, age 6-12, the participant profile might be as simple as:

• Must eat and like candy
• Must have no food allergies
• Must be open to trying new foods and flavors  
• Must be articulate and enthusiastic.

You might also recruit for a mix of ethnicities, an even gender split and household income requirements.

If you’re doing a B2B study about software use, the participant requirements might include:

• Which industry they’re in
• What professional level they’re at
• Have X+ years in their position  
• Use of specific software  
• Reached a certain educational level
• Not having worked at certain companies or in certain industries
• Not having used certain technologies
• Are articulate and enthusiastic

And you will likely need to have some of the same demographic screens from above as well.  

Keep in mind that the more extensive and specific the qualifiers, the lower the incidence (or pool) of potential qualified participants. This means the more difficult and costly it will be to recruit your study.  

STEP 2. CREATE SCREENERS TO WEED OUT THE UNQUALIFIED AND WANNABES AND QUALIFY THE “RIGHT” PARTICIPANTS

No matter the number of screens required for your participant, you still want to screen for articulateness and willingness to participate. Even if a candidate has all the “right” qualifications, if they’re unwilling to or can’t share their experiences, opinions and feelings they are simply unqualified to participate.

Today screening surveys are often used to cast a wide net and quickly weed out participants that don’t qualify at the lowest level. These surveys can be sent via an email or link to thousands of candidates. But time, trouble and costs can be saved up front if the screening survey is sent out to a more targeted and potentially qualified audience.  

A survey should always be followed by screening those who pass the survey “test” by having a screening conversation with the candidate using a pre-written screener that asks additional, deeper qualifying questions.

Creating a carefully and well-designed screener that is easily understandable by first the recruiter and their call center staff and then by the needed audience is imperative to the success of the recruit. To achieve this, carefully review the screener with the recruiter to make sure each question and the responses that qualify or terminate a candidate are well understood.

As recruiting for research projects has moved from professional recruiters using lists more-and-more to leveraging social media and other Internet platforms for recruiting, a blight of professional researchers AKA research imposters has popped up. Because of these posers, leading questions with obvious choices for response should be avoided in screeners and screening surveys. This can be achieved by offering some multiple-choice responses that will mis-direct unqualified candidates and asking questions where only truly qualified candidates would choose a qualifying response.  

For the highest response rates, screeners should be as short and succinct as possible while still posing all the questions needed to identify qualified participants. Along the same lines be honest about how long the survey and conversation will take. Nothing will turn a potential participant off faster than telling them, “This will take five minutes,” and taking fifteen.  

STEP 3. RECRUITING METHODS: WHAT WOULD BE THE MOST SUCCESSFUL RECRITING METHOD BASED ON THE PARTICIPANT PROFILE

Choosing how you’ll recruit and who is your recruiting partner is key to recruit success. Your recruiting resource needs two things, understanding of who your participant profile is and depth of the candidates that fit the profile you’re looking for.  

For example: recruiting from something like Craig’s List, while admittedly used by many recruiters, is too un-focused and reaches too broad and disparate a crowd to truly be helpful. While it offers depth it has no mechanism for the understanding or context of the participants you need.

Not all recruiting methods will work well for all recruits. Much like the story of The Three Bears, it’s important to find the recruiting method that fits “just right” for the audience you need to recruit. Let’s take a look at some of the recruiting method options.

B2C recruiting: Most (but not all) consumer recruiting is easier than most B2B recruits. This is because for most consumer studies there is a higher incidence of potential participants and require far less qualifiers overall as well as far less stringent ones. Like the example of the candy study above, it’s pretty darn easy to find kids who like candy.  

Because of this, a wide variety of recruiting methods will, generally, work for B2C recruits. These include:

• Traditional methods : Focus Group Facilities that recruit, other large recruiting firms, boutique and independent recruiters all use existing lists and can supplement with placing ads (Broadcasting) when needed.
• Client databases of their consumers : This works when participants need to be customers of the client. It can be used in conjunction with other recruiting methods when a study calls for both customers and non-customers.
• Word-of-Mouth and Snowballing : Word-of-Mouth is an extremely cost-effective way to recruit and works well when very few screens or qualifiers are needed or when “word-of-mouth” is spread through a specific demographic or professional community. Similarly, Snowballing is when you ask recruited participants to invite a friend or friends that might qualify.
• Non-Professional Social Media platforms like Facebook and Twitter: Putting the word out randomly on a social media platform can be a cost-effective method to recruit when a generic profile of participants is needed. If a more specific profile is required targeting specific groups or communities within a social media platform can be effective.

B2B recruiting: Most B2B projects require a more focused and intense recruit. As we discussed above, B2B participants likely will have many more and more specific requirements to qualify. This calls for a more specialized or unique recruiting method. These include:  

• Specialized Recruiters : Recruiters who specialize in certain demographics or professions like tech, financial, medical, etc. can be the solution when your participants all must belong to the same profession. Specialized Recruiters can be especially key to finding and booking C or VP-level professionals—possibly the most difficult recruit to accomplish.
• Recruiting platforms : Some recruiting platforms, like Respondent have, literally millions of professionals pre-qualified for their willingness to participate in research as well as to their professional credentials. Respondent also offers additional features that make recruiting and participant management turnkey, Recruiting Platforms, including Respondent can come to the rescue when you need a fast, yet high-quality recruit.  
• Broadcasting/Running ads : Placing ads or announcements where your qualified participants would likely see them, including websites, trade journals, association platforms and media. This is often used to boost the pool of potential participants for the primary recruiting method being used.
• Purchased lists from associations or company directories : For truly difficult recruits sometimes you just have to spend the money and get a totally targeted list. Before purchasing a list, check association websites, some might list members with contact information.
• Professional Social Media Platforms like Linkedin.com. With one of the more robust (and expensive) memberships you can search by specific professions, view member profiles where you can check their credentials, background and title.
• Relationship Recruiting : This is a great solution if you need to continually conduct research with a specific audience. Build and leverage relationships with the people, companies and associations that are relevant to your target industries for recruiting.

As you might have guessed, recruiting can get expensive but given the importance of the “right” participants to the outcome of your study, recruiting is not the place you want to cut costs.  

STEP 4: DETERMINE HOW MANY PARTICIPANTS YOU NEED  

Deciding how many participants you need for your project is a delicate balance between budget, time and research needs.  

The minimum number needed is dependent on several factors:

• What is the subject of your research? Example: the optimum number for straight forward UX research is 5-10. As you’ll see, that number is much smaller than for most types of research.  
• How many markets do you need to cover for your research or could remote research, where you include participants from multiple markets work?
• Do you need to conduct the research with different audiences, if so, how many?
• Do you need to segment your groups by gender?
• If you are conducting research with kids, you’ll need to segment the groups by age range and possibly by gender.  

These scenarios will add significantly to the number of participants you need to sufficiently represent each market and each audience. This number becomes even greater when you have multiple audiences, genders or kids’ ages across multiple markets.  

How Many Participants for A Focus Groups

Now that we’ve complicated matters, let’s simplify them. Generally speaking, across a wide variety of research subjects, a good rule of thumb for the minimum number of focus groups and participants in one market would be four groups with eight participants per group so 32 participants (and researchers will disagree on this). You would not need to multiple by the number of markets or audiences. Adding a couple of groups total per audience/age/location will allow you to see if there are differences by segments.

You can do this across markets by “flip-flopping” groups. Here’s an example of how this might look for nine groups with three audiences, 10-12-year-olds, 13, 14-year-olds and moms across two markets:

As you can see, each audience is represented in each market but without having to double the number of participants overall.  

How Many Participants For I-D-Is?

Researchers differ as to the optimum number of one-one-one-in-depth interviews needed to be conducted for a study. Some suggest 8-12, while others feel that no less than 25 are needed. Our recommendation—certainly no less than 8 assuming you’re looking at one audience, but as many as reasonable that your budget will allow for.  

Over Recruiting, A Must

A reality of research recruiting is the no-show participants. To account for this you should always over recruit. If you want to seat 8 for a focus group, recruit 10. If you want to conduct 20 I-D-Is you would want to recruit 3-4 additional participants.  

STEP 5: DECIDE ON INCENTIVES

Incentives are a must. Why? Of course, to motivate participants to sign on, to insure they’ll show up and to inspire high, enthusiastic participation and truthful responses. More importantly, incentives show you respect and value participant’s time, expertise, opinions and emotions.  

There is not a one-incentive-fits-all. Incentives must be figured out based on different rates for different types of research, length of sessions and even industries and titles of participants. Some factors include:

• The longer the session, the higher the incentive.
• In-person sessions will require a higher incentive than remote.
• Focus groups vs. IDI’s vs. ethnographies (such as dine-alongs, shop-alongs and home visits) vs. diary studies each require a different level of incentive. The more “skin-in-the-game” for participants, the higher the incentive.
• Professionals who participate who are at higher income levels such as doctors, C-levels and VPs will require substantially higher incentives to motivate them to participate at all.  

RECRUTING IT’S A LOT, BUT WORTH IT

There is no doubt that recruiting takes a lot of time, diligence and money. But there’s also no doubt that the success of your project is worth every minute and dollar spent on recruiting. For additional tips on recruiting go to Respondent.

Recruitment Methods for Research Studies: 17 Brilliant Ways to Make It Happen

Recruiting methods along with their pros and cons are explored. In addition, recruiting tips and some out-of-the-box ideas.

How To Properly Recruit Focus Group Participants (2023 Edition)

Explore how to recruit participants for B2B and B2C focus groups including recruiting methods and options, incentives and the benefits and drawbacks...

The Secret To Fast & Successful B2B Participant Recruiting

Struggling to find b2b research participants for your study? Our team researched the best solutions & strategies to help you recruit a high-quality...

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Title: can llms generate novel research ideas a large-scale human study with 100+ nlp researchers.

Abstract: Recent advancements in large language models (LLMs) have sparked optimism about their potential to accelerate scientific discovery, with a growing number of works proposing research agents that autonomously generate and validate new ideas. Despite this, no evaluations have shown that LLM systems can take the very first step of producing novel, expert-level ideas, let alone perform the entire research process. We address this by establishing an experimental design that evaluates research idea generation while controlling for confounders and performs the first head-to-head comparison between expert NLP researchers and an LLM ideation agent. By recruiting over 100 NLP researchers to write novel ideas and blind reviews of both LLM and human ideas, we obtain the first statistically significant conclusion on current LLM capabilities for research ideation: we find LLM-generated ideas are judged as more novel (p < 0.05) than human expert ideas while being judged slightly weaker on feasibility. Studying our agent baselines closely, we identify open problems in building and evaluating research agents, including failures of LLM self-evaluation and their lack of diversity in generation. Finally, we acknowledge that human judgements of novelty can be difficult, even by experts, and propose an end-to-end study design which recruits researchers to execute these ideas into full projects, enabling us to study whether these novelty and feasibility judgements result in meaningful differences in research outcome.

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Research: How to Delegate Decision-Making Strategically

• Hayley Blunden
• Mary Steffel

A recent study examined the negative consequences of handing off responsibilities — and how to avoid them.

Delegating work can help free up managers’ time and energy while empowering their employees to take on meaningful tasks. Yet, previous research has shown that delegating decision-making can cause employees to feel overly burdened. In a new paper, researchers examine the negative impact that handing over choice responsibility can have on delegator-delegate relationships. They offer research-backed solutions for delegating decisions more fairly in order to offset some of delegation’s negative interpersonal consequences.

Effective delegation is critical to managerial success : delegating properly can help empower employees , and those who delegate can increase their earnings . Delegation can also be a way for managers to give employees experience and control, especially when they delegate decision-making responsibilities, which allow employees to exhibit agency over important stakes. Yet, some of our recent research has shown that employees can view delegated decision-making as a burden that they would prefer to avoid.

• Hayley Blunden is an assistant professor of management at the Kogod School of Business at American University. Her research focuses on how leaders can make workplace interaction more productive.
• MS Mary Steffel is an associate professor of marketing at D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University. Her research focuses on examining when we call upon others to help us make decisions, how we navigate making decisions for others, and how we can support others in making better decisions. See her faculty page here .

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Green Energy Research: Collaboration and Tools for a Sustainable Future

Science Article | Green Energy | 6 Sep 2024

The Urgency of Green Energy Innovation

The recent Climate Change 2023 synthesis report emphasizes the consequences of delayed emission reductions: fewer effective adaptation options for a warming planet 2 . Geopolitical factors like the Russia-Ukraine conflict further underscore the need for a green energy transition, with Europe’s energy security concerns highlighting the reliance on imported fossil fuels.

The Green Energy Research Landscape

Against this backdrop, green energy development has become a critical area of research, reflected in a more than 10-fold increase in related publications from 2010 (1,105) to 2023 (11,346), according to Digital Science’s Dimensions database. Researchers around the world are striving to improve green energy technology and society’s ability to harness renewable energy sources more efficiently.

According to data analysed by Nature Navigator , which uses artificial intelligence to generate comprehensive summaries of research topics, ‘renewable energy systems and technologies’ is the field’s most frequently mentioned subtopic (Fig.1). At a research concept level, wind power generation, grid optimization and resource management all feature as common underlying themes.

Figure 1: Topic anatomy of green energy research First-level nodes denote the research subtopic (highest prevalence themes emerging from green energy research). Second-level nodes denote the research concepts associated with these research subtopics. Note: only the research concepts mentioned in the highest count of outputs within each subtopic are presented here. Credit: Nature Research Intelligence

Of the primary green energy research subtopics presented by Nature Navigator , it is telling that ‘materials for energy storage and conversion’ is the fastest-growing, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.2% over the last five years. This may reflect a growing consensus among researchers and industry that a lack of options to efficiently store electricity generated by intermittent renewable sources for later use is a key bottleneck preventing the greater penetration of these sources into the grid.

Real-World Example: Accelerating Heat Pump Innovation

Changmo Sung, a prominent green energy researcher at Korea University, leveraged Nature Navigator to identify trends, key areas, and potential breakthroughs in heat pump technology. This facilitated a collaborative project with LG Electronics, accelerating their research efforts.

“It also enabled the rapid discovery of researchers and institutions outside Korea working on similar or complementary projects related to heat pumps” Sung says.

• International Energy Agency, Global Energy Review 2021 (2021).
• Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Climate Change 2023 (2023).

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