Browsing by Author "Feldt, Sophie"

Substantial research has been conducted on recruitment processes within companies, as personnel are such an important component of a company's success. Prior research shows that the recruitment process isn't conducted in a reliable and objective way. Since recruiters trust their intuition throughout the recruitment process, they are in danger of making unfair and biased decisions. Recruiters are therefore being critiqued for not managing the process as recommended, in regards to the objective and fair treatment of all applicants. Yet there is scarce qualitative research that examines the recruitment process from the recruiters' point of view. Thus the aim of this study is to understand what recruiters perceive as challenging within the role, how they approach the requirement to be objective in relation to whether true objectivity is indeed realistic, and what role they give intuition in the recruitment process. This study aims to understand recruitment from the recruiters' perspective in order to gain a better understanding of the issues involved. The research data was gathered in interviews with 16 recruiters from 9 different recruitment consultancy agencies in Helsinki and Tampere, Finland. The interviews were grouped in to themes that addressed challenges, decision-making and intuition. The transcribed interviews were analyzed inductively from a hermeneutic phenomenological scientific standpoint. The study shows that recruiters don't regard the recruitment process as objective. Because the process is partly social, it inherently makes room for subjective interpretation. Also, recruiters believe that the information accumulated from social interaction brings added value to the recruitment process. Hence the study shows that intuition has great significance in the recruitment process, as the majority of recruiters use it regularly. Prior research on intuition shows that it can be a source of wisdom and expertise, if used correctly. The recruiters tried to carry out the recruitment process in an as objective and transparent manner as possible. By reflecting, questioning and critically reviewing their own thoughts, opinions and feelings, they aimed to avoid making decisions and judgments based on feelings. Taking the recruiters' point of view in to account gives new insight in to the recruitment process and the issues therein.