The 15 Best Recruitment Methods

Approximate reading time: 10m 4s

Recruitment methods have been studied since the 1920s. In this article, we will review the 15 most common recruitment methods. We will also examine how good these methods are at predicting whether a candidate will be a good fit or not, based on the latest research.
One of the studies we will often refer to in this article is the 1998 article by Schmidt and Hunter on the validity of selection methods. This article summarizes „85 years of scientific findings“ in a meta-analysis (an analysis that combines data from multiple studies). We have also included a number of more recent studies on the topic.

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1. IQ Tests

The first recruitment method we will present is the IQ test, or General Mental Ability (GMA) test.

The IQ test is perhaps the best-established concept in the social sciences. Like it or not, your intelligence quotient is the best indicator of your academic success, learning ability, how successful you are at work, and how much money you will make in life.

Since IQ is not specifically related to job knowledge, it can be used for hiring for any position, whether in IT or marketing, whether senior or junior.

What is interesting is that IQ is indicative of two things when it comes to work. First, it predicts how quickly the candidate will get up to speed in the job. This means that candidates with a higher IQ will have a shorter „time to productivity,“ a metric that measures how long it takes a new hire to contribute to an organization. Second, it predicts how successful the candidate will be in the job.

Of course, IQ is not everything.

According to a meta-analysis by Schmidt & Hunter (1998), GMA predicts up to 26% of a candidate's performance. That still leaves 74% open to interpretation!

Although GMA is generally considered an effective tool for predicting future success, there are a number of studies that also question how applicable it is based on the job position/industry and the fairness of the psychometric tests themselves. In general, decisions should not be made solely on the basis of these results and should always be combined with other recruitment methods to balance the potential drawbacks.

2. Unstructured Job Interviews

There is no doubt that you are probably already using interviews in the process of hiring employees. But did you know that the way you structure your interviews can have a major impact on their effectiveness?

Many companies, especially startups, have little time to plan the interview process.

Instead, they let managers use their own questions and assessment methods. But if you have been using unstructured interviews so far, it is time to stop! When we look at Schmidt and Hunter's meta-analysis, we can see a significant difference in the validity of the unstructured interview compared with the structured interview.

This means that unstructured interviews predict approximately 14% of a new employee's performance in recruitment, while the result for those that are planned reaches 26%! This means you will need about 3 unstructured interviews to be as confident in someone's skills as you would be if you conducted 1 structured interview.

Unstructured interviews lead to decisions based on personal opinion and instinct, rather than fair and equal comparison. A significant number of studies have found that when interviews are unstructured, certain candidates are more likely to be preferred based on the interviewer's bias. Unconscious bias is more common than you might think, and it can significantly harm your recruitment efforts. Instead, having a set of questions that every candidate must answer improves the chances of a fair assessment.

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3. Structured Job Interviews

Combining structured interviews with a GMA test was the second best predictor of future performance in Schmidt and Hunter's meta-analysis. Precisely because structured interviews mean that candidates are assessed based on the same questions, they are considered significantly more valid in predicting future outcomes. Studies show that comparing candidates on the basis of the same criteria reduces the chances of a biased interview.

What is more, taking the time to research the right questions for the interview process will help you make better hiring decisions. Even tech giant Google analyzed the data behind its previous hiring practices and always strives to make its processes data-driven. Recently, the company decided to stop using its notorious brainteasers after finding that the answers provided no insight into future job performance.

A well-known example of a riddle is: „Why are manhole covers round?“

Although face-to-face or phone interviews can be a great way to see how a person expresses themselves and presents their qualifications, they do not tell us everything. The fact is that some people are much better at selling themselves and their abilities than others. Will we miss out on great talent just because they are not comfortable with recruitment interviews?

4. Work Tests

Giving a short task is a great way to see the candidate's potential skills in action. Usually, candidates for an "event organizer" are asked to prepare a sample event strategy to demonstrate how much foresight they put into their planning. Content creators are usually given a short article-writing task to give insight into their style. You can even conduct group sample work tests to see how different people are able to interact and get the job done.

But is this the ideal method?

According to Schmidt and Hunter, using a test task to perform the activity is one of the best ways to determine how well a candidate will perform on the job. It is just as effective as the structured interview!

One potential drawback, however, is that this method may not be effective when hiring candidates who have no prior experience. Today, people are constantly changing their career goals. Especially for new or hard-to-fill positions, you need to be open to candidates who do not yet have the required skills but have the willingness to learn that they need to grow, develop, and adapt to the organization's needs.

5. Job Knowledge Tests

Instead of focusing on just one aspect of the candidate's abilities, test their knowledge in the field for which they are applying. This will allow you to get a broader picture of their specific expertise. Unlike GMA, the candidate's learning potential is not assessed here. Job-specific knowledge can be used to inform the manager about what the candidate already knows. Job knowledge tests traditionally focus on procedural knowledge (if situation x arises, which procedure should be used in response?) A 2005 study pointed out that these tests were better at predicting the performance of hires in military-related roles that focused entirely on such procedures. More recently, the authors expanded their tests to include decision-making skills information.

As a result, they found that a job knowledge test can actually provide a better prediction of future performance than cognitive ability tests.

If you decide to use this method, think about the types of questions you ask and what role they require. Again, like the previous methods, knowledge in the subject area of the job position is harder to test for employees who do not have prior experience. However, it gives you the opportunity to check whether candidates have a good understanding of the job they applied for.

Some believe that methods such as IQ tests, interviews, and job knowledge tests do not go far enough to give us a true understanding of a candidate's character and their ability to adapt and grow in the workplace. The next two methods provide testing that goes beyond knowledge and intelligence.

6. Integrity Test

A GMA test, interview, or job knowledge screening will not show you a candidate's behavioral traits. Someone may be very intelligent and qualified in a given field, but may lack the soft skills needed to work in a team, or may even have a tendency toward toxic behavior. The integrity test identifies a person's tendency toward honesty, reliability, and self-discipline.

Using this type of assessment, companies try to select talent that is more likely to display positive behavior in the workplace. And the results are positive.

In Schmidt and Hunter's study, the integrity test itself predicted 17% of future performance. Combined with the GMA test, it reaches 42%! Although this method is highly effective, it is important to be aware of its drawbacks.

One of them is the acceptability and fairness of the assessment.

Using an integrity test to make hiring decisions raises ethical questions. Should we use such a self-assessment to measure a person's honesty? What about the possibility of false positives? Moreover, those who are rejected based on the test may feel they have been labeled as „dishonest.“ Therefore, good communication of the test results is key to a good candidate experience.

This brings us to the second issue - the need for trained test administrators. Untrained recruiters can worsen the fairness issue by misinterpreting or misclassifying the results.

7. Conscientiousness Tests

Similar to integrity tests, a conscientiousness test measures a person's level of self-discipline and reliability through organizational skills and the ability to set long-term goals. Personality tests such as NEO-PI, Big Five, and MBTI are some of the most popular methods.

Personality traits are indicative of workplace behavior. Of the Big Five, conscientiousness in particular is associated with better job performance. People who are conscientious are described as orderly, obedient, achievement-oriented, self-disciplined, and hardworking.

Since personality traits and IQ are two very different things, a combination of GMA testing and a conscientiousness test is able to predict 36% of job performance.

Of the remaining personality traits, only extraversion seems to be somewhat related to performance.

8. Peer Review

Another method some recruiters use to find candidates who will both fit well into the team and perform well on the job is peer review. Today, more and more companies are using these reviews to assess performance. Unlike traditional performance reviews conducted by a manager for their employees, peer reviews provide a good look into a person's abilities.

Unlike integrity and conscientiousness tests, which are based solely on self-assessment, these results allow us to get an idea of how the candidate is perceived directly by the people they work with.

Of course, this method can only be used for employees within the company who already have previous peer reviews. There are also concerns that peer reviews can be influenced by factors such as popularity.

9. Reference Checks

Reference checks are one of the oldest recruitment methods. And it makes sense. If you want to know more about a potential candidate, who better to know them than their previous employer?

Schmidt and Hunter's studies found that reference checks predict only about 7%. There are a number of considerations to take into account when using this method.

As with interviews, when using references as a method for hiring employees, we need to take bias potential into account. Studies show that 62% of evaluators' decisions are a reflection of themselves. In other words, the perception we have of another person and their performance will be altered by our own standards and values. References can be useful, but be sure to use this method together with other, more predictive assessments.

So far, we have looked at the most popular and well-researched methods to date, but in order to find the truly right recruitment approach for your needs, we also need to look at some of the modern challenges that could affect your search.

10. Job Advertisements

Improving diversity is a major challenge faced by many human resources managers.

We must not only determine the methods by which candidates are assessed, but first of all we must consider how to attract them. The advertisement we use for a given job position or for the organization itself can actually have a major impact on the people who apply.

The language we use is especially important.

A number of studies have found that the wording we use can sometimes discourage certain groups of candidates from applying to our company.

This may be based on gender, ethnicity, age, introverts, extroverts, parents, etc. One study found that when gender is not mentioned in job ads, there will be a 42% increase in applicants.

 

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11. Employee Referrals

Your company actually has many more connections than you might think. Instead of focusing solely on candidates who reach you through the main source, use intermediaries to find the right person for you.

Studies show that employee referrals reduce recruitment costs and time. A new hire brought in through this method is more likely to stay longer in the job. A Deloitte study found that 51% of organizations believe employee referrals are the best when it comes to hiring new staff. Some companies increase the potential of this method by offering bonuses to referrers for every new hire they help bring in.

As with all methods, there is also a downside.

Employee referrals can negatively affect diversity in your organization, as they will point to people who are similar to them, whether they share the same social circle, live in the same neighborhood, or attended the same university. Following a recent BCG study, organizations whose leadership teams have above-average employee diversity report 19 percent higher revenue from new products and services launched over the past three years.

12. Gamification

Recruiting for the technology industry is going through a particularly difficult period. Technically competent people are in extremely high demand, and traditional recruitment methods are often less effective with this group of candidates. Interview loops, logic tests, and assessments of subject knowledge are not something these potential employees, especially younger ones, are eager to go through.

Instead, many companies have rethought how they can make the recruitment process more fun for candidates and more effective for companies. Hackathons are a good example. Like situational group interviews, hackathons allow recruiters to see how developers interact with others, solve problems, and put their skills into action.

Other applications include scored assessments. Although some claim they are very good at predicting outcomes, they are usually tested by the company itself, so the results should be interpreted with caution.

13. Video Job Ads, Applications and Interviews

In today's interconnected world, companies are no longer limited to local pools of qualified people. International hiring is now becoming the norm. But this can also affect the effectiveness of some of the more traditional methods we discussed.

In the digital world, video-based job ads, applications, and interviews are becoming increasingly popular. In fact, video-based job ads on Facebook receive 36% more applicants. After switching to a video-based recruitment process, Hilton was able to reduce its hiring time from six weeks to five days.

14. AI-Based Screening Process

New advances in AI technology and automation are here to support recruitment so there is no need to sift endlessly through resumes. In fact, you may lose 14 hours a week if you do not automate some of your tasks.

There are various intriguing applications of AI in recruitment, ranging from automated job candidate sourcing and rediscovery to matching, pre-selection, and everything in between. Employment assessment tools often combine (elements of) GMA, logical job interview tests, work tests, integrity tests, and conscientiousness tests into one online experience to predict the likelihood that a candidate will succeed in the job they are applying for.

Simply put, AI works by analyzing historical data and using it in decision-making. Sometimes, if the technology is used poorly, this can mean that AI will copy the biases of the traditional recruitment system.

15. Hiring Freelancers and Contractors

Finally, the rise of freelancing provides companies with ever more recruitment opportunities. A Bersin by Deloitte study found that the average time needed to fill a position has actually increased. This means more money is spent on the recruitment process and less money is generated while the position remains unfilled.

Hiring freelancers and contractors is a great cost-effective alternative. Although freelancers still need to go through screening, the costs associated with contracting them are much lower. The consequences are also not as serious if you happen to hire someone who is not the right fit

Conclusion

Every organization will have different needs and challenges in the selection and hiring process that it must overcome. We hope that with this list you will be able to get a better idea of the available options and how effective they can be in achieving your recruitment, selection, and hiring goals.

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