Recruiting and Selecting the Right Person

This course is a part of Organizational Psychology, a 5-course MicroMasters series from edX.

Ensuring that the right people are in the right jobs creates a platform for employee wellbeing and performance, and for organizational success. Understanding this is important for anyone working, but especially those in roles that can involve employee recruitment and selection, for example team leaders, managers, and human resource professionals.

In this course we will cover topics relating to recruitment and selection processes, including conducting a job analysis, developing recruitment and selection strategies, and welcoming new employees to an organization.

We will begin with a look at the history of employee selection, which also serves as a brief introduction to the background of industrial/organizational psychology.

Next, we will consider the steps that should be taken when preparing to hire new employees. Students will be able to explain the importance of job analysis and of forecasting staffing needs, including diversity considerations.

We will then move on to look at the purpose of recruitment. Students will be able to differentiate recruitment from selection processes. Students will learn how to develop effective and efficient recruitment strategies that reach target audiences without excluding potential candidates.

The next section will takes a close look at selection processes. Students will be able to explain the concepts of reliability and validity as they pertain to selection methods. Students will also be able to describe the different biases that can impact selection decisions, and how to prevent these from occurring.

In our final section of the course, we will focus on the importance of onboarding. Students will be able to describe the impact that an employee’s initial experience of their new organization has on early success and performance in their new role.

This course is part of the UCx Micromasters in Organizational Psychology, each teaching key topics that will increase your knowledge about this exciting field. In order to qualify for the Micro-Masters Credential you will need to earn a Verified Certificate in each of the five courses

What you'll learn

• Importance of using science in employee selection
• How planning for recruitment and selection promotes positive outcomes
• How to design effective, efficient and inclusive recruitment strategies
• Suitability of common selection methods