External recruitment methods include:

Advertisements – through websites, newspapers, trade journals, radio, television, billboards, posters, and e-mails among others.

Unsolicited applications – received by employers from individuals who may or may not be qualified for the job openings.

Internet recruiting – independent job boards on the Web commonly used by job seekers and recruiters to gather and disseminate job opening information.

Employee referrals – are recommendations from the organization’s present employees who usually refer friends and relatives who they think are qualified for the job.

Executive search firms – also known as “head hunters;” help employers find the right person for a job. Such firms seek out candidates with qualifications that match the requirements of the job openings that their client company hopes to fill.

Educational institutions – good sources of young applicants or new graduates who have formal training but with very little work experience. For technical and managerial positions, schools may refer some of their alumni who may have the necessary qualifications needed for the said job positions.

Professional associations – may offer placement services to their members who seek employment. Employers may make use of the listings that they publish in their journals regarding members who are available for possible recruitment or hiring.

Labor unions – possible sources of applicants for blue-collar and professional jobs.

Public and private employment agencies – may also be good sources of applicants for different types of job vacancies for they usually offer free services while private ones charge fees from both the job applicant and the employers soliciting referrals from them.

As mentioned earlier, internal recruitment is done within the organization. Most managers prefer to follow a policy of filling job openings through promotions and transfer. In this way, they lessen the chances of losing the organization’s top performers. Recruitment may be done by using company bulletin boards, company intranet, company newsletters, and recommendations from department or unit heads, among others. Both external and internal recruitment have their own advantages and disadvantages.

External Recruitment Advantages

1. Advertising and recruiting through the Internet reach a large number of possible applicants, thus, increasing the possibility of being able to recruit applicants suited for the job.

2. Applicants who submit applications and resumes through their own initiative are believed to be better potential employees because they are serious about getting the job.

3. Employee referrals from outside sources are believed to be high quality applicants because employees are generally hesitant to recommend persons who are not qualified for job openings.

4. Executive search firms usually refer highly qualified applicants from outside sources because they make an effort to check applicants’ qualifications before recommending them to client firms who pay for their services.

5. Educational institutions know the capabilities and qualifications of their graduates, hence, increasing the chances of their ability to refer qualified applicants to potential employers.

External Recruitment Disadvantages

1. The cost and time required by external recruitment are the typical disadvantages of using this recruitment method. Advertising job openings and the orientation and training of newly hired employees from outside sources, as well as sorting out large volumes of solicited or unsolicited job applications present challenges in budgeting time and money.

2. Another disadvantage of external recruitment is the possibility of practicing bias or entertaining self-serving motives in the referral of friends and relatives by current employees and in the recommendation of private employment agencies of job applicants.

Internal Recruitment Advantages

1. Less expenses are required for internal recruitment advertising; newsletters, bulletin boards, and other forms of internal communication may disseminate information to current employees interested to apply for job openings within the company.

2. Training and orientation of newly promoted or transferred current employees are less expensive and do not take too much time since they are already familiar with company policies.

3. The process of recruitment and selection is faster because the candidate for transfer or promotion is already part of the organization.

Internal Recruitment Disadvantages

1. The number of applicants to choose from is limited.

2. Favoritism may influence a manager to recommend a current employee for promotion to a higher position.

3. It may result in jealousy among other employees who were not considered for the position. Some may also accuse the management of bias for choosing an employee who is perceived to be less qualified for the job opening.