Three different selection methods used in organisations...

1. Interviews
2. Role play
3. Tests

• Interviews are the most common way of selection chosen by companies, as it is a quick process however if an applicant is not what they seem complications can evolve and are costly to put right.
  
• Role play is when an applicant is asked to put them selves into a situation similar to one that would occur in the business they are choosing to work for. This enables a company to see how one works and handles situations they are put in and overall a general in sight to the person can be seen.
  
• Tests configure an applicants academic side and general character through their answers the company can work from the outcome, and decide which applicants would be ideal.
  
  

An interview I took part in...

An interview I took part in was for my current job at mothercare, I thought the selection process was effective as I turned up for a group interview, we each had our interview times after the group work was finished. The group interview itself involved being put in teams where we had to choose an outfit ideal for a girl but not in pink as we were given the scenario and various other team work was given to test us. After the group interview process the strong applicants were chosen from the group and were called back, assuming that we met the requirements needed fro the job I received a phone call and went back and was enrolled through an induction training that I was paid for and my job started from there. I was introduced to many areas within the company and the basics about mothers to be and baby products, i was then trained by a specialist in the car seat and pushchair department at a later date.

Personality tests used in a selection procedure...

I asked my friend if personality tests used in a selection procedure were advantageous? and their were mixed views. She described in a situation that it could be advantageous only if the company liked the expected results from the person that is going through the selection procedure, moreover it could be vice versa what if the company did not like what they saw would this mean that is the end of it, there would be no job for the applicant as they did not match the preferred type of personality the company was after. She said there could also be faults with this type of procedure as how can a test describe a persons' personality without getting to know them before, surely a piece of paper can not sum up ones personality.

At Mothercare...

In my own organisation. To improve our selection process, I would firstly check if any one had any previous work with children or have children of their own as these are the types of skills we lack at Mothercare as not every one has children of their own or children in their family to gain a brief knowledge of what is involved at Mothercare or the types of products we are selling. I would also provide a good induction training to all new hired staff as it is not the type of job you can learn on your own without a basic thorough training.

Overall selection processess are a costly and time consuming process. It can be just down to one person's bias that an applicant may not get a job an this can be seen as unfair. However if a company finds that the person they hired are not the ideal candidate that they thought the person was going to be it is a very long procedure to sort out and again can be costly. A selection process is made to avoid this from happening as every company has an ideal type of applicant they are looking for, this is why time needs to be taking in many forms involving the differnt selection methods sych as; interviews, short listing and role play these are just a few. There are many types of selection processess used today within business and companies.