Contents

Page
List of Tables

Acknowledgement

1. INTODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Organization

1.2 Objectives of the Organization

1.3 Services and Customers or Market Segments

1.4 Organization Structure

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

3. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

4. ANALYSIS

25

4.1 Methodology

25

4.2 Analysis on

25

Planning Recruitment, Standard Recruitment Procedure and

25

Recruitment Procedure
I. Confirming a Vacancy and Creating the JDs

26

II. Placing Advertisements

27

III. Applying For a Position

28

IV. Short listing Candidates for Interview

28

V. Interviewing Candidates

30

VI. Using Tests and Presentations

32

VII. Making a Selection Decision

34

5. FINDINGS (Key issues)

35

6. RECOMMENDATIONS

36

List of Tables
Page
Table 1 (table which includes the guidelines to be used when

31

Interviewing candidates. For example: Time)

Table 2 (The record sheet used when doing the presentations

33

and tests)

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I sincerely acknowledge with thanks the time and expertise shared with me by everyone
who contributed towards completing this project report. Special thanks to the HR
manager, staff members at the British Council, Colombo who supported me to gather data
on this particular area and for the valuable information provided by them in their
respective fields. I am grateful for their cooperation during the period of my assignment.
of Human Resource Management.
I take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude to my lecturers at IPM who
freely imparted knowledge on Human Resources management and shared their expertise
and experiences and encouraged in further pursuing this subject.
Last but never the least I thank my family and friends who helped me tremendously by
extending rock-like support in preparing this project from its inception to the very end.

1.1

Background of the Organization

History of the organization

In the 1920s and early 1930s, the Foreign Office realized the need for an organization
responsible for the promotion of British culture, education, science and technology in
other countries, along the lines of existing French, German and Italian cultural
organizations. The British Council has expanded to run over 200 offices in more than 100
countries around the world. This led to the setting up of the 'British Committee for

Relations with Other Countries' in 1934. The name was later changed to the 'British
Council for Relations with Other Countries, and then shortened to the 'British Council'.
Sir Reginald ('Rex') Leaper is recognized as the founder of the British Council. Persuaded
of the importance of what he termed 'cultural propaganda' in promoting Britain, he
persuaded Foreign Office colleagues to fund this work, and in 1931 arranged lecture tours
and book donations to nearly 30 countries. In 1933 he contributed to the setting up of a
Cultural Relations Committee - with the Board of Education and the Department of
Overseas Trade, and in 1934 founded the organization which was to be renamed The
British Council.

1.2 Objectives of the organization

We have centers in Colombo and Kandy which offer access to the
full range of the British Council's education, culture and
development services.
The areas we concentrate on are:
Promoting the English language as a tool for international communication and a
key to educational opportunities.

Providing links to the global information society and UK networking

opportunities for Sri Lankan professionals.

Supporting the exchange of ideas and experience between Britain's education

system and Sri Lanka.

Demonstrating the energy and creativity of British culture and providing

opportunities for exchange and cooperation between British and Sri Lankan
artistes.

Contributing to the development in fundamental areas such as governance and

human rights.

1.3 Services and Customer Market Segments

The British Council in Sri Lanka provides a wide range of services which include a lot of
Educational services. The Library, Examination services, Education services, Teaching
Centre and the Programme Delivery team mainly provides the following services.
Our libraries in Colombo & Kandy have provided a wide range of services to visitors
amounting, 272720 in Colombo & 129215 in Kandy. Both libraries in Colombo & Kandy
this year have provided a more focused collection to their prioritize audiences to suite our

country subject targets. We have withdrawn out non target subject areas and have added
12% new stock to target subject areas such as Contemporary UK literature & Fiction,
Management, ELT and Young Learners. The libraries have also been working on
improving currency of stock in order to provide an up to date collection.
School linking Workshops are conducted in various districts in order to gain
knowledge about global development issues and the necessary skills, knowledge and
understanding to become active, responsible and informed global citizens. Also we can
describe in a nut shell the service which we aim to produce in the following way.
Being able to share experience and culture as well as having close access to teachers and
students from a very different cultural background (UK) which truly motivates the
English medium students and making teaching a new experience for the teachers
involved in this project.
Dreams and teams - Focus of this project is giving to young peoples lives and how it
boosts their self-esteem and confidence, and the benefits. Not only on the individuals
involved, but also on the local communities.
D&T has given the opportunity of interacting with other cultures and religions to use
communication technology such as videoconferencing and internet.
Military Communication Skills Project - which aims to improve the systems and
standards of language training for military personnel.
Teaching Centers provided courses for 10,908 people during the year.
In our own centers we improved the systems and services in our English language
learning zones to provide more help for those who want to study on their own.
The very successful Teaching Knowledge Test (TKT) teacher training programme in
Colombo and Kandy has now been running for over four years. The British Council has
trained over 600 teachers who all achieved good results in the exams. This exam is a new
step on our ladder of qualifications for Sri Lankan teachers.

Professional Training Centre We have recently been able to offer our top-class
Professional Training Centre programmes outside of Colombo in Galle, Jaffna and the
Maldives, in order to offer access to these programmes to busy professionals, unable to
travel to the capital.
Our Exams team administered 50,429 for IELTS; 7,509 for GCE; 4,702
for EFL; and 4,780 professional exams up to 4,638 (including 839 UK university exams).
Our UK Education exhibition in Colombo had 56 UK institutions participating (59 last
year) while Kandy had 27 (34). They attracted over 3000 (5,971) visitors and a lot of
media interest.
www.educationuk.lk has already become our most successful website, attracting (63,144)
unique visitors while our new www.ukalumni.lk site attracted 6,242. We welcomed 44
(51) promotional visits by UK institutions. With our education promotion activities
overall we reached 9,811 (8,570) people.

2. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

To gain a wide knowledge about the recruitment and selection policies and
procedures.
To gain knowledge and understand the concept of the particular organization.
To improve knowledge of the organization and cultures and leveraging
Knowledge as a Service to Build a Knowledge Culture in my Organization.

3. REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Introduction
What is Recruitment?
What is Selection?
What is Induction?
Why Recruitment and Selection are important?
The Recruitment process.
I. Human Resources Planning
II. Job Analysis
III. Recruitment
IV. Selection
V. Induction and Orientation
Role of HR in the recruitment process.

INTRODUCTION
An organization has three types of strengths or resources, which can be identified as
Human, Financial and Material strengths.
Three of these strengths should be well balanced to run an organization in a very smooth
manner as if one of these strengths fails or collapses, the whole organization will be in
trouble. Out of the above-mentioned aspects HUMAN or the MANPOWER is the most
vital resources since Human Resources make things happen while all other resources
make things possible. Employees are not just people employed, but a resource like any
other resource which are scarce in supply and can be developed.
Every organization has a goal. A higher percentage of organizations have their goals
focused on earning high profits while some organizations are focused only on social
service.
Organizations such as Unilever, owns many of the world's consumer product brands in
foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products, employs nearly 180,000
people and had worldwide revenue of almost 40 billion, or just over US$62 billion, in
2005, while The United Nations (UN), an international organization whose stated aims
are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic
development, social progress, human rights, and achieving world peace.
Whatever the goal it is, every organizations main asset is the people power they have in
them. Manpower helps the organization to make its daily activity easy and while their
knowledge to finish tasks for the betterment of the work place and the manpower also
helps the organization to make things more efficient and effective.
Recruitment and selection, is the process which comes alive when it comes to the stage of
finding and hiring people and building the cadre of the organization.

The key objective in preparation of this project report is to have a thorough study about
what Recruitment and Selection actually is and when it comes to practical terms, how an
organization practices the theoretical methods.
By studying and observing how the process of Recruitment, Selection and Induction of
British Council, an effort has been put to comply the mentioned objective in this report.

10

What is Recruitment?
No matter how good the idea is or how
well thought through a business plan
may be, it is people that are responsible
for how well the business functions.
If the business of an organization is to
grow and develop, an organization will need staff other than an entrepreneurial team.
However, many businesses fail to grow and either employ nobody other than the ownermanager or engage only a small number of people, usually family members or friends.
The cadre or the work force is the most valued asset of an organization and it is important
to have qualified people who are equipped with the right attitude and the ability with
qualifications required to the particular job. Without putting the machine, material and
financial resources in to action, no organization will be operated constantly and no
organization will meet the goals (profit) successfully.

The term RECRUITMENT is defined as THE PROCESS OF SEEKING AND

ATTRACTING

POOL

OF

PEOPLE

FROM

WHICH

QUALIFIED

CANDIDATES FOR JOB VACANCIES CAN BE CHOSEN.

11

What is Selection?
Once the recruitment part is done, the next stage is sorting and selecting the most suitable
candidate for the vacant position. Various methods and procedures are used in the process
of selection. Depending on the position vacant, the stages in selection differs.

Basically, three steps can be identified in the process of selection, and they are

Sorting Applications

12

Implement selection program: conduct interviews, exercises, tests

Review candidate data and make selection

SELECTION can be defined as THE PROCESS OF CHOOSING THE MOST

SUITABLE APPLICANT/CANDIDATE FOR A LOB FROM AMONG THE
AVAILABLE APPLICANTS

What is Induction?
Induction Training is absolutely vital for new starters. Good induction training ensures
new starters are retained, and then settled in quickly and happily to a productive role.
Induction training is more than skills training. When there is a new employee in the
organization, it is important to give them the right induction that will benefit themselves
and the organization. This induction period can be considered as the foundation for
getting the most out of the employee and to determine their long term success in the
organization. It's about the basics that seasoned employees all take for granted: what the
shifts are, where the notice-board is, what the routine is for holidays, sickness, where's
the canteen, what's the dress code, where the toilets are, as well as new employees also
need to understand the organizations mission, goals, values and philosophy, personnel
practices, health and safety rules, and of course the job they're required to do, with clear
methods, timescales and expectations.

13

INDUCTION is A TECHNIQUE BY WHICH A NEW EMPLOYEE IS

HABILITATED INTO THE CHANGED SURROUNDINGS AND INTRODUCED
TO THE PRACTICES, POLICIES AND PURPOSES OF THE ORGANISATION.

Why recruitment and selection is important?

The process of Recruitment and Selection is one of the
crucial activities in an organization. It counts a lot in the
status of finance. An effective recruitment and selection
process reduces turnover. These processes match up the
right person with the right job skills. Interviews and
background checks ensure that you employ a candidate
who is reliable and carries out the objectives you planned
for providing quality services and goods to your
customers. Recruiting people who are wrong for the
organization can lead to increased labor turnover,
increased costs for the organization, and lowering of morale in the existing workforce.
Such people are likely to be discontented, unlikely to give of their best, and end up
leaving voluntarily or involuntarily when their unsuitability becomes evident. They will
not offer the flexibility and commitment that many organizations seek. Managers and
supervisors will have to spend extra time on further recruitment exercises, when what is
needed in the first place is a systematic process to assess the role to be filled, and the type
of skills and abilities needed to fill it.
Most recruitment systems will be simple, with stages that can be followed as a routine
whenever there is a vacancy to be filled, and which can be monitored and adapted in the
light of experience.
In today's rapidly changing business environment, organizations have to respond quickly
to requirements of people. Hence, it is important to have a well-defined recruitment
policy in place, which can be executed effectively to get the fittest for the vacant
positions. Selecting the wrong candidate or rejecting the right candidate could turn out to

14

be costly for the organization. Selection is one area where the interference of external
factors is minimal. Hence the HR department can use its discretion in framing its
selection policy and using various selection tools for the best results.

The Recruitment Process

I) HR Planning
Organizations are greatly affected by their demand for labour, and therefore by the supply
of labour. If an organization or an individual do intend to grow their business, even by
engaging family and friends, recruitment needs to be done professionally and it is the
function of the human resource plan to determine the numbers of staff needed, when they
will be recruited, how they will be managed and the costs involved in their employment.
HR Planning is also called as Manpower Planning. As the first stage of the process of
recruitment, it is the stage where the development of strategies for matching the size and
skills of the workforce to organizational needs is done. Human resource planning assists
organizations to recruit, retain, and optimize the deployment of the personnel needed to
meet business objectives and to respond to changes in the external environment. The
process involves carrying out a skills analysis of the existing workforce, carrying out
manpower forecasting, and taking action to ensure that supply meets demand. This may
include the development of training and retraining strategies.
It is the process where the identification of the job vacancy and the decision of how many
people will be taken. Human Resource planning can be defined as the process by which
the guiding members of an organization manages and leads the people who will be
responsible for implementing the strategies necessary to fulfill its mission and reach its
vision.

15

The need for labour will arise due to various reasons. Either it can be due to an internal
condition or due to an external condition. Some of the reasons of need of labour are listed
below.
RESIGNATION
TERMINATION
PROMOTIONS
ORGANISATION CHANGES THE NATURE OF ITS BUSINESS
DECISION TO UPGRADE THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT OR THE
SERVICE HAS BEEN TAKEN

GROWTH OF THE ORGANIZATION (Opening of Island wide and overseas

branches)
ENTERING TO NEW MARKET

How to determine Human Resource Needs? Of course there are three main traditions
or ways in doing it.
Trend Analysis:
An aspect of technical analysis that tries to predict the future movement of a stock
based on past data. Trend analysis is based on the idea that what has happened in the
past gives traders an idea of what will happen in the future.

16

Ratio Analysis:
Technique used in forecasting future work force needs by using ratios between sales
volumes and number of employees needed.
Scatter Plot:
A graphical method used to help identify the relationships between two variables.
II) Job Analysis
Preparation of the Job Description (which describes about the job) and Job
Specification (which describes about the person whose going to do the job).

17

Content of Job Analysis-Job Description & Job Specification

JOB ANALYSIS
Content of the job
Difference in the nature of jobs
Tasks involved in the job

18

JOB DESCRIPTION
Job title
Location
Summary of duties
Detailed statement of work to
be performed
Tools, equipments & machines
to be used
Materials used
Responsibility
Working conditions
Hazards
Authority
Relationship to other jobs.

JOB SPECIFICATION
Education
Qualifications required
Experience
Experience
Training
Skills
Attitude & motivation
Initiative
Analysis & judgment ability
Emotional characteristics
Personality
Age-range
Health

III) Recruitment
The decision of the methods of getting touch or attracting the potential candidates is
taken at this stage. Recruitment can be done either INTERNALY or EXTERNALY

19

Internal Sources
Transfers

Location Change

Promotions

Shifting an employee to a senior position

Referrals of Employee-

Buddy finds buddy

Job Posting

Informing

employees

internally

about

Available

available

positions(i.e.

notice

board,

) general e mail

general e mail)

Succession plans

Managerial level

Newspaper ads, TV, Radio, Internet etc.

Job Fairs, Career days

External Sources
Advertising
Employee Agencies
Special Events
Head Hunting
Educational Institutions
Outsourcing / Labor contract
Employee Recommendation
There are both advantages and disadvantages in the above mentioned recruitment
methods.
By recruiting people internally, an organization will have people who are familiar with
the organizational rules and regulations and the culture of it and therefore there will not
be a requirement in training them and having induction programs and the employee will
be able to start work immediately after the placement. The employee is not new to the
organization and hence a probation period is not vital. Because of the better utilization of
the internal talents, so that the present employees will see a future in the organization and
the turnover will be controlled to a certain extent. Internal recruitment will be a booster

20

for moral, seeing and feeling that the hard and devoted work and the performance is
considered and appreciated by the management.
The biggest advantage of having an internal recruitment system is that the cost can be
reduced in advertising and pay packages. The time cost
in interviews and sorting resumes could be saved.
Having restricted choice, conflicts, inbreeding and
absence of competition are some of the disadvantages in
having internal recruits, while the external recruits bring
new and bright ideas, competition, and fresh blood.
Having wide options and indirect publicity for the
organization is some of the great advantages which
external recruitment systems have.
Organizations put tremendous effort to recruit the very
best person for every job. Without the best people, an
organization cannot be the best firm.

21

The graph shows the recruitment and selection process in detail:

22

IV) Selection
The selection procedure is focused on discovering knowledge, experience, skills, abilities and
personal characteristics of the candidates. During the selection procedures the candidates are
interviewed, tested and submitted to standard psychological instruments.
There isnt a fixed process for selection. The method of selection differs from one organization to
another. Yet there are some similarities in the process in which the selection is done. Some of the
common steps in the process of selection are as follows.
1) Review Applications
2) Preliminary Interview
3) Selection Test
4) Reference checking
5) Medical Examination
6) Selection decision

23

V) Induction and Orientation

New employee orientation is the process used for welcoming a new employee into an
organization. New employee orientation, often spearheaded by a meeting with the Human
Resources department, generally contains information about safety, the work environment, the
new job description, benefits and eligibility, company culture, company history, the organization
chart and anything else relevant to working in the new company.
Employee orientation often includes an introduction to each department in the company and
training on-the-job. New employee orientation frequently includes spending time doing the jobs
in each department to understand the flow of the product or service through the organization.

24

ROLE OF HR IN RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

RECRUITMENT AND
SELECTION

Industrial
Relations

Training and
Development

Performance
Management

Rewards and
Salary
Administration

Employee Relations

Recruitment and selection is one of the key result areas of Human Resource Management. The
responsibilities of the Human Resources Department in recruitment and selection, is to outline
the companys policy of recruitment of staff of best in class of all disciplines in keeping with its
policy of offering equal employment opportunity. Company ensures they attract and recruit
quality employees, using best available techniques of selection. Having a well structured
recruitment policy and up to date methods of recruiting, will ensure the organization being
empowered with the best work force available in the job market.
Human Resource department is the main facilitator and the main component which involves and
holds the responsibility of building the work force of the
organization

collectively,

with

the

experts

of

the

organization.

25

4. ANALYSIS
4.1 & 4.2 Methodology and Analysis
The methodology and analysis of recruitment and selection procedures carried out by the British
Council are covered in this section. I gathered information on these procedures by discussing
with the line manager who then directed me to the HR manager for further explanation on the
topic and observed the ways in which things happen at the British Council with regard to HR
practices.

THE RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PROCESS AT BRITISH COUNCIL

SRI LANKA

PLANNING RECRUITMENT, STANDARD RECRUITMENT AND RECRUITMENT

PROCEDURE
Policy
All jobs must be advertised internally to staff based in the country in which the vacant
post exists. This does not apply to jobs within the teaching centre network or on
overseas package terms which may be advertised internally more widely.
If there is no suitable internal candidate the post can then be advertised externally
within the country, through the corporate website and appropriate media.
Recruitment Procedures
This section describes the British Council worldwide recruitment and selection procedures for all
staff.

26

Procedures
The following steps for recruitment are covered in these procedures.
1. Prepare the Job Description for the vacancy.
2. Are there exceptional situations to consider before advertising the vacancy?
3. Identify and allocate the necessary funds for this recruitment exercise.
4. Decide on the type of advertising and recruitment.
5. Place the advertisement.
6. Acknowledge all applications.
7. Short-list the candidates for interview and inform the unsuccessful applicants.
8. Interview the short-listed candidates.
9. Make your decision, offer the job to the selected candidate and inform the unsuccessful
applicants. Give feedback, as appropriate.
10. File all records of the recruitment exercise.
The following topics will describe the criteria adopted by the organization to do the
Recruitment and Selection Procedure.
I. CONFIRMING A VACANCY AND CREATING THE JDS
This section describes how to confirm a vacancy and prepare a Job Description. It also indicates
what to do when the duties of a job change.
Policy
A Job Description specifies the aim of a job, its duties and related standards. A job-holder's
performance is managed and assessed against all criteria stated in the Job Description. The Job
Description also indicates which of these criteria will be used to select candidates for the job.
You must review the Job Description before advertising a vacant post. You must also review a
Job Description.

27

Procedure
Deciding whether a vacancy really exists
Is the post really needed?
Could the job be done in other ways?
Do you have permission to recruit?
Reviewing the requirements of the vacant post and the associated knowledge, skills and
behaviors.
II. PLACING ADVERTISEMENTS
This section describes how to place an advertisement for a job vacancy.
Policy
You must advertise jobs internally first, so that suitable candidates can be identified from
within the relevant British Council office. If you cannot select any suitable candidate from
this internal recruitment exercise, advertise jobs externally through the appropriate press.
Procedure
Include the following brief details in the job advertisement:
Title of the job
Purpose of the job
Pay band
Start date
Expected length of posting (if applicable)
Name of person from whom details of the job are available
Name of person from whom job description/person specification is available

28

 Name of the line (or recruiting) manager and of anyone else to whom informal enquiries can
be directed, and from whom the Job Description can be obtained
To whom applications are to be sent, including a telephone, fax number and email address
Statement that the job is being advertised internally and externally
Deadline for applications.
Make sure the advertisement conforms to British Council house style.

For external advertisements: Pass the advertisement to your relevant HR contact who will pass
it to the nominated agency for preparation and placement.
For internal advertisements: E-mail your job advertisement to the Bulletin, via your relevant
HR contact, with a job description.
III. APPLYING FOR A POSITION
This guidance describes how internal staff can apply for British Council positions and give
feedback on the application process.
British Council staff must apply for positions using the correct procedures.
For job advertisements, and how to respond to them, see the job vacancy section of the Bulletin.
Further information is available on the Human Resources (HR) intranet.
IV. SHORTLISTING CANDIDATES FOR INTERVIEW
This procedure describes how to short-list candidates for interview.
Policy
All candidates must be short-listed against the criteria for the job.

29

Procedures
Handling external application forms
Assign a number to each candidate on the Short-listing Matrix form and put the same number
on the application form. It is important to number the forms in this way for the purposes of
equal opportunities monitoring and, if necessary for random selection.
Setting up a short-listing panel
Pre-requisites for members of a short-listing panel
If you have not done recruitment and selection training before or are new to recruitment and
selection in the British Council then you must successfully complete the E-Learning Recruitment
and Selection Course and also, within one month, attend the one-day face-to-face recruitment
and selection course either in the UK or in country/region.
Standards
The following standards apply in all cases:
At least two people must be involved.
All members of the panel should normally be at least one pay band above or the same pay
band as the post being recruited for.
At least two of the panel members must have undertaken full recruitment and selection
training in the previous three years
Short-listing the candidates
The aim of short-listing is to identify candidates who meet all the essential criteria for the post,
and then to decide which candidates to interview. The short-listing process is normally based on
essential criteria only.

30

Prepare the short-listing matrix.

Evaluate each candidate against the essential criteria. Each short-listed person must read the job
application form
Do not take into account any additional information provided by the applicant or the
applicant's line manager.
Do not take into account any previous short-listing or interview decisions.
For internal candidates: If there are no evaluations for the applicant, ask the applicant's
manager in writing to provide an open reference against the competencies required for
recruitment, and send a copy of the letter to the candidate.
For external candidates: HR contacts are responsible for requesting both personal references
and references from employers,
If five or more candidates meet the essential criteria/competencies, you can also short-list against
desirable criteria /competencies,
Informing candidates
Either the recruiting manager or their HR contact is responsible for informing candidates of the
short-listing results.
Inform all candidates of the results of short-listing using appropriate model letters. Agree who
will give feedback to unsuccessful candidates if they request it. Give all unsuccessful candidates
the opportunity to receive feedback on their application.
V. INTERVIEWING CANDIDATES
This section describes how to prepare for and manage interviews.
Policy
All staff involved in interviewing must be trained in selection interviewing.

31

Preparing for interviews

1. Form an interview panel. The following standards apply in all cases:
At least two people must be involved, and not more than four.
At least one interviewer must not have been involved in the short-listing process
All members of the panel must be at least one pay band above or the same pay band as
the applicant. At least two of the panel members must have undertaken full recruitment
and selection training in the previous three years (as stated above)
The interviewers must represent a diverse mix of gender, ethnicity, age, disability,
religion or belief and sexual orientation where possible.
2. Schedule the interviews and make appointments.
3. Book a private room for the interviews and make sure the seating is arranged comfortably
and suitably. Do not interview in an open plan area.
4. Read the Job Description.
5. Read each candidate's application form and, for internal recruitment, the last three
performance evaluations.
Scheduling interviews:
Interviewing is extremely tiring and you will lose your focus and objectivity if you try to see too
many people in one day.

Table 1
32

Pay band

Interview time

Comments

Junior and middle

45 minutes to one hour plus 45 minutes post-

Maximum of five

management

interview for discussion and scoring.

candidates a day.

Middle and senior

One to one and a half hours plus 45 minutes to one Maximum of three

management

hour for post-interview discussion and scoring

candidates a day.

Use the following guidelines for scheduling interviews:

Aim to interview three candidates for each vacancy.
Ask candidates to confirm their intention to attend.
Ask candidates to attend 15 minutes earlier than their interview time.

VI. TESTS AND PRESENTATIONS

This section describes how and when to use skills, ability tests, psychometric instruments and
presentations as part of the selection process for a British Council job.
Policy
Managers are strongly recommended to use these tests for jobs requiring the use of written and
spoken English, unless local circumstances or local legal rules out this possibility.
Ability tests and other appropriate psychometric tests may only be administered and interpreted
by appropriately qualified people.
Presentations
You may only include a presentation exercise as part of a selection process if presentation skills
or the underlying abilities required are among the essential criteria for a job.
Tests

33

Managers in the UK must use the British Council's own work-based tests as part of the selection
process when recruiting externally for administrative and junior management level jobs
(pay bands 4 and 6). Managers outside the UK are strongly recommended to use these tests
for jobs requiring the use of written and spoken English, unless local circumstances or
local legislation rule out this possibility. Work- based tests have been designed so that they
can be used globally and you do not have to be licensed (specially trained) to administer
and score them.
Ability tests and other appropriate psychometric tests may only be administered and interpreted
by appropriately qualified people.
Presentation Guidance
Presentations are not easy to assess objectively and extend the time required for assessing the
candidate. They can only provide evidence about the skills involved in giving them, that is:
presenting ideas clearly
building a positive relationship with the candidate
structuring the delivery of information logically
keeping within a time frame
Using tools, such as overhead projectors or flipcharts.
Do not use presentations to judge or assess the following qualities:
effectiveness as a teacher or trainer
managerial or administrative skills
creativity or innovation
Procedure
Get professional advice from your HR contact or the Recruitment team before
designing a presentation exercise.

34

 Choose a subject on which a wide range of candidates can find something to say, or
are likely to have opinions or ideas.
During the presentation, assessors must:
Record evidence in support of their judgments.
Use a marking scheme, rating candidates as A, B or C.
Use the ratings to contribute to the final selection decision.
Fifteen minutes is allowed for each presentation: five minutes for the presentation, five minutes
for any over-run and five minutes for the panel's discussion and recording. A record sheet is
completed for each candidate (see the example below).

Table 2

Candidate's

Subject of assessment

Evidence Rating

name
Advantages: were they stated and clear?
Disadvantages: were they stated and clear?
Ended before/on/over time?
Examples of verbal and non-verbal communication which
did/did not build rapport
Overall rating for the presentation
The panel notes behavioral and verbal evidence. Presentations are timed with a stopwatch. The
panel stops candidates who over-run by more than two minutes. Over-runs of up to two minutes
are noted but not stopped. Candidates are rated for each criterion, and overall, as follows:

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A: Exceeds competency level required

B: Meets competency level required
C: Did not meet competency level required
After each presentation, the panel members:
Form their own opinion of the candidate's performance
Discuss and reach consensus on the ratings to be awarded
Record the ratings and supporting evidence.
Candidates with an overall rating of C are not offered appointment. Candidates with an overall
rating of A are considered for appointment before those with an overall rating of B.
Tests Guidance
You must use the British Council's own work-based tests for external recruitment to
administrative and junior management jobs. There is staff time involved in running the tests but
there are no additional costs. To complement the quality and range of information available about
candidates, ability tests produced by reputable specialist publishers may also be appropriate as
part of the selection process for some jobs. There are strict ethical guidelines on the use of these
tests and the use of personality assessment techniques as part of a recruitment process.
Personality assessment techniques can also be used for individual staff development, and are
usually most appropriate in this context.
Procedure
The procedures stipulated by the test publisher and/or the British Council's own work-based tests
must be followed.

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VII. MAKING A SELECTION DECISION

This section describes the process of deciding which candidate to appoint and communicating
that decision to all candidates. These procedures are carried out by recruiting managers.
Policy
Accurate records of all recruitment exercises must be completed and kept by the
recruiting manager for one year. IT records must be kept for three years.
Procedures
Assessing and comparing individual candidates against selection criteria
1. At the end of the interview each interviewer:
Reviews their own overall assessment of the candidate, using their own interview notes.
Considers the score they would give the candidate against each competency, based on the
evidence gathered from all data sources.
2. The panel discusses the assessment of each candidate. One interviewer records their jointly
3. Make sure the panel has taken all available evidence into account.
4. When all the candidates have been interviewed, the panel selects the strongest candidate
and reserve(s).
The following guidelines apply:
The candidate must be measured against the selection criteria/competencies and levels as
specified in the advertisement and job description.
Selection criteria and their relative importance must remain the same throughout the
process.
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 Take account of the competency levels required/specified in the job description when
making a final decision.
You cannot appoint a candidate who scores a C (the rating mentioned in the record sheet
when using the presentations) on any essential competency.
5. Retain all hard copy records, including the notes of individual interviewers for one year.

5. FINDINGS (KEY ISSUES)

There is no proper procedure to send feedback forms to the unsuccessful candidates;
For not short listing
For the candidates who were not selected.
If there is a procedure to point out the following, for the unsuccessful candidates it can
protect the corporate image of the organization as well as to create prospective customers
Showing the weaknesses
Suggest an optional job
Give hints to improve weaknesses
Send a thanking letter for attending to the interview/applying for the vacancy.

In a nut shell, the process of Recruitment, Selection and Induction has been discussed in a
technical method. At the end all organizations will have to keep in mind, that recruitment
and selection play a major role and can lead the organization into success if you recruit
the right people for the right job or can lead in to failure if the recruits fail to perform as
expected.

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6. RECCOMENDATIONS
List of references

Regional Intranet for British Council procedures

Shared Documents

Human Resource Management by Gary Desller

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