Effective Methods of Recruitment & Selection

A job interview at corporate firm where two hiring managers are deciding if they should select the candidate

A company’s method of recruitment and selection defines how they find and hire employees. Since your team is one of the biggest drivers of success, these processes rank among the most important business practices. But in 2025, recruiting and selecting top talent has become more competitive, requiring businesses to adopt effective, modern strategies.

What Are Recruitment Methods?

Companies typically use multiple recruitment methods and adjust their strategies to meet changing needs and market conditions. Current trends like employer branding, AI-powered tools, and targeted job ads have significantly impacted recruitment.

Internal vs. External Methods of Recruitment and Selection

Methods of recruitment and selection can be either internal or external. At some point, nearly every company encounters the need for each.

Internal recruitment methods

Internal recruiting focuses on current employees. These methods are faster and less costly because the candidates are already familiar with the organization and its culture. Internal promotions or lateral moves also strengthen employee retention and morale. According to SHRM, internal hires can be 20% faster to reach full productivity compared to external hires.

However, internal recruiting may limit diversity and fresh thinking, which external hires can bring.

External recruitment methods

External recruiting involves attracting talent from outside the organization. While it’s often more time-consuming and expensive, external recruitment allows companies to tap into specialized skills, diverse backgrounds, and innovative perspectives.

Today, technology has made external recruiting more efficient. Tools like AI-driven candidate sourcing, programmatic advertising, and social recruiting platforms have streamlined the process.

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Methods of Recruitment

Here are the most effective recruitment methods, updated with modern trends and tools:

1. Referrals

Employee referrals remain one of the most successful recruitment methods. Referred candidates are hired faster, perform better, and stay longer. Consider creating a structured referral program with bonuses to incentivize employees to recommend quality candidates.

2. Promotions and transfers

Promoting or transferring existing employees helps retain institutional knowledge and reinforces your commitment to growth. According to Gallup, companies that promote from within see 41% higher employee engagement.

3. Talent pipeline

A robust talent pipeline allows you to source from a pre-qualified pool of candidates. Leveraging your applicant tracking system (ATS) ensures you can revisit past applicants as new positions arise – candidates can enter it at any time and be considered for a role months or even years into the future.

Related: How to Build a Talent Pipeline

4. Organic job posts

This is the recruitment method most companies use by default. It involves posting a job listing publicly, usually online, via the company’s website and job boards. Organic posts are listings you don’t pay for. While these listings can produce qualified applicants, they also tend to bring in unqualified candidates who are scrolling job boards and applying for any opening regardless of whether they meet the qualifications. The old adage ‘you get what you pay for’ applies.

5. Paid advertising

With paid advertising, you spend money to amplify your job listing to people who are likely to be qualified candidates. For example, when you advertise a position on LinkedIn, you can target your post to users in certain locations with a specific number of years of experience, who have held certain job titles, and more. Programmatic job advertising—which uses AI to place ads in front of the most relevant candidates—has become increasingly effective.

6. Inbound recruiting

Inbound recruiting is the process of creating content that draws candidates in and compels them to apply for a job (versus external recruiting, which involves you reaching out to the candidate). Inbound recruiting strategies include blog posts, videos, employee testimonials, and employer branding efforts, to name a few. Though it requires patience, inbound recruiting leads to highly engaged applicants.

7. Social media

With 80% of adults in the U.S. using social media, platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok are essential for reaching candidates. Consistent posting, employee spotlights, and engaging content can amplify your reach. Also, remember that 70% of job seekers research employers on social media before applying.

8. Job fairs

Job fairs provide face-to-face interaction with potential candidates. Virtual job fairs have also gained popularity, offering a cost-effective way to meet applicants without geographic limitations.

9. Professional events

Conferences, trade organization meetings, and other industry-specific events can help employers connect with candidates in a specific field or skill area. They’re a good way to meet passive candidates–candidates who are not necessarily job searching but may be interested in new opportunities. To recruit using professional events, you’ll need a system for following up with the contacts you make, like using email nurturing sequences to stay in touch and share future job openings.

10. Internships

Internships aren’t just for helping students gain experience; structured internship programs cultivate future talent. Around 56% of interns transition to full-time employees, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

11. Recruiting agencies

Staffing firms can help fill roles quickly, especially for specialized or hard-to-fill positions. The right recruiting agency will partner with a company’s in-house recruiting team, delivering expertise in sourcing, screening, and matching candidates.

What Are Selection Methods?

Selection methods are used to evaluate candidates and choose the best fit for a role. A strong selection process improves hiring accuracy and reduces time-to-hire while leaving all candidates feeling they were treated fairly.

Methods of Selection

1. Resume screenings

Resume screening is the first step to identifying candidates who meet the basic qualifications. Tools like AI resume scanners can speed up the process and reduce bias.

2. Phone screenings

Phone or video screenings allow recruiters to assess candidates’ qualifications and interest levels. Structured questions allow for consistency and fairness.

3. Interviews

Candidates whose phone screening indicates a strong fit will advance to the interview stage, the most in-depth part of the selection process. Interviews consist of one or more conversations, usually in person, with hiring decision-makers. They cover every aspect of a candidate’s qualifications, including their specific job experience and accomplishments in prior roles. Although interviews aren’t foolproof, they are the best tool recruiters have for assessing and comparing candidates.

Interviews aren’t always one-to-one. Variations include group interviews (where more than one candidate is interviewed simultaneously) and panel interviews (where a candidate speaks with more than one interviewer).

4. Skills assessments

There are some jobs where it’s difficult to assess a candidate’s abilities based on an interview alone. These positions call for a skills assessment, which tests candidates’ technical capabilities. In addition to giving you an objective comparison of different candidates (i.e., a score on a scale of 1 to 100), skills assessments can help eliminate bias and encourage candidates from nontraditional backgrounds. According to Criteria Corp, companies using skills assessments see a 24% improvement in hiring success.

5. Personality assessments

A personality assessment aims to identify a candidate’s characteristics beyond their technical skills, like their communication style and work preferences. While personality assessments don’t have “right” or “wrong” answers, they can help zero in on strong candidates for positions where certain personalities are more likely to succeed, like sales, customer service, and management positions.

6. Job auditions

In a mock assignment or job audition, a candidate completes a task comparable to the work they’d be doing in the actual job. One of the biggest pitfalls of hiring is that we can’t actually see how a candidate performs until they’re on the job; mock assignments are the closest a hiring manager can come to seeing an applicant’s skills firsthand before committing to hiring them. Use caution with this method – top candidates may be unwilling to put forth excessive time and effort without compensation.

7. Reference checks

Reference checks should happen in the final stages of the hiring process before making an offer (you’d be surprised how many companies wait to check references until an offer has been made!). While references aren’t always the easiest or the most reliable tool to help with candidate selection, they can be invaluable in uncovering glaring red flags, like if a candidate fabricated their job history.

8. Background checks

Background checks are less about helping you select the right candidate and more about preventing you from choosing the wrong one. Once you’ve honed in on a top choice using other selection methods, you might use a background check as the final hurdle to clear before making an offer.

Final Thoughts

Combining recruitment and selection methods to accommodate your unique hiring needs will allow you to attract top talent. The right mix of strategies—from referrals to AI-powered sourcing tools—can save time, reduce costs, and improve the quality of your hires.

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Effective Methods of Recruitment and Selection for Hiring Top Talent