Unit 8: Evaluation of Documents (Assignment 2)

Sample work for unit 8: Recruitment and Selection. BTEC Business Studies Resources

Evaluating Recruitment Documents

Laboratory Administrator for Sainsbury’s

Introduction

I created a range of recruitment documents for the role of Laboratory Administrator at Sainsburys. To do this, I researched a range of recruitment documentation created by a range of different companies as well as advice presented by human resources websites and recruitment agencies. The documents I created were a job description, a person specification, interview questions, an interview checklist, a CV, a completed application form and an application letter.

Job advert

A good job advert is visually appealing, attracts attention and has concise but clear information about the job role and the next steps a candidate needs to take in the process.

My original job advert did contain the details a candidate would need to know such as key roles of the job and the url link to the application page. However, during the feedback stage I found that the advert lacked visual appeal due to it being too busy and it lacking the brand identify featured in the rest of the documents. To improve this, I created another advert which used the Sainsbury’s brand colours which are orange. 

Job description

A good job description gives a clear picture of what the role involves whilst remaining concise and easy to read. 

The strengths of my job description are that it is concise as it is only on one page, its is easy to read as the sections are clearly labelled and it communicates the Sainsburys brand through the orange colour used. I feel that the candidate would be able to establish the key duties in this role without needing to spend much time on this document. However, some information is lacking which may support an applicants decision to take the next steps. This includes the location of the job and some information about the department. Location is important because people are not necessarily willing to move house for a job position and may just be interested in positions close to their current home. Information about the department may help an applicant to understand more about the purpose of this role.

Person specification

A good person specification gives clarity of what the organisation is looking for in the person they will appoint. A candidate should be able to self assess whether it is appropriate for themselves to apply for the position and recruiters should be able to use it to help make decisions in the shortlisting stage and final appointment.

Strengths of my person specification include the layout. By using a table, I have made it easy for applicants to separate the essential and optional characteristics. Being able to ascertain whether they have the essential skills, experience and attributes allows a candidate to make a clear decision on whether its worth them applying for the role. However, some of the requirements listed in the person specification could be seen as quite vague and making them more specific could help both the candidate and the people shortlisting. For example, an essential requirement is ‘laboratory experience’. It may be more helpful to state a minimum number of months/years and the minimum role within a laboratory that would be accepted.

CV

A good CV is clear and concise yet contains enough relevant information about the candidate for recruiters to make a decision on whether they are going forward to the next stage. CVs should be either one or two pages. A good CV should also be tailored to a specific job.

Strengths of my CV include it being very concise. I organised all of the information on one page to make it easier for recruiters to get a whole picture of my skills and experience by glancing at one sheet without having to turn it over. I used columns and headings to organise information about myself clearly. However, a weakness of my CV is that it is quite generic. It is advisable to tailor a CV to a specific job role which I did not do. This means that if recruiters were just using this document to shortlist, it may not stand out compared to more focused CVs.

Application form

A well designed application form should contain all the relevant fields a recruiter needs in order to draw out the relevant information from a candidate. It should be clear what the candidate should complete in each section and easy to compare forms from different candidates. Applicants should make good use of the space to communicate enough information about their skills, knowledge and experience to stand out from other candidates.

I feel that my job application form was well designed. The design is in line with Sainsburys branding by using orange colours. It is easy to complete as it is clear through labelling what each box is asking for and plenty of space is provided for the applicant to communicate relevant information. I have also considered legal and ethical implications in the declaration. However, when completing the form, I have missed the opportunity to provide further details that may explain why I am particularly suted to the role. For example, when talking about work experience, I could have written about times when I took responsibility or demonstrated a required skill rather than just listing what was expected in that job description. Also in the section on education, I could have taken the opportunity to talk about units in my degree that are specifically relevant to food innovation. 

Application letter

A good application letter will communicate enthusiasm for a job role being applied for and provide any additional information that the application form did not provide opportunity to give. It should be professionally presented, concise and have fit for purpose paragraphs. 

My application letter is well laid out and concise as it is on one side of paper only. This as well as using fit for purpose paragraphs makes it easy for recruiters to skim and extract the relevant information to support their decision to shortlist me. However, as I did not take much opportunity to expand on my education and experience in my application form so could have used the letter to do this.

Other documents

I also created a job analysis, a list of interview questions and an interview checklist. I feel that my interview questions were strong as they directly linked to the job description and my checklist was clearly laid out so that recruiters could easily record thoughts on my responses and compare that with the rest of the panel when making a decision. However, as a candidate it would have been beneficial for me to write out practise answers for my questions to ensure that I was well prepared. Also my job analysis document could be seen as too brief and superficial. Job roles are very complicated and it is important to ensure that the person fits in well with the culture of a department. Perhaps a more open discussion of a department SWOT would better highlight the needs.

Overall, I have learned the importance of a range of documents and created a series of documents that would be useful in recruitment. I feel that my overall strengths were creating documents that were clear and concise and in line with the branding style of Sainsburys. However, some of my documents lacked detail such as my CV and my job analysis document would be more useful if it allows for a more open analysis.