1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
Recruitment of recent business graduates is not as easy as it looks at first sight. Usually, recent graduates do not have a clear vision about their future career and field of interest, they are uncertain; they do not know what their strengths and weaknesses are. They can simply underestimate or on the contrary, overestimate themselves and they have little working experience. Moreover, because the recruitment process is mostly a new experience for them, they can easily feel stressed and make a mistake or a wrong choice right at the beginning of their career path.
On the other hand, making the right choice is difficult not just for the recent graduates but also for the employers. Companies are spending large amounts of money to attract the best business graduates. They advertise in newspapers, on the Internet and they participate in many job fairs. In addition, after the successful recruitment and selection they need to invest in further education and initiatory basic training of the newly hired employees. Besides that, working can be very different from studying and therefore, graduates need to build up basic working habits and this process also takes time. Consequently, these situations can lead to conflicts. Recent graduates very often discover that the reality is quite different from their original expectations. Their discontent might be frequently related to the compensation, job description or to the company’s organizational culture and values. And it can very easily result into an early exit from the company during their first year.
Taiwan and the Czech Republic are both relatively small countries in comparison to their close neighbors, China and Germany. Both nations have experienced oppression by stronger countries, both are still developing rapidly. At the same time, they attract lots of foreign organizations and the domestic companies are trying to expand and to be successful abroad, too. With the development, growth and internationalization of markets in Taiwan and in the Czech Republic, wants, values, skills and qualities of recent university graduates develop, too. They are aware of the international environment that surrounds them, they have highly developed computing and language skills, many of them have rich international experience and they are highly motivated to be successful in their future careers.
-2- 1.2 Purposes and Objectives
This paper closely examines recruitment and related issues in two countries, Taiwan and the Czech Republic. In addition, as it is possible to see in Table 1, it focuses at the same time on the recruitment of recent business graduates and its practices. The recruitment process often looks very similar in developed countries, but in every country there are some distinctions associated with common recruitment practices, cultural and infrastructural differences.
Firstly, the research tries to describe and illustrate what recruitment sources are used for the recruitment of recent business graduates and explain the reasons why. There exist many ways how to announce a job vacancy, but not all of them have the same effect. Different sources can be used for different groups of job applicants. Consequently, the study should provide the answers on what recruitment sources are popular among recent business graduates and state the reasons of this situation. A comparison of Taiwan and the Czech Republic should also explain whether differences in culture might influence the usage of a particular recruitment source or not.
Besides that, this work wants to show what information companies advertize in their job advertisements and if it corresponds to the information that graduates demand to find in the job descriptions. Providing enough relevant information about the vacancy can prevent later misunderstandings. Many recent graduates are inexperienced participants of the recruitment and selection process. They frequently do not know what they really want to do.
Consequently, the research focuses also on this topic. When should graduates start looking for a job? When companies start their recruitment campaigns that focus on this group of job applicants? The study asks about the graduates’ ideas concerning their future occupations as well. One of the research objectives is also to show what skills, competencies and experiences HR professionals appreciate. Consequently, if some student who is about to graduate within several months or years read this paper, he or she could improve the most desired skills and gain the necessary experiences that might later give the student better chances to find a good job after graduation.
Furthermore, this study should also discuss what the preferences and priorities of recent business graduates are when they are looking for a job. Are the salary and financial incentives the main factors that influence their decision-making or do they have different values? They can prefer interesting, enriching and creative jobs that pay less. Nevertheless, possible career prospects and international opportunities might be their main motives, too.
-3- Table 1: Purposes and Objectives
Purposes Objectives and Methods
Description of
Recruitment Sources used for Recent Business
Graduates Recruitment
- find the most popular recruitment sources of companies and graduates, describe why they are being used and whether they differ between Taiwan and the Czech Republic
- based on questionnaires, interviews and literature review
Description of
Recruitment Practices and Related Issues
- find information regarding common recruitment practices:
job advertisements, recruitment campaigns and their timing, ideas of graduates about their future occupation, speed of companies’ feedback to candidates’ replies, skills and competencies which Czech and Taiwanese business graduates have and which companies demand
- based on questionnaires, interviews and literature review
Description of Values and Wants of Recent Business Graduates
- find wants and values of business graduates in terms of job related characteristics (compensation, training, benefits etc.) and if companies match these requirements, describe the possible differences between values of Taiwanese and Czech graduates
- based on questionnaires, interviews and literature review
Description of Location’s role in Recent Business Graduates Recruitment
- discover and explain the importance of location and what factors (e.g. living conditions, level of salaries, sport and cultural facilities, etc.) related to location influence the recruitment practices of recent business graduates in Taiwan and the Czech Republic
- based on questionnaires, interviews and literature review
Explanation of Role of Different Educational Systems
- describe the general features of Czech and Taiwanese educational systems and the way how they form skills and knowledge of business graduates and match the requirements of companies
- based on questionnaires, interviews and literature review Explanation of Role of
Different Cultures
- find and describe how culture influences the recruitment practices in Taiwan and the Czech Republic and how it shapes the graduates’ behavior, wants and values
- based on questionnaires, interviews and literature review
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Consequently, the study should illustrate the differences in these wants and values between Taiwanese and Czech recent business graduates as well. Do they vary a lot or are they similar? And on the contrary, what are Taiwanese and Czech employers offering to recent business graduates? How are they trying to attract them? Does their offer match the graduates’ wants and preferences? These are some of the questions that this research tries to answer.
In addition, one important aspect of recruitment and selection practices, not only of recent business graduates, is the location. People may favor certain places and cities which offer good quality of life, top cultural and sport facilities and a favorable natural environment and thus, select a job because of these characteristics. On the other hand, different individuals can rather sacrifice comfort in their lives for higher salary and better career prospects.
Therefore, this paper will explore the importance of location and related factors in the graduates’ minds and try to find some popular towns or cities and illustrate the reasons why graduates choose those particular places. This could help companies in their recruitment efforts, but also towns and cities that are facing a drain of young well-educated people who decide to live in some other places.
The research of issues related to the recent business graduates would not be complete without mentioning the educational system and the role of universities. These institutions greatly influence skills and competencies that recent graduates posses after completing their degrees. Subsequently, the research should illustrate the strengths and weaknesses in terms of graduates’ capabilities and qualifications, too.
Because the study is comparing recruitment practices in two different countries, in Taiwan and in the Czech Republic, it provides a good opportunity to explain the impact of cultural factors on the recruitment process and related issues. Furthermore, the research could provide valuable information to Czech companies planning expansion to Taiwan (and to certain extent to China) and of course also to Taiwanese companies such as Foxconn or Quisda, and others that are already operating in or planning expansion of their business activities to the Czech Republic and other countries in the Central European region. Business graduates usually have very good language skills and they are not afraid of new challenges and thus, they could help these companies be profitable. However, firstly they need to be successfully attracted and hired by the company. Consequently, the results of this research, that should clarify the recruitment practices, associated topics and graduates’ wants and values, might assist companies in their effort. Results of the questionnaire survey should
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provide basic information for the research of this area. Afterwards, this information will be elaborated more closely during several interviews with HR professionals from both countries.
In conclusion, because this work shows recruitment from both perspectives – from the companies’, but also from the graduates’ point of view, it should help both sides reveal common practices, potential conflicts and possible space for improvements and advancements.
The comparison of Taiwan and the Czech Republic should show that even though the general recruitment process can look almost the same, it might be rather adjusted to local conditions and characteristics. It may reveal practices commonly used in one of the countries that are rare or completely absent in the other country, but which could help companies to attract the recent business graduates or on the contrary, assist graduates to find a better job in a country where the discovered practices are not present. Confrontation of skills and knowledge of recent business graduates can also show the strengths and weaknesses of the educational systems in these two countries and ways how to improve them, and propose what skills and what knowledge should be more developed.
1.3 Research Flow
From the chart in Figure 1 it is possible to uncover that at the beginning, it will be necessary to explain what the recruitment is and what practices and issues are related to it. Moreover, due to the comparison of two countries, Taiwan and the Czech Republic, it will be essential to introduce a cross-culture model which should help in finding differences between the above mentioned countries. Besides that, because the paper examines issues connected to recent graduates, it is important to describe also the features and characteristics of educational systems which greatly influence and form the skills and knowledge of the recent graduates.
Obtained information from the outcomes of the questionnaires, completed by the graduates and HR professionals from both countries, should ensure enough relevant data to meet the previously discussed purposes and objectives. Nevertheless, interviews that follow present a deeper understanding of the recruitment of recent business graduates and attributes that affect associated practices. Moreover, conducting the interviews and analysis of their results together with the questionnaires’ outcomes should provide the foundation for the following final recommendations and conclusions.
-6- Figure 1: Research Flow
LITERATURE REVIEW - Recruitment Sources - Recruitment Practices
- Wants and Values, Personnel Policies…
- Location
- Educational Systems
- Cultures – Taiwan and Czech Republic
QUESTIONNAIRES RECENT
GRADUATES
HR
PROFESSIONALS
INTERVIEWS WITH HR PROFESSIONALS
COMPARISON AND ASSESSMENT of QUESTIONNAIRES AND INTERVIEWS RESULTS
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
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2 LITERATURE REVIEW
Companies have their own visions, values, goals and strategies which they want to achieve.
For example Société Générale (SG), one of the largest international banking groups, describes on its website (Socgen, 2007) that it values professionalism, team spirit and innovation. They want to assist individuals in reaching their goals, want to be perceived as a trusted partner in the development of companies, towns and regions. And the success of long-term growth policy relies on their values. Regarding the company’s strategy, their focus is on a balanced business mix, operating efficiency and long-term growth.
However, behind all these issues there are people - people with different skills, different ideas and different styles of behavior. And it is up to the managers and HR specialists to balance it. HR strategy needs to be in accordance with the general strategy of the company. It is one of the key requirements for success and growth. Therefore, companies must look for employees who could help them to achieve their targets; they must realize the right balance of talents (Stedt, 2006). When incompetent people are hired in the wrong position, sooner or later they will become unmotivated and careless about the company’s goals. Consequently, organizations can very easily founder and eventually fail. The philosophy of talent balancing is quite simple. Companies need to find the right people, with the right skills for the right job.
Recruitment has a significant role in this process. Afterwards, the organizations must use employees’ talents to meet personal and corporate goals and provide proper leadership. It is a dynamic process that works in all industries (Jackson & Mathis, 2007).
2.1 Recruitment 2.1.1 Definition
DeCenzo and Robins (2005) define recruitment as a process of discovering potential candidates for actual or anticipated organizational vacancies. From the other perspective, recruitment can be seen as a linking activity that brings together those with jobs to fill and those seeking jobs. Moreover according to Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart and Wright (2004), it creates a buffer between planning and actual selection of new employees. Jackson and Schuler (2003) complete the definition by saying that recruitment stops short of making decisions about which particular applicants should be hired. Recruitment is only a part of the hiring process and it is usually followed by the process of selection – interviews, reference checks, assessment centers, logical, psychological and other various sorts of tests that are all part of the selection process.
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Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart and Wright (2004) also introduce three aspects that influence recruitment: personnel policies, recruitment sources and recruiter traits and behaviors (see Figure 2). These attributes affect the organization’s approach towards recruiting and at the same time define what sorts of applicants are attracted to apply for a job with the organization.
In the case of recruitment of recent business graduates, the graduates are there, they are looking for the job. However, it is frequently quite a new experience for them and thus, they are very often stressed and nervous. Consequently, the process of graduate recruitment should focus especially on three issues: where to find the best graduates, how to get their interest and what information and image the company should advertize in order to attract the right pool of applicants. Besides that, recruitment does not create the demands for new people, a company’s managers from different departments express their wishes for new employees and define the company’s needs and wants. Neither the goal of the recruitment is to select the right employee for the managers - recruitment is only one part of this ‘human supply chain’.
Figure 2: Three Aspects of Recruiting Job Choice Vacancy
Characteristics
Applicant Characteristics Recruiter Traits
and Behaviors Personnel
Policies
Recruitment Sources
Source: Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart & Wright (2004)
-9- 2.1.2 Recruitment Sources
Every job vacancy needs to be announced in some way, thus, someone can apply for it, a company can receive answers from job candidates and choose the best and the most suitable one for the advertized job. Consequently, the main goal of many companies is frequently not only to attract as many job candidates as possible, but to attract the most suitable candidates in order to find someone who will really help the company to achieve its goals. Sometimes it is possible to speak about personnel marketing. Nevertheless, instead of marketing and selling the products or services, in this case organizations are marketing and selling jobs. And there are several ways how to do it.
• Internal Search
In Jackson’s and Schuler’s opinion (2003) different methods may reach different types of applicants. Firstly, many companies post job announcements on their bulletin boards. This is called internal labor market and it is a good way how to recruit one’s own employees.
However, organizations usually do not use this way to attract recent graduates, because only the people who are with the company are able to see the job announcement and apply for it.
Therefore, the students would need to have some kind of relation with the company (e.g.
internship or part-time job) in order to be able to discover it. Nevertheless, if the company provides either internships or part-time jobs for students, it has a good chance to find out whether these students are capable and have the right qualifications to work for the company.
Consequently, it is much easier for the firm to hire them.
On the other hand it is also easier for the graduates. If they worked during their studies for the company, they know the organization’s environment, culture and people and they are used to work. As a result, the transition from a student to a full-time employee is not so difficult for them and they can easily fit in. Moreover, according to DeCenzo and Robbins (2005), internal search is at the same time less costly than going outside to recruit. It is faster, it builds morale and it encourages good individuals who are ambitious. Besides that, it improves the probability of a good selection, because information on the individual’s performance is readily available. Nevertheless, if the company uses just internal recruiting, it can very easily lose the opportunity to bring new knowledge, ideas and skills to the company. Consequently, organizations should seek a balance between internal and external recruiting.
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Companies from the Czech Republic frequently offer part-time or summer jobs to students. Usually these jobs have mainly supportive (administrative) function and are not very well paid. Nevertheless, due to these jobs students can obtain very valuable working experience that can help them very much afterwards when they are seeking the first job after their graduation. With reference to the research conducted by students of the University of Economics in Prague (Bohm, Dolezal, Mruz & Sabo, 2008), working experiences are really important when recent business graduates are applying for a job in the Czech Republic.
According to the feedback from companies, graduates’ experiences show that they are pro-active, systematic and goal-seeking. And consequently in the Czech Republic, working experiences may be more decisive in recruitment and selection process of recent business
According to the feedback from companies, graduates’ experiences show that they are pro-active, systematic and goal-seeking. And consequently in the Czech Republic, working experiences may be more decisive in recruitment and selection process of recent business