Recruitment refers to the process of attracting, screening, and selecting a qualified person for a job. At the strategic level it may involve the development of an employer brandwhich includes an \'employee offering\'. The stages of the recruitment process include: job analysis and developing a person specification; the sourcing of candidates by networking, advertising, or other search methods; matching candidates to job requirements and screening individuals using testing (skills or personality assessment); assessment of candidates\' motivations and their fit with organisational requirements by interviewing and other assessment techniques. The recruitment process also includes the making and finalising of job offers and the induction andonboarding of new employees. Recruitment process Job analysis The starting point to a recruitment effort is to perform a job analysis and/or in some cases a task analysis, to document the actual or intended requirements of the job. From these the relevant information is captured in such documents as job descriptions and job specifications. Often a company will already have job descriptions that represent a historical collection of tasks performed. Where already drawn up, these documents need to be reviewed or updated to reflect present day requirements. Prior to initiating the recruitment stages a person specification should be finalised to provide the recruiters commissioned with the requirements and objectives of the project. Sourcing Sourcing is the use of one or more strategies to attract or identify candidates to fill job vacancies. It may involve internal and/or external advertising, using appropriate media, such as local or national newspapers, specialist recruitment media, professional publications, window advertisements, job centres, or in a variety of ways via the internet. Alternatively, employers may use recruitment consultancies to find otherwise scarce candidates who may be content in their current positions and are not actively looking to move companies may be proactively identified. This initial research for so-called passive candidates, also called name generation, results in a contact information of potential candidates who can then be contacted discreetly to be screened and approached. Screening and selection Suitability for a job is typically assessed by looking for relevant skills, knowledge, aptitude, qualifications and educational or job related experience. These can be determined via:screening résumés (also known as CVs); job applications; interviews. More proactive idenification methods include psychological, aptitude, numeracy and literacy testing. the testimony of references, Many recruiters and agencies use applicant tracking systems to perform the filtering process, along with software tools for psychometric testing. In many countries, employers are legally mandated to ensure their screening and selection processes meet equal opportunity and ethical standards. In addition to the above selection assessment criteria, employers are likely to recognise the value of candidates who also have the so-called \'soft skills\', such as interpersonal or team leadership and have the ability to reinforce the company brand through their behaviour in front of customers and suppliers. Multinational organisations and those that recruit from a range of nationalities are also concerned candidates will fit into the prevailing company \'culture\'. Lateral hiring "Lateral hiring" refers to a form of recruiting; the term is used with two different, almost opposite meanings. In one meaning, the hiring organization targets employees of another, similar organization, possibly luring them with a better salary and the promise of better career opportunities. An example is the recruiting of a partner of a law firm by another law firm. The new lateral hire then has specific applicable expertise and can make a running start in the new job. In some professional branches such lateral hiring was traditionally frowned upon, but the practice has become increasingly more common. An employee\'s contract may have a non-compete clause preventing such lateral hiring. In another meaning, a lateral hire is a newly hired employee who has no prior specific applicable expertise for the new job, and for whom this job move is a radical change of career. An example is the recruiting of a university professor to become chairman of the board of a company. Onboarding "Onboarding" is a term which describes the process of helping new employees become productive members of an organization. A well-planned introduction helps new employees become fully operational quickly and is often integrated with a new company and environment. Onboarding is included in the recruitment process for retention purposes. Many companies have onboarding campaigns in hopes to retain top talent that is new to the company; campaigns may last anywhere from 1 week to 6 months.