Selection Procedure

Selection is the process of choosing, from among the recruited applicants, the persons best suited for the selling job and rejecting the rest. Where recruitment is a positive process (attracting as many suitable applicants as possible), selection is essentially a negative or eliminating process, because at each step some candidates are screened out and only the most suitable move forward.

The number and order of steps vary from firm to firm, but a well-organised selection procedure for salesmen generally follows these stages:

1. Receiving and screening applications. Candidates fill in an application blank (application form) giving details of their age, education, experience and personal particulars. Clearly unsuitable applications are screened out at this preliminary stage.
2. Preliminary interview. A short interview to form a quick impression of the candidate's appearance, speech, manners and general fitness for selling, so that obviously unsuitable persons are eliminated before more time is spent on them.
3. Tests. Suitable candidates may be given tests — for example, intelligence tests, aptitude tests, personality tests and, sometimes, a practical sales test — to measure qualities that are important in selling but hard to judge in an interview alone.
4. Main (formal) interview. A detailed interview by the sales manager or a selection committee to assess the candidate's knowledge, confidence, communication skill, attitude and suitability in depth.
5. Checking references. The firm contacts the referees named by the candidate (previous employers, teachers, respectable persons) to verify the candidate's character, past conduct and record.
6. Medical examination. Because selling is often physically demanding — involving travel and long hours — the candidate is medically examined to confirm fitness for the job. …