Sources of Recruitment

Once a firm decides to recruit salesmen, it must decide where to look for candidates. The sources of recruitment are broadly of two kinds — internal sources (from within the organisation) and external sources (from outside).

Internal sources

Internal recruitment means filling selling vacancies from among people already working in the firm.

• Promotion and transfer. Suitable employees from other departments — for example, dispatch, correspondence or the office — who show aptitude for selling can be promoted or transferred to the sales department.
• Recommendation by existing salesmen. Present employees often recommend friends, relatives or acquaintances whom they believe to be suitable.

Internal sources are economical and quick, and the candidates are already familiar with the firm and its products; they also improve morale by offering existing staff a chance to advance. Their limitation is that the choice is narrow, and relying only on insiders can deny the firm fresh talent and new ideas.

External sources

When suitable persons are not available within, or when the firm wants a wider and fresher choice, it turns to outside sources.

• Advertisements in newspapers and trade journals, describing the job and inviting applications — the most common external source, giving a wide reach.
• Employment exchanges, which maintain registers of job-seekers and forward the names of suitable candidates.
• Educational and training institutions, such as colleges, universities and commerce or management institutes, which are a good source of educated young recruits (campus recruitment).
• Placement/employment agencies that specialise in supplying candidates for particular kinds of jobs.
• Unsolicited applications received directly from job-seekers who apply on their own, whose letters the firm keeps on file for future vacancies. …