An Analysis Of Rater Error In Recruitment And Selection Process Of IT Organizations

Abstract

This paper attempts to study the extent to which rater error is prevalent in recruitment and selection process in Islamabad based Information Technology (IT) organizations. The study observed, evaluated and analyzed complete recruitment process of the 03 selected organizations to find out any conscious or unconscious activity of rater error during the selection process. The study employed qualitative research methodology in which whole selection process was monitored in person, all recruitment forms and documents were studied, unstructured interviews were conducted with the Chief Operating Officers, the Human Resource managers, the technical managers of the organizations and even the candidates. After thorough analysis, the findings of the study reveal that rater errors exist in all of the three organizations, influenced by several conscious and unconscious factors. Results show that stereotyping, halo effect, contrast effect, similarto- me effect and first impression effect were prevalent in the organizations which undermine the objective evaluation of candidates to a greater extent. The study recommends the organizations should pursue rater training programs of the all managers, executives involved in the recruitment process and conducting panel interviews for minimizing the rater errors.