Management, Leadership and HR
Human Resources
Recruitment and Selection: Methodologies and Techniques
Selecting on evidence rather than on impression, and defending the decision if somebody challenges it.
- Duration
- 5 days
- Contact hours
- 30
- Level
- Intermediate
- Fee from
- On enquiry
Overview
Most selection decisions are made in the first few minutes of an interview and justified afterwards. The predictable consequences are a shortlist that resembles the panel, a reference check that confirms nothing, and a probation failure that was visible in the application if anybody had known what to look for. This week builds the process that reduces that: a specification drawn from the work, structured questions scored against it, work samples where the job allows, and a decision record that holds up to an unsuccessful candidate or a tribunal.
Who should attend
HR officers and recruiters, hiring managers who sit on panels, and HR business partners designing the selection process.
What you will be able to do
- Draw a person specification from the work rather than from the last job advertisement.
- Build a structured interview with questions scored against the specification.
- Use a work sample or test that predicts performance rather than confidence.
- Recognise where the process is screening on something it should not be.
- Record a decision so it can be defended months later.
How it is taught
Short input, then work, across 5 days of roughly 6 teaching hours each. Exercises run on situations delegates bring rather than on a case study written for a different organisation. Cohorts are capped so that everybody is asked something.
Available as classroom, live online, in house.
Programme outline
Day 1
Before the advertisement
- What the work actually requires, established with the manager
- Essential against desirable, and the cost of confusing them
- Where to find the people who do this work
- An advertisement that deters the wrong applicants
Day 2
Screening
- Sifting against the specification rather than on impression
- Qualifications as a proxy, and when it is a poor one
- Gaps, short tenures, and asking rather than assuming
- Keeping a record of why somebody was rejected
Day 3
Interviewing
- Structured against unstructured, and the evidence on each
- Behavioural and situational questions that cannot be rehearsed
- Scoring with anchors, so a panel scores the same answer alike
- The first few minutes, and the judgement formed in them
Day 4
Beyond the interview
- Work samples and tests that predict performance
- Assessment centres, and when they are worth the cost
- References that tell you something
- Background and qualification verification
Day 5
Deciding and defending
- Combining evidence without letting one source dominate
- Bias in a panel, and the mechanisms that reduce it
- The offer, the negotiation, and the candidate who declines
- Records, feedback, and probation that is actually used
What you leave with
- A person specification and scoring matrix for one real vacancy.
- A structured interview guide with anchored scoring.
- A selection record template that stands up to challenge.
Dates and fees
| Dates | Location | Format | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 to 27 November 2026 | Lagos, Nigeria | Classroom | US$1,500 |
| 30 November 2026 to 4 December 2026 | Cairo, Egypt | Classroom | US$1,500 |
| 7 to 11 December 2026 | Durban, South Africa | Classroom | R15,000 |
| 14 to 18 December 2026 | Nairobi, Kenya | Classroom | US$1,500 |
Fees are per delegate and cover tuition, all programme materials and the certificate. Travel, accommodation and visas are arranged by the delegate. Registration closes two weeks before a programme starts.
Certificate
A GATI certificate recording what was attended, issued after the programme has run and attendance has been taken. Attending at least 80 per cent of the days earns a certificate of completion; attending less earns a certificate of attendance stating exactly what was attended. Every certificate carries a code that anybody can check against GATI's own record.
It records participation. and GATI does not claim one it does not hold.