Frequently the recruitment process is designed to find a person with the knowledge, skills and abilities for the role; someone whose personality, traits and abilities match the job. This is known as a person-job fit approach. The job is defined as precisely as possible and the recruitment process is expected to produce someone with the abilities to match.
However, this approach can be criticised for not taking into account other factors in the modern world of work.
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What other factors might be important? Take a moment to identify some of them in the box below and then read our ideas.
So it may be appropriate to look at an applicant's fit with the organisation as well as their ability to do the job. This is a person-organisation fit. An individual may be a real success in one organisation but not in another, despite being in a similar role.
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Job adverts often include information that indicates whether either or both approaches to 'fit' are important. We have selected extracts from job advertisements from a number of major UK organisations below. Read each extract and decide if it a person-job fit or person-organisation fit, or both.
