Here is our podcast on recruitment and specially on what the psychologist brings in a recruitment situation! Enjoy this podcast!
Justine: We can start by introducing ourselves. My name is Justine, and I am in my second year of a master’s degree in social psychology at the University of Nantes, where I did all my studies.
Julie: Hey my name is Julie, and I studied in Rennes . During my bachelor’s degree I did an Erasmus in Spain where I improved my English level and where I could discover a new culture. That was my best social experience!! But we’re not here to talk about it right now. After this Erasmus, I chose to come back in Rennes for my master’s degree in social psychology. I’m glad I made this decision because I like the teaching program and what we learn here.
Justine: Okay! I guess that the weather here is rainy compared to Spain! You have a really interesting background! Can you tell me more about why you chose to study psychology?
Julie: I wanted to be a psychologist since I’m 11 years old. Firstly, because I wanted to help other people and secondly to understand their behavior. For me, this work makes sense. How about you?
Justine: I like psychology because my brother did the same course and it inspired me. I like to understand the world around me and for me each person is a universe to discover. Psychology allows us to reduce stereotypes, stigmatization, discrimination, sexism and it is the best way to learn.
Julie: Indeed, there has been a lot of talk about this kind of subject in recent years. For example, discrimination, especially in a recruitment context is something that we have to highlight. You know, recruitment began in the military sector, volunteers were recruited to wage war so there were no real recruitment procedures!
Justine: That’s true! It’s at the end of the 19th century that the word “recruitment” appeared. This period corresponds to a rise in industrialization. There was a growth in the industry section which led to more job offers. The factories were looking for skilled workers with skills to be quickly operational on specific machines.
Julie: And then, in the 1950s, recruitment evolved with the “headhunters”. They specialized in poaching high-ranking people into strategic positions. These are big companies that call on top hunters to search for managers and executives.
Justine: And it’s at this time that an indispensable recruitment tool was born: the CV and the cover letter! This package makes it possible to trace the specific skills to sort between people.
Julie: Yes! It’s a real evolution. However, there are still no human resources departments at this time, companies focus on recruitment and not on personal management – something we couldn’t let happen now. We’re going to start looking at human capital from the 1980s, when we’ll talk about HR strategies.
Justine: Yes, what we mean by human capital is that we will take a look into the well-being of employees! we are going to focus on the human dimension in Order to reduce work stoppages, work accidents, turnovers …
Julie: Psychologists will differentiate themselves from this human dimension! they will have an ability to listen, analyze people, analyze knowledge, skills and motivation!
Justine: absolutely! and psychologists can also perform tests such as personality tests. We learn, during our training, to interpret personality tests.
Julie: The psychologist also has observation grids to choose the candidates! He has a consultant role, will not make a decision, but will guide companies through making one.
Justine: As a psychologist, you have to take a step back from the personality and skills of the candidates. You have to see whether the candidate will be able to adapt to the workplace, the team, the corporate culture and whether they will be able to thrive in the position.
Julie: Yes, we must be careful! Headhunters recruit managers from a company A to work in a company B, but just because a manager will give satisfaction in one structure does not mean that he will give satisfaction in another one. It’s all about adaptation!
Justine: Yet the psychologist knows how to do it!