AN EVALUATION OF PERSONNEL RECRUITMENT POLICY IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE

CHAPTER ONE 
INTRODUCTION
1.1    BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY   
The term recruitment simply means, “Securing the right people for particular jobs, and it may take the form of advertising for large groups of employees or tracking out a lightly skilled individual for specific work” . This in essence means that not any person with paper qualification is eligible for recruitment into the service. A choice has to be made on who is the right candidate for the post; a person with maturity, high sense of belonging, skills and good moral attitude. This is very much paramount due to the fact that it is through this process that the government or an organization can achieve its sets of goals and objectives.However, even when those that are eligible are attracted and they applied; care should be taken and select only those that have the zeal and enthusiasm to make contributions to the organization .  
“Recruitment is a process of attracting individuals on a timely basis, in sufficient numbers and with appropriate qualifications, developing their interest in an organization and encouraging them to apply for jobs within it.” This is a clear indication that the exercise is not conducted all year round but at a designated time when the need arise.The need arises as a result of vacant position created by those who left the service as a result of either retirement, withdrawal from the service or other reasons. During this process, efforts are made to inform the applicants fully about the selection criteria of the required competencies that will lead to effective performance, as well as career opportunities the organization can provide the employee. Clear knowledge of the job help the potential employees to put in their best when employed because it is only when you know what you are going to do that you can understand not only how to do it but how to do it best. indicates that “the process of recruitment has two important purposes. Firstly,recruitment should focus on both attraction and retention of the interest of applicants suitable for a given job. Secondly, it should create a positive image of the organization in the eyes of people who come in contact with it”. The first purpose implies that recruiters should emphasize on retaining the qualified candidates and this can be done by first giving them the job and then motivate them. This is very much necessary because the issue of just employing the right candidate without proper motivation can lead to brain drain and as such the overall aim of recruitment is defeated. 
Apart from this the organization, department or ministry in question that is recruiting the candidates should try as much as possible to portray its good image by demonstrating high sense of fairness at the very time of selecting candidates. The candidates should be given equal, fair and even treatment irrespective of ethnic background, religious differences and other sentimental issues. This will definitely give the candidates a feeling that they make the right choice and will try as much as possible to put in their best in achieving the stated aims, goals and objectives. One of the reasons that most employees fail on the job is the fact that they are not fairly treated. Openness,fairness and equity should therefore serve as one of the guiding criteria for recruiting candidates. Recruitment and selection of personnel into the service is often conducted through series of stages known as the resourcing cycle. The resourcing cycle begins with the identification of a vacancy and ends when the successful candidate is performing the job to an acceptable standard. The research therefore seek to profer an evaluation of    personnel recruitment policies in the public service.with a case study of the Rivers state civil service.        
1.2      STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM   
The nature of the process of recruitment into the public service in Nigeria has consistently been levelled as been Unfair, unjust,fraudulent and ethnic baised and unacceptable. The Nigerianization of the civil service was coated with the perpetuated problems of sectionalism; nepotism and tribalism which according to scholars such as could be traced from the rationalization and popular purges which gave birth to competitions among ethnicities in the country who want to favor their ethnic clans. These issues ever since then became very critical and never left the Nigerian public service.However the articulation and implementation of adequate and functional recruitment policy to address this lapses is fundamental . Therefore the problem confronting the research is to profer an evaluation of  personnel recruitment policy in the public service with a case study of the Rivers state civil service.     
1.3       RESEARCH      QUESTION       
1      What is the nature of personnel recruitment policy in the public service.       
2      What is the significance 
1      What is the nature and significance of personnel recruitment policy in the Rivers state civil service       
1.4       OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY 
1   To determine the nature  and significance of   personnel recruitment policy in the public service 
2   To determine   the nature and significance of personnel recruitment policy in the Rivers state civil Service         
1.5    SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH      
The study shall attempt to profer possible measures towards addressing the numerous problems confronting. The recruitment policy in the Nigerian public service It shall also serve as a useful source of information to managers and institution in the public service       
1.6    STATEMENT OF THE HYPOTHESIS   
1         Ho   Recruitment in rivers state civil service is low       
           Hi    Recruitment in rivers state civil service is high   
2         Ho    Recruitment policy  in rivers state civil service is not effective       
           Hi     Recruitment policy  in rivers state civil service is  effective   
3         Ho    Impact of recruitment policy in rivers state civil service is low 
           Hi    Impact of recruitment policy in rivers state civil service is high     
1.7      SCOPE OF THE STUDY          
The   study focuses on the evaluation of personnel recruitment policy in the public service. With a case study of the Rivers state civil service.       
1.8      DEFINITION OF TERMS                 
RECRUITMENT DEFINED: Recruitment is a process of attracting individuals on a timely basis, in sufficient numbers and with appropriate qualifications, developing their interest in an organization and encouraging them to apply for jobs within it.” This is a clear indication that the exercise is not conducted all year round but at a designated time when the need arise.The need arises as a result of vacant position created by those who left the service as a result of either retirement, withdrawal from the service or other reasons. 
PERMANENCE DEFINED “Permanence”. The Public service is often defined as a permanent body of officials that carryout government decisions. It is permanent and its life is not tied to the life of any particular government   
Application Blanks An application blank is the form given to job applicants from which information about their qualifications, experience and any other information that are related to an applicant’s ability to perform well on the job is gotten. In summary, the application blanks request for information that is job-related. Through the application blanks, the interviewer gets some specific information about the applicant which will be useful in the main employment interview. This helps to test the applicant’s reliability and accuracy of facts.  
Tests: Tests are seen as the most objective method of judging applicants provided they are well exposed to the same test under the same condition. Tests are increasingly becoming an integral part of the selection process because of its obvious advantages. There are different types of tests and the one chosen by an organization depends on what that organization isengaged in and the type of personnel it wants to employ.   
SELECTION: Selection therefore, is the process of choosing from the pool of applicants, those to be hired by the organization based on the specified organizational requirements.   
INTERVIEW: An interview is a formal exchange of facts, impression and view points between a prospective employer and a prospective employee with a view to their mutual selection or parting. Interviews vary greatly in their content, but are often used to assess such things as interpersonal skills, communication skills, and teamwork skills, and can be used to assess job knowledge. Well-designed interviews typically use a standard set of questions to evaluate knowledge, skills, abilities, and other qualities required for the job.