Selection is a procedure where the most suitable candidate is chosen for a particular job, from amongst the available list of applicants that have applied for the job. It is a process determining the experience, skill, qualification and knowledge of an applicant with the intention of ascertaining his/her suitability for the job. Selection takes place on the basis of the condition that an individual finds himself in, though selection can be on any basis and in anything in the world, but in business management selection is based not only on the skill that the person possesses, but on how that skill, experience and knowledge is right for the job at hand. However selection can only take place where there is diversity in skill and experience, for instance: there is a class containing 10 business graduates who the same training and skills, but selection will be based on how these 10 differ in using their skills to the best possible advantage; whoever has the best result will be selected.

The most known mistake that most people make is that they mix selection with recruitment, when it is not so. Recruitment and selection are interrelated but different; they should not be seen or perceived as the same. One can say that selection is part of recruitment, recruitment comes first and selection follows. The difference is defined more clearly as follows: “recruitment is short listing the suitable candidates with preliminary interviews and selection is choosing the better candidates amongst the best ones.” Or “recruitment is the process that starts with gathering complete information about the applicant from his application form and ends with inducting the candidate into the organization, whereas selection is placing the right person in the right place at the right time.”

Selection is seen as a negative factor sometimes, because of the harmful alleles established against it sometimes. But the fact is that selection can be both, negative and positive. “Negative selection decreases the prevalence of traits that diminish individuals’ capacity to succeed reproductively.” “Positive selection increases the prevalence of adaptive traits.” Selection can also be divided into the following types and subtypes:


Patterns of Selection

Characteristics of selection can be divided into effects on a ‘phenotype’ and also their causes. Such effects are basically called “patterns of selection” however they do not necessarily result due to a particular cause or mechanism. Each pattern may arise from a range of different mechanisms, namely:

•    Disruptive selection

•    Balancing selection

•    Directional selection

•    Stabilizing selection

Disruptive selection favors people with extreme personalities or characteristics; balancing selection is a pattern which favors various characteristics, directional selection occurs “when characteristics lie along a phenotypic spectrum and the individuals at one end are more successful” and stabilizing selection is one that favors individuals who have intermediate characteristics. So we can determine that selection is a part of HRM that focuses on selecting the right thing at the right time for a particular job. It can be done on different basis, as long as the result is favorable to the job at hand.