Recruitment and Selection Services in Bangladesh
Recruitment and selection is the work of finding candidates for a vacancy and then choosing one of them on evidence: a written person specification, screened applications, tests and structured interviews, checked references and documents, and an appointment letter that states the probation term. PayrollBD runs that process from Dhaka for employers in Bangladesh, and the hiring decision stays with you.
What is recruitment and selection?
Two halves of one job. Recruitment brings applicants to the vacancy: the role written down, the specification agreed, the advertisement placed and the applications screened. Selection chooses among them on evidence: a test where the work can be tested, a structured interview scored by more than one person, references, document checks and a written offer. Each half is listed below with what PayrollBD produces at every step.
The recruitment stage
Four steps, and the first two are the ones most employers skip. A vacancy advertised before the role is written down attracts applicants against a job that does not yet exist on paper, and every later judgement drifts. PayrollBD writes the analysis and the specification first, then sources and screens against them.
- Job analysisThe duties, reporting line, hours and pay band written down before anything is advertised, so every later stage measures against the same role.
- Person specificationThe qualifications, experience and behaviours the role needs, split into must-have and useful, and ranked before the first application is read.
- SourcingAdvertising, job boards, the PayrollBD candidate pool and direct approaches, chosen for the role rather than used all at once.
- ScreeningApplications read against the specification, then short telephone calls to confirm the basics before anyone is invited in.
The selection stage
Four steps, each of which leaves a score or a document rather than an impression. The assessment and the structured interview are marked against the rubric agreed at the brief, the references and document checks are written up, and the offer becomes an appointment letter with the probation term stated in it.
- AssessmentA work-sample task or a test where the role can be tested, scored against the rubric agreed with you at the brief.
- Structured interviewThe same questions in the same order for every candidate, with each interviewer scoring independently before the panel compares notes.
- References and documentsTwo references taken by telephone, and identity, age and qualification documents checked and copied before any offer is made.
- Appointment letterThe terms in writing with the probation period stated, drafted for your signature, because the Act requires a letter for every worker.
Why does the selection stage matter?
Because three things the Bangladesh Labour Act 2006 fixes about a new worker are settled at selection, not after it. They are whether the person may lawfully be employed at all, how long the probation runs, and what the appointment letter must exist to say.
The table names each check, what the Act requires, and what PayrollBD records for you. Every provision was read in full from the Act’s text before being named here.
| Selection check | What the Act says | What is recorded |
|---|---|---|
| Age of the candidate | No child under fourteen; an adolescent needs a fitness certificate | Identity document checked and copied before the offer |
| Probation term | Six months for clerical work, three months for other workers, extendable for skilled workers | Stated in the appointment letter |
| Appointment letter and identity card | Required for every worker under section 5 | Issued on the start date, copy filed |
Section 2 of the Act defines a child as a person who has not completed his fourteenth year of age. An adolescent is a person who has completed his fourteenth year but has not completed eighteenth year of age. Section 34 provides that no child shall be employed or permitted to work in any occupation or establishment. An adolescent may be employed only when a certificate of fitness granted by a registered medical practitioner is in the custody of the employer. Section 4 calls a worker a probationer while provisionally employed to fill a permanent vacancy. It sets the period of probation at six months for a worker whose function is of clerical nature and three months for other workers, and for a skilled worker the period may be extended by an additional period of three months if it has not been possible to determine the quality of his work within the first three months. Section 5 provides that no employer shall employ any worker without giving such worker a letter of appointment. Every such employed worker shall be provided with an identity card with photograph. The Act’s text is reproduced by the International Labour Organization, and the official text is published on the Ministry of Law’s bdlaws site. Reviewed by Eicra Binte Islam, HR Admin, PayrollBD.
What does PayrollBD commit to?
Four commitments, each of which is a named boundary rather than a virtue word. They describe who decides, what is written down, who sees the candidate papers and who carries the vacancy from start to finish. A selection run by an outside firm should be more accountable than one run by memory inside your own office, not less.
Who decides, and who signs?
You decide and you sign. PayrollBD writes the specification with you, runs every stage and hands over a ranked shortlist with scores.
The choice of candidate, the offer and the appointment letter carry your name, because the Act places the duty to issue that letter on the employer.
Where the vacancy is not a selection job at all, the neighbouring service is named below rather than forced into this one.
A senior or confidential appointment belongs with executive search. Hiring at volume for a plant or a project runs under manpower recruitment. Handing over the whole recruiting function under one contract is recruitment process outsourcing. The appointment papers, wage deadlines and records after the hire are covered on the hiring services page.
How does a vacancy brief start?
With the vacancy brief, sent through the form or by email, and a call to turn it into the person specification and the scoring rubric. The written terms follow before any candidate is contacted, so the fee, the stages included and the calendar are agreed first.
The five items the brief must carry are listed beside the form. A brief that lacks one of them is completed on the call rather than guessed.
What the brief contains
Five items, and the pay band is the one most often left out. Without it, candidates are interviewed who will refuse the offer, and the strongest name on the shortlist is the one you cannot afford. Each item below is confirmed on the first call before the specification is written.
- TitleThe job title and its grade or level inside your structure.
- Reporting lineWho the person reports to, and who reports to them.
- Pay bandThe range you will offer, so nobody is interviewed outside it.
- Must-havesThe qualifications and experience without which a candidate is not appointable.
- Start dateWhen the person must be in the seat, which sets the calendar for every stage.
Permanent hire or contract hire?
The selection method is the same for both; what changes is the paper at the end and the calendar. A permanent hire ends in an appointment letter with a probation term, while a contract hire ends in a fixed-term letter whose end date is written in from the start.
The brief states which one the vacancy is, and the two cases are set out below so the right letter is drafted the first time.
Permanent placements
A permanent hire is selected against the full specification, because the person is expected to grow into the next grade rather than only fill the current one.
The probation term is stated in the appointment letter, the review at its end is put in the calendar on the day the letter is signed, and the identity card is issued on the start date.
Where the role is a head of function, the search side of the work moves to the executive search service and the selection side stays here.
Contract and project hires
A contract hire is selected against the deliverable rather than the career: the specification names what must be finished and by when, and the interview tests that.
The letter states the end date and the notice on both sides, and the same identity, age and qualification checks are made as for a permanent hire, because the Act draws no line there.
Where the need is a whole crew for a season or a peak, the contingent workforce service fits better than a one-by-one selection.
How does the selection run?
Six stages, each closed with a document before the next begins, so you can see at any point which candidates are still in and why. The calendar is set by your interview availability and by the notice period of the person you choose, and both are written into the brief rather than promised as dates.
1. Write the job analysis and person specification with you, and agree the scoring rubric.
2. Advertise and source the vacancy, then screen every application against the specification.
3. Run the assessment and the structured interview, scored by more than one interviewer.
4. Take two references and check identity, age and qualification documents.
5. Present the ranked shortlist with the scores; you decide and set the offer.
6. Draft the appointment letter with the probation term for your signature, and file the copy.
Which vacancies does recruitment?
One vacancy or a small batch of similar ones, from officer to manager level, where the wrong appointment would be expensive and the right one can be tested. It fits a company without an HR desk of its own, an HR desk that is full, and a foreign parent that wants the selection scored and documented rather than described.
It does not fit a senior or confidential appointment, which is a search rather than a selection; hiring at volume, where the classification and the papers matter more than the interview; or a business that wants its whole recruiting function run under one contract. Each of those has its own page, named in the section above, and a brief that belongs there is passed there rather than run here.
Whichever way it falls, the decision stays with you: PayrollBD scores and documents the selection, and the choice, the offer and the appointment letter carry your name. The scores, references and checked documents are handed over with the file, so a later audit reads the same record you decided on.
What gets asked before a brief?
Four questions come up before nearly every brief: what the steps are, who decides at the end of them, what the work costs, and which documents are checked before an offer goes out. They are answered below in the order they are usually asked, and each answer names where the point is written down.
Four questions, one basis each
Each answer opens with the position PayrollBD takes and then names its basis: the brief, the written terms, or a section of the Labour Act read in full for this page. Where a question depends on the vacancy, the answer says so rather than offering a figure or a date that would not hold for every role.
What are the steps in recruitment and selection?
Six, in a fixed order. First the job analysis and person specification are written with you and a scoring rubric is agreed. Second, the vacancy is advertised and sourced and every application is screened against the specification. Third, the assessment and the structured interview are run and scored by more than one interviewer.
Fourth, references are taken and identity, age and qualification documents are checked. Fifth, the ranked shortlist goes to you with the scores, and you decide. Sixth, the appointment letter is drafted with the probation term for your signature.
Who makes the final hiring decision?
You do, at every point where a decision is needed. PayrollBD writes the specification with you, runs the screening, assessment, interviews and checks, and hands over a ranked shortlist with the scores and notes behind each name.
The choice of candidate, the offer and the appointment letter are yours, because the employer named in that letter is you and the Labour Act places the duty to issue it on the employer. Our recommendation is written down, so you can see why a name is first and disagree on the record.
What does recruitment and selection cost?
The fee is agreed at the brief, in writing, and it depends on which stages you hand over and how many vacancies are in the batch. A full run from specification to appointment letter is priced differently from a selection-only engagement where you have already gathered the applicants, and a batch of similar roles is priced as one campaign.
The written terms name what is included, what counts as a completed stage, and what happens if the vacancy is withdrawn mid-process, before any candidate is contacted.
Which documents are checked before an offer?
Identity and age first, from the national identity card or the birth registration certificate, because the Labour Act bars employment of a child under fourteen and allows an adolescent of fourteen to eighteen only with a fitness certificate from a registered medical practitioner held by the employer.
Then the certificates behind any qualification the specification treats as a must-have, and two references taken by telephone and written up. The check sheet is filed with the appointment letter, so the record of why a person was appointable sits with the record of the appointment.
Send the vacancy you need filled
Send the title, the reporting line, the pay band, the must-haves and the start date. We come back with the person specification, the scoring rubric, the stages we propose to run and the written terms, before a single application is read or a single candidate is called.