Now that we have covered general ideas behind recruitment and selection (henceforth labeled as "R&S") , I would like to go deeper into the subject by presenting the different methods of R&S and their respective weaknesses and strengths. I would like first to point out that although recruitment and selection are often interchangeable there is clear distinction. According to scribd.com, "recruitment technically precedes selection. Recruitment involves identifying the sources of manpower and stimulating them to apply to jobs in the organizations. On the other hand, selection is the process of choosing the best out of those recruited." Now that we have that out of way let start by the recruitment methods first. Recruitment comes under two major categories (tutor2u.net), Internal (cheaper and faster) and External (flexible with more options) recruitment. The next methods are taken from humanresources.hrvinet.com

• Recruitment by the campus method. This is usually used to bolster the lower positions of the organization, and at the same time invest in future employees. This method is cheap, time efficient and usually has many candidates. Drawbacks of this method is that the people that are being acquired usually has close to zero work experience.
• Internal recruitment, career development. What makes this method valuable is that the organization can gear and steer the employee towards the very specialized need the organization requires. He will take the position with full knowledge of the company. Drawbacks include a smaller pool of candidates and needs long term planning and involvement, and could prove to require considerable company resources (specialized personal that handle this program).
• Head hunting. This method is mainly used as a recruitment tool for management and specialized positions that are hard to acquire. This method also entails (for better results) the employment of an external agency that specializes in head hunting. This method is expensive and takes considerable amount of time (searching and selecting).

Now we got a general idea about the recruitment methods, we move on to the selection methods (hrmguide.co.uk, slideshare.net). We have to note that these different methods should be used conjunctively to achieve the best results, and to land the most qualified candidates.

• Written tests / Reports. This method consists of making the candidates some form of written exam or to hand in a report. Tests include aptitude, personality, intelligence tests etc. Testing could provide to be a cost efficient tool when having a large pool of candidates, and a means to further narrow the number of candidates. In more specialized positions, an assignment or task could be given to the candidates to be accomplished, such as asking a candidate applying for a financial analyst position to hand a report stating which investments to take. Other than the benefits given above, reports can also be used to assess the written communication skills of the candidates and to gauge their ability to perform their writing duties and analytical skills.
• Interviews. This is probably the most widely used method and probably provides the best indicator of the person receiving the job. At this point the pool of candidates should be narrow enough to be able to conduct this time consuming process, which involves conducting one on one interviews with the candidates . Ideally there should be many layers of interviews and there should be many people involved in this process to get the most objective and most encompassing view.
• Internships and actual work experience. This method involves rounding up the last few candidate and pitting them against each other in the actual working environment, where the best candidate lands the position Although this is probably the least used method and probably the most costly, it is the one with the most reliable results, as you can see the candidates in an actual working environment. This method is usually used for critical positions, where tests, interviews, and background information is not enough to select the most qualified candidate.

Please note that the sources used are all hyperlinked.