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The ever‐increasing cost of seeing a graduate training contract through to its successful completion has made the selection decision, and indeed the choice of selection techniques used, increasingly vital. This paper identifies the selection methods currently used by the Scottish accountancy profession to recruit graduate trainees, compares these against best practice and highlights a number of areas where improvements to current practice would be recommended. Analysis of the selection literature revealed the range of selection techniques on offer, and from a consideration of the validity and reliability of each technique, it was possible to identify best practice in graduate selection. Data was collected by sending a questionnaire to 79 firms of Scottish Chartered Accountants. The targeted firms constituted the entire population of Scottish firms seeking to recruit a graduate trainee to commence in Autumn 2002 (as detailed within the annual ICAS Directory of Training Vacancies). Using the results of the primary and secondary data, the skills currently being sought by firms of Chartered Accountants in their graduate trainees were identified. The methods used by firms to identify these skills were then examined with each method being examined in terms of its current use as well as its value and effectiveness in practice. It was found that there have been significant changes to the skill‐set sought by firms in the early 21st Century as compared with a decade ago, with less emphasis on numeracy and more interest in softer skills such as communication and problem‐solving. As regards the techniques currently employed by firms to identify these skills, it was found that there has been some progress made over the last decade. However, the majority of firms are still reluctant to let go of what is now considered to be the more traditional interview‐based approach to selection, favouring this above what might be considered the more innovative techniques on offer. Further, it was found that few firms have designed their selection process specifically to identify the skill‐set that they have delineated. Thus, a consequent lack of consistency throughout the selection decisions was evidenced.

Reports the results of empirical research into the graduate recruitment and selection practices adopted by SMEs, and the skills being sought by employers in that sector. Describes in detail the research methods, which included interviews with large organisations to determine, alongside existing research, the extent of characteristics of SME graduate recruitment which might be particular to that sector. Findings and interpretations suggest that, in common with large organisations, SMEs value what are now termed transferable skills, although there are some differences of emphasis between the two sectors. There appears to be greater difference in the selection methods employed, though this is not as great or significant as might be expected or predicted. An important difference between the two sectors suggested by the research is the expectations placed on graduate recruits by employers in the two sectors. Unlike large employers which are more likely to provide graduate development programmes, SMEs expect an immediate contribution from graduate recruits. The implications of these similarities and differences will be explored in the final article of this series.

The search for top executives is fraught with pitfalls. Understanding them will set the process off on a strong footing and maximize the chances of a sustainable hire. This chapter examines three aspects of the search dynamic: “stakeout,” “trust-building” and the search consultant’s “ambassador role.” We reveal nine important insights. Has digitization made headhunting any easier? We correct common misconceptions and reveal the difficulty of approaching top executives with role propositions, the building of trusted relationships with clients, and the ambassador role of the executive search consultant. We examine the need for empathy and deep discernment in reading candidates. We next go more deeply into the full search process: the selection of the search firm, the search itself, the presentation of the chosen candidate and onboarding. We reveal points of attention for clients and candidates that underpin best practice.

An earlier form of this chapter by the author was published in Dutch in “Bestemming Boardroom: over zoeken en gevonden worden” (Boom, Amsterdam, 2018).

This paper aims to present recently published resources on information literacy and library instruction through an extensive annotated bibliography of publications covering all library types.

This paper annotates English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations and other materials on library instruction and information literacy published in 2017 in over 200 journals, magazines, books and other sources.

The paper provides a brief description for all 590 sources.

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a study to assess the capacity of a poor country to scale‐up its production of health workers.

The assessment consisted of a survey of institutions training doctors, nurses and technicians in Rwanda. Data on student intake, teaching staff, infrastructures and equipment were collected directly from the institutions by questionnaire administered in person. Data for the qualitative assessment of current and future capacity of production were collected by interviews.

Physical capacity in terms of classrooms and dormitories was generally good, except at the Faculty of Medicine. Laboratories and libraries were considered inadequate everywhere. Few national teachers hold a PhD and dependence on foreign trainers is high. Nursing teachers' training is also insufficient, particularly in pedagogy. As trainers are young, providing them with additional training should be easier. All institutions reported insufficient budgets. Managerial competencies are not developed. There is no licensing mechanism to ensure quality maintenance.

There is no validated data base on training institutions and the research had to rely on self‐reported statistics and other information.

A rapid increase in the production of health personnel would be difficult in the current conditions. Production strengthening should involve stakeholders from training institutions, and include measures to motivate and retain trainers, and to improve the quality of training.

The authors are not aware of similar studies in low income countries. Their methodology can be of interest to researchers and policy‐makers who do not have access to baseline data.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of graduate recruitment in the professional socialisation and subjectification of Big Four professionals.

The paper draws on documentary data and interviews conducted at one British university. It adopts an interpretive perspective and is informed by Foucault’s work on technologies of power and technologies of the self.

The paper argues that the graduate recruitment practices of Big Four firms represent a series of examinations which produce the category of ideal recruits. It moreover suggests that this category serves as the ultimate objective of an ethical process whereby aspiring accountants consciously and deliberately seek to transform themselves into the type of subjects they aspire to be – ideal recruits.

The findings of the paper are primarily based on interviews conducted at one university. Future research could explore if students at other universities experience graduate recruitment in similar or different ways.

The paper highlights the constitutive role of graduate recruitment practices and shows that they can construct ideal recruits as much as they select them. It also shows that graduate recruitment is an important anticipatory socialisation mechanism that can compel aspiring accountants to learn how to look, sound and behave like Big Four professionals long before they join such organisations. Finally, the paper discusses its implications for the future of the profession, social mobility and the use of Foucault’s work on technologies of power and the self in studying subjectivity at elite professional service firms.

A “critical case” approach is used to examine whether the recruitment practices and procedures advocated by social scientists within the personnel field are realised in practice. The “critical case” selected is the graduate recruitment known as the “milkround”, where “scientific techniques” in theory stand the best chance of being used. In practice a major discrepancy between theory and practice was found, which is explained in terms of the preoccupation with material and symbolic security that conditions the actions of personnel managers in competitively co‐ordinated employment establishments.

This case study examines the reasons that the National Skills Academy for Social Care established the first national social care management trainee scheme for newly qualified graduates. Using information from the National Skills Academy Social Care Team and confidential interviews, this case study describes how the scheme was set up, its aspirations and initial responses from the 20 graduate trainees.

The research presented here attempts to identify and analyse the reported selection criteria used in the appointment of Australian vice‐chancellors (VCs) and to contrast this with the selection criteria actually used.

Contemporary research into the nature, role and purpose of section criteria in appointment processes has chiefly been conducted in the private sector and across various hierarchical levels. The research is based on a PhD entitled “The recruitment and selection of vice‐chancellors for Australian universities”. The research for the thesis had ethics approval and involved interviews with former and incumbent chancellors, VCs, consultants, representatives of the Australian Vice‐Chancellors Committee and selection panel members. Central to this research was the selection criteria and the skill bases selection criteria attempted to measure. A questionnaire was also sent to those listed above.

The findings show that a matching of organisational antecedents with candidate attributes does occur. The research also highlights the key selection criteria used to appoint VCs. It also demonstrates how these key criteria are universally applied but in different orders depending upon the various foci of universities. Non‐stated, but important, criteria and competencies are also discussed.

No other research exists outlining the skill sets and competencies required by Australian VCs. It is hoped that this research will form the basis for further research and discovery into this field that we know so little about.

This paper illuminates the distinction between individual and organizational actors in business-to-business markets as well as the coexistence of formal and informal mechanisms of coordination in multinational corporations. The main questions addressed include the following. (1) What factors influence the occurrence of personal contacts of foreign subsidiary managers in industrial multinational corporations? (2) How such personal contacts enable coordination in industrial markets and within multinational firms? The theoretical context of the paper is based on: (1) the interaction approach to industrial markets, (2) the network approach to industrial markets, and (3) the process approach to multinational management. The unit of analysis is the foreign subsidiary manager as the focal actor of a contact network. The paper is empirically focused on Portuguese sales subsidiaries of Finnish multinational corporations, which are managed by either a parent country national (Finnish), a host country national (Portuguese) or a third country national. The paper suggests eight scenarios of individual dependence and uncertainty, which are determined by individual, organizational, and/or market factors. Such scenarios are, in turn, thought to require personal contacts with specific functions. The paper suggests eight interpersonal roles of foreign subsidiary managers, by which the functions of their personal contacts enable inter-firm coordination in industrial markets. In addition, the paper suggests eight propositions on how the functions of their personal contacts enable centralization, formalization, socialization and horizontal communication in multinational corporations.