Recruitment and manager satisfaction with the job performance of newly recruited industrial designers

摘要

One of the key issues for managerial staffs to select the best personnel from numerous job applicants. This study used a questionnaire to ask both the design managers of manufacturing companies and the managers of design companies regarding the methods and criteria used to recruit new industrial designers, as well as surveying their satisfaction with the job performance of newly recruited industrial designers. The relationship between the method used to recruit new industrial designers and manager satisfaction with the job performance of newly recruited industrial designers was also explored. The essential findings of the study are: (1) All the companies use face-to-face interview in the recruitment of industrial designers, 97% companies use portfolio, 38% adopt written test of aptitude test and English, and 16% adopt the right on the spot test of project design. The companies adopt written tests are the manufacturing companies of which the test is required to every newly recruited employee while only design companies have the right on the spot test to check the ability of the applicant in sketching and computer-aided design. (2) The top five criteria in the recruitment of new industrial designers are creativity, product form design ability, design quality, awareness of design trend, and sense of aesthetics; the lowest five criteria are having certificates of design skill, having award winning records, other specialties, knowledge of marketing strategy, and educational background. There exist significant differences of selection criteria among managers with different backgrounds, firm scales and business types. (3) The three performance items of newly recruited industrial designers that managers satisfy the most are schedule control ability, sense of aesthetics, and computer aided design software manipulating ability; the three worst items are free hand sketch, knowledge of engineering & manufacturing, and product planning abilities. There exist significant differences in the manager's satisfaction toward newly recruited industrial designers' job performance among different ways of recruitment. We hope that the results presented here can provide a reference for assisting the related managers in selecting appropriate new industrial designers for firms and design educational line to create suitable curriculum and teaching contents to adequately equip novice designers for their work.