Comparison of the recruitment process when appointing officials in Iceland before and after the economic collapse

This research examines the recruitment process prior to appointment of officials during the period of 2004 to 2012. This research investigates wheather a change has occurred in the recruiting process following the economic collapse in the fall of 2008. It is intended to provide insight into the official recruiting process. In all there were 68 appointments during the research period, 40 before the economic collapse and 28 after the collapse, which met the criteria of 13th paragraph in 22nd article of employment laws, no. 70/1996. Content analysis, which is a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, was used for processing and analyzing the data. The study investigates whether the job advertisements fulfill the criteria about job advertisments like they appear in regulations no. 464/1996 about job advertisements. Whether job advertisements for vacant jobs were published in Logbirtingablaðið (Iceland’s Legal Publication Journal), whether the application deadline were according to 7th article og the employment laws, whether special recruiting committees were used for professional support and finally the length of the recruitment process. The main results of this research indicate that there has been improvement in the recruiting process during the chosen research period. Following the economic collapse the execution of job advertisements have improved as the publication of job advertisements in Logbirtingablaðið was in most cases complied with laws and regulations. The application deadline was more often correctly indicated after the collapse, and special recruiting committees were more often used than the law stipulated. The recruitment process has however become longer after the economic collapse.