BEYOND THE CV: MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION MODELING FOR STRATEGIC INTERNSHIP SELECTION

Abstract

The process of internship selection is an important phase of organisational talent development, especially in the consultancy market, where interns are expected to fit into the working environment quickly. The process of making decisions, however, is mostly subjective and not based on a structured assessment system. The objective of this study is to create a guided decision model of internship selection based on a fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making model. This study has developed a Fuzzy Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (Fuzzy TOPSIS) to rank internship applicants. The current model is illustrated in a case study conducted at an engineering consultancy firm in Malaysia. Based on the case study, several main criteria were used to develop the decision model, including demographic factors, academic background, communication competency, interpersonal competency, and managerial competency. The findings suggest that behavioural and organizational capabilities have a more substantial impact on a candidate's suitability than academic factors alone. The candidate with the top score has shown moderation across various criteria rather than leadership in one attribute. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the robustness of the ranking outcomes. Empirical research has demonstrated the applicability of the approach to the strategic vendor selection issue.