Non-Faculty Recruitment Process
BEFORE THE RECRUITMENT BEGINS
When a vacancy occurs in your department,
use the Pre-Meeting Checklist below to prepare for your
recruitment. After you have all the information on the
checklist, contact Human Resources (HR) at extension x6435
to set up a meeting with an Employment Representative (ER).
____ Review and update the Job Description of the
position and the list of essential functions.
____ List any special physical requirements of the
job on the Physical Requirements and Working Conditions of
Job form (lifting heavy boxes on a regular basis, moving
equipment, etc.) and/or unusual environmental hazards
(noise, fumes, etc.).
____ List any specialized skills required
for performance of job duties.
____ List any specialized skills preferred for
performance of job duties.
____ Decide who will chair the search committee.
When you meet with the Employment Representative assigned
to help you with your recruitment, you will be given a
recruitment packet (see examples in this section) and
samples of other materials (supplemental questionnaires,
screening criteria, and interview questions) to help you
prepare for the recruitment process.
The Employment Representative will
- discuss advertising strategies and ways to attract
qualified applicants,
- suggest examples of work, supplemental questionnaires,
etc. to add to the application package, and
- explain alternatives to recruitment.
Please complete the materials in the recruitment packet
now.
After you have completed the recruitment packet materials
and sent them to the HR Office, a Human
Resources staff member will review the materials and will
assure that the position is appropriately classified. Your
Employment Representative will draft a Vacancy Announcement
and, when necessary, newspaper/journal advertisement for
your approval. The Employment Representative will also
review criteria and interview questions with you.
If, at any time in the process, you have questions, want
help, or need information (job descriptions, classification
standards, etc.), please call HR at extension 6435.
Specific information and examples on recruitment,
advertising and supplemental questionnaires are provided
later in this section.
The materials you will prepare on essential job
functions, specialized skills, and physical
requirements provide HR staff with the information
they need to draft a vacancy announcement and advertise
your position. These materials also contain the
information you will use to develop criteria for
screening applications and prepare interview questions.
Useful
Information
Physical Requirements and Working Conditions
Of Job Form
The HR staff advertises the position for 14 30 days.
If there is a chance that the pool of applicants is too
small to produce a promising group of finalists, the Search
Committee should take additional steps to attract
applicants. Telephone calls, networking, and specialized
advertising are effective strategies.
The position description will appear in the Vacancy
Announcement and may be advertised in newspapers/journals of
your choice. HR will answer applicant questions and give you
updates on the progress of the recruitment.
Your vacancy can be advertised in several ways, depending
upon the level of the position, the difficulty in attracting
qualified applicants, affirmative action guidelines, and
your preferences.
HR advertises all openings weekly in the Vacancy
Announcements. This bulletin is available by electronic
mail and is sent to personnel offices at all campuses within
the California State University system and the University of
California system. It is also sent (depending upon the level
of the position and your preferences) either to agencies on
a local mailing list or on a statewide mailing list. You may
provide us with your own mailing list in addition to our
normal distribution sources or we will provide you with
extra copies to send.
Newspaper or journal advertisements can be placed
at the request of hiring departments, the Employment
Representative, or the Affirmative Action Officer. As an
expert in your field, you may know what newspapers or
journals will reach more qualified applicants for
specialized positions. You can select those sources and your
Employment Representative will place the advertisements.
Journals often take more lead time due to print deadlines so
factor that additional time into your recruitment plan.
If you would like suggestions for effective advertising
sources, your Employment Representative will recommend
newspapers or journals that have been effective in
attracting applicants in previous recruitments.
HR will draft an ad for your approval. Unless you request
that specific details be included in the ad, we will
normally put together a "bare bones" ad. The
following example includes a little more detail than a true
"bare bones" ad (the detail in bold could be left
out but the other information must be included):
|
ACCOUNTING TECHNICIAN II, full-time, perm, probationary.
$2696/mo + bene. Journey-level position req 3 yrs record-keeping and supervisorial exp. For details and req application materials, call CSU, Chico Jobline
530-898-6888.
TDD avail at 530-898-6435. Application deadline
2/13/06 AA/EOE/ADA |
HR will obtain estimates for your specific ads and
run dates. The hiring department pays for newspaper and
journal advertisements.
After HR staff notifies you of the cost of your
advertisement, you must prepare a Purchase/Service
Requisition (PSR) and submit this form to Contracting.
Contracting requires 24 hours to prepare the
Purchase/Service Order (PSO) using the information on the
PSR. Please ask Contracting to notify HR when the PSO is
ready. HR staff will pick up the original PSO from
Contracting and fax it to the vendor. The newspapers will
not run an ad until they receive the authorizing PSO. HR
pays for an ad every Sunday in the Chico Enterprise-Record
that lists vacancies by position title.
Many departments prefer to add supplemental
questionnaires to their application packages. These forms
ask applicants to answer specific questions about their
qualifications for a position and make it easier for Search
Committees to screen applications, especially when
qualifications for a position are unusual or very
specialized (applicants often give general information in
their application materials that does not address
qualification issues precisely).
Sample questionnaires for various types of positions are
on file in HR for your use. You can develop your own
questionnaire, based on your screening criteria, or ask your
Employment Representative for suggestions. Examples of
questionnaires can be viewed here and here.
As applications arrive, HR will check that they include
all the information you have requested. Candidates will be
notified immediately if they fail to include required
information.
At this point the Search Committee will be formed. While
the position is being advertised, your Employment
Representative will meet with the Search Committee to:
- provide guidelines on screening and interviewing,
- help select a method for screening and interviewing,
- discuss affirmative action considerations and
collective bargaining issues, and
- answer questions the committee may have about the
process.
The Employment Representative will screen the
applications to be sure that the candidates forwarded to the
Search Committee meet the minimum qualifications for the
position, including any specialized skills. Upon request,
the committee chair may review all applications. Following
the screening, HR will notify applicants who have not met
the MQs that their application will not be considered.
Search Committee Screening
Using criteria based on the qualifications listed on the
vacancy announcement, the Search Committee will screen the
applications with one of the available screening methods.
Committee members may screen by:
- Placing each applicant into one of three categories
(yes, no or maybe). An example of a Candidate Screening Form and a Screening
Consensus Form for use with this method are shown on pages
3.5 and 3.6 respectively.
- Identifying the top candidates by rank order. See pages 3.7 through 3.9 for sample screening forms to
be used with this method.
- Some combination or modification of these methods.
The committee may choose to go through as many screenings
or "cuts" as it wishes and different methods may
be used for different levels of screening.
Two procedures are required regardless of the methods
chosen by the Search Committee.
One, the committee must arrive at consensus after
independently reading each applicant's materials and
categorizing or prioritizing the applicants.
Two, whether the screening is done in one stage or
several (to reduce a large number of applicants to a
manageable size), the committee must arrive at consensus at
each stage of screening. It must also provide a reason for
eliminating each applicant at each stage. The screening
rating sheet is provided to facilitate this requirement.
Early in the screening process, the committee must define
consensus. Will it be a simple majority vote, a two-thirds
majority vote, or unanimous acceptance of a position? At the
conclusion of the process the committee must record its
screening decision on a consensus form. Each member must
sign the form stating that the applicants chosen were
arrived at by consensus. The signature does not represent
agreement with the screening but does acknowledge that the
outcome was reached by consensus of the committee members.
The Search Committee will submit a list of candidates for
interview to HR. The committee may submit a more detailed
report on the screening process and a minority report may
also be submitted. Such reports must be signed by the
author(s).
After identifying qualified candidates, the committee
will return all materials to HR. These materials include
applications, rating sheets, consensus form, and information
for the interview. Notes taken by committee members which
are not included in the final record of the search, must be
destroyed by the members themselves. Committee members'
individual notes must not be retained separately.
The Employment Representative and the Affirmative Action
Officer review the application materials and advise the
Search Committee of the status of compliance with the
University Affirmative Action Plan and other policies. The
decision about whether the application materials meet
compliance requirements guides the Search Committee in
finalizing the list of interview candidates.
After the list of persons to be interviewed is finalized,
the interview process begins.
Three or more candidates are usually interviewed.
Exceptions include:
- the position is in a CSEA bargaining unit to which
Article 9.2 of the contract applies and/or
- fewer than three qualified candidates apply.
HR will schedule interviews within seven working days of
receipt of the completed Resume Evaluation Sheets.
Departments may arrange with HR to schedule their own
interviews.
HR will prepare and mail letters to applicants not
selected for interview.
HR will prepare an interview packet for each committee
member and notify the panel chair when they are available.
Each packet will contain:
- The Guide to Interviewing
- An interview schedule
- The completed application*
- Interview questions (which were prepared during Step 1)
- Interview Forms
- Interview Rating Form - panel member's rating sheet
- Interview Rating Form - ranking by consensus
- Consensus Form
- Vacancy Announcement
- Employment Information Release forms*
* Search Committee Chair's packet only
Note: The Employment Information Release form authorizes the
University to check references of prospective employees. The
chair of the Search Committee is responsible for having
applicants sign and date these forms, and returning them to
HR. A sample form is provided
here.
The Search Committee conducts the interviews and
completes the individual rating forms. Following the
interviews, the committee members must discuss their
rankings of the applicants. Each committee member presents
arguments for his/her ranking and a consensus must be
reached. Consensus means that each person can agree with the
ranking even though he/she may disagree on some points.
After reaching consensus, each committee member completes
an Interview Rating Form. Then the committee completes the
Interview Consensus Form. Methods for rating interviewees
are the same as those used for screening, i.e. yes, no,
maybe categorization and rank order. Sample Interview Rating
and Interview Consensus forms used with each method are on
pages 4.9 through 4.12. The committee states the top
candidates' strengths and weaknesses on the these forms and
committee members sign them indicating agreement. (No
unacceptable candidates shall be recommended for selection.)
Then the chair forwards the individual Interview Rating
forms, the Interview Consensus forms, and the Consensus Form
(sample on page 4.13), which is used to make the
recommendation for hire, to HR.
Minority report
If a committee member disagrees with the consensus
decision, he/she may prepare and attach to the consensus
form a report of his/her opinion.
Note: Search Committee members should refer to the Guide To
Interviewing (included with each interview packet) for
detailed information about interviewing and are encouraged
to contact the Employment Representative with specific
questions.
- Be prepared. Familiarize yourself with the position
and review the list of approved questions prior to the
interview.
- Help each applicant feel at ease and encourage him/her
to do most of the talking by asking open-ended questions.
- Ask the same questions of each applicant and give each
one adequate time to respond. Do not hesitate to ask
additional job-related questions.
- Use the same criteria to evaluate each applicant.
- Do not discriminate, do not ask illegal or
inappropriate questions. (This issue will be discussed at
length during screening/interview training.)
- At the end of the interview, be sure to ask each
applicant if there is any information he/she would like to
add which was not covered.
- All application information, including the interview
is strictly confidential.
Guide To
Interviewing
When HR receives the Screening/Selection form from the
Search Committee, the Employment Representative will conduct
a compliance review. When the position is underutilized, the
Affirmative Action Officer (AAO) will check for protected
group members among the top candidates and notify the
Employment Representative. The Employment Representative
notifies the department head if any of the candidates are
protected group members.
If none of the top candidates is a protected group member
or if there is no question of underutilization, the
department head selects a candidate from the list and
informs HR of the selection.
When underutilization exists and a protected group member
is among the top candidates, the department head must select
the candidate or justify, in writing, to the AAO the reasons
for not selecting the protected group member. If the AAO
does not agree with the justification and the department
head and AAO cannot come to an agreement, the issue is taken
to the appropriate vice president(s) for resolution.
After the selection is made, either HR or the department
(after consulting with HR) will conduct reference checks on
the top candidate. If the department performs this task, the
department head sends the documentation (completed reference
check forms) to HR.
When reference checks are negative, the department may:
- select another candidate on the list,
- interview other candidates,
- extend the search,
- terminate the search and postpone hiring.
Before an offer is made, the Employment Representative
will complete the Employment Offer Checklist to insure that
complete and accurate information about the offer is
communicated to the department and the candidate.
The department or HR will verbally offer the position to
the candidate of choice, stating conditions of the hire as
they appear in the Employment Offer Checklist. If the
candidate accepts the offer and meets all conditions, HR
prepares an appointment letter for the appointing
authority's signature and mailing. If the candidate rejects
the offer, the department may:
- select another candidate on the list,
- interview other candidates,
- extend the search,
- terminate the search and postpone hiring.
Before the successful candidate begins work, the
department must submit a completed Staff Action
Form to HR and the candidate must sign and return
the appointment letter to HR (confirming the terms of
appointment). HR will notify the department when the signed
letter is received.
Staff Action Form: (excel/xls)
On the first day of work the new employee will go to HR
to complete appointment paperwork and receive a New Employee
Orientation Packet (if applicable). New employees who are
eligible for benefits must attend a New Employee Orientation
Session. The date, time and location of the session will be
noted on the inside cover of the orientation packet and in
the employee's appointment letter.
After the recruitment is finished, HR will ask the hiring
department and Search Committee for written and verbal
feedback about the process. Periodically, HR will also
solicit feedback about the process from successful and
unsuccessful candidates. This information will be used to
improve the process and to better meet campus needs.
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