Before Recruitment

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  • Planning & Initiating Process
    1. Discuss the vacancy or new position with your supervisor and other appropriate leaders within your department. Make sure you have information about budget and funding for the position, which can be obtained within your department.

    2. Define the Position: Whether you are looking over an existing job description or creating a new job description, it is important to spend time on this step.

      Ask these four questions to help define the goal/position:
      1. Why are we hiring someone for this role? What are the objectives?
      2. What are some specific activities this person will perform? Activities should be aligned with objectives.
      3. What are the minimum requirements (i.e. the knowledge, skills, and abilities) to perform these activities well? What are the preferred requirements?
        a) Minimum requirements are...
        b) Preferred qualifications are...
      4. How do we evaluate candidate against these requirements?

        A job analysis provides a way to develop an understanding of the job by examining the tasks performed in the job, the competencies required to perform those tasks, and the connection between the tasks and competencies. Information from the job analysis will be used to determine the position classification and hiring pay range. Instructions for how to complete a job description are here.

    3. Submit a Staff Recruitment Form here. An HR representative will respond within 1 business day.

      New positions: If the position is new, your HR Business Partner will contact you. New positions created outside the P&P process must be approve by the relevant EVP and Budget approval. This process could take up to 21 business days.

      Existing positions: If the position description is changing significantly, it will go to Compensation for review. Position reviews typically take up to ten business days and your HR Business Partner will call if there are any questions.

    4. Approvals: After receiving approval on your position description, you will receive notification to log into UR Talent Web to complete a job requisition. The request will go through a brief approval queue.

      The Office of Planning and Budget will complete the final approval before routing to your Talent Acquisition Specialist. If your Talent Acquisition Specialist has questions about the position, they will reach out to you within two business days.
  • Strategy Meeting

    The strategy meeting lays the foundation and a joint understanding of the hiring manager’s needs. A new hire offers an opportunity to improve the diversity across your team. Keep in mind that the idea is to hire the best person for the role, no matter the ethnicity, age, or gender, while knowing that you performed a thorough candidate search.

    Meeting with your TAS

    During the Strategy Meeting, the hiring manager meets with their Talent Acquisition Specialist (TAS), to discuss the purpose, goals, key performance indicators, skills, expectations and challenges of the open position. The timeframe of the recruitment process, where you should target advertising, and the logistics plan of recruitment will also be discussed. The strategy meeting enables TAS and the hiring manager to be work together towards the same goal and establish joint accountability.

  • Forming a Search Committee

    The search committee is an ideal place to lay the foundation for an equitable and inclusive recruitment/hiring process.

    To ensure the success of your search, the Hiring Manager’s responsibility is key during the recruitment process. They are responsible for forming a search commitee and/or designating him/herself or another individual as the chair to lead various activities of the recruitment process, such as screening applicants and interviewing candidates. Depending on the situation, this could be the hiring manager.

    The following is best practice guidance to assist with forming a search committee:

    • How many? Select four to seven members. For Grade 7 and higher, five to ten members may be appropriate.
    • When deciding who should serve on committee?
      • Overall, the committee should able to provide a variety of perspectives on the role and function of the position being filled.
      • Ensure the committee is well balanced in terms of gender, race/ethnicity.
      • Consist of other staff (for staff committees) but may include faculty, students and/or alumni as appropriate to the position.
      • Each member should:
        • Have thorough understanding of the role.
        • Understand the needs of the of the department and University.
        • Be able to actively participate in the entire process (ex: interviews, discussions)
    • What next? Upon identifying members, send an invitation (and remember to copy supervisors).

    Recruitment Resources: Creating and Managing the Search Committee

    Hiring Manager and/or Search Committee Chair Responsibilities

    1. Participate in the Charge meeting and ensure that the charge is clear and precise. Ambiguity in the Charge, in the role of the search committee, or in the extent of the search committee’s authority can create confusion that could hinder and delay the competitive recruitment process at critical points.
      • The Charge is a meeting between the search committee and the hiring manager/search committee chair (may be designated for some searches). During this meeting the hiring manager.
      • Defines the position to be filled wih the job posting attached.
      • Clarifies the tasks and role of the search commitee, including for example:
        1. How many candidates should be forwarded to the hiring manager?
        2. How the finalists are to be ranked or unranked.
        3. How feedback on each candidate is given to the hiring manager.
        4. Identifies the final decision makers.
        5. Defines the résumé review and interview implementation plan.

    2. Lead the search committee during the recruitment process.
      • Promote a collegial atmosphere.
      • Manage confidentiality and determine how the search committee will communicate with each other, the campus community, and with applicants.
      • Promote and practice compliance with applicable laws and policies.
      • Screen applicant(s)
      • Decide on who opens/closes/guides the interview(s).
      • Establish a process to ask interview questions and follow-up questions.

        Recruitment Resources: Interview Agenda and Interview Questionnaire

      • Schedule interviews.
        • Provide search committee with candidate materials, interview questions, interview evaluation forms, interview location, interview agenda and questionnaire.
        • Ensure interview rooms are equipped with proper technology (if necessary), chairs, and water
        • Serve as point of contact to the search committee and applicants/candidates to answer any questions.

    3. Use a candidate evaluation tool to collect feedback from search committee after the final interview.

      Maintain discussions that treat all applicants/candidates with respect and equity.
      Consider diversity and under-utilization.

      Recruitment Resource: Qualtrics Survey Tool

    4. Keep applicants/candidates informed of process and timelines.
      • Work with your Talent Acquisition Specialist in order to communicate to unsuccessful applicants/candidates in a timely manner.
      • Provide feedback on candidates and present finalist(s).

    5. Document and Evaluate
    • Maintain recruitment documentation.
    • Evaluate the recruitment process and share feedback with the hiring manager.

    Search Committee Responsibilities

    1. Participate in the charge meeting.
    2. Review applicant (as appropriate) and candidate materials, interview questions, and complete interview evaluation rating forms.
    3. Follow interview agenda and attend all scheduled interviews.
    4. Maintain confidentiality.
    5. Assess applicants/candidates and participate in evaluations process and use tool to identify finalist(s).
    6. Provide evaluative feedback to hiring manager/search committee chair as requested.
  • Commitment to Creating a Diverse & Inclusive Community

    Workplace diversity is defined as understanding, accepting, and valuing differences between people of different races, ethnicities, genders, ages, religions, disabilities, and sexual orientations, as well as differences in personalities, skill sets, experiences, and knowledge bases.

    There are two main categories of diversity:

    1. Inherent diversity: Demographic characteristics like ethnicity, race, sex, age, and sexual orientation.
    2. Acquired diversity: Factors such as education, experience, values, skills, and knowledge.

    Thinking intentionally about diversity and inclusion before your recruitment and hiring process will benefit your department and the university by increasing:

    • Exposure to varied viewpoints and positions
    • The problem solving ability of the team as groups with greater diversity can solve complex problems better and more quickly than homogenous groups
    • Cultural knowledge and understanding
    • Cultural awareness
    • Diminising culture stereotypes
    • Enhancing ability to adapt success

    It is important for Search Committees to discuss ways to recruit and retain an inclusive and diverse workforce. It is also important to be aware of barriers that prevent inclusive and diverse hiring, such as the impact of bias and implicit associations during the talent acquisition phase.

    Tips and Considerations

    • The hiring manager/search committee should be aware of how “subtle bias” can negatively impact the search process.
    • The hiring manager/search committee should be mindful that the presence of diversity of thought within a search committee does not replace the value of differences based on gender, race, ethnicity, age, disability, veteran status, professional rank or status, etc.
    • The search committee should pay close attention to the demographics within the workplace (unit/department levels). An awareness of similar or consistent ethnic, racial, gender, and academic hiring patterns should produce direct conversations about homogenous work environments.

    Video Resources

    We encourage you to watch the following videos to expand your understanding of diversity in recruitment and hiring.

  • Pre-Recruitment Tools
  • Advertising

    The goal of any job posting is to find the very best candidate for the position, which requires you to search widely and from diverse sources. Strategic recruiting can also help attract diverse candidates who can bring new and exciting perspectives to the university.

    Below is a list standard advertising:

    Other sites could include, but are not limited to:

    For additional sites, please reach out to your Talent Acquisition Specialist to discuss next steps and costs.