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Recruitment and Selection Guidelines

Introduction

These guidelines are intended to help managers recruit effectively and, by so doing, contribute to our strategic objectives and particularly promote equality of opportunity in accordance with the University's Equality Policy.

The forms that are to be used in the recruitment process for all academic and support staff posts are:

The guidelines apply to all posts whether they are permanent, fixed term, hourly paid or casual. A recruitment and selection flowchart detailing the full process is also available for download.

Identification of a Vacancy

A potential vacancy arises when either you identify a new role, or an existing member of staff leaves their current role.

Each School/department has an HR Advisor assigned to them and you should consult with them as soon as you have identified the vacancy exists.

New Post

With the identification of a new role, consideration needs to be given to the following, in the first instance:

This is not an exhaustive list, but represents some of the fundamental decisions that need to be taken.

Existing Post

There are a number of sources of information you should check before making the decision to replace like for like:

Again, some possible questions that should be asked in addition to those for a new post are:

Having made your decision, you should then prepare your business case, complete the Recruitment Request form, Job Description Proforma and the Person Specification Proforma.

You must ensure that your recruitment request form details the post number and job title, as detailed on the Post Database.

Writing a Job Description

The purpose of the Job Description is to detail in general terms the range of responsibilities that the employee will be required to do. The job description forms part of the employee's Contract of Employment. In the first instance you should refer to the ARP's or Role descriptors as these form the basis of for all job descriptions.

The Job Purpose is a short statement encompassing the objective of the post. It should only be one or two sentences and identify the main duties and responsibilities, usually in order of priority. Any post must have at least six main duties and preferably no more than 12.

The additional points cover any issues that need to be referred to in terms of working environment, unsociable hours, or any issues that you feel should be communicated to applicants for the post

Writing a Person Specification

Having decided what the job is, you now need to detail what type of person could do this job. The Person Specification allows all applicants to measure themselves against the criteria laid down and gives all those involved in the shortlisting and selection process a set of detailed standards to use to measure applicants against.

Qualifications and Experience

You should detail any experience and/or formal qualifications that are essential and those which are desirable for the position, eg experience - teaching, management, cleaning; qualification - degree, Ph.D., NVQ II etc. Be as specific as possible.

You should distinguish between essential and desirable in relation to each of the following:

Skills and Knowledge

Think through the practical skills that someone will need in order to demonstrate to perform the job e.g. spreadsheets, databases, developing new courses, team leadership, report writing skills etc.

Similarly you should identify knowledge needed to do the job e.g. funding rules, employment legislation, student benefits, specific areas of the curriculum, legal requirements.

Personal Qualities

Here, you can detail criteria which are not covered by the other two headings but none the less important to the ability of the candidates to carry out the job effectively. eg meeting tight deadlines, working under pressure or responds positively to change.

Equality and Diversity

The University has an Equality Policy and it is important both legally and for the greater benefit of the University that every effort is made to fulfil the aims of the policy. As far as is practicable all employees involved in recruitment should be encouraged to undertake appropriate Recruitment and Selection Training. You are expected as a manager to have familiarised yourself with the University's Equality Policy. All applicants will be given equal consideration for selection, promotion and training.

Agreeing the Vacancy

Once you have identified a potential vacancy you should contact your HR Advisor to prepare a business case, Job Description, Person Specification and Recruit Request Form.  The purpose of this is for your HR Advisor to work with you to ensure the recruitment process is both effective and goes smoothly.  Once all the relevant details have been discussed and agreed, your HR Advisor will submit the business case and supporting paperwork for endorsement by the Director of HR and Deputy Vice Chancellor prior to submission to the Vice-Chancellor for approval.

Selection and Assessment Processes

You should also discuss and agree what selection methods will be used to appoint the successful candidate. Consideration needs to be given to whether any of the following should be used:

It is useful at this point to set the date for both shortlisting and interviews.

Recruitment Advertising

There are a number of sources of recruitment, dependant upon the vacancy, potential field of applicants and the duration of the post. These will be discussed with your HR Adviser. The options for advertising are:

All adverts are placed on the BSU Website. The HR Department budget will fund one local or national advert for each post. Any additional advertising is charged to the department or School.

Occasionally a post may be offered and fall vacant again very quickly. In this event, if the period from the advert to the vacancy is three months or less, then applications from the original advert can be reconsidered. The HR Department can assist with this.

Shortlisting

Shortlisting should be carried out as soon after the closing date as possible. Delays create a poor impression of the employer and can lose good candidates to other employers. All applicants are told that they will hear within four weeks of sending their application to us.

The Job Description and Person Specification should form the basis of the shortlisting process. The people involved in the shortlisting should be those who will be on the interview panel. Do not pass applicants details to staff within the department/School who are not involved in the recruitment process as this will contravene Data Protection regulations.

When carrying out the shortlisting process, use the criteria from the Person Specification, ensuring that all information is detailed on the forms supplied to you.

For an effective shortlist, you should aim to interview no more than five ideally, with at least one reserve candidate.

The Selection Process

Once shortlisting is complete, please contact your HR advisor so that you can plan the Interview schedule fully. Together you should complete the Shortlist/Interview Details Form which is contained at the front of the file with the application forms for all candidates. Here, you should detail the schedule for the interviews, ensuring that appropriate time is given for the different elements of the process. If this form is not completed fully, it cannot be processed and will be returned to you.

The Head of School/Department is responsible for the following:

You must allow a minimum of ten working days from passing the shortlisted candidates to HR to the interview date. This may be shorter if an interview date has been set up in advance and communicated to all potential applicants. All candidates are notified of interview by letter, or e-mail.

Interviews

All interviews must have a Chair, which is the Vice-Chancellor or his nominated representative for an academic post and a senior manager for support posts. All panels should include at least one member, usually the chair, who has attended some form of formal or informal training in Recruitment and Selection at BSU.  Interview panels should include both genders where appropriate.  Where applicants declare that they have a disability, appropriate arrangements will be made wherever possible to enable them to compete on an equal basis.

The Job Description and Person Specification should form the basis of your questions. Candidate responses should be carefully recorded using an interview notes pro forma or similar and in as much detail as possible. Each candidate should be asked the same main questions.

At the end of the interview leave no doubt about what will happen next. Should the candidates wait? If not, will someone phone and when, or will they receive written notification? If candidates remain on the premises or are currently BSU employees, the Chair should make every effort to communicate the decision to them quickly.

Assessment and Decision

To reach your decision on who to appoint:

At the end of each interview:

When making a decision, consider not just the results of the interview, but the application forms, the results of any exercises and feedback from any informal stages of the interview. e.g. when candidates have met and mixed with staff other than the panel members.

References should be treated with caution and used as reinforcement of your decision and not as part of the decision process. Any candidate without references can be offered the post but on the condition of acceptable references.

Successful and unsuccessful candidates will be informed by the Chair of the panel, or his/her representative, of the outcome.  HR will not normally contact unsuccessful external candidates unless the relevant section of the selection record has been completed.  Feedback will be given to those who request it by the Chair of the appointment panel or by HR.  All selection notes must be kept and given to the HR department.

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