Policies And Procedures For Recruitment And Hiring

Introduction to Recruitment Policies and Procedures

Interview Expenses Guidelines

It is the policy of Skidmore College to establish and adhere to standard recruitment procedures. This guide has been developed as a resource and guide to individuals with responsibility for recruiting, interviewing, selecting and hiring of employees.

Skidmore students have to see themselves in the faculty, staff and leadership of the College. Building upon a diverse and inclusive community is essential to furthering Skidmore’s tradition of excellence.

MARC C. CONNER, President

We plan to "Increase our efforts to recruit and retain faculty members, administrators and staff members who represent excellence in their field and who also will increase the diversity of our employee population." —Goal II of Skidmore's Strategic Plan

This document is developed with the intent of guiding interviewers in recruitment and related processes used at Skidmore College.

RECRUITMENT PROCEDURE

Skidmore's recruitment procedure promotes the fundamental philosophy of equal opportunity by selecting the best qualified individuals available and meeting the college's mission. Recruitment and hiring procedures as defined here are to be applied uniformly.

A qualified individual is one who meets the minimum required qualifications for any position advertised. The minimum qualifications should be reflected in the candidate's training and experience, either through education, work, volunteer experience, or a combination thereof.

All full- and part-time positions are covered by these policies and procedures. Emergency or unusual recruitment needs may allow a search to be exempted (waived) from this procedure with the approval of the Assistant Director of Equal Employment Opportunity and Workforce Diversity (ADEWD).

Recruitment for temporary, permit (on-call), or summer appointments are not bound by this procedure; however, whether in the formal process or not, inclusive hiring should always be the goal. The standard recruitment procedure must be followed if an employee on a temporary appointment chooses to compete for a regular full- or part-time position.

Procedures for a Vacancy

1.  Job Requisition 

• Faculty Hiring Workflow
• Staff Hiring Workflow

2.  Advertising/Sourcing

• Internal Announcement
• External Announcement
• Diversity Resources

3.  Collection of Resumes/Vitae/Applications

• Acknowledgment and Receiving Resumes

4.  Interviewing and Selection

• Contacting the ADEWD
• Reviewing Resumes/Vitae/Applications
• Phone Reference Check
• Legal and Illegal Interview Questions
• Sample Interview Questions
  • Exempt
  • Non-Exempt
  • Union
• Skidmore Employee Competencies
• Leadership Evaluation Guidelines

5.  Getting Ready to Make an Offer

• Reference Checking
• Human Resources Advice Regarding Social Media in Hiring
• Background Checks
• Physical Capabilities/Drug Screening
• Complete Offer Package
• Letters of Appointment
• New Employee Onboarding Checklist
• Required Forms for New Employees
• Completing the Hiring Process

6.  Follow-up with the Chosen Candidate

7.  Questions about Skidmore's Policies and Procedures for Recruitment and Hiring

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1. Job Requisition:

• To ensure budgetary funding approval and consistency in announcement and recruitment procedures, pre-recruitment authorization is required for all regular and temporary, full- and part-time, new and replacement positions, as well as contract renewals for faculty positions. All hiring departments, both faculty and non-faculty, must initiate an ATE, which can be completed online through the Human Resources (HR) website or at the following link: https://skidmore.okta.com/login/login.htm

• Upon receipt of the fully approved, electronic Job Requsition, the Employment Coordinator, in consultation with the ADEWD, will contact the hiring supervisor to discuss/make suggestions with regard to the proposed advertising language and search plan.
• Human Resources is responsible for establishing a hiring pay rate for administrative/professional and support staff positions. The Dean of the Faculty is responsible for establishing the salary of a faculty position. Union positions' pay rates are negotiated and located in the union contracts.

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2. Advertising/Sourcing:

1. Internal announcement: All full- and part-time positions will be announced internally by Human Resources through a posting on the Skidmore Weekly Bulletin. Potential candidates can review job openings on any computer, as well as the two kiosks located outside the Human Resources office in Barrett Center. Announcements for Local 1222 position openings will be posted at time-clock locations in addition to the website and Human Resources bulletin board. Union openings must be posted for five (5) work days before they can be filled. The deadline for union postings must be strictly adhered to. Unless a search is waived, all non-union positions must also be posted for a minimum of one week (five work days) before an offer can be made. On occasion internal announcements will be posted for internal candidates only. For these positions (excluding union postings) the posting will not appear on the jobs website, but will be located on a private site, which can only be accessed with a job-specific web address (URL). This URL will be sent out campuswide from the Human Resources Employment Coordinator by means of an electronic invitation to apply.
   
   
2. External announcement: External announcement of vacant positions will follow or be simultaneous with internal announcement, as appropriate, based on the position type and level. The ADEWD will work in concert with the Employment Coordinator and the hiring department to determine the scope of a search. The search plan will support the college's Strategic Plan to increase our efforts to recruit and hire those who represent excellence in their field and who also will increase the diversity of our employee population. Advertisements will include a summary of position responsibilities, minimum education and experience requirements and any other skills and experiences that will be considered when reviewing the applicant's résumé/vita/application. The cost of the advertising is closely monitored by the Employment Coordinator and may in some cases require a modification to the ad to reduce cost. The printed ad will be as minimal as possible; however, reference to view more detail on the Human Resources open positions page will be outlined to provide applicants with maximum information.
   
   Faculty positions are posted externally and advertised in regional and/or national publications. Placement in professional journals online is encouraged due to the fact that these online publications tend to reach a specific applicant pool and are generally most cost effective.
   
   
3. Diversity Resources: Select this link to access a current up-to-date list of diversity recruiting websites.

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3.  Collection of Résumés/Vitae/Applications:

1. Receiving résumés/vitae/applications: Résumés/vitae/applications or other applicant materials will be submitted online and be immediately available to the hiring supervisor and designates of the appropriate search committee. To review applicant materials, the hiring supervisor/search committee member will need to log into the Oracle Cloud system. 

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4.   Inteviewing and Selection:

1. Contacting the ADEWD: Hiring departments, working closely with the ADEWD, have responsibility for screening and interviewing qualified applicants for the vacant positions. Candidates will be screened based on achievement of minimum acceptable combination of education and experience in accordance with the position description and as outlined in the advertising. Discussion of potential candidates for interview will be held between the hiring supervisor and ADEWD prior to contacting candidates. This allows the ADEWD to ensure qualified diverse candidates have been considered.
   
   
2. Reviewing résumés/vitae/applications: The hiring department will interview the best suited/qualified candidates.
   • Preliminary interviews may be conducted by telephone, particularly when there is a large pool of qualified candidates or if a candidate is not local. Telephone interviews can be a cost-effective way to explore an applicant's qualifications and clarify important information such as lapses in job history, specific job duties, education and the candidate's interest in the position at Skidmore. This also serves as an opportunity to outline the pay range for the position. Negotiation of starting rate of pay or salary should not be conducted at this stage of the recruitment process.
     
     
   • After the preliminary interview, the most qualified candidates will be brought to campus and interviewed by the hiring supervisor and/or by committee.
     
     
   • For higher level administrative/professional positions (salary Band 150 and higher), the use of an advisory search committee is encouraged with the ADEWD included. Depending on the position, the search committee will vary in size. Positions with determined broad impact will require a search committee of members from various parts of the campus while positions with less breadth, draw from members from the hiring department/area. In some instances the hiring supervisor may interview and identify the top candidate(s) to bring to an advisory committee for consideration.
     
     
   • For positions with specific technology-related or skill requirements (e.g., software usage, proofreading, etc.), validated performance tests are available for assessing these skills. Human Resources strongly encourages hiring supervisors to use validated performance tests to assess the skill level of all finalists in a search for such positions. The ADEWD or Employment Coordinator should be contacted for further details.

3. Interview Information:
   
   • Anyone who speaks with a candidate may ask only job-related questions during the interview process.  Thorough planning of questions pertinent to the duties and responsibilities of the job will assist in structuring effective, consistent interviews and avoid possible irrelevant or illegal questions.Human Resources strongly suggests the use of the behavioral-based, assessment style of interviewing.  Interviewing guidelines are available through the ADEWD or Human Resources.
     
     
   • Sample assessment style Interviewing questions can include:
     • Tell me about a time when…
     • Describe for me a time when…
     • Give me an example of…
     • Share with me an example of…
       
       
   • Interviewing education is available through Human Resources, including an Assessment Interviewing Workshop, which provides instruction in behavioral-based interview techniques, along with the Inclusive Hiring Workshop.Please contact Human Resources for more details on when these workshops are offered or review the HR Program Calendar on the Human Resources education and development webpage.
     
     
   • Interview notes must be made separate from the resume or application form but retained with the application until the process is completed. No notes or comments may be written directly on the resume. Interview notes should then be filed separately from the applications. Due to confidentiality requirements, applicant's personal history information should not be discussed with anyone outside of the search process.
     
     
   • Please see the Interview Expenses Guidelines for details on arranging travel, lodging and meals.

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5.  Getting Ready to Make an Offer:

• Reference checking: The hiring department will select the best-qualified candidate in consultation with the ADEWD. No commitment, spoken or written, may be made prior to this consultation. After the top candidate or two have been identified and before any offer is made, references must be checked by the hiring supervisor. A Phone Reference Check form is available as a guide that includes questions to ask the reference and space to document the response. Reference checks can provide valuable insights into the candidate's past performance, strengths and development needs.  Ask the candidate(s) to provide three names of individuals for professional references. The hiring supervisor can also ask for specific reference names from specific employers, volunteer contacts, colleagues, etc. if desired. Advise the candidate to inform his/her references that you may be calling to allow for a more productive exchange of information.  
  
  
  • Skidmore's policy when responding to reference check questions from outside the college: Refer caller to Human Resources or state that the person worked at Skidmore from (start date) to (end date). Aside from providing employment dates, you can give a "personal" reference only. Write it on personal stationary, not college letterhead.
    
    
• Human Resources Advice Regarding Social Media in Hiring: The purpose of this advice is to establish the best practices and procedures for the use of social media in the evaluation and selection of qualified personnel. Human Resources Advice Regarding Social Media in Hiring.
  
  
• Background checks: For select positions, a background check will be required.  Please refer to the Background Check Policy and Procedures or contact Human Resources for additional information.

• Complete offer package: Once the first-choice candidate has been selected, the complete offer package will be determined based on position type and level along with an examination of education/experience against the job description in consultation with the Assistant Director for Compensation in Human Resources. Salary offers for non-faculty positions must be approved in advance by Human Resources in order to ensure consistency with Skidmore's compensation system. The Dean of the Faculty must approve starting salaries for faculty positions.

  Letters of appointment:The hiring supervisor makes the job offer to the candidate of choice. After the offer has been accepted and the starting date confirmed, a letter of appointment will be issued. The Dean of the Faculty's office writes the contract letter to new faculty.  Human Resources typically produces appointment letters for non-faculty hires; however, some hiring supervisors choose to write the letter following approval of language by Human Resources. If the hiring department does write a letter, Human Resources may issue a second letter confirming employment and providing information regarding such things as salary, band information, orientation and completion of certain appointment forms if these areas were not covered in the letter from the hiring department.

• Required forms for new employees:  The new employee should report to Human Resources on or before their first day of work to complete required employment forms.These forms include the Federal Employment Eligibility Verification (I-9).The I-9 form requires specific documentation be provided to Human Resources.  For more information regarding this documentation, please refer to the I-9 form, which can be found on the HR website on the "Forms" page under Employment, or by following the link: I9 Form. It contains instructions for completion along with a list of acceptable documents. Note: New employees who have not provided proof of employment eligibility within the time frame required by law (three work days) will not be allowed to work until this requirement is fulfilled.

  • Other required employment forms:
    • Signed application form (non-faculty)
    • New Personnel Information Form
    • State and federal tax forms
    • Signed acknowledgment of receipt form for Employee Handbook (non-faculty)
    • Benefit forms, as appropriate

All forms are available on the Forms page under Employment on the Human Resources website and are color-coded in green.

• Completing the hiring process: Unsuccessful candidates should be notified as soon as possible after the position has been filled.The hiring department will notify everyone with whom they've had contact throughout the search either by phone call or in writing. The online recruiting and hiring system will generate "regret" emails to all candidates with the "Not interviewed/not hired" status designated to their application.  The email will only be generated once the hire is approved by HR, the offer has been accepted by the successful candidate, a satisfactory background check has been received and the Job Requisition/posting has the status of "Hired".

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6.     Follow-up with the Chosen Candidate:

Once a candidate has accepted the position, consider the following suggestions as methods for maintaining their interest and excitement about coming to Skidmore College and for educating them about our campus and culture. Consider appointing a peer resource person to discuss/provide the following for the new employee:

• If the new hire lives out of the area, sending them a local newspaper.
• Sending the new hire college materials, example:  Scope, college map, etc.
• Sending the new hire upcoming events or activities of the college.

The hiring supervisor should consider:

• Sending the new hire position-specific or department-specific material to review prior to arrival.
• Calling to see if the new hire may have any questions prior to arrival.
• Calling prior to arrival to let the new hire know what to expect the first day of work.

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7.  Questions about Skidmore's Policies and Procedures for Recruitment and Hiring:

For more information about these policies and procedures, please contact Jude Klein, Assistant Director for Employment Compliance and Workforce Diversity (jsklein@skidmore.edu or extension 5819) or Jim Calhoun, Employment Coordinator (jcalhoun@skidmore.edu or extension 5802).