Hiring Manager Resources
The following resources for hiring managers align with the Compliance eLearning for Managers.
Develop the recruitment plan and post vacancies
Before a position is posted, hiring managers should work with school or unit HR to develop a comprehensive recruitment plan. Managers and HR should consider such factors as posting options, applicant pool, posting period, advertising plan, and use of an interview panel or search committee.
It is important for managers to understand the scope (internal, local, or national) and duration of the search. The target audience for recruitment should be determined in order to do this.
An internal search may be warranted if applicants with specific VCU knowledge are being sought. A wider external search of local, regional, or even national scope may be appropriate for applicants with a specific or hard-to-find skill set.
The posting period length is commensurate with the type of position being sought. The minimum posting requirement for internal or local recruitments is 5 business days. A national search must be posted for 30 days.
Hiring managers should work with school or unit HR to ensure vacant positions are posted in the university’s applicant tracking system.
Hiring managers should understand that some postings will need an end date or other applicable restrictions. Positions with 10% or greater of salaries that are funded by non-state supported funds are posted as “restricted positions” and are not eligible for severance benefits
Hiring managers should help decide on whether to use a search committee or interview panel
Interview Panel - Required for all positions. At a minimum, an interview panel is a two-member team of key stakeholders committed to interview and aid in the selection process.
Search Committee - Often used for Executive and Senior Administrator positions, but not required; optional for all other positions. A search committee includes three or more key stakeholders with different backgrounds, perspectives, and expertise.
An advertising plan delineates the outreach efforts and activities that will be undertaken to increase the pool of applicants. Schools/units may post job openings on sites or in publications that invite applications from highly qualified candidates with a variety of backgrounds and experiences, including sites that focus on particular industries or demographics. Schools/units should utilize recruiting practices that encourage all highly qualified candidates to apply. It is NOT permissible to use external recruiting sites to narrow an applicant pool, to afford any benefit to particular applicants, or to recruit solely from outlets that focus on particular demographics. All ad copies must be reviewed by the school or unit HR.
Evaluate applicants
Search committees and interview panels
Hiring managers should help enforce requirements to be on a search committee or interview panel.
All search committee members should complete the online Search Committee Training in Talent@VCU. The course provides an overview of roles, responsibilities, resources, and best practices for implementing effective and compliant searches
Interview panels should complete the online training Working@VCU Policy Overview: Employment
Search committees/interview panels are encouraged to disclose any potential search conflicts. Examples of conflicts include close ties to a candidate, being related to a candidate, serving as a reference for a candidate, or any known bias that could influence evaluation. Conflict remedies include recusal from the evaluation of specific applicants or the search committee/interview panel altogether.
Applicants for positions are evaluated based on the following considerations and criteria:
Applicants are screened based on the posted minimum and preferred qualifications for the position. Hiring managers should work with school or unit HR and/or interview panels and search committees to develop a uniform set of criteria for evaluating each applicant’s strengths and development areas in comparison to the minimum and preferred qualifications. Individuals not meeting the minimum qualifications are not considered “bona fide applicants” and are removed from consideration for the position.
Special considerations - During the screening phase, special consideration may be given to some applicants including veterans or workforce transition applicants.
Internal employees: evaluate these candidates objectively and take into consideration relevant performance reviews.
Eligible Veterans Status: take these applicants into consideration, consistent with state and institutional policy, when they meet the minimum qualifications for the position. should consult with their HR Professional if they have a workforce transition applicant in the candidate pool. More information can be found in employee relations guidlines: Employee Relations
Listed beloin employee relations guidlines: Employee Relations the specifics on what to include when preparing a criterion chart and when grouping applicants for evaluation:
Educational requirements
Years of experience requirements
Most important job duties or responsibilities of the position
Most critical technical skills or competencies required for the position
Most critical interpersonal or interactive skills required for the position
Professional affiliations
Veteran status
Applicants can be grouped in a multitude of ways. An example is below:
Does not meet minimum qualification – No Interview
Meets minimum qualifications – May Interview
Meets minimum and all or some preferred qualifications - Interview
Interviews
Interviews are a required step in the selection process. Generally, two or more applicants are interviewed for the position to be filled. An interview must be conducted before an offer of employment is made to an individual.
When hiring managers are involved in preparing for interviews, the following should be adhered to:
Develop a uniform set of questions to be asked of the applicants being interviewed
Review the required application materials for the interviewed applicants, such as presentations, writing samples and other relevant work products
Evaluate the applicants’ interviews consistently
Ensure that applicants understand they can request and have access to reasonable accommodations
Questions relating either directly or indirectly to race, color, national origin, religion, or sex (including pregnancy) must be avoided
Sample interview questions which have been vetted by University Counsel and VCU HR can be found here: Interview
Check references
Before making an offer to an applicant for any position, VCU requires two references related to the candidate's professional career. The manager should determine whether or not the school or HR or the hiring manager is completing these references.
It is strongly encouraged that one of those references come from a current or recent manager or supervisor, although this is not required for external candidates. If professional references cannot be obtained, the hiring manager may request an applicant to provide their most recent performance reviews.
A current supervisory reference and consultation with the VCU HR Office of Employee Relations are required for internal candidates before an offer is extended.
Recognizing that in some cases contacting the current manager or supervisor may place the applicant in a precarious position, the final reference check may become a condition in a contingent offer of employment. The offer of employment may state that it is tentatively extended subject to receiving a satisfactory reference check from the current manager or supervisor.
Former employees who have been terminated for cause or resign in lieu of termination for cause by VCU may not be eligible for rehire.
The manager should work with their school or unit HR to ensure licenses, certifications or degrees set forth in the position requirements or that are required to perform the essential duties of the position being filled are currently held by the applicant.
It is strongly recommended to use VCU HR’s reference check form to complete reference checks. If a manager would like to ask questions or have conversation on items outside of this form, they should consult with their school or unit HR.
Select, make an offer and confirm acceptance
At the conclusion of the posting period, and after screening and considering all applicants, the hiring manager evaluates the information obtained about the candidates interviewed and selects one or more top candidates for potential hire.
If it is determined that there are no applicants who are sufficiently qualified for the position, the hiring manager in consultation with school or unit HR, may decide to repost the position, extend the search, reopen the search or explore other options for increasing the applicant pool to find a qualified applicant.
Extend a search - A search may be extended for the purpose of increasing the number of qualified candidates in the applicant pool and in cases where a suitable candidate has not been identified during screening.
Reopen a search - Searches that have been ongoing for a period of six months or more must be closed and a new request to post must be initiated.
Offer Process: If the search process results in the identification of a best-qualified applicant, the hiring manager notifies the school or unit HR of its choice and sends HR the selection packet on the applicant. After its review is complete, HR responds to the hiring department with approval to make an offer, and only then does the hiring manager have the authority to extend a formal offer of employment. The candidate is extended two types of offers - verbal and written. These offers provide the candidate with the employment terms and conditions.
Verbal Offer: Generally extended by the hiring manager
Contains basic employment terms and explains employment is conditional upon pre-employment screening.
Discusses the total compensation package (e.g. salary, paid time off, retirement benefits, etc.)
Includes salary negotiations. The hiring manager and school or unit HR will partner to discuss salary negotiations if needed.
Formal Written Offer: The school or unit HR emails a formal offer once the candidate has accepted the verbal offer.
Candidate must sign and return. No offer of employment is binding unless extended in writing and signed by both the hiring official and the applicant.
The candidate’s start date is established once the signed offer is returned and pre-screening requirements are successfully completed.
Please note that the school or unit HR must complete the offer process in VCU’s applicant tracking system for all finalists.
Recordkeeping & Documentation: VCU hiring managers must document when and why applicants are eliminated from consideration of a position. VCU Jobs has predefined non-selection codes to document elimination reasons: Candidate Disposition Reasons
The scho: Candidate Disposition Reasons following information for both recordkeeping as well to make the offer, which may often be supplied by the hiring manager:
Interview questions and interview notes
Work samples, if obtained
Reference checks/notes of individuals contacted
The VCU Pay Assessor (a personnel action form which includes salary information, slotting/VCU job title, and the proposed salary)
Exceptions to a typical recruitment process
Review the page to learn more about the exceptions to a typical recruitment process.
It is generally necessary to conduct open recruitment processes for positions to create pools of qualified applicants. However, an open recruitment process may not be required or may be waived by VCU HR.
Certain roles, appointments and positions may not require VCU HR approval or a waiver of an open recruitment process. The page on Exceptions to the typical recruitment process contains further guidance on how to administer these, and other, actions that would not be part of the typical recruitment process. Areas to highlight:
Interim appointments: An interim appointment is the designation of a current employee to fill a position on an interim or acting basis, when that position is vacated, until an appropriate recruitment or appointment can occur. Levels of approval needed for interim appointments depend on the title of the position:
When the designation of a current employee of a title is below manager/ administrator, VCU HR approval and a waiver form are not required.
When the designation of a current employee of a title is manager/administrator or above, VCU HR approval and a waiver form are required. These leadership roles have a scope of work that includes strategic planning and oversight, may or may not include the supervision of direct reports, and have a significant impact on the department, influencing service delivery and operational goals.
NOTE: Interim appointments are different from temporary assignments, which are when an employee takes on additional responsibilities greater than those of their assigned position.
Promotions in place occur when a manager and employee agree on the criteria necessary for the employee to advance to the next level in their existing job series or to a higher job series. The requirement for VCU HR approval varies based on the type of promotion in place
Job series advancement: (i.e. an employee moves from Specialist IT to Senior Specialist IT after meeting criteria that was agreed upon with their manager and outlined in their career development plan) does NOT require VCU HR approval.
Salary increase above 75th percent: Approval from VCU HR is required via the pay assessor tool if the non-competitive promotion coincides with an increase that places the employee’s salary over the 75th percentile of the salary range for their job.
Position leads an MBU: Approval from VCU HR is required via the pay assessor tool if the position to which the employee is promoted leads an MBU or higher.