A successful hiring process begins with developing a plan. No matter what type of position you need to fill, many of the same considerations apply.
FIVE-STEP HIRING PROCESS Make a plan
1. Determine the position type
There are four position types. You will need to consider what position type best fits your need.
- Staff: Regular staff positions will have recurring funding and are generally eligible for benefits, depending on the full-time equivalency (FTE). These positions are posted and filled in collaboration with Human Resources. Some staff positions may also be hired with non-recurring funds if hired as part of a grant, for example.
- STEPS temporary: Temporary staff positions typically do not have recurring funding, however they can be eligible for health benefits at the full-time regular staff rate if the position has full-time equivalency (FTE) of .75 or greater. These positions are posted and filled in collaboration with the Human Resources STEPS office. STEPS is a full-service temporary staffing solution for the university. STEPS can provide quick and flexible support to meet your staffing needs. STEPS assignments should typically last less than one year. Although STEPS is not typically used to hire student employees, some departments who do not have a student wage line or need to hire quickly use STEPS to fill their student positions.
- Faculty: Regular faculty positions will have recurring funding and are generally eligible for benefits, depending on the full-time equivalency (FTE). This position type includes both tenured and non-tenured academic ranked job titles. These positions are posted and filled in collaboration with Human Resources.
- Student/other: Temporary staff positions typically do not have recurring funding. This position type is used to post and fill student positions that are paid on a student wage line, approved non-STEPS temporary positions, or other non-benefited positions such as adjunct faculty positions or on-call health care roles. These positions are directly posted and filled by the hiring department.
Hiring process
2. Acquire system access
You or someone in your department will need appropriate access to the Integrated Employment System (IES) to successfully post and fill your positions. Please click here to request IES access. If you are responsible for posting and filling positions within UK HealthCare, you may also require access to UK HealthCare Position Review. You can request access by emailing positionreview@uky.edu.
Our online employment system, known as IES, has four main user roles. What user roles you need will depend on what part you play in your department's hiring process. See below for the list of all IES user roles and their definitions. Your area may also wish to assign a role for Dean/Director, which can allow for an extra review in the approval process for staff positions.
Search Coordinator
This role owns the applicant workflow of positions it has created or been assigned. It can create, view, edit and post faculty and student/other postings as well as submit a STEPS request to Human Resources. Only this role can view applicants, enter dispositions and initiate pre-employment screening for any job posting it created or is assigned to. For staff postings, the search coordinator role is the only user role that can initiate hiring proposals. However, this role cannot create, edit or submit staff position descriptions and hiring proposals to Human Resources.
Capabilities
- View applicants and enter dispositions for all position types
- Initiate hiring proposals for staff positions
- Initiate pre-employment screenings for all position types
- Create, view, edit and post faculty and student/other postings as well as submit a STEPS request to HR
Limitations
- Unable to create, edit or submit staff position descriptions to HR
- Unable to create, edit or submit staff hiring proposals to HR
Budget Officer
This role is the gatekeeper of the system for staff positions within their department or division. It can create, view, edit and submit staff position descriptions as well as hiring proposals to Human Resources. The role also has access to view all applications within staff job postings. However, this role does not have access to enter dispositions, initiate hiring proposals, initiate pre-employment screenings or have access to other position types such as faculty, STEPS and student/other.
Capabilities
- Create, view, edit and submit staff position descriptions to HR (this is the only role that can submit to HR)
- Create, view, edit and submit staff hiring proposals to HR (this is the only role that can submit to HR)
- View all applications within staff job postings
Limitations
- Unable to initiate staff hiring proposals
- Unable to enter applicant dispositions
- Unable to initiate pre-employment screenings
- Unable to access other position types such as faculty, STEPS and student/other
Position coordinator
This role owns the position description and hiring proposals of positions it has been assigned. It can create, view and edit staff position descriptions and hiring proposals. However, this role cannot submit staff position descriptions and hiring proposals to Human Resources. It also does not have access to enter dispositions, initiate hiring proposals, initiate pre-employment screenings or have access to other position types such as faculty, STEPS and student/other.
Capabilities
- Create, view and edit staff position descriptions as well as submit to Supervisor and/or Budget Officer user roles
- Create, view and edit staff hiring proposals as well as submit to Supervisor or Budget Officer/UKHC Workforce Management user roles
Limitations
- Unable to submit staff position descriptions to HR
- Unable to initiate staff hiring proposals
- Unable to submit staff hiring proposals to HR
- Unable to enter applicant dispositions
- Unable to initiate pre-employment screenings
- Unable to access other position types such as faculty, STEPS and student/other
Supervisor
This role is automatically assigned to the individual the position reports to. It can create, view and edit staff position descriptions and hiring proposals. It also has access to view all applications within staff job postings. However, this role cannot submit staff position descriptions and hiring proposals to Human Resources. It also does not have access to enter dispositions, initiate hiring proposals, initiate pre-employment screenings or have access to other position types such as faculty, STEPS and student/other.
Capabilities
- Create, view and edit staff position descriptions that report directly to the supervisor
- View and edit staff hiring proposals as well as submit to Budget Officer/UKHC Workforce Management
Limitations
- Unable to submit staff position descriptions to HR
- Unable to initiate staff hiring proposals
- Unable to submit staff hiring proposals to HR
- Unable to enter applicant dispositions
- Unable to initiate pre-employment screenings
- Unable to access other position types such as faculty, STEPS and student/other
3. Create or update a staff position description or job summary
The foundation of hiring the right person starts with clearly and concisely communicating the job’s requirements, responsibilities and expectations through a strong position description/job summary.
If you invest time into creating a good position description or job summary, it will allow you to attract the most qualified and best-fit applicants. It can also engage applicants to want to learn more about the position. You should avoid using jargon or acronyms that might not be familiar to applicants outside your department or the university.
HR Compensation can help with creating a job description.
4. Develop your evaluation criteria
While there are many factors to consider when seeking an ideal candidate, it is important to focus on the top job-related selection criteria.
A hiring best practice is to proactively identify the skills, knowledge and abilities needed for a candidate to be successful in the role. It is also valuable to determine motivational fit for the position based on the major job responsibilities and what skills are most and least trainable.
Once this evaluation is complete, you can use the top three to five attributes as your criteria for assessing each candidate. To assist with consistency throughout your hiring and selection process, you should share the selection criteria with interviewers and all individuals involved.
Our Success Profile tool which can assist in identifying your top job-related selection criteria.
5. Block your calendar
It is important to prepare in advance for every step of the hiring process. A key to this strategy is to schedule time for each stage. This includes time to review application materials, schedule interviews, conduct interviews, gather feedback for candidate evaluation, call references, etc.
Blocking time on your calendar will ensure you have ample time and allows you to fill your position more quickly. It is also useful to block time for all individuals involved to avoid delays in making a hiring decision.
This sample hiring and selection timeline will guide you through the process from start to finish.