Screening & Evaluation
Careful employee selection is critical. This process will determine the strength of your most important departmental resource: your colleagues. William & Mary has both ethical and legal obligations to conduct fair searches and to retain search documentation.
Suggested Charge/Kick-Off Meeting
It is suggested that Hiring Officials meet with the search committee prior to screening to emphasize the importance of confidentiality as well as fair and unbiased applicant evaluation. At this meeting, the Hiring Official can solidify the screening grid, clarify which preferred qualifications are most important and provide qualification indicators for use in evaluation. The Hiring Official is encouraged to overview the full selection plan, to include the number of evaluation rounds, and to set a full-search timeline. Reserving times and locations for selection activities can help avoid search delays. Prolonged searches may result in applicants withdrawing from the pool and accepting other positions.
Evaluation methods may include:
- Application review via screening grids (required)
- Interview stream
- Phone interview
- Pre-interview reference checks
- Review of work/writing samples
- On-campus interview (generally required)
- Work-related mock exercises
Preparation of Preliminary Screening Grid/Evaluation Matrix
Prior to reviewing any materials, the Hiring Official or, if designated, Search Chair, prepares a screening grid. The grid is based upon the qualifications stated within the position description. Veteran status is treated as a preferred qualification. Please note that minimum qualifications do not bear numeric value; an applicant either does or does not meet all minimum qualifications. Numeric scoring of preferred qualifications is discouraged. If the Hiring Official chooses to assign numeric values to preferred qualifications, they should appropriately weigh each preferred qualification and provide a benchmarking legend for each numerically scored item (i.e., 3-5 years experience.) Please show the blank grid to an Employment Specialist prior to moving forward.
Screening Grid/Evaluation Matrix
The Screening Grid/Evaluation Matrix is used to complete preliminary application screening. Search committee members are encouraged to individually review each applicant’s submitted materials and to complete a separate grid. Veteran status is treated as a preferred qualification and is considered only for applicants meeting all minimum qualifications. The full search committee will then convene and jointly prepare a matrix on behalf of the committee.
- Does not meet minimum qualification: No interview
- Meets (Or Likely Meets) Minimum Qualifications: May interview
- Meets Minimum and all or some Preferred Qualifications: Interview
Prohibited Screening/Evaluation Considerations
Search Committees may not remove an individual from consideration for any of the following reasons:
- Applicant location
- Assumptions about whether the applicant would accept the job
- Assumptions about how long the person would stay in the job
- Assumptions about work eligibility status
- Information or assumptions related to race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age, disability or genetic information, or other protected category
Coding/Disposition of Applicants
Hiring Officials should code applicants as soon as they are removed from consideration or advanced. For affirmative action reporting purposes, the coding must reflect the applicant’s highest stage in the search process (workflow state) and, if eliminated, their non-selection reason. Applicants coded "Not Under Consideration" automatically transition to an inactive status. Inactive applicants can be reactivated by UHR. See the Managing Applicants through to Hiring Proposal Guide (pdf) for more information.
Display of Applicant Status
Internal status updates are, in most cases, not available to the applicant. Below is a chart of internal and external status visibility.
|
Internal Applicant Status (Visible to Hiring Official) |
External Applicant Status (Visible to Applicant) |
|---|---|
|
Under Review by Manager |
Review of Applicant Pool in Progress |
|
Application Withdrawn |
Application Withdrawn |
|
Phone Interview |
Application Materials Under Review |
|
Interview Pending |
Application Materials Under Review |
|
Interviewed |
Application Materials Under Review |
|
Finalist |
Application Materials Under Review |
|
Not Under Consideration |
Review of Applicant Pool in Progress |
|
Offered Job |
|
Once the position has been filled, all applicants who were not interviewed receive an automated email thanking them for them interest in the position and to notify them the position has been filled. Applicants who were interviewed but not offered the job, can either receive an automated email from the system or a letter from the hiring department. The choice is up to the Hiring Official.
