Timeline of Events
When determining a projected timeline of events, it often helps to start at the end of the process and work backwards. When do you need to have the position filled by? Based on that date, when do you need to start interviewing? Are there any major events that may interrupt the timeline? Remember, different types of positions have different requirements for posting length and background checks. Get more information on job posting and background check requirements.
Determine the Search Type
External Search: External searches are the most common type of search at NCSU. They are open to both internal and external candidates.
Internal Search: Internal searches are open to current, permanent NCSU employees only. They exclude temporary and student employees, as well as candidates from other UNC institutions. Internal searches are not available for all positions, please contact your Talent Acquisition Consultant if you are interested in posting your position internally.
Waiver of Recruitment: A waiver of an SHRA posting must be discussed with and approved by Human Resources prior to offering the position to a candidate. A waiver of an SHRA posting may be requested only for the following reasons:
- Avoid a reduction-in-force
- Affect a disciplinary transfer
- Achieve a mandatory reinstatement
- Transfer an employee to avoid the threat of bodily harm
- Prevent critical work stoppage or protect the public health, safety, or security
- Fill a position as a result of a redeployment arrangement
Determine the Recruitment Team
The hiring official:The hiring official (typically the position’s supervisor) leads the recruitment process, including developing the job description, drafting the vacancy announcement, and chairing the search committee.
Search Committees:Search Committees are not required for SHRA positions, but are allowed. The search committee is led by the hiring official, and is responsible for developing a recruitment plan and strategy, and establishing selection criteria and procedures for screening and interviewing candidates.
The job posting should accurately describe the primary purpose of the position, duties and responsibilities, and required and preferred knowledge, skills, abilities, and qualifications. For more information on creating a new position or updating an existing position, visit our classification page. If only minor changes (grammatical or slight changes in wording) are needed, the posting can be created on the applicant tracking side. More information about how to initiate a posting in the applicant tracking module of PeopleAdmin can be found on the PeopleAdmin 7 System and Resources page.
Required and Preferred Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Qualifications
Each SHRA career band has minimum education and experience requirements that are determined by the Office of State Human Resources (OSHR). In addition to these standard minimums, hiring officials have the opportunity to create required and preferred qualifications directly related to their vacancy.
Required qualifications describe the the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) that are necessary to perform the essential functions of a position. For SHRA positions, required qualifications can not include additional education or specific years of experience beyond the standard OSHR guidelines. A candidate who does not possess the minimum or required qualifications for a position may not be considered or interviewed as he/she will not be eligible for hire into the position.
Preferred Qualifications should encompass the additional KSAs, education, experience, and credentials that would be beneficial in performing the role at an optimal level, but are not required to initially perform the essential duties. These are sometimes also referred to as “nice-to-haves” or a “wish list.” Candidates do not need to meet every preferred qualification to be considered or interviewed for a position. Ideally, candidates would meet some or most of the preferred qualifications, but there is not a requirement to meet all of them. Preferred qualifications should not be used to screen candidates out of consideration, but rather to help narrow down a pool to the best-qualified candidates and aid with selection.
When required and preferred qualifications are well-written, they help candidates better understand how their qualifications align with those needed for the position. Preferred qualifications also provide clear criteria by which to evaluate candidates during resume review and interviewing.
Hiring departments are responsible for determining job-related qualifications required and preferred in addition to minimum standards. Your Talent Acquisition consultant can work with you to develop required and preferred qualifications.
Anticipated Hiring Range
By letting candidates know the anticipated hiring range, you are giving them the opportunity to decide if the position is the right fit, not only in job duties but also financially. This good practice can help weed out candidates seeking a higher compensation rate than is budgeted, and could limit counter offers and declined offers.
Supplemental Questions
Supplemental questions are a great preliminary screening tool that allow you to ask a combination of open ended and closed questions to all applicants. The answers to these questions can help you pre-screen the candidate pool. Supplemental questions can be required or optional, and can be used as “knock-out” questions to eliminate candidates from the pool who do not meet minimum or required qualifications.
Talent Acquisition and Employment coordinates approved advertisement copy, publications, and run dates with the hiring department. Common media resources include journals (online and print), professional organizations, online job sites, and social media outlets. In order to ensure compliance with state and federal laws, Talent Acquisition and Employment must review and endorse external advertising prior to use. Costs of advertisements are approved by and will be invoiced to the hiring department.
For vacancies targeted for Affirmative Action, advertisement in female- or minority-specific publications is encouraged and may be required in some cases.
The goal of the selection process is to find the best available candidate for the job, who possesses the knowledge, skills, abilities, and motivation to successfully fill the position. Candidates should be screened based on the requirements and preferences listed in the job description.
The PeopleAdmin system should be updated throughout the review process to accurately reflect the appropriate status for each applicant. Internal workflow statuses may not align with the external status that can be viewed by candidates. A PeopleAdmin 7 Guide to Applicant Statuses is available for clarification.
SHRA Hiring Priorities and Preferences
SHRA recruitments are subject to the North Carolina Human Resources Act, which includes provisions related to hiring priority for some groups of applicants. More information about the most common priorities and preferences is below. More detailed information, and information on other types of priority can be found in the Recruitment and Selection Guidelines and on OSHR’s website.
Reduction in Force (RIF) Priority
Applicants may indicate that they are entitled to RIF priority if they have been impacted by Reduction in Force from NC State University or another State of North Carolina agency or university. Priority is dependent on several factors. If you identify an applicant claiming RIF Priority in your pool, contact your Talent Consultant for verification/confirmation of priority.
In the effort to assist RIF candidates and place them back within the University (or State Government), the RIF Priority candidate must be given thorough consideration. In most cases, an interview is recommended as the best opportunity to assess the candidate. If a RIF candidate is not determined to be the best-qualified applicant and the hiring department has selected a candidate without at least equal priority, a brief justification comparing the competencies, skills, abilities, and knowledge of the selected candidate and RIF candidate is required to be submitted to your Talent Consultant for review. Once reviewed, the justification must be maintained in the recruitment file.
Promotional Priority
State Government employees with career status (at least 12 consecutive months of service) who are applying for a promotion have priority over applicants who are not employed by the State of NC. Like other priorities, this is first indicated by self-report by the applicant. If you identify an applicant claiming this priority, contact your Talent Consultant for verification/confirmation of priority.
Veteran’s Preference
Veterans have preference over non-veteran applicants when the veteran’s overall qualifications are substantially equal to those of the best-qualified non-veteran in the applicant pool. Veterans’ preference is also extended to other employment events including transfers, promotions, and reassignments.
Interviewing
For SHRA positions, you may begin interviewing candidates while the posting is still open, but it is recommended that the posting is closed prior to initiating interviews to prevent later applicants from affecting the progress of your current interviews.
Please note that you may only interview candidates that have applied to your position’s posting on PeopleAdmin. In addition, you must interview at least three people.
Before beginning interviews you should create a list of questions that you would like to ask, and use this list to guide you through all interviews. It is important that you ask the same questions of all candidates in your interview pool, and that your questions are legal and non-discriminatory.
The best interview questions are open-ended, and encourage candidates to share job related information and experiences. Learning and Organizational Development offers behavioral interviewing classes, and Talent Acquisition and Employment has developed Sample Interview Questions that cover a range of competencies.
Your Talent Acquisition Consultant can assist with developing interview questions, screening candidates, and conducting interviews as needed.
Reference checks are an important part of the selection process. Hiring officials are responsible for verifying the validity of applicant employment information. Employment references must be checked prior to requesting Human Resources’ approval on a new hire.
Reference information must be secured from the most relevant work experience, any long period of employment, last employment, and any employment followed by lengthy unemployment. The current supervisor should be contacted as part of the reference check. If the candidate does not wish for the current supervisor to be contacted, an offer can be made contingent on a successful current supervisor reference check. Talent Solutions can walk through this process with you.
References by telephone are acceptable and must be documented. References are confidential. More information can be found in the Reference Check Guidelines. A Reference Check Form is also available.
When you have selected a candidate that you wish to hire, you will need to determine the salary that you wish to offer and complete the hiring proposal within PeopleAdmin.
Determining Pay
Compensation for SHRA positions is based on competency levels and labor market rates for each occupational area. These rates are set by the Office of State Human Resources (OSHR). Within each career band, departments should consider several factors, including budget and funding availability, market rates, competencies, and departmental equity when determining pay. In addition, offered salary cannot exceed the posted salary range for any recruitment.
- Budget and the availability of funding
- Market pay
- Competencies (such as minimum qualifications, related education, duties and responsibilities, and specialized training or certifications)
- Equity within your Department
Entering the Hiring Proposal
If you are only hiring one candidate from the position, or if you are hiring multiple candidates but have completed the recruitment process, you should confirm that the posting is closed, and move all applicants to their final status before submitting the hiring proposal. More information on applicant statuses can be found in the PeopleAdmin 7 Guide to Applicant Statuses.
More information on how to create a Hiring Proposal can be found on the PeopleAdmin 7 System and Resources page. The Hiring Proposal must be approved by the initiator, approver, unit equity officer, and human resources.
You will receive an e-mail confirming endorsement of your Hiring Proposal. An offer should not be extended prior to receiving this confirmation e-mail.
Making the Offer
Once you have received an e-mail confirming endorsement of your Hiring Proposal, you should contact your candidate by phone to make a job offer contingent on the successful completion of the background check and education verification. The verbal offer should be followed by a confirmation in writing, in the form of an offer letter.
Offer letter templates are available for SHRA positions.
Accepted Offers
If the candidate accepts the offer, you will need to create a Job Action Request (JAR) in PeopleSoft. Doing this will initiate the background check, which is required before the hiring proposal and posting can be finalized, and before the candidate can be hired. HRIM has a number of resources describing this process.
Declined Offers
If the offer is declined, you should update the Hiring Proposal to a status of “Offer Declined” and update the applicant status in the posting to “Offer Declined.” If it has been fewer than 60 days since the recruitment closed, the Initiator may submit a Hiring Proposal for another candidate, conduct additional interviews from the original applicant pool, or repost the vacancy. Your Talent Consultant can help you with any of these actions.
The University is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for its students, faculty, staff, visitors, and other constituents; and to protecting its funds, property, and other assets. Well-informed hiring decisions contribute to this effort. To facilitate this effort, Employment Services conducts background checks on persons hired for initial employment at the University, as well as current employees who change jobs (transfer) or otherwise become subject to background checks due to changes in their current positions. Detailed information can be found on the Background Check Program website.
The Onboarding Center manages the onboarding process for all employees. They have a list of resources and instructions available for Departments on the Onboarding website.
Incoming employees with prior state of NC service should include information when completing the electronic background disclosure form after an offer has been made. This information will be used to follow up with the most recent state agency to have any applicable leave balances transferred.
Finalizing the Hiring Proposal and Posting
After a candidate has accepted the offer and successfully completed the background check, you should finalize the Hiring Proposal in PeopleAdmin by entering the final accepted salary and moving the hiring proposal to the status of “Offer Accepted – Background Check Completed.” If this is outside of the Approved Salary Range contact your Talent Acquisition Consultant.
After the Hiring Proposal has been finalized, you will can finalize the posting by moving the selected applicant to “Offer Accepted” and moving the posting to a status of “Designate as Filled.”
Notifying Candidates Not Selected
Notification letters should be sent to all interviewed applicants, and copies of these notification letters should be maintained in the search file. Notification letters can be sent electronically or printed and mailed. Click here for a notification letter template for SHRA positions.
Retention of Paperwork
A department personnel file should be created for your selected candidate. This file should include the new hire’s application materials, including the application, resume, and any other submitted materials. This file will remain active for the entirety of the applicant’s employment at NC State, and must be maintained for three years after the employee separates.
A search folder that contains interview questions, notes from all interviews, references, copies of external advertisements, and any other documentation pertinent to the search should be maintained for three years from the last date of activity.