Frequently Used Topics

• Applicant Status – A part of the documentation required by the OFCCP includes accurately tracking the status and providing dispositioning of the applicants. Within the review window, all applicants must be reviewed, designated if they meet or did not meet basic qualifications, and candidates selected who will still be under consideration or moving onto an interview.
  • A status shows the progression of the applicant through the selection process.
  • A disposition is the final determination of the applicant on why they are not moving forward.
  • Applicant status at the shortlist breakdown:
    • Complete – applicant has the required documentation and has met the basic qualifications, but is not moving forward in the process. This candidate will need a disposition reason.
      • Tip: use as many disposition reasons as apply. Too many applicants with the same disposition reason is a red flag to an auditor as it appears that the applicants were not evaluated properly.
    • Seriously Considered status – applicant has the required documentation, has met the basic qualifications, and is still under consideration for now. The candidate will need a disposition reason and comment. 
    • Recommend for Interview – applicant has the required documentation, has met the basic qualifications, and is recommended for an interview. The candidate will need a disposition reason and comment. 
    • Withdrawn – applicant has withdrawn themselves from consideration. Please see Withdrawn Applicants for documentation requirements.
  • Updating Applicant Status – As the Search Report reflects more de-selected and selected candidates who went further along in the selection process, there are more requirements for dispositioning.
    • Applicant status at the Search Report breakdown:
    • Complete – applicant has the required documentation and has met the basic qualifications, but is not moving forward in the process. This candidate will need a disposition reason.
      • Tip: Use as many disposition reasons as apply. Too many applicants with the same disposition reason is a red flag to an auditor and it appears that the applicants were not evaluated properly.
    • Serious Consideration – applicant has the required documentation, has met the basic qualifications, but is no longer moving forward. Applicant will need a disposition reason and brief comment as to why they are not moving onto interview.
      • Tip: If still under consideration, departments will need to state that the applicant is still under consideration.
    • Interviewed – applicant has been interviewed, but who are not going to be proposed. Applicant will need a disposition reason and comment on why they are not hired using the selection criteria.
      • Tip: If still under consideration, departments will need to have a disposition comment on why the candidate is still under consideration.
      • Tip: As these candidates have moved further in the selection process, these de-selection statements need to be longer and more detailed than the serious consideration candidates.
    • Proposed – applicant is recommended for the appointment. This candidate will not need a disposition reason, but will need a selection statement based on the selection criteria.
    • Withdrawn – applicant has withdrawn themselves from consideration. Please see Withdrawn Applicants for documentation requirements.
    • Abbreviated searches often cover multiple positions in one recruitment, so the definitions of the applicant status are slightly different than the full recruitment process. With the updated definition of candidate statuses, the seriously considered pool should be a healthy size, grow during the course of the recruitment, and potentially increase the diversity of available candidates still under consideration.
    • Applicant status at the Search Report breakdown:
    • Complete – applicant has the required documentation and has met the basic qualifications, but is not strong enough for any of the positions covered in the recruitment. This candidate will need a disposition reason.
      • Tip: Use as many disposition reasons as apply. Too many applicants with the same disposition reason is a red flag to an auditor and it appears that the applicants were not evaluated properly.
    • Serious Consideration – applicant has the required documentation, has met the basic qualifications and is considered for future open positions.
    • Interviewed – applicant has been interviewed (for recruitments doing interviews), but not going to be proposed for the current position recruited. Applicant can still be considered for further open positions. Applicant will need a disposition reason and comment on why they are not hired using the selection criteria.
      • Tip: As these candidates have moved further in the selection process, these de-selection statements need to be longer and more detailed than the serious consideration candidates.
      • Tip: If still under consideration, departments will need to have a disposition comment on why the candidate is still under consideration.

While the appointment process may not be administered on Recruit, the information pertaining to the candidate’s progression to employment at the university must still be documented throughout the process. This is done by updating the applicant status.

The applicant statuses after proposed are:

• Offered - Approvals have been obtained and a formal offer has been made to the applicant.
• Accepted offer - When the formal offer has been accepted by the applicant.
• Declined offer - When the formal offer has been declined by the applicant.
• Hired - Applicant is entered in payroll system in searched titles – their 12-digit path number needs to be entered along with their official start date.
• Withdrawn - Applicant was not provided with a formal offer and has withdrawn themselves from consideration.

As Federal contractors, every hiring decision needs to be defendable. Decisions need to be made from real evidence and not selective criteria.

Interview panels need to send department analysts selection and deselection statements using the selection criteria established at the Search Plan.

• Selection – why a candidate was selected for hire and what evidence was used to justify this decision?
  • Discuss the successes of the application and/or the interview
• Deselection – why a candidate was not selected for hire and what evidence was used to justify this decision?
  • Discuss the shortcomings of the application and/or interview

These statements need to be non-comparative which:

• Removes probability of biases from having an adverse impact on the recruitment
• Allows the applicants to be measured to the selection criteria instead of each other
• Defends the department against discrimination accusations
• Supports the University’s diversity goals

There are some things that cannot go into a selection and deselection statement such as:

• Protected information of the candidate
• Stereotypes
• Mixed messages from the selection and deselection statements
• Copying and pasting the same comments for multiple applicants
• Comparing and naming other applicants

Please ensure you updating the recruitment continually throughout the process. 

Recruitment Conclusion: Once all the hires have been updated into Recruit, the recruitment is ready to be concluded. However, the applicant pool needs to be cleaned up. All applicants will need to be updated to a final determination status. All indications of still under consideration, alternate for the position, etc. will need to be removed.

The OFCCP has what is called the Internet Applicant Rule. There are four criterion a person must satisfy to be considered an applicant. These criteria are:

• They need to give an expression of interest. On this campus, an expression of interest is defined as completing an application through Recruit. ​

Recruit prevents Search Committee members from viewing incomplete applications.

• The complete application was reviewed against the qualifications for the position to determine if the applicant satisfies or “meets” the stated basic qualifications. ​
• The applicant needs to meet those basic qualifications. ​
• At no time during this hiring process can the applicant withdraw from consideration.

• Description
• The position field should only contain the following items:
  • Department diversity statement
  • Overview of what the position will be doing and where it fits within the department/division
  • Link to the APM of the position series
  • Brief job responsibilities (5-7 key responsibilities)
  • An effective way to communicate the job duties is to keep them current and accurate, use action verbs, keep the number of duties to just the main key duties of the position, and use bullet points or a numbering system for easy reading for the applicant.
    • Tenured searches must also contain the language for Institutional Reference Check in the position description.

• JobElephant: A full service advertisement agency that specializes in print and online job postings for recruitments. They use analytical tools to target job ad placement, track job posting analytics, and offer departments a variety of services. Some of these services include:  
  • Publication advertising deadlines and prices
  • DiversityTrio which is a diversity and inclusion recruitment services that allows departments to target specific diversity niches. 
  • Horton Advertising Recommendation Engine is a data-based recruitment consultation service that provides recommendations on the top posting options to a department's open position. 

Outreach is how a candidate hears about an open position. The department needs to:

• Identify outreach
• Conduct outreach
• Evaluate outreach
• If needed, conduct additional outreach

• Qualifications
  • UCOP policy states that applicants must have their qualifications equally reviewed and that the focus is to select the most qualified for the position regardless of how the applicant may self-identify to keep up the standards of excellence. Qualifications are the list of skills, experience, or education a candidate would need to be successful for the position.
    • Basic – the minimum qualifications an applicant must have to be considered for the position. Degrees must be specified (Example, PhD in Computer Science or related field required). These qualifications must be met at the time of application, relevant to the job, quantifiable, and objective. (Example: PhD or Advancement to Candidacy at the time of application.)
    • Additional – Degree or certifications that an applicant has to have by the start of the position, but maybe working towards while they are an applicant. (Example: A PhD or Advancement to Candidacy in Electrical or Computer Engineering or related disciplines is required at the time of appointment.)
    • Preferred – qualifications that are nice to have skills, experience, or education, but an applicant can still be qualified without them.

• References – the department can decide on which of the kind of references they want.
  • None – when applicants will not be asked for any references to complete their application.
  • Only contact info – the applicant will need to provide the name and contact options for their references to complete the application. Departments can decide when they will reach out to the references.
  • Letters of recommendation – applicants will be asked to name their references and then request the letters to complete the application. The candidate status is complete even if the references has not yet provided the letters of recommendation. The candidate can still be considered for the recruitment.

• Review dates are the “due dates” for the recruitment period where the applicants have to get their completed application in to be reviewed by. Committee members cannot see late or incomplete applications. Analysts are not permitted to submit late or incomplete applications to the search committee. Review dates are recommended at least once a quarter for active recruitments.

• Selection Criteria – prioritized list of items evaluated and measured by the committee. This criterion will be what those interviewed will be measured against.

• Steering is an employment practice that directs a certain subgroup toward a specific set of jobs, often positions with lower pay or fewer opportunities.

Applicants can withdraw at any time for any reason during the hiring process. Applicants can either self-withdrawal or notify the committee or analyst of their withdrawal. There are two processes for each that requires documentation management.

When an applicant self-withdrawal, Recruit:

• Automatically documents the disposition reasons and comments, if any
• Removes the applicant from the qualified pool
• Removes the committee access from the applicant’s application

When an applicant can notify the committee or analyst of withdrawal by:

• Called or emailed stating they are no longer interested in being considered further
• Not available during the interview window – except an applicant is requesting a religious accommodation on when they can interview
• Did not respond to multiple attempts to contact them for inquiries or interviews

The OFCCP requires withdrawn applicants to be properly documented with information about the reason for withdrawing in the disposition comment field and records of calls, emails, or a log of attempts to communicate with the applicant where there was no response. Analyst will be required to make sure this documentation is uploaded into the Documentation Tab into Recruit.