Hiring a Staff Member
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The Provost Administrative Affairs Human Resources (PAA HR) office can guide you through the hiring process for vacancies, replacements, and/or reorganizations, reclassifications, etc. Utilizing our services will protect both you and the university; ensuring that all university and federal guidelines are being followed.
The most up-to-date information regarding hiring can be found in the Hiring Officer’s Handbook (PennKey required). This handbook will assist you with posting a position, selecting and interviewing potential candidates, checking references, offering a position, and finalizing the hiring process. If you have any questions, please contact your Human Resources Director or Erin Gerew, Sr. Recruiter, Provost Centers. General information regarding hiring can be found below.
Exception to the Hiring Freeze
As of April 13, 2020, there is a University-wide hiring freeze for all new and replacement positions, except for grant-funded positions, through June 30, 2021. No hires should be made unless they have been approved through the exception process. Please visit our Exception to the Hiring Freeze Request page (PennKey Required) for details and to submit your request.
The Handbook section Creating and Posting a Job covers job posting requirements, differences between new and reclassified positions, and waiver of posting request.
The Tip Sheet here provides checklists for information you will need to include for your Job Requisition and PIQ, as well as the steps you will need to take to complete the process.
For Recruiting Coordinators, review this tip sheet for posting a staff job, closing a job requisition, freezing a job requisition, and reassigning responsibilities for managing candidates in the application process.
The Hiring Officer Handbook also includes information on developing a viable applicant pool, and managing job requisitions.
For information on reviewing applicants and moving candidates forward in the process, please see the Hiring Handbooks' Screening Applicant Pools page. Please also review Avoiding Bias in the Hiring Process as you select and interview candidates.
This tip sheet provides step-by-step guidance for phases of the Job Application process, including: Review Candidate, Interview, Initiate and Extend Offer, Background Check, Ready for Hire and Undo Move.
All applicants (internal and external) must apply for positions via Workday@Penn. If you are directly contacted by candidates, please ask them to apply online.
The PAA HR team is available if you have questions or need assistance with the interviewing process. Additional information regarding interviewing is available in the Hiring Officer’s Handbook, including different interview formats, interview techniques and questions, and questions you may not ask a candidate before hiring. Please contact your Human Resources Director for a list of pre-employment dos and don'ts.
Interviewing the candidate is required before conducting a reference check or initiating an offer.
Please DO NOT make any offers, verbal or otherwise, before PAA HR has approved the hire and reviewed the details of the offer.
Refer to the Hiring Officer Handbook for more information on the offer process, including generating the offer letter in Workday and conducting a background check.
This tip sheet, Hiring a Staff Candidate provides the step-by-step instructions for an HR Analyst or HR Partner to hire a Staff candidate in Workday, including assigning costing allocations, assigning organization, and onboarding set-up. Click here for the tip-sheet on Onboarding Setup in Workday. If you have any questions about the hiring process, please contact Erin Gerew before you begin to complete this step.
For more information on completing the in-person portion of Onboarding for new hires, see Onboarding and I-9 Process.
- Review expectations and goals with the staff member.
- Meet with him/her at regular intervals to review progress.
- At the end of the four-month introductory period for external candidates, complete an Introductory Period Performance Plan through the Online Performance Appraisal System, and review with the staff member.
The Hiring Officer Handbook also includes information on the following:
