Recruitment advertising

Any post which is for a period of six months or more in duration must be advertised externally. The hiring manager must follow the external recruitment process and get the proper financial approvals.

The advertisement, job description and person specification should all be consistent across the information provided. This is to ensure that applicants are clear on the role requirements and that appropriate selection decisions can be taken. Please see the guidance on writing a job advertisement (.pdf).

Advertisements should include positive action statements where appropriate; equality data is available which will show whether any protected characteristic is under-represented in the recruiting department.

Rolling recruitment

The Resourcing Team operates rolling recruitment campaigns for posts where there is an urgent business need if a vacancy arises or where there is a high turnover of staff, for example cleaners, catering and day nursery staff. Contact the Resourcing Team for more information.

Where to advertise

As a standard process, the Resourcing Team will advertise the post on the following free channels where applicable for the role:

• University website
• Jobs.ac.uk (there is a charge for adverts over 450 words. Longer advert costs will be passed to the department)
• Jobcentre Online
• Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn 

It is recommended that the hiring manager engages with the social media advertising and retweets or shares the advertisement either through the department’s social media networks, or their own personal networks. It is also recommended that the hiring manager leads a process to explore other professional networks and shares the vacancy through these media. Please refer to the University's social media guidelines for advice on using these platforms.

If the manager/department would like any other additional online advertising, the associated costs will be met by the department.

The University no longer pays for advertising in printed media. Should a department wish to place a print advertisement the cost will need to be met directly by them, and first approved by the relevant Executive Dean or the Registrar.

You can read more about how advertising works in the Managers’ Guide to Advertising (.pdf).

Headhunters and agencies

Exceptionally, it may be appropriate to consider using a headhunter or recruitment agency. Please speak to the Resourcing Team for advice before making any direct contact with outside agencies. The cost of using headhunters or recruitment agencies will be met by the department.

The Faculty Executive Dean (for academic posts) and the Registrar (for professional services posts) must approve the use of outside agencies for recruitment. The Resourcing Team will manage the relationship and work closely with any headhunters that are engaged.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Some roles may be eligible for a Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) which means the University is able to employ an international candidate for the position. Roles to which this may typically apply are academic and research posts, and some senior or specialist professional services roles, however this may change from time to time in line with Home Office immigration rules. Guidance on this is available from the Resourcing Adviser.

Posts that are eligible for a CoS and that are likely to attract international applicants must, under the Home Office rules, be advertised for a minimum of 28 days, if the recruiting timeframes allow. We may not be able to sponsor an international candidate if the post is eligible for a CoS but has not been advertised for 28 days. The Resourcing Team will confirm with the hiring manager from the outset of the recruitment process whether a post is eligible for a CoS and if there are any particular considerations of which to be aware as part of this process.

Process

The Resourcing Team will advertise the vacancy once all the relevant information has been received via the e-Recruitment system (iTrent).

The hiring manager should complete the job pack template or the academic job pack templates to provide the Resourcing Team with the information needed to advertise the vacancy - this includes the advertisement, job description and person specification in the University’s agreed format.

Once the post is approved through Unit 4 Business World (formerly Agresso) and the job pack is completed, the hiring manager will upload these documents onto the e-Recruitment system (iTrent). The Resourcing Adviser will receive electronic notification that vacancy has been started and that documents have been uploaded. They may contact the hiring manager to discuss the information and timeframes.

Please note that if incomplete or incorrect information is provided, this will lead to delays with making the advertisement live. In this situation the Resourcing Adviser will contact the hiring manager to advise if any revisions to the information provided are required.

The Resourcing Adviser will notify the manager by email once the advertisement is live on the University website. They will also send out an interview plan at this point so the hiring manager can confirm the interview arrangements.

Vacancies of less than six months duration

If there is a vacancy available for less than six months duration, the hiring manager should continue to follow a fair and equitable process in accordance with the principles of the Resourcing Guidance and Framework. The post should have a job description and person specification, and it should be advertised (for example internally in the department, as an advert only on the University website or through CareerHub). All applications should be considered and candidates interviewed. Right-to-work checks before the first day should also be undertaken.