Guide to Faculty Recruitment

The University of Missouri is a premier research institution with dedicated faculty, staff and students creating and discovering new technologies, arts, media, content and publications every day that transform lives and communities around the globe. The University is strongly committed to certain values to uphold its position as a premier institution and remain competitive in this global society. We value the uniqueness of every individual and strive to ensure each person’s success. Contributions from individuals with diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives promote intellectual pluralism and enable us to achieve the excellence that we seek in learning, research and engagement. This commitment makes our university a better place to work, learn and innovate.

Basics on faculty recruitment can be found below, a holistic overview can be found here.

Creating a Search Committee

Search committees are the candidate’s first glimpse into the culture of the unit and the culture at Mizzou. Candidates are attracted to the institution when the committee is engaged and enthused, and when the committee can demonstrate that the position is a doorway to career progression for the candidate. Search Committee Chairs should endeavor to build their committee with individuals who can present a persuasive case for the department and the institution.

• Include individuals who will provide a range of different perspectives and expertise BUT do not overburden members of specific groups or create an imbalance in perspectives.
• Balance committee composition with seniority and length of service recognizing that less experienced colleagues have much to offer while respecting the unique challenges those colleagues face. Be mindful of their need to balance service commitments with other activities.
• The hiring authority should clarify the expected deliverables at the outset of the search process.

Pre-Search Activities

To help the university achieve its strategic priorities, it is important to cultivate an applicant pool of people who bring valuable perspectives and experiences from all walks of life. This requires pre-search activities to identify highly qualified individuals before the opening is announced.

Recruiting is more than just advertising in a journal or listserv and waiting for interested persons to apply. Recruiting great candidates should be considered an ongoing activity and start long before you have a job vacancy to fill. You should be seeking to make positive impressions to potential candidates for your department as you go to conferences, participate in sponsored events, or serve on professional association committees. When your department has a specific position to fill, it is easier and more
effective to engage people with whom you already have an established relationship and try to attract them to the specific openings at that time.

Tips for Scouting and Proactive Recruitment Scouting:

• Consider recruiting an ongoing activity: Rather than treating recruitment as a rare and special occasion, develop the habit of regularly ‘scouting’ for potential talent who would advance your unit’s mission.
• Focus on reputation and relationship building: Build a relationship with potential future applicants so the unit is well positioned to attract top talent when there is an opening.
• Establish and communicate a long-term plan: Ensure long-term hiring plans for the unit are regularly updated and broadly discussed with the whole unit to create awareness of current and anticipated needs.
• All members of the unit/department are recruiters: Encourage all members of the unit to use conferences as well as lectures and seminars at other institutions to highlight their home unit serving as ambassadors to those that might consider joining you.
• Be strategic about who you invite: Consider hosting targeted events and inviting potential future applicants to lecture and seminar series. Think openly about building ‘pipelines’ of prospective candidates (e.g. graduate students for post- docs/junior faculty and individuals with certain experiences that will complement or expand the unit’s current faculty).
• Advance your local scouting opportunities: Broaden your local scouting scope by engaging with graduate students from adjacent units.

Proactive Recruitment

• Define your ideal candidate profile and craft a clear message: Clearly identify the skills required as well as the experiences sought and tailor your messages to attract potential candidates who match the profile.
• Utilize various channels (nominations, networking, etc.) and follow up consistently: Ensure all members of the unit are aware of the search and invite them to nominate people from their network and colleges they have ‘scouted’. Exhaust all options to identify or ‘source’ candidates through multiple channels, maintain regular follow-ups, and adapt your approach for an effective outreach strategy. Often these targeted candidates are doing similar work at comparable or aspirational peer organizations and/or universities. Think first about who does this work well and target those individuals and others like them.
• Engage in meaningful conversations and build a brand: Engage in thoughtful two-way communication (illustrating your group’s values, culture, and personality) to build trust and interest with potential candidates. Consider unit leadership or the chair(s) of the committee personally contacting qualified prospects. You may include an invitation to the chair(s) of the committee to have a conversation with the potential applicant to encourage them to apply.
• Be equitable in outreach and discussions with candidates: Have a consistent approach with all candidates to ensure there is equity among those interested in being considered. Track centrally who is being engaged and how, and any outcomes so there is a record of activity.

Be realistic and deliberate with all Scouting and Active Recruitment efforts: Scouting activities as well as Active Recruitment will likely help achieve strong candidate pools but are not a guarantee for an actual hire. Therefore, unit members should be careful to build realistic expectations with prospects and NOT overpromise and/or guarantee an interview or job offer.

Utilizing the agreed upon criteria, develop 5 – 10 questions focused on the key attributes of the role to gain additional information from each applicant. The questions need to be focused on the experience of the candidate by asking for specific examples of behaviors and experiences.

Tips: Structured Interview Format:

• A structured interview format ensures a consistent approach across candidates and gives the search committee the opportunity to link interview questions directly with job criteria and the evaluation rubric.
• As a committee, discuss and design 5-10 questions focused on the key attributes of the role before the interview and identify the methodology of who will ask which question and when.
• Ensure that each candidate is allotted an equal amount of time for the interview and that they are all provided with an opportunity to answer all the questions within that allotted time. For this reason, it may be helpful to refrain from asking follow-up or clarifying questions until all questions are answered, then use the remaining time to ask additional questions and provide the candidate with an opportunity to ask questions of the committee.
  What questions to avoid
• IT IS NOT PERMISSIBLE to ask about or discuss protected status, even if/when applicants volunteer information: sexual orientation, marital/familial status, religion, gender identity/expression, national origin/ethnicity/culture, veteran status, race, or disability status.
  • If this information is volunteered by the applicant:
    o First approach the situation by thanking them for their input without further comment.
    o If a candidate repeatedly addresses information about their protected status, redirect the discussion.
  • For example:
    ▪ Thank you for sharing about your identity as _. We cannot consider that status itself in hiring decisions, but we are interested in what your experiences say about you as an individual and your qualifications. What would you like us to take away from your experiences as an individual and how they make you a good candidate for this position?
    o If they have a question related to protected status,
    ▪ Offer general information about the emphasis of the University values commitment in all areas.
    ▪ Offer to engage with the right personnel (HR and/or General Counsel’s office) to find answers to specific questions they may have in relation to the topic.

Creating a great candidate experience throughout the process

Recruitment activities can easily be seen as opportunities to market the university as a great place to work. Each recruitment is another chance to leave a good impression with individuals so be intentional about creating a positive experience through consideration of their needs and interests as well as being equitable each interested person.

Candidate Communication
Throughout the search, particularly when it comes to interviews, committees begin to engage in additional communication with candidates – including those who are selected for further consideration and those who are not. Consider the following best practices in candidate communication:

• When inviting candidates to interview, provide information about whom they will meet, the format of the interview, length of the interview, where to meet, and any other pertinent details (e.g., “We’d like you to specifically speak to XYZ skills/experiences…”)
• When extending an invite to a candidate, ensure to inquire if the candidate is under consideration by any other UM System campus, relative to CRR 320.100 Faculty Recruitment Conflict Guideline.
• If there are candidates who do not meet the minimum qualifications for the search, it is acceptable to notify them at this stage that they will not be considered further in the process. If there are candidates that surpass the minimum qualifications but will no longer be considered as part of the candidate pool, it is acceptable to notify them at this stage that they are no longer being considered.
• When communicating regrets to a candidate, be concise and express your appreciation for their time and interest in the position. Do NOT focus on the candidate’s shortcomings, rather share that the selected/recommended candidate more closely met the criteria the committee was looking for.
• When communicating regrets to a candidate, phone calls are strongly recommended if the candidate might be considered for another position in the future.

Further details on faculty recruitment can be found here.