Hiring

1. Obtain FTE Approvals

You, the hiring manager, must obtain approval for FTE appointments over a total of .50 FTE from the relevant Academic Dean and Graduate School. The memo received from the Graduate School must be sent to hrgradhire@shsu.edu.

2. Post Position

You, the hiring manager, will post the job on PeopleAdmin. Non-Academic departments must post their position on PeopleAdmin for a minimum of 5 days prior to interviewing. Academic departments have the option to post the position or have their candidate apply to the HR Internal Only job posting. For information about posting a position in PeopleAdmin, review the Graduate Hiring Updates training provided in Talent Management.

Login to PeopleAdmin

Login to Talent Management

3. Screen Applications

You will review new applications for minimum qualifications and experience. There is no minimum for the number of applicants that must be selected for interview.

4. Interview

It is recommended that you allow candidates 24-48 hours of notice for their interview and notify them of the following:

1. Title of Position
2. Location of Interview (physical address, building, office number)
3. Parking instructions (if necessary)
4. Contact name and call back number
5. Interview logistics

The same questions should be asked of all candidates, and it is recommended that interviewers utilize a matrix to score candidates.

5. Check Enrollment

You need to find out how many credit hours the best candidate is enrolled in during the fall and spring semesters. If the best candidate is enrolled in under 6 credit hours, you must obtain a memo for approval. For non-academic areas or grants, contact hrgradhire@shsu.edu. For academic areas, contact The Graduate School at thegraduateschool@shsu.edu.

6. Make an Offer

You will make an offer contingent on a background check at least 10 days after the post was posted. Upon acceptance of the offer, discuss and come to agreement on the work schedule.

Contingent on Background Check

If the background check results have not yet been received prior to you extending an offer to the candidate, the offer will need to be conditional and contingent upon a successful background check.

Work Limits

Graduate Assistants are limited to 20 hours per work week regardless of citizenship status per Academic Affairs Policy 890303.

7. Recommend for Hire – Background Check

Non-Academic Departments: To begin the background check process for your candidate, you will need to change the candidate’s applications status to Recommend for Hire in PeopleAdmin. This automatically sends the candidate the background check request to complete.

Academic Departments: Email hrgradhire@shsu.edu with an intent to hire. Include the candidates first and last name, Sam ID, and SHSU email address. People Operations will email the candidate the direct link and information needed to apply to the HR Internal Only job posting. The candidate will need to create an account in PeopleAdmin to apply for the position.

8. Hiring Paperwork - HR Approves Hire

Non-Academic Departments: When a candidate passes the background check, you will receive a notification from PeopleAdmin requesting you complete the Hiring Proposal in PeopleAdmin. Since departments create the electronic personnel action form (EPAF) for Graduate level positions, you can fill in the Hiring Proposal with N/A’s. Submit the GA/TA/RA EPAF if you have not already.

Academic Departments: People Operations will manage all status changes within the HR Only Internal Job Posting. No action is required by the hiring department.

9. Orientation

All new hire employees are required to attend New Hire Orientation before they begin working.

Once the candidate has completed their paperwork, I-9, and orientation, you will be notified by the Grad Hiring Team that the candidate is cleared to begin work. The candidate cannot begin working until they have been cleared by the People Operations Grad Hiring Team. If you are unsure of your candidates onboarding status, please contact us at hrgradhire@shsu.edu.

10. Select the First Day of Work

Email your new student hire welcoming them to your department, informing them when their first day will be, and what they can expect.

Refer to Finance & Operations Human Resources Policy HR-20 for employee qualifications and hiring guidelines.

Refer to Finance & Operations Human Resources Policy HR-27 for the Student Employment Policy.

Refer to Academic Affairs Policy 890303 for the Employment of Graduate Assistants policy.

Required Electronic Paperwork for New Hire Graduate/Research/Teaching Assistants

• I-9 Section 1
• Post-Offer Disability
• Post-Offer Veteran Self Identification
• Employee Statistical Data Sheet
• Workers Compensation Notification
• Notification of Legislation
• Selective Services Registration
• Student Orientation Sign-Up
• ERS Graduate Insurance Waiver/Election Form
• 9/12 Month Pay Option

1. Review Job Classification

Prior to posting a vacancy, please review the job classification to ensure it accurately reflects the position's duties, essential functions, and the educational and experience requirements.

Job Classifications

2. Request to Fill a Position

If you do not have substantial changes to request to the job description, initiate a posting replacement action to replace a vacancy for an existing FTE. If you need to request substantial changes to the job description to an extent that a reclassification may be required, please initiate the modify staff position action in the University’s employment system (PeopleAdmin).

3. Post Position

A Human Resources Specialist calls the hiring manager to review posting options with you prior to posting the position.

• Questions to Expect
  • Are you willing to accept additional experience as a substitution for the education required?
  • Are you willing to accept additional education as a substitution for the experience required?
  • Are you willing to include related fields for any required education and experience? We will need you to provide the related fields.
  • Would you like to include disqualifying screening questions and ranking criteria?

4. Advertise

All faculty and staff positions are posted on the SHSU PeopleAdmin website, with the Texas Workforce Commission, Inside HigherEd and the Higher Education Recruitment Consortium. In addition, faculty and executive staff positions are posted with the Chronicle of Higher Education. You may advertise available positions in other places, upon approval from us. To pay for advertising space (digital or print), consult with Procurement & Business Services.

• What to Include

  If you plan to advertise the vacancy in additional publications, you must include the following.

  • Instructions on where to apply
  • Our EEO/AAP Statement. “Sam Houston State University is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and Smoke/Drug-Free Workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, creed, ancestry, marital status, citizenship, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, or gender identity or expression. Sam Houston State University is an “at will” employer. Employees with a contract will have additional terms and conditions. Security sensitive positions at SHSU require background checks in accordance with Education Code § 51.215."

5. Screen Applications

As new applications are received, the hiring manager will review them for minimum qualifications. Review the application/resume for the candidate’s education and experience, then compare each to the requirements under the “Education & Experience Requirements” section of the posting. You must interview at least 3 applicants.

• Calculating Experience
  • If a candidate indicates they have worked part time at a job, and the number of hours worked is 20 or more per week, count the total time of employment.
  • If the candidate worked part-time less than 20 hours per week or have not indicated the number of hours worked per week, count the total time of employment and divide it by 2.
  • If you are accepting additional education in lieu of required experience or additional experience in lieu of required education, the following equivalency rules apply.

  Degree Equivalency

  DegreeExperience

  Associate's	2 years
  Bachelor's	4 years
  Master's	6 years

  College Hours Equivalency

  HoursExperience

  30 undergraduate	1 year
  60 undergraduate	2 years
  90 undergraduate	3 years
  120 undergraduate	4 years
  18 graduate	5 years
  36 graduate	6 years

• Veteran's Applicants

  If you select seven or fewer applicants for an interview, one qualified veteran’s preference applicant from the pool must be interviewed. A qualified veteran’s preference applicant is any applicant that meets the qualifications for the job as stated in the job posting and who self-identify as being eligible for Veteran’s Preference on the application. If you select more than six applicants for an interview, at least 20% of the number interviewed must be qualified veteran’s preference applicants. If there are no veteran’s preference applicants in the qualified applicant pool, there is no requirement to interview a veteran.

Measure Qualities with KSAs

6. Interview

If an applicant meets the minimum requirements and you would like to interview them, change the workflow status of the applicant in PeopleAdmin to “Recommend for Interview.” If the applicant does not meet minimum requirements or you do not wish to interview them, please send an email with the requisition number and list of applicant names to HR in order for appropriate communication to be sent to the applicants.

• Scheduling

  Please allow candidates 24-48 hours of notice for the interview and inform them of the following:

  • Title of position
  • Location of interview (physical address, building, office number)
  • Parking instructions
  • Contact name and call back number
  • Interview logistics
• Matrix & Questions

  Hiring manager must prepare interview matrix and questions. You may use our matrix template or create your own. You need to create job specific questions.

  • Plan to open the interview with rapport‐building questions that will put the candidate at ease. Ask the candidate to take 2-3 minutes to share an overview of their education, skills, and reason for applying.
  • Analyze the work-related qualities that are important for someone to possess in the position and design questions that will help determine whether a candidate has those qualities (e.g. working within short deadlines, multi‐tasking, constant change of direction, etc.).
  • Instead of giving hypothetical situations, ask how the candidate actually handled a similar work situation in the past.
  • Avoid asking close‐ended questions that only require a “yes”, “no”, or one-word answer.
  • Do not include any questions related to race, creed, ancestry, marital status, citizenship, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, child care, health issues, etc.

  Matrix Template

• Conducting

  Introduce yourself (and committee, if applicable) at the start of each interview. Explain how the interview will be conducted. The same questions should be asked of all candidates. All interviewers should complete an interview matrix for each candidate which includes interview questions and answers. Allow the candidate time to ask questions. For best results, use the 80/20 rule – applicant talks 80% of the time and interviewer talks 20%.

7. Check References

Introduce yourself to the reference, provide the nature of the call and have a set of questions for the reference.

• Questions to Ask
  • How long have you known X and in what capacity?
  • Describe the candidate’s overall work performance in terms of skills, qualities and contributions to your organization.
  • What are X’s professional strengths and areas for development?
  • What are X’s unique professional qualities?
  • How would you compare the performance of X with that of others who have held the same job?
  • Please describe overall work/performance in terms of attitude, dependability and trustworthiness.
  • Is X someone you would hire (again)?
  • Why did X leave your organization?
  • Is there any additional information that you feel we should know in considering (x) for employment?
• Who Are References
  • References provided by the applicant on the application
  • Supervisors listed in the employment history section of the application – Remember to first notify the candidate before contacting their current supervisor to give the candidate an opportunity to notify their supervisor
  • Previous SHSU supervisors, if applicable

8. Complete Hiring Evaluation Checklist

Hiring Evaluation Checklist

9. Request Offer Approval

Email Human Resources at employment@shsu.edu with the following information to get approval for the offer you'd like to extend to the selected candidate.

Email us with:

• Requested Hiring Salary
• Requisition Number
• Candidate's Full Name
• Desired Start Date
• Completed Hiring Evaluation Checklist
• Completed Interview Matrix for Staff Positions

10. Extend the Offer

Offers can only be extended after Human Resources has given approval and should be offered in the monthly amount. All offers are contingent on a background-check – be sure to emphasize this if you have not yet received clearance. Upon acceptance of the offer, discuss and come to agreement on start date for candidate. This date can be any date that both candidate and hiring department agree upon.

• Accepting a Counter Offer

  If the candidate counters on the offer and hiring department is able to increase amount, contact Human Resources. Human Resources must approve any change in salary offer before candidate is notified.

  Staff Directory

10. Wait for Background Check

Human Resources runs a background checks upon receiving requests to hire. Background checks usually take 2 to 3 business days but may take up to 10 business days.

We will email you the results. If their background is not a risk to the university, we will let you know they are “Recommended for Hire” so you may proceed with the hiring process.

11. Hiring Paperwork

If the candidate passes the background check, we send and collect hiring paperwork using the email you provide in your New Hire Request.

12. Submit EPAF

Human Resources will create an electronic personnel action form (EPAF) for staff and student positions to create their job record and set them up on our payroll system. For faculty positions, Human Resources will notify the hiring manager or administrative staff to create an EPAF through Banner.

13. Prepare for First Day of Work

Prepare the employee's workstation and send them instructions for their first day.

Request New Employee Setup from IT

Read Checklist for New Faculty & Staff