Hiring

Below is our hiring process and resources to ensure all applicants receive fair and equal opportunity. We are here to assist you with the University’s hiring process and the actions required to ensure compliance with federal and state regulations (e.g., statutes relating to equal employment opportunity, etc.).

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

How to Hire

Student hiring is a collaborative effort between, People Operations and the hiring department. In some cases, such as College Work Study (CWS), collaboration with Financial Aid is needed. People Operations will assist with job postings and will collect hiring paperwork if the candidate passes the background check. Financial Aid will provide funding and regulations for the College Work Study program. Use the steps below when hiring hourly student assistants.

1. Post Position

You, the hiring manager, will post the job on PeopleAdmin. For information about posting positions, refer to the Student Hiring Updates training provided in Talent Management.

2. 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.

3. Interview

Your position must be posted for a minimum of 5 days before you can begin interviews.

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, and
  5. Interview logistics

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

4. Make an Offer

You can make an offer to the candidate contingent on a background check. 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

Hourly Students cannot exceed 28 hours per work week across all their positions per the HR-27 Student Employment Policy. International students are limited to 20 hours per work week.

5. Recommend for Hire Background Check

To begin the background check process for your candidate, you will need to change the students applications status to Recommend for Hire in PeopleAdmin. This automatically sends the candidate the background check request to complete.

6. Hiring Proposal - HR Approves Hire

When a candidate passes the background check, you will receive a notification from PeopleAdmin requesting you complete the Hiring Proposal in PeopleAdmin. You need to submit the required information on the Hiring Proposal as soon as possible. People Operations will create an electronic personnel action form (EPAF) from the PeopleAdmin Hiring Proposal and assign the new hire paperwork through Employee Records.

7. Orientation

Students are required to attend New Hire Orientation before they begin working. New Hire Orientation is considered the students first day of employment. Once the student has completed their paperwork, I-9, and orientation, you will be notified by the Student Hiring Team that the student is cleared to begin work. The student cannot begin working until they have been cleared by the People Operations Student Hiring Team. If you are unsure of your students onboarding status, please contact us at hrstudenthire@shsu.edu.

8. Schedule Student to 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.

Required Electronic Paperwork for New Hire Hourly Students:

  • 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

Human Resources will provide assistance with hiring graduate assistants. Use the steps below when hiring for a graduate assistant position.

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.

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 candidates 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 91做厙 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/As. 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

HR Staff Specialists coordinate with the hiring departments to fill faculty and staff positions. Use the steps below to hire for a staff or faculty position.

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).

User Guide

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 91做厙 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. “91做厙 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. 91做厙 is an “at will” employer. Employees with a contract will have additional terms and conditions. Security sensitive positions at 91做厙 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 rapportbuilding 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, multitasking, 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 closeended 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 91做厙 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.

Read Checklist for New Faculty & Staff

International

International Program provides guidance for the university to hire international workers in conformity with federal immigration laws. International candidates, international employees, and hiring managers should review the related policy and reach out to our International Coordinator for guidance.

Read Policy

Measuring Qualities with KSAs

KSAs are knowledge, skills, and abilities that a person must possess in order to perform the duties of his or her position. KSAs are listed on each position’s job description and serve as a guide for applicants, employees, and departments to evaluate and assess a person’s likelihood for success in a job.

Knowledge. The subjects, topics, and items of information that an employee should know at the time he or she is hired or moved into the job. Knowledge represents bodies of information that are applied directly to the performance of work functions.

Skills. Technical or manual proficiencies which are usually learned or acquired through training. Skills should be measurable and observable.

Abilities.The present demonstrable capacity to apply several knowledge and skills simultaneously in order to complete a task or perform an observable behavior. Abilities may also relate to personal and social attributes which tend to be innate or acquired without formal instructions. Abilities are enduring talents that can help a person do a job.

Here's a few examples:

  • Clerical
    • Knowledge of office procedures and of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and arithmetic.
    • Knowledge of records administration and maintenance techniques and procedures.
    • Knowledge of inventory control principles and methods.
    • Skill in data entry with minimal errors.
    • Ability to accurately prepare and maintain records, files, and reports.
    • Ability to maintain records of materials, supplies, time, and work performed.
  • Communications
    • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
    • Skill in editing documents for correct grammar.
    • Skill in giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
    • Skill in communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
    • Skill in talking to others to convey information effectively.
    • Ability to communicate effectively in both oral and written form.
    • Ability to handle difficult and stressful situations with professional composure.
    • Ability to maintain effective interpersonal relationships.
    • Ability to understand and follow instructions.
  • Critical Thinking & Problem-Solving
    • Skill in collecting and analyzing complex data.
    • Skill in analyzing and organizing technical data.
    • Skill in using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
    • Ability to process information logically.
    • Ability to recognize, analyze, and solve a variety of problems.
    • Ability to exercise sound judgment in making critical decisions.
  • Financial/Accounting & Budget
    • Knowledge of generally accepted accounting procedures and principles.
    • Knowledge of budget control methods, policies, and procedures.
    • Ability to prepare financial and accounting records.
    • Ability to analyze, consolidate, and interpret accounting data.
    • Ability to compile, organize, interpret, and communicate accounting data and results concisely.
    • Ability to manage a budget and work within the constraints of that budget.
  • Managerial or Supervisory
    • Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
    • Skill in monitoring/assessing the performance of self, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
    • Ability to plan, implement, and evaluate programs.
    • Ability to direct and organize program activities.
    • Ability to establish goals and objectives.
    • Ability to establish program goals and objectives that support the strategic plan.
    • Ability to effectively plan and delegate the work of others.
    • Ability to plan, assign, and/or supervise the work of others.
    • Ability to train others.
  • General
    • Skill in managing one’s own time and the time of others.
    • Skill in completing assignments accurately and with attention to detail.
    • Ability to work under pressure and meet close deadlines.
    • Ability to analyze, organize and prioritize work while meeting multiple deadlines.
    • Ability to analyze and prepare documents, reports, and correspondence.
    • Ability to process and handle confidential information with discretion.
    • Ability to review work for accuracy.
    • Ability to work evenings, nights, and weekends as necessary.