Recruitment & selection

Use Handshake to recruit student employees

Handshake, NAU’s online recruitment platform is the first place we direct students to search for on-campus student employment positions. You can:

• create an employer account, or add an employer account to your alumni/student Handshake account, or join a different employer,
• post a new job or duplicate a previous job posting to save time
• easily access a list of student applicants or download applications
• set up automatic messages for applicants or create interview schedules and have students sign up in Handshake
• mark your applicants as reviewed/hired/declined for EEO/AA reporting

The Handshake Help Center has many useful videos and instructions.

Selection committee recommendations

Designate a selection committee to review your applications using a standardized scoring tool (such as this one).

It is recommended that hiring committees consist of more than one person, include a representative sample of members who will be working with or supporting the role being hired for, and include another student employee. Consistency is encouraged in hiring committees so that each applicant has a review that can be compared to other applicants, equally. Recommended hiring committees might include:

• Full-time hiring supervisor and a Student Employee (who attends all interviews).
• Full-time hiring supervisor, a Student Lead or Student Supervisor (who attends all interviews), and a rotating Student Employee, as availability permits.

Select interview questions based on job duties

The Interview Questions Bank provided by Student Employment at NAU is designed to provide meaningful behavioral interview questions, grouped by transferable skill, so you’ll know whether or not your student employees have the skills to do the job before you hire them. Plan the interview questions you will be asking with the key skills, words, and experiences you are seeking from the candidate. A sample of this process, using the Interview Questions Bank for the Career Jack peer mentor position is shared here.

Interview applicants

Interviewing in person, on the phone, or via Skype are all best practices, but be sure you are consistent in your interviewing process and medium. It may be necessary, especially if over summer or if interviewing incoming freshman, to combine interviewing mediums to interview your qualified applicants. In cases such as these, be sure to be as consistent as possible (i.e. conduct a Skype interview instead of a phone interview for your remote applicant if most others have been in person). All committee members should have a typed final copy of the interview questions and be familiar with them in advance. This will keep you on track for follow-up questions, if needed. Keep in mind that there are some illegal questions when interviewing.

Score your applicants’ interview responses

Ensure questions asked of applicants remain the same for all applicants in the interviewing process. Take notes from the interview and be aware the notes are discover-able based on legal action. It is recommended to document applicant’s responses clearly and accurately. Rate the applicants’ responses for each questions using a 1-3 scoring scale like the one below.

Interview response rating scale

1. Tell us about a time you took initiative to do something that needed to be done, even though it wasn’t your responsibility.

(Response was not sufficient) 1 2 3 (Excellent Response)

Complete reference checks even when you are required to request a background check

Based on your interview rankings and fit, determine which applicants are your desired candidates. Prior to make a job offer, we recommend conducting a reference check on each selected candidate using the Reference Check Form provided by Student Employment at NAU. Reference checking assists you in determining an applicant’s suitability for the position and allows you to speak with reference provided to discuss performance related to the position for which the applicant is being considered. After conducting reference checks, use the Sample Emails to Applicants to make your offer of employment.

Indicate applicants as hired/declined in Handshake

The final step in the recruitment and selection process is review your applicant messaging templates and indicate all applicants in your pool as either hired or declined in Handshake. (NOTE: this does not initiate a HireXpress packet or ePAR which is the next step in onboarding.) This action closes the loop for students who are waiting to hear back about their application status.  In the event that your hiring process requires an “alternates” pool, leave those applicants you’ve designated as alternates with a status of “Reviewed” until the end of the hiring semester/academic year.

This step is critical because the Student Employment Program and the Equity and Access Office utilize these data for annual AA/EEO Reporting requirements.