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Student Recruitment (Being Inclusive)

There is already a lot of work happening around the University in terms of inclusive recruitment and general guidance in recruitment practice. This section has been designed specifically with students in mind.
It is important to remember that students are often not professionals in a career field, and in many circumstances, this is their first instance of applying to or being a part of an application process or potentially even paid work.
Often, we are looking for passion and interest in our student employees. Try to keep this in mind through all parts of the recruitment stages- we are trying to encourage student participation, and using inclusive approaches is a great way to start this!

Job Design

A lot of inclusivity starts at the job design stage. When you are writing up what you think the job will look like, think about your own bias- are you unconsciously assuming a certain person would fit, or are you inadvertently writing the role to suit someone specific?

Think about how this could impact who you are able to recruit.

We recommend looking through all of the sections before designing your job to prompt thought about what you may want to, or may want to avoid, including.

Setting Up the Advert

There is a lot of thought and preparation that goes into setting up an advert to hire students to work with us. Use this layout as a way to prompt some thought on:

  • What you should consider
  • What you can signpost out to
  • What could put students off (who are you

If you plan to recruit students, this is done through the Unitemps portal.

Getting the Advert to Students

Oftentimes, we miss students by limiting where and how we post the opportunity. Learn more about how and where to engage students.

Preparing for an Interview

Shortlisting, how you set up the interview, and equipping the staff involved- these are all important considerations that could have a huge impact on the outcome as well as the experience for students involved.

Conducting an Interview

Consider things such as:

  • An activity a student can prepare beforehand
  • The style of questions being asked
  • How to help students best represent themselves

Evaluating an Interview

When evaluating a candidate, it is important to consider ways of evaluation that we may not have tried before. Some things to note:

  • Consider how candidates will be able to display the skills and criteria you're looking for
  • Try to record the candidate's response, as well as your thoughts about their response
  • Consider evaluating candidates not indivudally, but evaluating the response to each question in turn
  • Allow for reflection time, and come together after ALL candidates have been seen
    • As you go through, write feedback you would send should the candidate not be succseful whilst it is still in your mind

The chair should act as the “inclusion representative” whose role is to act as devil’s advocate and challenge groupthink during the evaluation process.

Making an Offer

When offering students the role, it is important to lay out the next steps clearly:

  • Explain any steps they need to follow from unitemps (right to work checks, confirmation through unitemps portal etc) to confirm their acceptance
  • Outline what they should do if they can no longer fulfil the role
  • Remind them of the expected start date, and any other key dates and times
  • Arrange where and how you will meet them for their induction, and when they can expect their induction handbook/writen guides
  • Confirm what equipment you can provide, and how they can go about collecting/accessing it
  • Confirm communication routes, students may use different platforms to you, consider using WhatsApp as a method of contact as opposed to Teams messages
  • If they need any introductory courses or training- share how to access these

And don't forget to congratulate them!

Unsuccessful candidates

  1. Always offer feedback, and share with them any general guidance or support (such as with the careers team) that they may want to access.
  2. If your department/team regularly recruit for student roles, you could also ask if they would be willing to remain on file for any future positions.
  3. Remind them of any other opportunities for them to get involved with the project (e.g. workshops or focus groups) so that their voice can still be heard!