As a result of introducing the Hireserve Hiring Manager Portal, hiring managers and panel members can now access candidate application forms as soon as they are submitted and can therefore begin the shortlisting process independently online. This can significantly reduce the total time to hire, as reviewing applications doesn’t need to wait until the advertisement has closed (a potential time saving of at least two weeks). Panel members must have a Hiring Manager Portal account, which will be granted following attendance of the LEAD Recruitment and Selection/Hireserve training, available to book via the Staff Development Calendar.
The extent to which candidates meet the person specification criteria can be assessed using the following scale:
- Not met – candidate does not demonstrate meeting the criteria.
- Partly met – candidate demonstrates meeting part of, but not all of the criteria.
- Fully met – candidate demonstrates meeting the criteria.
- Exceeded – candidate demonstrates meeting the criteria at a higher level than is required.
When shortlisting, to identify the strongest candidates, you should be looking for specific examples of how candidates meet the criteria rather than generic statements that are not supported by evidence.
This is demonstrated in the following responses to the Person Specification criteria ‘Ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of people in various formats’.
Candidate A writes:
‘I have excellent communication skills and communicate with lots of people every day as part of my role’.
Candidate B writes:
‘I communicate with customers and staff at all levels (including senior management) using the telephone and Microsoft Teams as well as face-to-face whilst working on a reception desk. I also produce correspondence such as formal complaint response letters and compose emails to customers and colleagues daily. I have received positive feedback and thanks from managers and customers based on the quality of my advice and support’.
The response from Candidate B better demonstrates evidence of having good communication skills as they have provided more specific information that addresses the criteria.
When reviewing applications, it is critical that no new criteria is added at the shortlisting stage (for example if there are too many applicants and some have a particular skill or ability that hasn’t been requested but would be beneficial), or criteria originally categorised as ‘Essential’ is downgraded to ‘Desirable’ following advertisement as no candidates have demonstrated meeting it. It may be that the Person Specification for the role is not fit for purpose and reviewing the document and re-advertisement would be the most appropriate action (see Job Description and Person Specification webpage for guidance in this area).
View guidance for using the Hireserve Hiring Manager Portal (including step-by-step shortlisting guidance).
Once panel members have rated applications independently, a meeting with all panel members to decide on the outcome should be held (including checking for Redeployment and Disability Confident candidates – further information on this is below). Once the shortlist has been agreed, the outcomes can be communicated to candidates via the Hireserve Hiring Manager Portal.
View guidance for turning down unsuccessful candidates and inviting successful candidates to interview via Hireserve.
As a responsible employer, it is our duty, wherever possible, to secure employment for current employees who are at risk of redundancy (for example due to organisational change or those coming to the end of a fixed term contract). Candidates in this situation are therefore given a period of time to apply for, and be given priority consideration, for vacancies that are advertised across LJMU.
Candidates’ redeployment status will be highlighted by the presence of a green tick 
in the Hireserve Hiring Manager Portal in the ‘Redeployment’ column, which confirms they should be given priority consideration when shortlisting. If any of these candidates meet at least 75% of the criteria from the Person Specification (including any critical criteria such as required professional registrations etc.), they must be interviewed prior to progressing any other internal or external candidates.
Please speak to your HR Business Partner for further advice if responsibilities in this area are unclear.
LJMU has been awarded Disability Confident Employer status by the Government which demonstrates our positive practices when recruiting, retaining and developing disabled people.
All LJMU application forms ask candidates to confirm whether they have a disability that they would like the interview panel to consider as part of their application. If a candidate indicates ‘Yes’ on this question, they must be afforded an interview if they meet all of the ‘Essential’ criteria on the Person Specification document, for example they are unable to be screened out on the basis of not meeting the ‘Desirable’ criteria if the shortlist needs to be shortened further.
Candidates’ Disability Confident status will be highlighted by the presence of a green tick in the Hireserve Hiring Manager Portal in the ‘Disability Confident Flag’ column.
