Stage 2: Advertising and application

Candidates first become aware of a vacancy via the advertisement so it is crucial that it is written in a clear and concise way and potential applicants are encouraged to find out more about the vacancy and the University.

Planning

When planning to recruit to a vacancy it is important to establish the realistic timescales for each stage prior to placing an advert.  Having tight deadlines and only leaving a small amount of time for shortlisting can be counterproductive so think carefully about the whole recruitment process in order to get the best possible outcome.

The recruitment timetable and membership of the interview panel (see panel membership for information) must be confirmed prior to advertising in order for the advert to include an expected interview date.

Advertising

Once your vacancy has gone through the approval process your HR Recruitment Administrator will match the staff request form to your submitted job description, person specification and advert. As a minimum adverts should be placed on the University of Reading website to ensure the strongest possible field of candidates.

Advertisements will appear under the University's logo and must meet the style and layout of the corporate image (Readings University Staff Guidance for Recruitment adverts (PDF - 527KB) Henleys University Staff Guidance for Recruitment adverts (571 KB) or see the advert templates page). All advertising orders will be placed by Human Resources through the University's appointed advertising agencies.

Posts are advertised in order to:

• attract a reasonable field of candidates to do the job
• ensure Equal Opportunities objectives are met; and
• ensure, where appropriate, requirement for Sponsorship Certificates are met.

The normal guidelines for advertisement placement are:

• one national or local publication;
• placed on Jobs.ac.uk; and
• placed on the Human Resources website.
• all posts of Grade 6 (unless agreed otherwise) and above will be advertised on Jobcentre Plus searchJobcentre Plus in addition to the above, (this is to meet Home Office requirements under the points-based system for migrant workers). 

Central funds will pay for the above if the post is Centrally or Directorate funded or the post is paid by external funds and maximum overheads are charged. Departmental / Research funds will be charged if the post is funded by the Department; or the post is funded by external funds where no overheads are being charged; or the Department requests the advert be placed in additional publications the cost of this additional publication.

Applications

Once a closing date has passed the HR Operations Recruitment team will contact the Recruiting Manager to inform them that their applications forms can be collected. For any roles that are based at Greenlands the application forms will be sent through the internal mail and an email will be sent confirming when they have been posted off.

If the successful candidate needs a Sponsorship Certificate (please see Immigration and work entitlement) we will have to supply proof that the post has been advertised in at least one national publication or Jobs.ac.uk.