Create a Position
Administrators and Committee Managers are able to configure a position in Faculty Search (FS) by adding information about their searches such as instructions for applicants, document requirements, search committee members, and evaluation criteria. During the position creation process, this page can be set to be Public, and available for applicants to find and apply online, or in Private (meaning the position will not be discoverable in any public position feeds managed by Interfolio). This article explains the steps involved in creating a position in FS.
When creating a position, a landing page will also be generated that applicants will use to learn about and apply for the position.
Best Practices When Creating a Position
- Deadlines: Choose a specific close date (rather than a rolling deadline) to trigger reminder emails to applicants who have not submitted their application 7 days and 1 day before the position closes. You can always edit the close date if needed.
- Letters of Recommendation: If you don’t want to require confidential letters from all applicants initially, conduct a multi-stage search.
- Optional Documents: To make a requirement optional, add it first, then set the required number to zero so applicants can submit without completing it.
- Editing In Use Document with Caution: When editing required documents and application forms, any changes after the position opens may affect the complete/incomplete status of applications. Committee members, on the other hand can be changed easily at any time.
- Archive Applicants: Archive applicants no longer being considered to prevent them from seeing the Incomplete Application status.
Permissions from position statuses do not apply to applicants who have not submitted their applications.
Create a Position
- Navigate to the Positions page and click the +New Position button to navigate to the Create Position page.
- Complete the Create Position form and click Create when finished.
The unit of a position cannot be changed once the position has been created. Therefore, a cloned position must remain in the same unit as the original, and the unit cannot be changed without creating a new position from scratch. If there are no applications tied to the position, the position can be deleted and recreated in the appropriate unit. If there are any applications tied to a position, that position can only be closed and archived, not deleted. Once a position is deleted, it cannot be recovered.
- Complete the position creation process. Check out the accordions below for information on each section of the position creation process.
Position Creation Form
Basic Information
If you are cloning a position, it is recommended to change the Position Title to differentiate it from the cloned position.
| Section | Details |
|---|---|
| Salary Range or Pay Grade | Check out this article on how to Manage Visibility of Salary Range or Pay Grades for information on salary requirement and visibility settings. |
| Deadline |
Applicants who have not submitted their applications will not be able to edit or submit their materials after the deadline. The deadline is 11:59 PM EST on the chosen date. It is recommended to choose a specific close date (rather than a rolling deadline) to trigger reminder emails to applicants who have not submitted their application 7 days and 1 day before the position closes. You can always edit the close date if needed. |
| Position Description |
Click the three dots on the toolbar to open a menu of options. Click the Tx icon to remove formatting from the selected text. Note that there is a Text Character Limit for these fields. |
| Application Instructions and Qualifications |
It is recommended to separate out qualifications and application instructions to make your description more readable. |
| Advertising Setting |
Check out this article on how to Make a Position Public or Private. |
| EEO Statement |
Check out this article on how to Manage EEO Statements for informatino on how to change this. |
Required Documents
Specify required documents and quantities, like one C.V. and three peer evaluations. Applicants must upload the exact number to meet requirements, indicated by a green check mark. Set "Number Required" based on total individual documents needed (e.g., three references in one document = "one" required).
It is recommended to require contact references OR confidential letters of recommendation, not both as this can become confusing if more than one contact reference is required.
- Click +Add Requirement and complete the Add Document Requirement window that appears.
To set the required number of documents to 0 (meaning the requirement is optional), save the requirement first, then edit it using the Pencil icon.
It is recommended to add details in the Requirement Note section to give the applicant specifics on what you are looking for, such as a due date for letters of recommendation.
- After saving a requirement, you can click the Pencil icon to change the number of required documents and notes section.
- After saving a requirement, you can click the Pencil icon to change the number of required documents and notes section.
- Check the Applicants may add additional documents box to include a section for applicants to add unlimited additional documents.
- You can send a customized message on the application submission by checking the box.
Interfolio sends an automated email when applicants submit, but you can also customize a message with details like next steps.
- Click Insert Message Template to select a Message Template to use.
Accepted File Types
Applicants can submit the following file types: DOC, DOCX, DOT, ODT, WPD, RTF, TXT, HTML, PDF, links to webpages, and links to YouTube and Vimeo videos.
Evaluation Settings
Establish Custom Ratings Criteria and/or a Blind Review on the Evaluation Settings page. Evaluation Settings are used to add the rating criteria for evaluators to rate the candidate on (e.g. general, clinical, service work).
Application Forms
Application forms gather additional information from applicants. Administrators and Committee Managers can create forms specific to any institution, college, department, or position. Forms are attached when creating a position on the Administration page.
Applicants are not automatically notified of new requirements or forms, but they will see their application I complete when they log into Interfolio.Administrators should use the bulk email option to inform them.
Check the Applicants must complete an Equal Employment Opportunity form box (if possible) to attach EEO forms to the position. EEO forms gather EEO information from applicants and can be specific to any institution, college, department, or position. Only users with EEO access can view responses. EEO forms are attached when creating or editing a position but are created on the Administration page.
Search Committee
Position Notes (Public and Internal)
Positions Notes are Internal Notes (accessible only to committee members) that are hidden from applicants. You can include a position ID, salary range, term length, funding source, hiring plan, and other relevant files.
Check out this article on how to Manage Visibility of Salary Range or Pay Grades for more information on how to set salary range or pay grade settings.
Position Summary Page
Review the Position Summary page and, if required, click Submit for Approval. The responsible administrator will be notified by email and upon logging into the program.
Edits can still be made while awaiting approval. A notification will be sent once the position is approved or if changes need to be made to the position.
The position will automatically be published when the Open Date passes. Check out this article for guidance on how to Edit an Existing Position.
- When cloning a position, you can only choose from the unit where the position was initially created.
- When a position is cloned, newly required forms will not appear automatically and must be added manually.