Human Resources

Advertising the Position

 

A. Federal Government Policy on Academic Recruitment

The new policy allows simultaneous (i.e., concurrent) advertising for all positions in Canada and abroad. However, Canadian permanent residents who meet the qualifications for a position must be given priority for an appointment over non-Canadians.

B. Developing the Advertisement

The Dean, the Provost and Vice-President Academic and the Human Resources Advisor monitor academic hiring under the Academic Recruitment Process. This process applies to all paid appointments over 30 percent full-time equivalence except limited-term appointments that have to be made on very short notice and post-doctoral fellows. The Academic Recruitment Process requires that a position be advertised. Any departure from this process should be discussed with the HR Advisor.

Normally, DFA positions must be advertised as outlined in Clause 14.11(c) of the DFA Collective Agreement PDF]. This Article also specifies types of appointments for which advertising is not required. If a DFA Instructor position, the job description must be uploaded with the posting on PeopleAdmin, and should accurately reflect responsibilities and functions. DFA Instructor positions are advertised as set out in Clause 12.10 of the Board/DFA Collective Agreement. For more information contact the Academic Staff Relations Manager.

Preparation of the advertisement is simplified when the responsibilities and expectations for the position are clearly outlined because the same responsibilities and requirements that were outlined in the description should also be used in the advertisement. 

Requiring candidates to submit relevant information at the time of application can assist the Search Committee in short-listing candidates. Decide which of the criteria can be assessed from the application package, and select those options as "required" from the list of Documents Needed to Apply in PeopleAdmin. Along with a CV, you may request that applicants include a teaching statement, teaching dossier, research statement, sample publications(s), portfolio, etc. The Committee may also wish to ask candidates to address specific job requirements in their cover letter or application package.

The text of the advertisement must be entered into the PeopleAdmin posting under "About the Opportunity", and should include:

  1. A clear and specific description of the nature of the position and the qualifications and responsibilities;
  2. a request for information from candidates, indicating that all applicants must apply through the PeopleAdmin system (provide the Quick Link in ads that will be posted externally), what to include in the application, and by what date; and
  3. a request for referees' contact details, so the Committee can request letters of reference, or for reference letters to be included.

The text of the advertisement can be shared externally as outlined in the posting, including instructions to access the posting via the Quick Link. Before sharing the advertisement, the posting must be approved by the Search Committee Chair, the Head/Chair/Director, the Dean, Academic Staff Relations, and the Provost and Vice-President Academic (and Vice-President Research and Innovation, for CRC positions). The approvers, along with the Administrators, will receive notification from PeopleAdmin once the form has been approved for posting.

When sharing the advertisement externally, you must include the following statement (which auto-populates in PeopleAdmin): 

 " All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority. Dalhousie University is committed to fostering a collegial culture grounded in diversity and inclusiveness. The university encourages applications from Indigenous persons, persons with a disability, racially visible persons, women, persons of a minority sexual orientation and/or gender identity, and all candidates who would contribute to the diversity of our community. Review Fair Hiring Practices for more information.

Helpful hints:

- If you set the advertisement to "open until filled", you will have to contact academic.staff.relations@dal.ca to ask them to close the posting before the Search Committee Chair can create the shortlist.

- If your posting is to be advertised internally only, Academic Staff Relations will set it to "Direct Access", which means that the Quick Link is required for potential candidates to view and apply to the posting; it will not populate from a search of active postings on PeopleAdmin.

- The Self-ID Questionnaire is built into PeopleAdmin, so applicants will have to respond to the questions before their application can be submitted (only questions about citizenship are mandatory; other questions can be responded to with "prefer not to respond")

​C. Distributing the Advertisement and Expanding the Applicant Pool

As stated in the Board/DFA Collective Agreement, Clause 14.11(c), advertisements for DFA positions would normally be placed in:

  • CAUT Bulletin
  • University Affairs
  • at least one Canadian professional publication, if time permits.

Any departure from normal advertising procedures under the Collective Agreement should be discussed with the HR Advisor. The Committee may also wish to place the advertisement on the department's web page. These ads must contain the Quick Link for candidates to apply on PeopleAdmin.

In addition to advertising, the Committee may wish to contact potential applicants directly or solicit nominations from colleagues in the field, but such efforts should be openly discussed by the entire Search Committee as part of the search strategy. While advertising by informal word of mouth only is not recommended, word of mouth along with other means of advertising may create a larger, more diverse applicant pool. Such active recruiting methods may be necessary to recruit designated group candidates. Consider posting advertisements on the faculty web page, disciplinary listservs, and at those places suggested in the Outreach Guide.

The Committee should discuss specific ways of attracting excellent designated group candidates. The HR Advisor may be contacted to obtain information on methods that can be used to diversify the applicant pool. Following are some examples of outreach methods that​ may be used:

  • Consider contacting professional associations, advocacy centres, and journals and newspapers which serve the needs and interests of designated group members. See the Outreach Guide page to find out which contains such associations and publications.
  • Establish working relationships with similar departments at institutions with substantial numbers of women and other designated groups. Write to Deans and department chairs at other Universities when a vacancy arises, and ask them to recommend qualified designated group candidates.
  • Seek out graduate students near completion of their PhD program and make use of the post-doctoral fellow lists from granting agencies.
  • Invite people now successfully teaching at Dalhousie on a part-time basis to apply. It is important to counteract the tendency to discount the abilities of those who are familiar to the department.
  • Encourage others in your unit to use professional conferences and visits to other universities to identify potential candidates.