Recruitment and selection

Page contents > 1. Academic Recruitment | 2. Academic Recruitment: further issues for consideration | 3. Visiting Appointments (Academic) | 4. Academic Support Recruitment | 5. Academic Support Recruitment: Issues for Consideration | 6. Temporary Appointments (Academic Support Staff) | 7. Age Regulations and Recruitment | 8. Data Protection | 9. Who’s Who in Recruitment

As a Head of Department you will be responsible for the recruitment of staff in your Department/ Institute/Centre.

Recruitment categories:

Academic Recruitment: Lecturer to Professor, Research, LSE Fellows, Temporary Appointments
Visiting Academic Recruitment
Academic Support Recruitment
Temporary Academic Support Recruitment (via Agency)

1. Academic Recruitment

Please contact Sarah Pedder or Sofia Avgerinou to discuss any academic recruitment issues in the first instance.

How to start the appointment process:

Check that funding is available
Fill in the following forms that can be found at Recruitment Forms and Templates on the Human Resources website:
1. Request to Advertise-RF2 Form
2. Recruitment Timetable
3. Confirmation of Funding (for non MSL funded posts)-RF2a Form
4. Template for Job description/Person Specification/Advert
Please pass the forms on to Human Resources.

Single Nomination Procedure

If a Department/Institute/Centre feels that a vacancy should be filled by a specific nominee and not via competitive application, and if the resources are available, the case should be referred to the Vice-Chair of the Appointments Committee who will confer with the Director.

If it is decided to proceed by this route, rather than by competitive application and interview, the Vice-Chair of the Appointments Committee will determine the membership of the Selection Committee. The procedure is usually contacted by correspondence but a meeting might be necessary.

Fixed Term Contracts

Please refer to Guidance on School use of fixed-term contracts.

Temporary Lecturers and Interim Review

Where appropriate, temporary lecturers will be given a date for Interim Review (normally in the third year of a three-year fixed-term appointment). The Promotions Committee considers it important that a temporary lecturer should be able to confirm that standards were appropriate for them to pass Interim Review at LSE when applying for their next position.

If a temporary lecturer is appointed initially for a period of one, or two, years, but the appointment is subsequently extended to three years or beyond, it will normally be the case that Interim Review will be scheduled in the third year of the temporary lecturer’s employment with the School. This places an onus on the recruiting Department/Institute/Centre to ensure that the temporary lecturer is performing the full range of academic activities – i.e. teaching, research and contribution(s) to School and departmental administration at a level sufficient to meet the School’s expectations for a successful Interim Review.

Conversion of Fixed Term to Career-Track Lectureships

Staff on fixed-term contracts have a right to know about vacancies coming up in the Department and departments are advised to make sure that information about forthcoming vacancies is made available through the relevant channels.

If a career-track position comes up in the Department in the same field as a temporary lecturer, there is no legal obligation on the department to convert the temporary lecturer to the career-track appointment. However, a Department should be able to justify its decision if a temporary lecturer were to apply for a vacancy in open competition, not get the post, and argue that they have a claim as the post continues to exist.

If a career-track position comes up in the Department in a different area to that of the temporary lecturer, he/she should be made aware of the vacancy and could apply for the post in open competition.

LSE Fellows

The rationale of the LSE Fellowship Scheme is to allow Departments/Institutes/Centres to appoint promising scholars who are not yet suitably qualified for a lectureship, to contribute to teaching and further their research activities. An LSE Fellowship is intended to be an entré to an academic career.

As an LSE Fellowship is intended to be a career development position, the maximum period of appointment will be three years, non-renewable. In the interests of attracting the widest pool of talent, LSE Fellowships should normally be advertised externally. LSE Fellowship appointments should normally be the outcome of a selection committee.

The LSE Fellowship Scheme is published on the Human Resources website at the Scheme for the appointment of LSE Fellows [LSE staff only]

Contract Extensions

Renewal of an academic Fixed-Term contract (including LSE Fellows) will only be issued after discussions with Human Resources. The Recruitment Team will be in contact with the relevant Department/Institute/Centre regarding the status of the contract. The reason(s) for a contract extension should normally fall within the agreed categories for School use of fixed-term contracts.

2. Academic Recruitment: further issues for consideration

Recruitment Timetable: the Recruitment Timetable for all academic recruitment is approximately 10 weeks.

Adverts: Adverts for academic appointments will normally be advertised ten days after Human Resources has received all the required documentation. The adverts should be placed for not less than one month because of work permit regulations set by the Home Office.

Human Resources will pay for one advert. Any additional adverts will be paid for by the recruiting Department/Institute/Centre. All adverts are advertised on the Human Resources Website and http://www.jobs.ac.uk free of charge.

We advise not to draft general advertisements for posts – e.g. ‘From Lecturer to Reader’ as they involve non-comparable qualifications and persons at different stages of their careers. The Academic Board has approved a procedure in regards to general advertisements that can be found on the link below or by request from Sarah Pedder.

Please see Recruitment for relevant information.

Job Descriptions/Person Specifications: Heads of Department/Directors of Institutes/Centres may wish to refer to the customised LSE Academic Role Profiles when drafting job descriptions/person specifications. The Academic Role Profiles describe the expected contribution of staff in the following roles – Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, Reader, Professor, Research Officer, Research Fellow, Senior Research Fellow, Principal Research Fellow, Professorial Research Fellow and are available for reference on the Human Resources website: Academic staff and the Framework Agreement

Disability: Please be aware that during the recruitment process you may need to give priority to existing employees who develop disabilities that mean that they cannot remain in their current job.

Selection Committees: Human Resources will be responsible for setting up Selection Committees for academic appointments (excluding LSE Fellows and Research Assistants). The Vice-Chair of the Appointments Committee is responsible for approving the composition of selection committees. The Head of Department/Institute/Centre will normally be a member of the Selection Committee.

References: Human Resources will take up references for all short-listed candidates. Three references will be taken up for each candidate – providing the candidate permits Human Resources to contact their referees. All references will be circulated to the Selection Committee two days prior to the date the Selection Committee meets. Late references will be tabled.

The process of academic recruitment usually comprises interviews and presentations. Presentations normally take place the day before, or on the morning of the interviews. Presentations are organised by the recruiting Department/Institute/Centre.

Interim and Major Reviews: Selection Committees for Lectureships must decide on the requirements for Interim Review and Major Review for candidates to be offered appointments as career-track Lecturers at the School. Where the Head of Department is not a member of the Selection Committee, the requirements must be discussed with the Head of Department and his/her approval obtained before an oral offer is made or a letter of appointment is issued.

A Lecturer without a proven track record regarding either teaching or research can expect to be appointed subject to Interim Review and Major Review. The normal requirement will be for Interim Review to take place in the third year of the appointment and Major Review in the fifth year of the appointment. If the Lecturer is successful at Major Review, he/she will normally be offered an appointment in principle to the age of retirement from the 1 October immediately following the session in which Major Review takes place.

Waiver of reviews on initial appointment

A Selection Committee may recommend, where appropriate, that Interim Review and/or Major Review should be omitted:

Where someone has an established record of teaching and research over a period of five years or more, appointment should normally be made post-Major Review.
Where someone has an established record of teaching and research but the period is under five years, the appointment should be made post-Interim Review.
Where there is not a proven track record regarding either teaching or research, appointments should continue to be made subject to Interim Review and Major Review.

Selection Committees should be clear that, in recommending an appointment without Interim Review and Major Review, it is recommending the offer of an appointment in principle of the age of retirement.

Wherever practicable, Chairs of Selection Committees should refer decisions on waiver of Interim Review/Major Review, to the Vice-Chair of the Appointments Committee to ensure consistency in application.

Sabbatical Leave Entitlement – Carry Forward of Service to LSE: The School’s procedure for agreeing carry forward of unused sabbatical leave entitlement from another institution to LSE is set out at Sabbatical leave entitlement: carry forward of service to LSE.

Benefits for academic staff: Please refer to the Human Resources website Working at the LSE for information on the benefits offered to academic staff.

Promotion of Research Staff: The promotion of all research staff (excluding Research Assistants) are approved by the Vice-Chair of the Appointments Committee. The Recruitment Team is responsible for promotion procedures for research staff. Please contact Sarah Pedder, Recruitment Manager (s.pedder@lse.ac.uk or ext. 6303) for further information.

Increments: Salary increments take effect from 1 August if the member of staff is eligible.

Professorial Salaries: the Director determines professorial salaries. Professorial salaries are confidential and will not be discussed with the Head of the Department/Institute/Centre at any stage of the recruitment process.

Post-65 Employment: Post-65 employment will be determined according to School Policy on Employment of Staff Post-Retirement. The Age Policy and Procedure is available on the Human Resources website.

Work Permit Procedures: A work permit provides non-EEA citizens with permission to work in the UK, subject to approval by the Home Office. An application form is completed by a member of the Recruitment Team on behalf of the individual, using information provided by the recruiting department and the individual.

The application form is sent to the Home Office for consideration. This usually takes 5-8 weeks. Once the work permit is received, the individual will need to apply for ‘Leave to Remain’ if she/he is in the UK. If the individual is residing overseas, she/he will need to book an appointment with the nearest British Embassy and apply for ‘Entry Clearance’, for permission to enter the UK.

Further information about the work permit application process, ‘Leave to Remain’ and ‘Entry Clearance’, can be obtained from the Recruitment Office.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Home Office will be phasing in a new points based migration system in order to enable the British Government to manage migration to the UK more effectively.

The new system, will allow migrants to come to the UK under one of five tiers replacing more than 80 existing routes of entry.

At this stage, it is thought likely that the School’s academic and research staff will fit into Tier 1 and 2. The School’s visiting appointments, where a work permit is currently required, may fit into Tier 5.

The new system is already used for Tier 1 applications which are the Highly Skilled Migrants and the Home Office is hoping to introduce Tier 2 and Tier 5 in November 2008 at the earliest.

A system of sponsorship by employers to ensure compliance with the immigration rules has also be introduced as part of the new system. The School is now a registered sponsor.

The Home Office have not, to date, provided full guidelines on all aspects of the new system. Human Resources is in close contact with Universities UK who are liaising with the Home Office on issues related to academic institutions.

As information becomes available confirming the new arrangements, Human Resources will disseminate information through Briefing and School committees. A specific briefing session will be arranged for Heads of Departments and Departmental Managers just before the Tier 2 and Tier 5 implementation.

Considering candidates in absentia: In circumstances where a candidate cannot attend for interview or be available for a telephone interview, it is the School’s policy to consider him/her in absentia if he/she considers this an option.

The candidate’s papers (CV, letter of application and references) will be considered by the Selection Committee, using the questions asked of other candidates as a guide. Information in response to these questions should be obtained from the papers and not from personal and/or informal knowledge about the individual.

The selection committee can reach one of the following conclusions:

To appoint the absent candidate (subject to references if references have not been received)
To invite the absent candidate to attend for interview at an alternative time (if there are no other appointable candidates)
To consider the absent candidate as unappointable to the post, or,
To withhold making a decision until the absent candidate is interviewed (if there are other appointable candidates)

A member of the Recruitment Team will be present during the consideration of any candidates which are considered in absentia.

Telephone interviews: If a candidate is not able to attend for interview because he/she is based overseas, the Selection Committee can opt to interview him/her by telephone. This can be arranged by the Recruitment Team. The interview should be conducted in the same way as a face-to-face selection committee.

Video interviews: If a candidate is not able to attend for interview because he/she is based overseas and has access to video conferencing facilities, the selection committee can opt to interview him/her by video-link. This can be arranged by the Recruitment Team. The interview should be conducted in the same way as a face-to-face selection committee.

Chairing Academic Selection Committees

The School has a pool of Chairs who chair academic selection committees on behalf of the Vice-Chair of Appointments Committee. The School’s lawyers, Pinsent Masons give a seminar every October on ‘How to Chair Academic Selection Committees’. The seminar includes legislation that is related to recruitment, especially Age and Fixed-Term Regulations.

The Role of the Human Resources Adviser in Selection Committees

The purpose of the recruitment and selection process is to ensure that departments recruit safely and effectively. The Human Resources Adviser’s role is to advise selection committees about the School’s appointment procedures, recruitment legislation, salaries, work permits and other recruitment related issues.

3. Visiting Appointments (Academic)

How to start the appointment process:

Please visit the Human Resources website to check which visiting appointment will be most appropriate: see Visiting Appointments [LSE staff only]
Fill in the appropriate form – available on the Human Resources website – and send it electronically to the named recipient in Human Resources, attaching a copy of the candidate’s up-to-date Curriculum Vitae.

Please note that from 1st October 2008 a new procedure is being implemented for the appointment of all visiting academic posts: Visiting Professors, Visiting Senior Fellows, Visiting Fellows. The procedures are as follows:

Visiting Professors: Nominations will be considered once a term by a Standing Selection Committee. Heads of Departments/Directors of Institutes/Centres may submit nominations every term by a closing date circulated to them by the Human Resources Division.

Visiting Senior Fellows/Visiting Fellows: Nominations will be considered once a term by the Vice Chair of the Appointments Committee. Heads of Departments/Directors of Institutes/Centres may submit nominations every term by a closing date circulated to them by the Human Resources Division.

4. Academic Support Recruitment

How to start the appointment process:

Check that funding is available
Fill in the following forms that can be found at Recruitment Forms and Templates on the Human Resources website:
1. Request to Advertise-RF2 Form
2. Recruitment Timetable
3. Confirmation of Funding (for non MSL funded posts)-RF2a Form
4. Template for Job description/Person Specification/Advert
Please pass the forms on to Human Resources.

5. Academic Support Recruitment: Issues for Consideration

HERA (Higher Education Role Analysis): HERA is a job evaluation tool but may also be used for recruitment purposes. The 14 HERA competencies are designed to cover the range of skill areas required for support roles in Higher Education. The School uses the HERA competencies for all person specifications. For further information please view the Recruitment Toolkit or contact the Recruitment Team for advice.

Recruitment Timetable: The Recruitment Timetable for academic support recruitment ranges from 2 to 8 weeks (depending on the post being advertised).

Adverts: will normally be advertised ten days after Human Resources has received all the relevant documentation. Adverts are placed for a minimum of two weeks.

All adverts will be reviewed by a Human Resources Adviser to ensure appropriate wording in relation to potential age discrimination. The Human Resources Adviser will inform the recruiting manager of any necessary changes to the wording of adverts.

Job Descriptions/Person Specifications: All person specifications should be drafted according to the HERA competencies. Please refer to the Recruitment Toolkit – available from the Recruitment Team in hard copy only. Job Descriptions do not have to be drafted according to HERA competencies. The Recruitment Adviser will provide you with advice when drafting your job descriptions/person specifications.

All jobs need to be looked at by the Human Resources Division in order to place the job on the right grade. This process is included in the recruitment timetable.

References: Human Resources will take up references for all shortlisted candidates, subject to the candidate giving permission for referees to be contacted. Three references will be sought. All references will be circulated to the Selection Committee two days prior to the date the Selection Committee meets. Late references will be tabled.

Composition of Selection Committees: The School’s procedures require that all academic support selection committees include a member of staff who has undergone the two day recruitment and selection training run by the School. The Recruitment Team hold a list of trained staff (known as the Recruitment Network) and will suggest suitable names.

It is required to have a good gender representation in all selection committees.

Tests: Tests can be given as part of the selection process. You should ask the Recruitment Team for advice. The Recruitment Team are trained to manage tests from an official provider.

Benefits for academic support staff: Please refer to the Human Resources website Working at the LSE for information on the benefits offered to academic support staff.

Increments: Salary increments take effect from 1 August if the member of staff is eligible.

Hourly Paid Contracts: Hourly paid contracts are dealt with by the Pay and Information Team in Human Resources. Further information can be found on the Human Resources website: Appointing hourly-paid and casual staff.

6. Temporary Appointments (Academic Support Staff)

Temporary academic support staff bookings are made via Human Resources.

All temporary staff bookings are made through Blue Arrow, the School’s temporary agency. Temp bookings cannot be made via any other agency.

Please contact Nabila Majeed, Recruitment Manager – Academic Support (n.Majeed@lse.ac.uk or call ext 6658) with a summary of the tasks the temporary member of staff will be doing and the skills and/or experience you need.

You should also include the rate of pay, the budget code, and the start, and end, date of the booking. The current rates can be found on the Recruitment website at Booking Temps via Blue Arrow [LSE staff only].

Blue Arrow will contact you directly for further information, if necessary.

You will then be sent an electronic timesheet on a weekly basis, which should be completed and returned to Blue Arrow to ensure that the temporary staff member is paid.

7. Age Regulations and Recruitment

The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 came into force in the UK on 1 October 2006. The Regulations outlaw age discrimination in employment and vocational training. The Age Regulations will apply to all workers, and to people who apply for work.

The Age Regulations place an onus on the School to ensure that recruitment criteria are based on the skills and abilities needed to do the job. It is important to avoid unnecessary standards relating to experience, personal qualities or qualifications that could be discriminatory on grounds of age. The Age Policy and Procedure is available on the Human Resources website.

8. Data Protection

The Data Protection Act 1998, entitles all applicants (shortlisted or otherwise) to request access to the documentation relating to their application. This includes e-mails, short-listing materials and any interview notes. If an individual is not content with the response they receive from the School, they can:

Complain to the Data Protection Registrar
Take the School to court in order to dispute what is contained in the documentation relating to their application
Use the documentation in Employment Tribunal proceedings initiated on grounds of sex, race, age or disability discrimination.

9. Who’s Who in Recruitment

Avgerinou, Sofia – Human Resources Manager
Overall management responsibility for the Recruitment Section.

Casey, Ursula – Senior Recruitment Adviser (Academic)
Research appointments and extensions

Evans, Catrin – Recruitment Assistant (one year fixed term contract)
Administrative support to all academic support appointments

Majeed, Nabila – Recruitment Manager (Academic Support)
Academic support appointments (Band 1-10), management of the Blue Arrow contract and bookings for all temporary staff

Matmari, Pallavi – Senior Recruitment Adviser (Academic Support)
Academic support appointments (Band 1-7)

McManus, Sarah – Senior Recruitment Adviser (Academic)
Academic appointments and extensions

Michael, Eleni – Deputy Human Resources Manager
Operational management of the Recruitment team

Pedder, Sarah – Recruitment Manager (Academic)
Overall responsibility for all academic appointments – LSE fellows, lecturers (including temporary appointments), senior lecturers, readers, professors; contract extensions of academic and LSE fellows and all visiting appointments

Vollar, Simon – Recruitment Adviser
Supporting with all academic and academic support appointments