Decision Making and Offering Employment
Once the interviews have been completed, it’s time to narrow down your options and offer employment to the best person for the role.
How do you perform a reference check?
Reference checking allows you to confirm what the interviewee has said in their interview with a third party.
Let the applicant know when you are going to make contact with their referees.
When obtaining employment references, you can only contact the people to whom the candidate has permitted you to speak. Generally, this will only be the referees that the candidate has provided.
You cannot contact unlisted referees unless you have sought explicit permission in advance. This allows the candidate to provide additional information or opt out of the application process.
It's important that the same person from the selection committee contacts all the referees and asks them the same questions.
This is so the process is consistent and equitable for all candidates.
Reference checks should be conducted by telephone, video call, or face-to-face.
Document the questions and answers for phone reference checks. You can use our reference checking matrixopen_in_new to do this.
Reference checking plays an important part in safety checking. You can read more about this in our safety checking and police vetting article.
You should be wary if the candidate has lived in the area for a considerable time but cannot list any local work referees or is hesitant to provide telephone contacts for referees.
What happens if safety concerns arise during a reference check?
If you discover that a candidate has had disciplinary action regarding child safety or wellbeing taken against them or responds to interview questions in a manner that gives cause for concern, this is a warning sign and should be investigated fully.
You can read more about this in our article on safety checking and police vetting.
How do you make the decision about who to hire?
The overarching principle in making this decision is appointing the best possible person for the role.
This is required by the Collective Agreementsopen_in_new (CA) and section 603open_in_new of the Education and Training Act 2020.
To find the best person to appoint, bring together the following:
-
The criteria used to shortlist
-
The information obtained from interviews (included the agreed interview scores)
-
Any information gathered from reference checks.
What do we do once we have made a decision?
To complete the process, provide a letter of offer (LoO) and job description to the successful candidate.
You can download and use our permanent letter of offer templates.
For fixed-term employment, please refer to our article fixed term letters of offer and notices.
Are there any additional steps for candidates who are not union members or not covered by a CA?
Additional steps are involved when offering employment to someone who is not a union member or will be doing work not covered by a CA.
This is explained in our related article on offering employment in a unionised environment.
Do you need to notify unsuccessful candidates?
It's best practice to contact the unsuccessful candidate(s) soon after the offer of employment has been made and accepted.
A school is under no obligation to provide feedback to unsuccessful candidates.
However, it is good practice to provide it when asked, especially if the applicant is new to the profession.
If an unsuccessful candidate requests access to information on the process, the candidate's own scores and overview comments can be released.
No information about other candidates can be released as privacy must be maintained.
Can you use a 90-day trial?
Trial/probationary periods are not provided for in the CAs, or the approved individual employment agreements that cover school staff.
As such, schools cannot use 90-day trials, and no employee of a school board should be employed with the understanding that one is in place. Ignoring this advice can pose a significant risk to the board if the employee were to bring a personal grievance.
What happens if there is not a suitable candidate?
If, after interviewing and reference checking, the opinion of the recruitment group is that none of the candidates is the best person for the position, they can opt not to make an appointment with the intention of advertising again in the near future when the advertisement may attract more or different applicants.
Appointing staff is one of the most important aspects of running a successful school.
We recommend that no appointment is made, rather than appointing someone unsuitable.
A fixed-term employment position may be suitable to cover the role while further recruitment is undertaken. However, you would not offer a fixed-term position to a candidate who has been deemed unsuitable for the advertised role.
For further guidance in this situation, please contact us.
Questions a principal could ask
-
Does our criteria to shortlist and make the final decision ensure the best person for the role is appointed?
-
How do we support our safety-checking process through reference checking?
-
Do we know what questions we are going to ask referees?
Templates, resources, and references
Click on the link(s) below to access this topic’s templates, resources, and references.
Depending on your device, these may download or open in a separate browser.