New System Makes Recruitment and Hiring a Paperless Process

When a department seeks to hire a new manager, secretary or technician, assistance will soon be only a mouse click away.

As training expands, more managers, department chairs and others are turning to their computers, typing in a Web address and utilizing an online automated recruitment system that within minutes can have job descriptions posted to the Human Resources website or to national job boards.

Applicants file their applications and can update information online. And when search committees review applications, it’s all done via the Web. Even approval of the hire is done without a piece of paper ever moving from one desk to another.

“The employment process is not different,” stresses Maria Plimpton, recruitment manager. “It’s just a new way of receiving, reviewing and processing documents. And it can be done anywhere – at work, at home or during a conference out of town.”

Last month Human Resources began offering training on how to use the system. The training to all divisions should be completed by fall.

The process that led to the new system began about two years ago, Plimpton remembers. A committee was established to look at how the process could be streamlined and made easier to use. Six months later, she says, the committee “tore” apart the process and determined that an automated system was needed. The successful vendor, Brass-Ring, has worked with the human resources personnel since October 2001 to develop a program to meet the university’s needs.

The new system can handle multiple users and is data secure, so only the appropriate people can gain access to the documents. It can even create reports specific to the needs of different offices.

“This is an exciting and positive program for the people on campus doing the recruiting and likewise for candidates seeking jobs,” says R. John Lynn, executive director of human resources. “Those conducting the job search can have instantaneous access to applicant information and can track the progress of the search. For the candidate, they can apply for one job and at the same time sign up for the opportunity to be considered for future positions.”

“We’re hoping that the rest of the campus will be as excited as we are with this new system,” says Plimpton. “Its benefits of ease of use, access from anywhere, tracking, security and reporting capabilities should make this a solid part of our working process.”