University of St Andrews

Once the shortlist has been agreed, the Convenor (or School Manager/appointed administrator) should submit an Interview Details form (Word, 223 KB) to the Recruitment team listing:

• the chosen candidates
• times required for interview
• times required/details of any tests or presentations to be used as part of the selection process

The Recruitment team will use this document to create an interview timetable and will email the candidates with an initial invite to interview. They will take into account factors such as time zones if holding the interviews via MS Teams or where candidates are based if they are required to travel for interview.  Once the candidates have confirmed their attendance, the final timetable will be circulated to the panel. 

For those interviews being held via MS Teams, the School should use this timetable to set up MS Teams appointments for the presentations and interviews and invite the individual candidates. HR do not set up the MS Teams meetings as this would prevent the School from having access control on the day of the interviews.

Based on the Convenor's recommendations, HR will then formally regret all other candidates via the e-recruitment system (including reserve and internal candidates). It is common for unsuccessful candidates to request feedback at this stage and HR will ask the Convenor for the rationale to pass on to the candidate. 

Convenors should allow 7 working days between the Interview Details form (Word, 223 KB) being sent to HR and the interviews taking place in order to provide adequate time for:

• HR to set up the timetable, issue the initial invites, collate candidate acceptances
• the School to set up and issue the MS Teams meetings
• the candidates time to prepare for interview (particularly important when a presentation is required) and make personal arrangements (travel, childcare, time off work etc) 

Once the timetable is set, HR will approach referees where the shortlisted candidate has given permission for the University to do so as it is often the case that candidates prefer to withhold permission until such time as they are made a verbal offer.  This is their right and must not influence the panel's decision on whether to shortlist that candidate. 

Convenors and panel members must not independently pursue references at any stage in the proceedings. 

At the moment, the majority of interviews continue to be held via MS Teams (see section below on MS Teams Interview).  In order to control access to the individual interview slots on the day, it is the responsibility of the School to set up and issue the MS Teams meeting invites to the candidates.

Please note that separate meetings will be required for each presentation and each interview and must be set up in strict accordance with the agreed timetable.  Full instructions of how to set up the MS Teams meetings and run the online interviews can be found in our Panel Guide on Remote Interviewing (PDF, 2,478 KB). 

Sometimes candidates ask for alternative interview times due to changes in circumstances.  There is no obligation to agree to this if the panel are unable to accommodate the request and the Convenor should bear in mind the impact on other candidates if they wish to move people around (eg candidates interviewing from different time zones) but please seek advice from the Recruitment team  if you are unsure.

Current practice is to conduct all academic interviews via MS Teams where possible.  Exceptions to this would be where candidates would benefit from a tour of a specialist facility/laboratory or where a practical test which forms part of the selection process cannot be delivered online.   

Using MS Teams supports several of the University’s key strategies:

• Carbon Net Zero by significantly reducing the carbon footprint of candidates and panel members travelling locally, nationally and internationally to attend interview.
• Financial efficiency by negating travel, accommodation and subsistence costs which, pre-pandemic, cost the University c£75,000 per year.
•  Family friendly employer by enabling candidates to attend interview at suitable times and negating the need to make complicated and prolonged caring arrangements in order to attend interview. This may also be referenced in Athena Swan applications.
• Inclusive employer by reducing access issues for candidates with certain disabilities as some find Teams a more suitable platform for putting their best self forward (use of captions, easier to lipread, no access issues with travel, accommodation, interview rooms).
• Employer of choice as using technology to interview is an active expression of our intent to support a more flexible working model which is something candidates are increasingly looking for as part of a benefits package.

A named contact within the School should be available for all candidates to answer any queries on the day of the interviews and to act as the key liaison with HR and IT Services. This will usually be the School Manager or the nominated senior administrator dealing with the administration, as previously indicated, and they should not be a panel member so that any glitches may be resolved while other candidates are being interviewed.

Some interviews (eg second interviews or interviews for senior posts) may be held in person but this is by exception and will require the Master’s approval. 

In the event that permission is given to hold interviews in person, all candidates must be offered the opportunity to come to the University.  While it is preferable that one or other method is used in order to ensure all candidates have the same interview experience, it is not mandatory for candidates to attend in person and panels must accommodate Teams interviews if requested.  The decision of a candidate to opt for Teams over attending in person must not be a material factor in the panel's appointment decision. 

If holding in person interviews, candidates may also meet members of the School before the interviews, be given a tour of the School or be taken for lunch or dinner.  Please note that this will be offered as a courtesy only and such opportunities should be offered to all candidates. 

It must also be made clear to the people conducting the informal meeting and the candidate that this does not form part of the appointment decision. 

It is standard practice for candidates interviewing for an academic post to give a presentation on a specified topic to the academic members of the School prior to formal interview. This will be determined by the panel but may take the form of a presentation of the candidates’ research, overview of a module they might run, sample lecture for UG/PG students, or presentation on some other relevant question.  

The presentations should last about 30 minutes (40 minutes for Professors) with five minutes for questions from the audience.  It should be borne in mind that the purpose of the presentation is to assess a candidate’s ability to present/teach rather than test their knowledge, and questions should be framed accordingly.  The panel Convenor will moderate the Q&A sessions.

All academic members of staff should be invited to attend and while it is not mandatory to do so, ideally those attending should sit in on all the presentations where possible.  Following the final presentation and before the interviews, the Convenor or other delegated panel member should meet with those who attended to collate feedback. The panel will include this feedback in their appointment deliberations but are not bound by it ie the panel will make their decision based on all the available candidate information which includes their application, presentation, interview performance and available references.

Interviews will generally take about 30 minutes (40-45 minutes for Professors) with 5-10 minutes at the end for candidates to ask questions.   

Aside from questions relating to individual presentations, all candidates should be asked the same questions to allow fair comparison, although some probing of answers/follow up questions is permitted.  Questions should focus on the candidates’ capability and potential rather than historical achievement (which will already have formed the basis of the shortlisting decision). Therefore, the panel should ask questions around, for example, the candidate’s research plans or how they would tackle issues which are a focus for the School or discipline. 

Notes should be taken by the panel and these should be competency and behaviour based rather than personal observations.  Panels may find it useful to use the Interview Scoring Grid which will be issued with the timetable.  The notes and/or scoring grid will be used to justify the final appointment decision and to feedback to unsuccessful candidates. 

As with the long and shortlisting stages, panel members should be aware that candidates may request sight of any notes related to their application and recruitment experience so they should be written accordingly.