Talent Acquisition

Before Making a Hire

Penn Hiring Officers and any other Penn faculty or staff involved in hiring should complete Best Practices for Hiring at Penn training and review the Hiring Officer Handbook.

Before starting the hiring process, hiring contacts should familiarize themselves with the University hiring guidelines, including regulations related to Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity.

Penn’s Hiring Process Requirements

University policy requires that records related to the recruitment and selection process be retained for three years from the date the position is filled. Some of the documents that you will need to maintain are:

Copies of any additional advertisements placed for the position.
Interview questions and notes taken during the interview, rating sheets and writing samples.
If a search committee is used, the names of the members of the search committee and the name and title of the person making the selection decision.
Reason candidate is recommended for hire (in the event an offer is declined, please note that for the relevant candidate and indicate whether another candidate in the pool was offered the position, or if the position was reposted or withdrawn), and notes from reference checks.

These documents are not part of the job posting or electronic application, so they must be uploaded to the feedback forms in Workday or the Hiring Questionnaire in Workday.

Please note that the University is legally required to retain these records. A hiring officer's failure to do so may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

Quick Links

Talent Acquisition Updates

Benefits Snapshot on All Careers@Penn Jobs

Applicants now have a snapshot of Penn’s incredible benefits right on each job post! Find them listed on the bottom of every job under the headline “University Benefits.”

New and Improved Candidate Evaluation and Interview Forms

Applicant Tracking on Workday

To access applicant pools please login to Workday@Penn with your PennKey user name and password.

Online training for Workday hiring and recruitment is available at https://www.workday.upenn.edu/home/training/training-catalog. Please be sure to complete these modules:

Workday training should be supplemented with the Hiring Officer Handbook.

Some key information in the Hiring Officer Handbook that hiring officers have found useful are explanations about dispositioning candidates (e.g. applicant will not be selected for hire vs. applicant will be interviewed- send email), guidance on conducting interviews (e.g. what are illegal vs. illegal questions), and communicating with candidates not selected for hire.

Also see these resources: