Hiring Manager Guide: Selecting
Step 4. Selecting Stage
Select the candidate of choice
Once all candidate interviews are complete, it’s time to select your candidate of choice. The Hiring Manager or Search Committee Chair should collect confidential feedback from the entire Search Committee on their candidate preference.
Hiring managers should be aware that, per the University’s Flexible Work for Staff policy, additional approval from Human Resources will be required for fully remote positions in the below two instances:
- An FLSA exempt employee proposes a Flexible Work Location outside of these states: North Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia.
- An FLSA non-exempt employee proposes a Flexible Work Location and/or Condensed Schedule for work performed outside of North Carolina.
Form Template: Use the Applicant Feedback Form Template to confidentially collect feedback about each candidate from the Search Committee and anyone else who participated in the interview process.
Complete three reference checks
The Hiring Manager should complete three professional reference checks for the final candidate. If the search committee is struggling to identify a final candidate, reference checks can be performed for the final two candidates. It is helpful to share with the reference that the candidate provided their name, the candidate knows WFU is contacting them, and this conversation will remain confidential – information shared by the reference should not be relayed to the candidate.
Template: Use the Applicant Reference Check Template to prepare for your reference conversations and collect consistent information from all references in an organized way.
Provide candidate with verbal offer
Following a successful reference check, the Hiring Manager may move forward with the offer process. First, the Hiring Manager should send an email to the Talent Liaison, WFU-HR Recruiter, and WFU-HR Compensation with their justification of offer. This email will verify the salary, any additional funding (relocation, sign-on bonus, etc.), and will prompt WFU-HR to temporarily remove the post from the external Workday Career Portal until it has been officially filled.
Email Template: Prior to extending a verbal offer, use the Offer Justification Email Template to provide justification for selecting this candidate and the compensation rate to your Talent Liaison. If your division or department does not have a Talent Liaison, you should email wakejobs@wfu.edu with your offer justification.
Then, the Hiring Manager may extend a verbal offer. The verbal offer, provided over the phone or via Zoom, should provide the candidate with the following key information:
- Requested start date
- Salary (exempt) or pay rate (non-exempt)
- Pay schedule (monthly or biweekly)
- Additional one-time payments (relocation, sign-on bonus, etc.)
- Overview of pre-screening requirements
- Request for verbal acceptance of offer, initiating the formal written offer in Workday
Verbal Offer Template: Use the Verbal Offer Template to ensure you include all the necessary information when preparing to make a verbal offer to your candidate of choice.
What if the candidate is internal to Wake Forest?
If you are extending an offer to an internal candidate, the candidate is responsible for informing their manager of the forthcoming offer. Internal candidates are encouraged to inform their managers as soon as possible; however, it is appropriate for the internal candidate to wait until they have received a verbal offer to inform their manager. At minimum and unless approved by their manager, exempt staff should provide four-week notice; non-exempt staff should provide a two-week notice. View the Staff Separations Policy for more information.
What happens if the candidate declines the verbal offer?
If your first-choice candidate declines the verbal offer, you may initiate the reference check process with your second-choice candidate.
Wake Forest University Human Resources
P.O. Box 7424, Winston-Salem, NC 27109
askHR@wfu.edu | P 336.758.4700 | F 336.758.6127