Middlebury’s hiring process for employees is outlined below.

Making an Employee Request

Whenever a position vacancy is created, either by the creation of a new position, or when an employee leaves that position, a Position Posting Request Form must be submitted for review and approval. The request must be budget-neutral. Human Resources will work with the requesting department’s leadership team to evaluate the request and ensure Vice President approval. 

Requests for new positions, promotions, or vacancy replacements that are budget additive will be reviewed twice a year. Leaders must work with their Vice President to submit the request.

To begin this process you must have the following:

  • The job title and position number that you need to fill. 
  • The job description for the position.

For assistance please contact your Human Resources Business Partner

Employee Request Process

(budget-neutral vacancy replacement or re-organization, fully grant, gift, or endowment funded position, student employees):

  • Initiate Request: Following a discussion with the responsible VP or SLG member, the hiring manager initiates a request for a replacement. The request form can be accessed through this link: Position Request Form
     
  • Job Description and Compensation Review: Human Resources assigns/determines the job number, grade, and hiring minimum based upon market data and internal position comparisons.
     
  • Budget Review: The Budget Office will confirm the availability of funds when applicable.
  • Ways & Means Committee (WMC) Review (staff positions only): HR will gather and summarize all VP/SLG endorsed requests for review with the WMC committee when applicable. 100% grant funded positions and student employees will not be subject to WMC review. The WMC, working with members of the Senior Leadership Group, will continue to balance the needs of the individual units and the institution through this review.
  • Final Decision (staff positions only): WMC will review requests in consultation with the responsible vice president and make a final decision on the request.

Posting/Advertising

When a position has been approved, Human Resources is notified of the approval as well as posting requirements. Your Human Resources Business Partner will reach out to you to conduct a Recruitment Strategy meeting.  The purpose of this meeting is to: Identify a recruitment pipeline; Identify roles within that pipeline (who will be conducting phone screens, who will be on search committee); Identify potential ad placements; Identify key requirements and develop assessments/interview templates.

Typically, if a position is posted internally, it must be posted for 5-days before opened to external candidates. During this time period only individuals classified as internal candidates* may apply.

* Active Middlebury College employees and their spouse/partner are considered internal candidates.

External Advertising

Recruitment needs vary widely based on the skill sets required for a position. Currently the HR office subscribes to numerous online job posting entities and hiring managers are encouraged to limit their initial advertising to the Middlebury College web site and these select external posting subscriptions for at five (5) days of external posting. After this time the hiring manager may elect to contact the HR office to discuss additional external advertising venues.

Interviewing

Hiring the best person for the job is the most important thing that a manager does. When you have the right person in the right job, you have the best opportunity to be successful.

As you begin the hiring process, it is important to establish guidelines for interviews. To help you with this process we have created a guide for effective interviewing. This guide covers the following topics:

  • Interview Preparation
  • Etiquette
  • Questioning Techniques
  • Interview Notes/Rating Sheet
  • Equal Employment Opportunity Interview Guidelines

Policy on Travel Costs Associated with Candidate Interviews

The costs associated with bringing candidates to the Middlebury campus for job interviews will be funded by Human Resources in accordance with the following:

Eligibility

The HR recruitment budget can support no more than one visit to campus for (up to) two candidates per search. Any additional travel will be at the expense of the hiring department or the candidate.

Guidelines

  • Travel:
    • A phone interview is required before bringing the candidate to campus.
    • A candidate’s driving distance must be greater than 75 miles (radius) in order to be eligible for a mileage reimbursement through Human Resources.
    • Flying distance must be greater than 200 miles (radius) in order to qualify for airfare & car rental reimbursement.
    • Adequate advanced planning is required to ensure that the College is demonstrating fiscal responsibility when purchasing airline tickets.
  • Lodging: 
    • Moderately priced lodging is provided if the travel distance to Middlebury exceeds a 200 mile radius.
  • Meals:
    • Any meals associated with candidate travel will be at the candidate’s expense. 
    • Any meals associated with the interview process will be at the hiring department’s expense.

Process

The hiring department is responsible for making travel arrangements on behalf of the candidate. Account information can be obtained from your employment team representative in the HR office in order for flight arrangements to be made through one of the College sanctioned travel agents. Completed vouchers and receipts also should be forwarded to HR so that the appropriate account information can be assigned to the voucher and then delivered to the Accounts Payable Office for processing.

Please contact your Human Resources Business Partner for assistance.

Making a Job Offer

When you have decided on a candidate and are ready to make an offer you will need to notify your Human Resources Business Partner of your intent to make an offer. The Human Resources Business Partner in consultation with the Compensation Specialist will set the appropriate rate of pay for the candidate based on a number of factors.

IMPORTANT: Please refer to this chart when determining a start date of employment.  

Skill Matrix Assessment:

Once a decision has been made to move forward with making an offer to a candidate the Hiring Leader will reach out to their HR Business Partner to discuss placement within the Skills Matrix. The Skill Matrix is designed to assess a candidate’s career progression and level of ownership and impact in the position at Middlebury. The grade the position is placed in along with the skill matrix assessment will determine the salary offer.

Offer:

Human Resources will provide a salary range to the hiring manager based upon the skill matrix assessment. The hiring manager will make the offer to the candidates.  If the candidate accepts the offer, the hiring manager will move the candidate to Accepted Offer in the Workable pipeline, which will let HR know to move forward with the background check. If the offer is not accepted please inform your HR Business Partner prior to disqualifying the candidate in Workable. 

Background Check:

All benefit eligible positions will be required to pass a background check. If there are issues with the background check, the HR Business Partner team will convene to review those on a case by case basis and will consider the candidate’s input, as well as the relevancy, recency, and other factors when making their determination.  Regardless of the outcome of that determination the candidate will be provided the opportunity to respond to the information within the background check report and provide clarification. 

Appointment Letters: 

Once the Background check is complete the candidate will be moved to Hired in the Workable Pipeline.  Human Resources will confirm the start date and offer details with the hiring manager and then generate the Appointment Letter.  It is important that if any additional considerations such as Relocation Subsidies were part of the offer that Hiring Leader has updated those fields in the Candidate profile. 

Staff Moving (Relocation) Subsidies

Eligibility

In order for a candidate to be eligible for relocation subsidies, hiring managers must consult with their employment team representative from Human Resources to include these expenses in the overall recruitment plan. Once agreed upon, relocation subsidies will be negotiated with the candidate as part of the employment offer and documented in the appointment letter.  Generally, positions in a grade of 7 or higher in the staff compensation systems will be eligible for the subsidy. Other positions which have presented a particular recruitment challenge may be considered on a case by case basis in consultation with Human Resources.

Process

The moving subsidies will be covered by Human Resources within budgeted funds and prior approval is required to verify availability of funds. The appointment letter will instruct the candidate to save original receipts and submit them to HR within two months of the move date. Reimbursable moving expenses are provided in accordance to the provisions outlined in Middlebury’s Employee Handbook. Moving subsidies are granted according to the following guidelines:

Candidate’s Relocation Distance

  • 76 to 500 miles $2,600
  • 501 to 1,000 miles $3,300
  • 1,001 to 2,000 miles $3,800
  • over 2,000 miles $4,500

Note: A relocation subsidy is not intended to cover all moving expenses. Some relocations will exceed the subsidy. The subsidy is intended only to offset the financial realities associated with relocation. If a department chooses to exceed the standard amounts, they must cover the additional expenses with department funding.

Moving subsidies may also be used to cover travel expenses for house-hunting trips or for a trip by the candidate’s spouse or partner to seek employment in the area, or to make arrangements for relocating to Middlebury. Any costs associated with house-hunting trips are considered a benefit and are taxable income per the IRS. This amount will be added to the employee’s taxable income for Federal, FICA and State withholding purposes and they will be taxed accordingly. Please refer to IRS Publication 521 for further information.

Please contact your Human Resources Business Partner for assistance.

New Employee Orientation

All benefits eligible employees will begin their employment on a “Cohort Start Date,” which is the beginning of a pay period. Benefit-eligible employees will be invited to New  Employee Orientation for an overview of applicable policies. The Green Mountain Higher Education Consortium (GMHEC) will also conduct a separate Benefits Orientations, typically held on the same day and New Employee Orientation.

All new hires will be assigned an onboarding checklist in Oracle HCM. The onboarding checklist includes necessary employment paperwork to complete, along with required online training courses.   

Leaders should use the Hiring Leader’s checklist as you integrate your new employee into your department.

In addition, it might be helpful for your new hire to review the information outlined on the Self-Service Resources. Remember that every new employee must fill out employment paperwork at the Human Resources office on the first day of work.

New Positions/Promotions Review 

Requests for new positions, promotions, or vacancy replacements that are budget additive will be reviewed twice a year. Leaders must work with their Vice President to submit the request. Please contact your Human Resources Business Partner for assistance.