Presentations and seminars

It is sometimes appropriate to invite applicants to give a presentation, lecture or seminar during these selection process. Presentations and seminars assess an applicant's communication skills and perhaps their expertise on a particular subject.

A typical task might involve a candidate preparing and presenting to a selection committee, peers and/or postgraduate students. This can be a time-consuming process and therefore should be applied only to a relatively small number of very strong contenders for a job.

For example, for an academic position, a candidate might be asked to present a seminar on their research. For a key leadership position a candidate may be asked to present a seminar on their vision for the School/College. In these situations a Liaison Committee is often used to canvass views from the area on those short listed for interview and then report back to the selection committee.

Permission must be obtained from the candidates prior to commencing the liaison process as the candidacy of short listed applicants will be revealed to the College or School. A candidate cannot be required to participate in the liaison process.

The Chair of the selection committee should ensure that someone from the work area is given responsibility for organising the rooms, ensuring that the requested equipment is available, and where applicable, staff and student attendance.

If applicants are required to present in this manner then it is desirable that all members of the selection committee attend each lecture or seminar. If all members cannot attend then a representative number from the committee should be organised to attend.