The short listing process

Objectives

The objectives of short listing are to:

• agree on those candidates who best meet the criteria
• remove those applicants who clearly do not meet the criteria
• agree on a set of questions based on the selection criteria
• determine a preliminary list of candidates to be interviewed
• decide whether to obtain referee reports before or after interviews.

Observations

The following should be observed in the short listing process:

• short listing should be carried out as soon as possible after the closing date for receipt of applications and if practical, within two weeks of that date
• it is a fundamental principle that applicants should be short-listed against the selection criteria
• in applying the selection criteria at short listing, the curriculum vitae and the written responses to the selection criteria should be taken into account as well as any referee comment that might be available
• applicants who have made little or no attempt to address the selection criteria should not usually be short listed. It should however be noted that some international or interstate applicants may not be familiar with the process of addressing selection criteria and their applications should not be discounted because they did not address the selection criteria directly
• internal applicants must be treated equally with external applicants. If an internal applicant does not meet the selection criteria, the applicant should not be short-listed
• all members of the selection committee should preferably be involved in the short-listing process, unless a sub-committee has been established
• written input from members of the selection committee should be forwarded to the Chair if the committee is unable to meet as a group for any reason.

Considerations for people with disability

People with disability may face particular difficulties in compiling applications. For example:

• applications may not be in the usual form, which will require the decision makers to look beyond their own expectations about style or format and deal with the substance
• there may be significant gaps in their résumés that reflect periods of unemployment or illness
• applicants may follow different conventions with their applications if not familiar with the University process.

There is no requirement to interview every applicant with a disability but, where an applicant with disability is ranked just outside the short list, it may be advisable for you and the other members of the selection committee to reflect on exactly why this has happened, so that you are satisfied that it is for reasons unrelated to the person's disability.