Recruitment

Job advertisement

As a general rule, vacant positions in the public sector must be advertised so that they are publicly available.
For technical/administrative posts, the following exceptions  to the advertising requirement apply:

• Where legislation stipulates specific rules on appointment, for example, to boards and councils.
• Appointment as special advisor to a minister.
• In the case of holiday replacement, temporary employment and other short-term employment not exceeding 1 year.

Law on temporary employment

By law, the employment of a fixed-term technical/adminstrative employee cannot be extended. The employee must therefore either resign or be transferred to a permanent position. However, a temporary extension may be granted if the extension is for objective reasons. Objective circumstances may be unforeseeable illness, pregnancy, maternity leave, leave of absence, public duties or when the renewal is neccessary due to unforeseeable circumstances to solve an originally determined work task of a temporary nature.

Contract negotiation

Once the desired candidate has been found and offered the position, the salary and conditions of employment are negotiated and a letter of employment is drafted.

Letter of employment/contract

According to the law on contracts of employment and the circular on the employer's duty to inform the employee of the terms and conditions of the employment, the University must provide the employee with information on a number of matters specified by law, which is done in the form of a letter of employment.
The Ministry of Finance and the central organisations have entered into an agreement that replaces the provisions of the law on the employer's obligation to inform the employee of the terms of the employment.

The obligation to provide information applies to all employees whose employment lasts more than 1 month and whose average weekly working time exceeds 8 hours. If the employee does not work an average of more than 8 hours per week from the beginning of the employment, the University's obligation to provide information comes into effect when the employee has worked an average of more than 8 hours per week in the last 4 weeks.

Circular on letters of employment for collective agreement employees in the public sector.

Rejection

Every single candidate who receives a rejection is potentially an ambassador who can go out and speak well or badly of the organisation.
An appropriate and professional rejection can therefore be a valuable tool to promote the positive reputation of the organisation.

The important thing is to provide candidates with a good experience throughout the recruitment process, including giving them a timely, empathetic, constructive and concrete rejection.

It is recommended that a written rejection be given to candidates who have not been invited for interview. Candidates who have been invited for interview should receive an oral reply.

3 tips for a good rejection are:

1. Deliver the rejection as soon as possible. Consider notifying applicants who will not proceed to interview once this has been decided rather than once the recruitment process has been completed.
2.  Show understanding in the rejection. A rejection should always be delivered with empathy for the recipient and respect for the time and effort the applicant has put into writing the application. A standard rejection, with a few personal words in the first lines of the rejection, can make a big difference. For example, you can start by thanking the applicant and giving general, constructive feedback.
3. A good rejection is well reasoned, constructive and concrete. You can be specific by highlighting examples of what was emphasised by the candidate who was elected or the candidates who were called for the first interview. For example, the motivation of the candidate(s), professional experience, educational background, understanding of the organisation or task, etc.

If the candidate receives some concrete examples of reasons for the rejection, the candidate will have a better opportunity to figure out whether they can do better in the next application, thereby increasing the possibility for the the process being a good experience in spite of the rejection.

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