Update to process of gathering job applicant reference contact information

Beginning November 12, the process for gathering reference contact information during the recruitment processes will be updated in Workday. The updates to the faculty and staff recruitment process are outlined below.

Faculty

HRS has identified several faculty recruitments requesting applicants to attach documents with reference contact information, even though this information is already gathered through the application questionnaires.

To reduce the duplicative processes for faculty applicants and alleviate the limitation of only being able to upload five documents to an application, HRS is making the following enhancements to the Faculty application questionnaire:

  • Increased Number of References: The application will now request contact information for the current/recent supervisor and three professional references.
  • Clarification of Reference Contact/Letter: The application will include clearer language indicating that references may be contacted for reference checks or letters of recommendation. Additionally, the supervisor section will allow the applicant to specify if their supervisor should be contacted for letters of recommendation.
  • Additional Information Requested for References: To streamline the process and provide search committees the information needed prior to contacting references, HRS will include additional fields in the questions for each reference including:
    • Name
    • Phone number
    • Email
    • Current title
    • Current employer
    • Relationship to applicant

Staff

In analyzing Workday applicant data over the last two years, an average of 45% of staff applicants discontinue their application at Questionnaire 1, where reference contact information is requested. HRS has received concerns from recent hires and applicants regarding the inclusion of reference contact detail in the initial application. Many applicants express concerns about potential employees contacting their current employers.

To improve the applicant process and improve completion rates, HRS will remove the request for reference contact information from Questionnaire 1. Beginning 11/12, reference contact information will be gathered through Workday when the applicant’s status is updated in Workday to “Reference Check.” At that point, the applicant(s) will received a Workday action request to submit contact information for their current/recent supervisor and three professional references. The form will have additional fields to provide the search committee with more information about the references provided.

It is important to note that applicants must submit their reference contact information through Workday before their application is updated to “Background Check Requested.” If an applicant’s status is changed to “Background Check Requested” before the applicant provides their reference contact information, the applicant will not be able to provide the reference contact information through Workday.

HRS understands there are concerns that the “Reference Check” request process in Workday may slow down recruitments. While this may occur occasionally, proactive and consistent communication with your applicants can help mitigate most delays. HRS recommends using the following language when concluding interviews to inform applicants of the next steps in the process:

After completing interview, the search committee will identify candidate moving to the stage of the process, which includes reference checks. If you are identified as a top candidate, you will receive a notification from Workday to log into your applicant account and provide your reference contact information. To keep the process moving forward, we recommend you begin gathering reference contact information now.

For recruitments posted before 11/12, applicants will have provided reference contact information in their initial application. These applicants will not receive the request for reference contact information when their application status is updated to “Reference Check.”

For recruitments posted before 11/12, inform top candidates they may receive a Workday notification to provide their reference contact information and may  ignore that Workday notification, as they have already provided their reference contact information in the initial application.

For more information about this process, change please view the 2024 Elevating Cougs session From Yesterday to Today: HCM on October 23, 2024 at 11:00 am or contact HRS Talent Management at hrs.recruitment@wsu.edu.

Questions? Reach out via the Workday Service Desk.