UB Job-Recruitment System Goes Online

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- UB Jobs, the new Web-based position-description and employment-application system for faculty, staff and administrative positions funded through the state, Research Foundation and UB Foundation, is up and running, and should improve greatly the experience for those hiring employees, as well as those looking for jobs, proponents say.

The system is one of the more visible -- and dramatic -- changes in the way human resources are delivered to the UB community that has come out of the work of the Human Resources Transformation Team as part of the UB 2020 strategic planning process.

Why overhaul the job-recruitment system at UB?

UB searches for and hires more than 300 full-time employees each year, receiving more than 10,000 applications, explains Nancy M. Kielar, assistant vice president, CIO Administration, Office of the Associate Vice President for Information Technology and one of three co-chairs of the UB Jobs implementation team. The other co-chairs are Suzanne Gale, associate dean for human resources, College of Arts and Sciences, and Susan N. Steck, director of research foundation human resource services, Office of the Vice President for Human Resources.

"The new Web-based system will greatly improve the management of the high volume of applications received annually and provide a much better recruitment experience for both the hiring manager and the applicant," Kielar says. "As we move ahead with the UB 2020 planning efforts and the desire to increase the number of students, faculty and staff at the university, the number of hires made over the next several years will increase, making the need and benefit of a streamlined online system even more important," she says.

Adds Steck: "UB Jobs brings us more in line with what other major employers in the community are doing in terms of recruitment, and many applicants have come to expect the ease of using an online system. UB Jobs is just one of the technology implementations planned by HR to better serve the campus community."

Kielar points out that UB Jobs is a customized implementation of the PeopleAdmin system, an online employment and position-tracking system written for the higher education market. More than 300 colleges and universities -- including several SUNY institutions -- across the country already have or are in the process of implementing the PeopleAdmin product, she says.

The advantages of using UB Jobs -- for UB employees looking for another job within the university, for those conducting searches and for those outside the university looking for a UB job -- are numerous, Kielar says.

Using UB Jobs, job seekers, both internal and external, can:

• Browse and apply online for open positions at UB any time from any computer with Internet access.

• Complete an application and save it to use when applying for future open positions.

• Submit an application immediately and directly to the hiring department, minimizing the risk of missing a deadline or losing an application.

• Review the duties of prospective positions, as well as application materials submitted for positions, before an interview.

• Establish and maintain a password-protected user account in order to maintain an online employment application, update skills, apply for several positions at one time and track the status of an application.

• Withdraw an application from consideration for any position.

UB Jobs allows hiring units to:

• Submit position descriptions and authorizations to recruit electronically.

• Have 24/7 access to an applicant pool from any computer with Internet access. Once an applicant applies for a posting, application documents are available for review immediately.

• Use pre-approved, qualifying questions to assist in the review of applicants.

• Review online historical search information, including applicant records and statistics.

• Send email notifications to applicants at various points in the search process.

Moreover, with UB Jobs, hiring managers no longer have to complete the Search Procedure Report, Kielar says. The paper-based Search Procedure Report has been replaced by a system-generated report following completion of the hiring decision process.

Kielar notes that although UB Jobs is new -- it only went live on Jan. 29 -- it already has had an impact. "We have 17 positions posted in the system and received over 180 applications," she says. "I think that's great news -- people are finding us."

She says Human Resources has installed a kiosk on the first floor of Crofts Hall for job applicants and UB employees who do not have access to a computer. "In addition, we're planning to send materials to the local public libraries so they can assist anyone who might go there to search for and apply for a position at UB," she says.

Training sessions for UB Jobs will be offered to administrators and hiring managers on an every-other-week schedule. Employees can register online at http://www.ubbusiness.buffalo.edu/ubb/cfm/courses/.

To visit the UB Jobs site, go to https://www.ubjobs.buffalo.edu.