Fair and Equitable Recruiting

The Armed Forces Covenant

We have visibly demonstrated our commitment to supporting the UK's military personnel, veterans and their families by signing The Armed Forces Covenant in 2017 - a promise by the nation ensuring that those who serve or have served in the armed forces, and their families, are treated fairly. 

We hold Armed Forces celebration events and also work closely with military support charities and agencies such as SSAFA and Stand To. 

'Ban the Box'

We support the 'Ban the Box' campaign, which seeks to increase fair opportunities for people with criminal records to apply and compete for jobs. 

We welcome applications from a wide range of candidates, including those with criminal records and successful candidates are chosen based on their merits, skills and abilities, and experience. As a result, we will only ask you about your unspent criminal convictions at job offer stage, in line with the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. 

Some of our roles require we undertake a DBS check on the successful candidate; however, a criminal record will not necessarily bar you from working for the University. Your information will be treated confidentially and fairly throughout. 

Anonymised shortlisting

On 1 February 2021, the University of Derby introduced anonymised shortlisting during the staff recruitment process. 

This development is part of our ongoing commitment to embedding equity, diversity and inclusion into our staff recruitment practices, to ensure our workforce is representative of our student population and the communities in which we are based. 

This change in approach supports the aims and objectives addressed in the University's equity, inclusion and wellbeing Strategy. It demonstrates the practical steps we are taking to remove barriers to recruitment by minimising the possible impact of our unconscious bias. 

This means that, when shortlisting, panel members will no longer be able to see an applicant's name and will see an applicant number instead. 

This new process will complement existing staff training on:

If you have any questions about this process, please get in touch with the Recruitment Team.