Candidate Charter

At Derby, we have worked to build a powerful, regional university that addresses the needs of our students, the region and beyond. Our reputation for delivering excellence in research, knowledge exchange and teaching continues to grow.

We have the same ambitions for our people and because we specialise in identifying and developing individual potential, you can be confident you'll receive all the help and encouragement you need to build a rewarding career with lots of opportunities to progress.

We appreciate that taking the time to apply for a role with us is a big commitment, that’s why here at University of Derby we commit to delivering a great candidate experience to all. With this in mind, we wanted to list our commitments that you can expect from us if you decide that you want to apply to work with us.

92%of candidates rated overall recruitment experience as good to excellent
89%of candidates found all of the information they needed on our website
98%of candidates find our recruitment system easy to use

All of our job adverts provide contact details for both the hiring manager and the recruitment team so that you can ask as many questions as you like to make sure the role is right for you.

We’re always looking for people with purpose and ambition who can help us achieve our University’s strategic vision. We therefore encourage you to opt in to our candidate pool when completing the application form. If you are invited to interview but are not offered the role, the hiring manager can inform us if they think that you have potential. You will then be automatically added into the candidate pool. If the same or a similar role becomes available in the next 6 months, we may contact you at the recruiting manager’s discretion to see if you are interested in the position.

  • We undertake anonymous shortlisting so that panel members will see an applicant ID number rather than your name when reviewing your application form. This is part of our ongoing commitment to embed equality, diversity and inclusion into our recruitment processes and demonstrates the practical steps we are taking to remove barriers within recruitment by minimising the possible impact of unconscious biases
  • We provide training on recruitment best practice and unconscious bias for our hiring managers. This helps to minimise the effects of bias on the decision-making process
  • There will always be a minimum of 2 panel members shortlisting applications and on the interview panel to ensure that our selection assessments are fair and robust
  • You will be informed of your application outcome either way via email in a timely manner
  • We will inform you of your interview with at least 5 working days’ notice to give you plenty of time to prepare
  • We commit to offering feedback at all stages of our recruitment process. We will endeavour to provide constructive feedback to help you identify areas of improvement for future applications. You can request feedback after shortlisting and interview by contacting the recruitment team
  • Once you have been offered a position with us, you will receive confirmation that your offer is being worked on so you know that your contract will be with you shortly
  • All candidates who accept an offer of employment with us will be sent an offer letter and contract via email, including a link to onboarding forms. This ensures that you have easy access to accept your offer without the need to print a contract and provide us with all the information we need to ensure you are ready to start on your first day
  • We will respond to all candidate enquiries within 3 working days. Our friendly team are happy to help with any queries you may have. You can give us a call on 01332 593099 or send us an email via recruitment@derby.ac.uk
  • We believe recruitment is a two-way process and value any feedback from our candidates. All candidates have the opportunity to provide us with feedback at any stage of the recruitment process using the feedback links in our email footers. All successful candidates will also have the opportunity to provide feedback as part of their onboarding forms
  • All candidate feedback is regularly reviewed and acted upon. This feedback helps us to continually review and improve our processes.
person typing on a tablet

Very smooth, speedy and impressive experience so far. However experienced you are, it's a nervous and uncertain time starting a new job and so the friendly and efficient response from HR has been very reassuring.

Professional Services Candidate
March 2024
computer keyboard and hand typing

The entirety of the recruitment process has been excellent. From initially applying for the role to acceptance of my contract of employment, the university and all associated individuals have been speedy in the process and have answered any and all questions that I have had about the role/position.

Academic Candidate
December 2023

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