Stanford
Manager Toolkit

Selection & Offer

Review resources and guidance to support an exceptional candidate experience that is as fair as possible when selecting a successful candidate and managing offers. 

Reference checking & personnel files

Complete reference checks on the final candidate: Obtain consent from the candidate to conduct the references and ask only employment-related questions. Stanford requires two completed reference checks; however, request three in the event one is hard to reach. One reference should be from a current or former supervisor, but two are strongly preferred; all references should speak to the candidate's previous work performance. 

Below are a few tools and tips to help with reference checking:

  • Reference Check Guidelines: Best practices and tips for conducting successful reference checks
  • Reference Check Template: Customize (add, delete, or edit) reference check questions as needed to ensure the relevance to the competencies for the position
  • Checkster: Automated Reference Checking. University Human Resources (UHR) is now sponsoring a Stanford-wide contract with Checkster, an automated reference-checking system for staff-level hiring, and welcomes any school or unit interested in improving process efficiency around reference checking to participate at no cost to your school or unit. To learn more about the process and benefits of Checkster, please watch a short 4-minute training video (YouTube). For additional information and to get started using Checkster, contact Vicente Marcelo, Talent Acquisition Project Coordinator, at vmarcelo@stanford.edu.
  • Personnel Files: If the final candidate is a current or former Stanford employee, contact the local HR Team to review their personnel file and check references.

Salary Setting

Factors to consider when determining salary offers:

External new hires

  • Market pay range for the role to be filled
  • Candidate’s knowledge, skills, and experience related to the new role
  • Complexity, impact, and criticality of the new role
  • Pay relative to quartiles in the salary range
  • Internal equity – how pay compares to peers with comparable skills and experience in the same role
  • Manager/subordinate pay – how the candidate’s pay would compare to the manager
  • Sign-on bonus may be considered for a new hire in unique situations

Internal new hires

  • Market pay range for the role to be filled
  • Candidate’s knowledge, skills, and experience related to the new role
  • Complexity, impact, and criticality of the new role
  • Pay relative to quartiles in the salary range
  • Internal equity – how pay compares to peers with comparable skills and experience in the same role
  • Candidate's performance in current role
  • Manager/subordinate pay – how the candidate’s pay would compare to the manager

Bargaining unit hires

If you are hiring a staff member into a bargaining unit job, base pay information is located in the contractual agreements between Stanford and the unions. Find more information about compensation and bargaining units on Cardinal at Work.

Offer Letters 

Offer letters are accessible to HR professionals. Work with your local HR to form the offer letter and decide on the process (e.g., who’s the main point of communication and for what). If you have not yet sent the benefits highlights flier, this stage of the hiring process is a great time to do so.

HR members can visit the HR Toolkit to find and customize offer letters.

Negotiations

It’s safe to expect a candidate will negotiate the offer. Here are some tips to consider:

  • Don’t just talk about the salary. Instead, talk about the total compensation package.
  • Personalize the conversation. Throughout the interview journey, you should have an idea of what’s important to the candidate. If it’s career advancement, talk about our training programs, STAP, and people you know who have successfully advanced their Stanford careers. Also, talk about your journey and why you continue to enjoy working at Stanford.
  • Ask questions such as “What part of the total compensation package is most important to you?”; or if they have already declined the offer, “What specific change in the package would make you accept the offer?” or “What could we offer you that would make you change your mind?"
  • Encourage candidates to consider the compelling work, upward mobility, or even the perks of attending campus events and being part of the Stanford community.

Background Checks

A background check (secure authentication) is required after the final candidate has accepted the contingent offer. You cannot enter a candidate into Stanford's employment system until a background check is successfully completed. Continue to work with your local HR Team to launch the background check.

Disposition Candidates

Once the final candidate has accepted the offer, complete the applicant tracking system's mandated candidate disposition data. For more information, go to our section on the Taleo Applicant Tracking System. It's courteous for people who weren't selected to give them a phone call or personalized email, rather than a canned response.

Stay Connected

You’ve spent lots of time and resources on finding the right candidate for the job, so stay connected to make sure the candidate feels they made a great decision. Here are some ideas on how to create a plan to stay connected until their start date: