a guide to

row staffselection

It’s that time of year, Staff Selection! Selection is an opportunity to leave a lasting mark on your individual houses and the Row community-at-large. This is a process that can be time consuming, but also very rewarding and enjoyable if well thought out! We hope that this guide provides some support in helping you select the best possible staffs.

This guide is broken up into four segments: prepping during Weeks 4 & 5, reviewing applications during Week 6, interviewing during Weeks 7-10, and creating ranked criteria lists for the Match. While these are organized chronologically, it is important to understand the process in its totality and we recommend reviewing all the information now and then referencing it again as the quarter progresses.

Please know that Row Professional Staff and Peer Advisors are here to support you in any way possible during this process. Just stop by 2nd Floor Lasuen, contact any of us directly, or email selection@lists.stanford.edu and we are happy to answer logistical questions, talk through interview ideas, look over ranked criteria lists, or just offer moral support!

- ResEd Row Professional Staff & Peer Advisors

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a note

4-5calendar at a glance

6prepping during

weeks 4 & 5

10reviewing applications

week 6

15interviewing

week 7-10

17creating ranked criteria lists for

the match

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table of contents

4

Su M T W Th F S

2 3 4

selection workshop7:30 - 8:30

5

selection workshop7:30 - 8:30

6 7 8

9 10 11 12

row applicantinformationavailable

13 14 15

16 17

rowinterviews begin

18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28

february

calendar at a glance

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Su M T W Th F S

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16last day of interviews

17ranked criteria lists due

18the match

19the match

20 21official offers onresjobs

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march

6

prepping during

weeks 4 & 5

Tuesday, 2/4 or Wednesday 2/5 7:30-8:30pmLasuen Conference Room

The Row Office will host Selection workshops led by Cisco Barron (ResEd Associate Director of Assessment and Program Evaluation). During this time, we will review the inner workings and intentionality of the Match, how to build ranked applicant criteria lists, ResEd Initial Interviews, and more. 

Please coordinate so your staff is represented in at least one of the workshops, preferably by the coordinator of your house's Selection process and the RA. All are welcome to attend. RSVP athttp://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090449A5AF23A64-selection.

Before the selection process gets into full swing, it is important to take some time as a staff to talk through what you all value in incoming staff members and how you want to develop your house specific selection process. Below are a handful of topics to cover as a group:

• What has made our staff successful this year?• What are our core values for our house and subsequently for our selection process?• What makes a quality staff member in our house?• Has anything happened that has made us rethink certain criteria we might have had before?• Have our expectations changed since going through selection last year? • How do we convey the essence of our house to applicants?• How are we designing our selection process to really learn about our applicants? • What kind of questions will allow us to know if an applicant is a good fit for our house?• What information do we need to provide applicants so they know if our house (or a specific

position) is a good fit for them? • How do we want applicants to feel a#er leaving our house & our interview process? • How will we approach interviewing friends, current residents, or returning applicants?

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2. take time to establish values as a staff

1.rsvp for a selection workshop

• What happens when we make assumptions about students that we know in one context?• What will our process look like?• What role do we all play in reading applications, communicating with applicants, setting up

logistics, interviewing, and creating ranked criteria list for the match? • How are we insuring that our process is inclusive and welcoming?

Establishing as a staff how you are going to si# through applications is a crucial thing to think about now, before you receive any applicant information. Having a clear system (that's agreed upon by all) for how you want to review applications will streamline the process and mitigate some hecticness later on.

Example Option A:Have each position sort through the applicants for their own position (i.e.. current KM reads all KM specific applications). Agree on a date by which everyone will have picked the candidates for the group to interview. Let each staff member choose the top X number of applicants for their position.

It can be helpful here for each staff member to make a "rubric" which they'll use to judge applicants applying to their position, and run these rubrics by each other as a staff. This way there's a level of group transparency, which is nice since only one person is looking at each batch of position specific applications.

Example Option BCreate a common rubric ahead of time and get together as a staff group-to go through each application and have each staff member rate them separately based on the common rubric. Decide to interview only the applicants that receive at least an (X) rating from at least (X) number of staff members (these metrics can be decided and agreed upon by each staff).

This option is much more time intensive (con) but can allow staff members to feel like they have a strong say in each and every applicant that is pushed through to the interview stage (pro).

Example Option C:Split candidate applications up amongst pairs of staff members. All agree on a common rubric by which to rate candidates. For a candidate to pass through to the interview round, it must receive at least an (X) rating from both staff members rating that applicant. This option is less time consuming, but still allows staff members to feel like they have more of a say in who will be interviewed than if all staff members were to only choose candidates for their own position (option 1).

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create a plan to review applications3.

There are two issues to consider when setting up a fair selection process:• Each step of the selection process should involve a job-related assessment of the candidate’s

skills and knowledge.• Each of the criteria should be applied consistently to all candidates

In addition, there are areas of questioning and evaluation that cannot be pursued through the interview process. We are legally prohibited from asking candidates about:

• Race• Ethnic, national or Aboriginal origin• Creed• Sexuality/ sexual orientation/gender identity• Family status• Religion• Sex• Marital Status• Disability• Source of income or financial aid status • Political belief, affiliation or activity

It is critical that we evaluate our processes and remove barriers to ensure that every candidate has the ability to be successful in the selection process. The overall objective of a selection process is to hire a staff  whose strengths and perspectives combine to most honor and accommodate the culture and lifestyle within your house. In addition, there is a need to hire a diverse staff where students are able to bring differing perspectives to create a dynamic staff team. Encouraging or accepting bribes, asking crude or inappropriate questions, or providing special treatment to friends or residents works against creating an inclusive process that is welcoming to all applicants.

Privacy of InformationPlease keep in mind that an applicant’s information is confidential and should not be available to, or shared, with anyone not participating in the application review.  Please work as a staff to ensure that everyone understands the sensitive nature of application documents.  These documents should not be discussed with anyone, or in any setting, outside the confines of the student staff selection process.  Sharing of this information could result in job action.

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keep in mind fair & inclusive selection practices4.

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reviewing applications

week 6

Staff may use the ResJobs site to do the following: • Get a list of the applicants to your house • Read staff applications • Read staff applicant recommendations and comments • Enter the list of applicants you will be interviewing • Get a list of interviewees • Enter your list of interview times/dates

Accessing the system  To access the system, login to the "House Staff/Interviewers" section of the ResJobs system at: http://resjobs.stanford.edu/housestaff/ All staff who have SUNet IDs and passwords should already have access to the House Staff/Interviewer section of the system and each part of each process.  Once you have logged into the system, you should see a list of your available selection processes as well as relevant interview rounds within those processes. If interview schedule set up is available, click on the link for your interview schedule. You will be brought to the main page for your interview schedule. This page contains all of the tools you need to review applications, offer interviews, and set up interview dates/times.   In the "Applicants" section, you will be able to see three lists of applicants:

• All Available Applicants: A list of all of the applicants who have been passed on to this interview round. The third list contains links to each applicant's application materials. (In the first two lists, you can click on an applicant's name to jump down to her listing in the third list.) To view an applicant's application materials, click on the links to each part of the application listed under that applicant's name, such as the applicant's completed application form or recommendations submitted on her behalf.

• Current Interview Offers: The list of applicants to whom you have extended interview offers (not viewable until a#er you make interview offers)

• Selected Applicants: A list of selected applicants who have expressed interest in your house (not viewable if no applicants have expressed interest in your house).

You can also comment on applicants by using the "Add/View Comments" link next the applicant's name.    

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review applications on resjobs, starting february 12 1.

Initial Interviews are conducted by ResEd professional staff January 21-24th. This year’s IIP was a groupinterview that positioned each group (4-6 applicants) as a house staff and asked them to plan a Welcome Event for their community. The prompt was intentionally open ended and allowed thefacilitators to observe how applicants worked in an ambiguous group setting.

Quantitative and qualitative feedback is collected during IIP. This information is collected and distributed to houses along with a “Key” that will help you interpret the results. It is up to your househow you utilize the IIP information.

Example Option A: Group & Individual Interview Combination (3-5 Applicants, 30 minutes)

pros cons

Ability to initially meet more applicants in less time and gain a “first impression”

More of a time commitment to do both group & individual meetings

Ability to briefly see how applicant behaves in a group setting

Difficult to gain in depth perspective on all applicants in the group setting.

Example Option B: Single Interviews (1 applicant, 20 minutes)

pros cons

Ability to engage with more applicants on a deeper level

Not able to see how applicants show up in a group setting

Only need to meet with applicants once (can also be considered a con!)

Potentially limits the ability to meet as many applicants as the group process

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utilize initial interview process (IIP) results2.

3. create a plan for interviews

A great interview question allows you to genuinely get to know your applicants while allowing the applicant to differentiate themselves from the masses.Designing interview questions requires some time and thoughtfulness but it is worth it. You don’t want to listen to 45 people give you the same exact cliche responses, not only does this make it difficult to make thoughtful staffing decisions but it is also tedious & boring! Here are some example interview questions to consider:

General:• What is your spirit animal and why? What is your personal theme song? If you could be any

building on campus which would you be and why? What is on your Stanford Bucket List? Something to lighten the mood, and to give you a sense of the candidate’s personality.

• What teams have you been part of at Stanford, and what kind of teammates did you look for?◦ What was the best part of that team? What went wrong on that team? I’m on your team

now, and I’m being entirely unreasonable and mean towards you. How do you work with me? What role do you gravitate towards on a team? Which role is hardest for you to play?

• We need you to put on an event this Saturday that our whole house will love. Go.◦ Look for thoughtfulness, how well this person meshes with your house’s dynamic,

whether they include the rest of the staff in the planning, etc.◦ Follow-ups: “how will you get the house to roll out?” “What do you need the rest of the

staff to do?” “Oh, one of our residents doesn’t drink. How will you include him?”• Bring an item for show and tell. 2 minutes max.• How would you describe your leadership style? • Part of the staff experience is being present in the house. What else is on your plate for next year?

How much time are you able/willing to devote to the house?• Some of the core values of staffing on the Row are approachability, reasonableness and

engagement in the house. How do you see yourself filling those roles, regardless of position?

CM:• Why do you want to be a CM (in this  house?)• What experience do you have planning events for groups?• How would you

◦ deal with residents who start e-mail wars...◦ include residents who don't participate...◦ ..plan events for different groups of people.

• How have you dealt with a difficult friend/roommate/co officer situation• How do you deal with staff members or residents that do things differently than you?• Most important trait for a staff member to have?• Best party you have been to?

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4. prepare interview questions

RA:• Describe a time someone in one of your residences came to you for help.• What are you most afraid of (in terms of being an RA)?• Describe something you did for your dorm/house just for fun.• How have you dealt with a difficult position of being a friend and an authority?• What’s something you’ve done to brighten someone’s day and for that reason only?

KM:• Why do you want to be a KM?• Walk us through the steps you would take to manage open kitchen - from determining what to

buy, all the way through getting the items to the house?• Your residents are making ridiculous food suggestions—how do you deal with it?• People in the house are complaining about the food at lunch/dinner. What do you do?• How o#en do you expect to be going food shopping?• Your residents want a huge variety of food, but you’re on a budget and can only buy so many

items each week. How do you deal with this?

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interviewing

weeks 7-10

Using ResJobs to ScheduleInterview weeks on ResJobs run from Monday-Sunday. If you would like to interview during a specific week please make sure to get your interview information in ResJobs by Monday at 11:59am. The applicant sign up will open at noon the same day and they will have 24 hours to sign up for an interview. This will be the system every week.

Using Doodle to ScheduleTools such as Doodle (or SignUpGenius) can be useful in scheduling interviews. 1. Schedule an event2. On the poll settings tab, make sure to check the last 3 tabs and enter the number of applicants per group interview.

Please keep in mind that we have about 50 students that are not on campus that have applied for staff positions. Creating an interview that can be replicated via Skype or Google Hang out is important.

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schedule interviews starting on february 17th - march 16th1.

2. interview abroad applicants

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creating ranked criteria lists for

the match

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please watch these two videos to learn more about the process:

1. introduction to the match2. the match: advice for houses

so, what is the match?

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1.2.

3.4.

5.

On March 16th applicants rank positions in houses & submit lists to ResEd, while houses rank applicants and also submit lists to ResEd.

ResEd goes down the houses’ lists making offers to applicants on behalf of houses. We also tentatively accept offers on behalf of applicants, as we attempt to get them their most preferred position. This process is done by hand over a two day period, March 18-19th.

The final configuration takes into account every applicant’s preferences and every houses’ list for every single position. Official offers will be available on ResJobs on March 18th.

The Match is based off the Gale-Shapley Algorithm which was published in The American Mathematical Monthly Vol. 69 No. 1, 1962. Titled College Admissions and the Stability of Marriage.

Offering positions to applicants during the interview process is inappropriate. The Match is designed to accommodate every single applicant, and every single house, and every single position in every single house, in a way that is just not possible with one off job offers.

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questions? selection@lists.stanford.edu