Internal hiring procedure

ASU encourages its staff to continuously improve their skills and abilities and take advantage of opportunities to advance their careers. However, the university also must ensure the best deployment of staff, consistent compensation levels across the institution and uninterrupted operations.

The Office of the President has issued prior guidance that must be followed by hiring managers whenever an internal candidate is being considered for a new role. 

  • Hiring leaders should have an open discussion with internal ASU candidates who are finalists for ASU job openings to inform them that their candidacy will be made known to their current ASU unit. A finalist is any candidate for whom a job offer is likely or imminent.
  • Hiring leaders must inform the dean, vice president or designee and the HR leader of the unit currently employing an internal ASU candidate for an open position of their intention to offer the open position to the candidate before it is offered. Also, include disclosure of the salary offered to the internal ASU candidate.
  • The hiring unit leader is responsible for demonstrating an effort to obtain job-related reference information for current ASU employees who are finalists for a position. Such measures should include a review of the official Office of Human Resources personnel file and a detailed discussion of the finalist’s performance with their current supervisor or department representative who has direct knowledge of the employee. This discussion should include a review of recent performance appraisals and, if applicable, recent disciplinary notices.
  • The hiring unit should work with the unit currently employing an internal ASU candidate for another position to develop a transition plan that reasonably accommodates any concerns expressed by the ASU unit currently employing the candidate.
  • Hiring leaders should refrain from making salary offers that would inflate a current employee’s salary without a corresponding change in job responsibilities or as otherwise justified by the quality of the performance of the employee’s job responsibilities.

Lateral moves, such as moving from one unit to another in the same job classification, will be made without any salary adjustment. A unit cannot veto hiring a current employee by another unit if such hiring would render the unit currently employing the individual unable to fulfill its mission. A sufficient transition plan must be developed or, in rare cases, a decision made not to proceed with the hire in the university’s best interests. 

Contact Dan Klug for assistance with analyzing job scopes or responsibilities.