Recruitment and Progression

Conducting interviews 

Interviews and Assessments can take place remotely and/or in person. You should use the most appropriate medium for the activity you want to undertake with the candidate. Whichever method you use try to avoid having a “mixed approach”, e.g. in person interview with one panel member joining remotely, wherever possible.

In most cases we would recommend that you meet your preferred candidate in person before making an offer of employment and candidates will normally want to visit their potential new workplace before accepting an offer of employment.  

If you are meeting people face to face please ensure you follow our safety procedures and notify candidates of any requirements in advance of attending. 

When conducting interviews via Microsoft Teams or other video-conference tool please see our Video Interviewing guidance. Please note, these facilities are supported by ICT so please seek technical help from ICT if required.

Hire someone new:

Academic staff appointments

Information and guidance on the process for appointing an academic to the College.

Appoint an academic

Honorary and visiting associations

The College offers honorary and visiting associations to enhance scientific collaboration and research.

Find out more

Professional, teaching and research staff appointments

Information on how to hire a professional, teaching or research role to your team or department.

Get started

Temporary worker appointments

If you need to appoint someone on a temporary arrangement. Find out how.

Find out more

Templates & Help sheets

Job descriptions

Research Job Descriptions:

Learning Job Descriptions:

Teaching Job Descriptions:

Recruitment process

Help sheets

TalentLink guidance

The following guidance is aimed at Recruitment Administrators in Engineering and departments not covered by the Recruitment Hub.

More guidance to come.

For any Talentlink issues or queries, please contact support.jobs@imperial.ac.uk

Recruitment and selection principles

Recruitment and Selection Policy

Recruiting talented and diverse individuals is key to achieving the Imperial College London’s core mission as well as cultivating a supportive, diverse, and considerate community based on inclusivity, mutual respect and a commitment to excellence. The Recruitment and Selection Policy provides an overview of the College’s approach to recruitment and selection as well as the legal requirements involved. It should be read and implemented in conjunction with the appropriate procedure and process for a specific job family and contract type. 

Guidance, training and support

  • It is the responsibility of all Heads of Department to ensure that staff within their areas familiarise themselves with and follow this guidance.
  • All staff who are on recruitment panels are expected to have attended a recruitment and selection training course. People and Organisational Development offers a variety of options for both initial and refresher training - course content, dates and booking details are available on the Recruitment and Selection Training page.  Please note: that it is College policy that at least one member of the panel must have been trained in recruitment and selection.
  • It is also recommended that recruitment panel members attend unconscious bias training.
  • For examples of good practice in academic recruitment, please read Academic Recruitment at Imperial - case studies and toolkit
  • For advice and support on any aspect of this guidance or specific recruitment issues please email recruitmenthub@imperial.ac.uk.

Equality and diversity considerations

 The College is committed to:
  • ensuring equality of opportunity for all applicants in line with the Equality Act 2010, as such:
    • All job adverts will include the College’s equal opportunities strapline and awards.
    • All applicants will receive equal treatment regardless of their protected characteristics (age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation). Please note: that it is illegal to discriminate either directly or indirectly on the grounds of a protected characteristic.
  • seeking applications and candidates from the widest pool possible
  • recruiting and selecting individuals on the basis of their relevant merits, skills and competency
  • ensuring that panel members are as diverse as possible
  • ensuring that all candidates are treated with respect and creating a positive candidate experience irrespective of the outcome
  • monitoring recruitment (see further information under the Shortlisting section)

Immigration requirements

  • The College has a legal obligation, under the Immigration, Asylum & Nationality Act 2006, to ensure that all prospective employees and casual workers have the right to work in the UK before they commence employment.
  • The HR Immigration webpages on Recruiters' guidance and carrying out Right to Work checks outline the actions required.
  • Failure to comply with these requirements could result in a civil penalty for managers and HR staff who employ illegal migrant workers of up to £20,000 per illegal worker and for those who knowingly employ illegal migrant workers a maximum 2-year prison sentence and/or an unlimited fine.
  • All non-EEA nationals require permission to work and enter/remain in the UK (unless exempt) before they commence employment.
  • For further information please refer to the Employing Non EEA Nationals under the Points Based Immigration System section of the HR website.

Safer Recruitment

Imperial College is committed to safe recruitment, selection and vetting and has a statutory responsibility to ensure background checks are undertaken for all roles (employed or voluntary) that will work with children and young people under the age of 18 and to ensure the suitability of those working with vulnerable adults.

For further information please refer to the Safer Recruitment guidance.

Disclosure and Barring Service checks (Criminal records checks)

Where you are recruiting to a sensitive role, which is listed as  exempt under the Exception Order of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, for example:

  • work with children
  • work with vulnerable adults
  • healthcare professional appointments
  • health service appointments
  • chartered/certified accountants appointments
  • financial services appointments
  • work involving matters of national security

The Hiring Manager should discuss with HR whether or not the successful candidate will require a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check (to identify candidates who may be unsuitable for the work) before commencing the recruitment process.

Detailed information can be found on the DBS guidance page.

Confidentiality and data protection

  • All sensitive data, including recruitment documents, must be collected, processed and stored securely and confidentially in accordance with the Data Protection Act (DPA) 1998. Further information is available from the College’s Data Protection policy.
  • Any candidate's information must be treated confidentially and should not be circulated for consideration for other vacancies without the express consent of the candidate.

Other recruitment related policies

Information regarding other recruitment related policies and procedures can be accessed here:

When recruiting local staff overseas, you must follow the College’s normal recruitment processes to ensure fairness, transparency, and equality of opportunity. If you have any concerns, please raise these with your line manager in the first instance.

HR will place all vacancies (except those of 6 months duration or less) on the College’s Job Applicants' website for a minimum of 2 weeks.