Case Study – How one University standardised interview panel practices across multiple campuses

Client Overview

Our client is a leading university with over 2,500 staff and 25,000 students based across multi-campus locations. It has an extremely active hiring programme and interviews over 2,000 candidates each year.

The Challenge

The university had recently been created via a merger of existing third level institutions. Different parts of the newly formed university had legacy practices for interviewing and evaluating candidates which had developed over many years. The senior management of the newly formed university wanted to standardise the process to reflect best practice and ensure the new university would continue to attract, secure and retain great people using fair and robust processes.

Senior staff members now needed to engage in effective and impactful training on best practice in interviewing and assessing candidates for the newly formed university

The Solution

We delivered a series of experiential, 3.5 hour virtual Interview Panel Training Workshops in small groups. Each session used live job descriptions from the university’s recent hiring competitions and included breakout group activities, collaborative discussions and practical exercises to reinforce the learning.
Throughout the session the participants examined and discussed candidate assessment criteria and scoring rubrics, created effective and probing interview questions and engaged in lively discussions about tackling unconscious bias and ensuring compliance with equality, diversity, and recruitment legislation. Participants received templates, sample scoring rubrics and a curated question bank that has since supported numerous subsequent interview processes across the university.

The Outcome

This workshop series successfully brought alignment and clarity to interview practices across the university. Over 150 senior staff members participated in the training, with 96% reporting increased confidence in their roles as interview panel members.
Post-training surveys showed that 99% of participants would recommend the training to colleagues with the practical tools and peer discussion identified as standout elements. The curated question bank and assessment templates continue to be used across the university, helping to embed the training into everyday recruitment practices.

Participant Feedback

“Great learning from my colleagues as well as from the presenters. Great to have bespoke training with reference to our typical jobs/procedures. Much more useful than general interview training. This workshop was among the most professional, engaging, relevant and focused workshops I have attended. Thank you!”