It’s one of the most important positions at the University.
Its occupants have their own day, they put in long hours and without them, most offices would fall apart at the seams.
So when an administrative assistant position becomes available, managers want good candidates as soon as possible, to hold things together and keep everyone in their office happy.
To help ease — and quicken — the transition period between one administrative assistant leaving and another one coming in, the Office of Human Resources has implemented an “administrative pool.”
The idea is to quickly supply hiring managers with talented candidates that are a great match in skills and work behaviors for their particular administrative opening. The goal is to have administrative candidates who have been pre-assessed and ready to be referred to hiring managers as administrative/clerical type positions open.
“We decided that this was an area of opportunity, to be a little ahead of the curve, by anticipating the hiring managers’ needs and being able to quickly refer quality candidates,” said Rick Jouett, director of employment and career development in human resources.
“The sourcing of skilled and experienced administrative candidates in the St. Louis region is very competitive. By creating this ‘administrative pool,’ we are cutting the recruitment time significantly. Many times, our recruiters are able to refer several candidates within 24 hours.
“Our hiring managers and the hires from the ‘pool’ are very satisfied.”
The candidates for the administrative pool are typically selected from résumés received by the recruitment specialists that handle Hilltop Campus administrative positions. The selected candidates are contacted to visit the employment office for an informational interview, to take computer software testing and basic skills testing in the areas of math, vocabulary, editing and proofing.
In addition to assessing skills, the recruitment specialist assesses job behaviors the hiring manager considers to be critical for success in a particular position. Candidates selected to be in the pool must meet certain requirements, such as an administrative support background and be well-proficient in computer software packages.
Also, since hiring managers are particularly interested in candidates with prior university administrative or clerical experience, there is some emphasis on searching for candidates with this experience.
Late last fall, the employment office began contacting and assessing candidates who were interested in University administrative positions. Since the administrative pool began, there have been 20 hires from it.
“The administrative pool on the Hilltop Campus was a great resource to my department when we recently had to fill an administrative position,” said Lisa Underwood, manager of parking and transportation services. “The pool allowed the employment office to quickly provide us with an outstanding group of candidates.
“It actually made the selection process more difficult. We were provided with such great applicants, it was hard to choose.”
All administrative positions are posted for a minimum of five business days, and résumés of internal and external candidates applying for the open positions are reviewed. Internal and external candidates who are the best matches to the position descriptions are recommended to managers according to their skills, experience and behavioral fit, in addition to the pool candidates.
“I found the administrative assistant pool process used by human resources to be very beneficial to me as I pursued a career at Washington University,” said Linda Kilwin, M.B.A. admissions coordinator in the Olin School of Business. “The whole application process was very simple. The human resources staff made sure everything ran smoothly.
“When I began the process, I was told that my application, résumé and test scores would be placed in the administrative pool. Because of this placement, various University departments contacted me to discuss possible employment. I chose my current position because I felt it was the ‘perfect fit’ for me.
“The success of this process depends on all involved: the hiring manager, the HR representative and the candidate. Communicating the needs of everyone involved is crucial to finding the perfect fit. The final outcome we all strive for is a successful career for the employee and a productive employee for the University.”