Recruitment and onboarding

Objective

The policy describes the recruitment process at DTU. The policy applies to all terms of employment at DTU.

General

DTU’s policy is to recruit dedicated, performance-oriented and proactive staff – including international employees – with the relevant professional and personal qualifications, who live up to DTU's values.

Highly qualified and motivated employees are success criteria for achieving DTU’s objectives, for efficient and professional performance and the advancement of DTU.

Internal recruitment

Internal recruitment and mobility is one way of developing and motivating talented staff. Accordingly, DTU supports a policy that

• makes it possible and attractive to move between organizational entities and/or between jobs, if the right qualifications are there, and the need exists.
• ensures a process for managing this mobility in a way that is transparent and responsible, and that takes all parties involved into consideration.

Non-discrimination

DTU has no reservations concerning gender, age, ethnic background or religion and focuses on non-discrimination of all applicants.

Successful recruitment

Success criteria for recruitment are that 

• DTU’s values and culture are clear to the applicant
• the candidate has been given the clearest possible picture of both the job and DTU as a workplace
• DTU and the applicant’s expectations and needs match
• close cooperation between the department/unit and the Office of HR is maintained throughout the process.

Professional recruitment

Applicants and senior officers are to perceive DTU’s recruitment process as professional. DTU’s goal is to complete the recruitment as rapidly as possible while ensuring high quality throughout the process. Candidates whose applications are rejected must feel so well treated that they wish to apply for jobs at DTU in the future.

The hallmark of professional recruitment is that the applicant receives a rapid response to an application, including an invitation to an interview, if applicable, and that the subsequent recruitment interview is perceived to be constructive and positive. The rapid processing of the employment contract also contributes to the overall impression that the recruitment process is conducted professionally.

Entry into force

The policy for recruitment was approved by the Executive Board and discussed by the Cooperation and Joint Consultation Committee (HSU) in March 2017.

The policy becomes effective from the time it is published on DTU Inside.

Amendments

The policy may be amended at three months' notice following review by the Cooperation and Joint Consultation Committee. Amendments are communicated via DTU Inside.

Objective 

This guideline describes how the recruitment process at DTU should progress.

The process described applies to all positions at DTU except professorships.

Prior to recruitment

When a decision has been made to recruit a new employee or refill a vacant position, a job description should be compiled.

A job description contains considerations concerning

• The location of the position, immediate superior and work colleagues
• The unit’s strategic goals
• The results to be achieved
• Main work tasks
• Professional and personal competencies required for the position
• Employment conditions, salary and working hours
• The workplace culture and values

Recruitment process

An online recruitment tool is used to ensure that the recruitment process is visible and homogenous.

The Office of HR ensures that vacant jobs are published via DTU’s online recruitment system. The Office of HR also deals with all advertisements for positions in professional journals and newspapers. Applications are received through DTU’s online recruitment system and are dealt with by the department or the Office of HR, depending on the position. Applications received by e-mail or post are to be entered into the system. Communication with candidates during recruitment takes place primarily via the online recruitment system.

A standard rejection is sent via the online recruitment ­system to all external applicants who have not attended an interview. As far as possible, applicants who have attended an interview must be informed of rejection by telephone before a written rejection is sent.

Process for internal recruitment 

If an internal candidate applies for a position advertised by another department, this applicant will go through the same recruitment process on an equal basis with other applicants.

This means that internal candidates will:

• apply for the position in line with the requirements stated in the advertisement
• be assessed based on their qualifications stated in the job advertisement
• receive a personal rejection if they do not proceed further in the process
• be invited to an interview if they have the right qualifications for the job.

The entire process is treated with confidentiality in relation to the candidate’s current management until an employment agreement is prepared.
If, after a final interview, both the internal candidate and the new department wish to proceed with employment of the candidate, the following is to take place:

• The Head of Department where the candidate is employed is notified by the Head of Department wishing to employ the person
• Agreement is reached concerning how the transition to the new position is to take place based on a joint wish to ensure the best possible solution for all parties

Recruitment Committee

An advisory Recruitment Committee should be set up. Members of this Committee are to have precise definitions of their roles and objectives. An interview guide (link) has been prepared to facilitate the process in the Committee.

Testing candidates

Candidates may be tested. HR Recruitment is certified to carry out various tests related to recruitment, especially for senior officers. The test is mainly used for second interviews as the basis for discussing personal competencies, behavior and needs. These tests fulfill the ethical standards elaborated by the Danish Psychological Association.

VIP appointments

Special rules apply to the employment of VIPs, as stated in the Ministerial Order Regarding the Appointment of Lecturers and Academic Staff at Universities, and DTU has also local practices for recruiting VIPs.

Overview of the overall process for VIP recruitments.

Pay determination

Pay is determined in accordance with the current collective agreements and DTU’s pay policy.

Employment contract

When the pay has been determined, and all the necessary information for drawing up the employment contract has been sent from the department/unit to the Office of HR, the employment contract will be forwarded to the prospective employee and the shop steward.

Entry into force

The guideline on the policy for recruitment is approved by the Executive Board and was discussed by the Cooperation and Joint Consultation Committee (HSU) in March 2017.

The guideline becomes effective from the time it is published on DTU Inside.

Amendments

The guidelines/policy may be amended at three months' notice following review by the Cooperation and Joint Consultation Committee. Amendments are communicated via DTU Inside.

Professors at DTU constitute a special personnel category, and as such a decision has been made to create a separate sub-policy summarising DTU’s attitudes to this position. The associated employment process, etc. will be described in an attached guideline.

The post of professor is a top academic position at a university. At DTU, we want our professors to be and act as ‘professional stars’, authorities capable of representing the university’s expertise at the highest possible level within their respective areas of competence, both inwardly and outwardly. Professors should be outwardly visible as leading, professional resource persons, and inwardly as role models and carriers of DTU’s university culture.

The post of professor is a management position at DTU. In addition to managing research, professors must assume managerial responsibility in a variety of other areas: guidance, teaching, professional assessments and editorial responsibilities, responsibility for conferences and scientific meetings, managerial responsibilities within respective fields of expertise, development, personnel, etc.Professor posts are established within fields, which DTU deem are of particular value for the professional profile that DTU has – or wishes to develop – as a world-class technical university. There are no predetermined limits to the number of possible professor posts. The high qualification requirements, however, are absolutely non-negotiable.

Performance expectations

• DTU’s professors are expected – not least through their research – to maintain a high professional level at all times throughout their professorial career. A failure to do so may, in the worst case, lead to their dismissal
• DTU professors are expected to get involved in teaching/working with students to ensure they receive a good education at a high professional level. It is a distinct feature of DTU professors that they are always prepared to meet with students.
• DTU professors are expected to be loyal to their colleagues, their institute and their university – not to the extent that DTU wants or expects professional agreement or even agreement at all, but such that an academic argument or other dispute results in a professional debate or other exchange of opinion that commands respect for DTU as an academic institution.

Changes to employment

There is no tenure at DTU, meaning that professors – like any other employees – may be laid off in accordance with applicable rules and regulations and standard practice.

It is essential to recognise, however, that as a personnel group professors play a very special role within the university system, subject to a level of visibility and a performance pressure that must be counterbalanced by a reasonable sense of job security.

This means that gross or long-term underperformance, including in the areas of management or collaboration, may lead to dismissal. If a professor, on the other hand, lives up to the requirements and expectations that may reasonably be placed upon the individual within his/her field of expertise, then a shift in strategy at an institute may not, in itself, lead to his/her dismissal on the basis of an academic area becoming superfluous. In such cases, a change in professional direction for the professor in question must be considered. The same applies in the event grants or funding runs out.

Transition to pension/emeritus status

DTU believes it is of paramount importance for the university to maintain a staff of professors that is capable of maintaining and furthering its position as a leading first-class teaching establishment. This means that DTU is required to implement ongoing and timely generational changes in order to ensure that vital research areas are not lost or set back unnecessarily when leading professors are pensioned or granted emeritus status.

Every generational change must balance DTU's need for strong research leadership with the respect due to professors nearing pension age following a long and productive career at the university.

Please refer to DTU’s sub-policy for seniors which sets out the establishment of emeritus status.

Commencement

The sub-policy on professors was approved by the Executive Board and discussed by the Cooperation and Joint Consultation Committee (HSU) in March 2017.

The policy becomes effective from the time it is published on DTU Inside.

This guideline should be read in conjunction with the sub-policy for Professors.

Employment process

The employment of a professor is initiated by the Institute Director with the submission of a special form to the Executive Board – in practical terms to the member of the Executive Board responsible for matters pertaining to professors.

Before a professor post is advertised, the Institute Director, together with the institute's HR Partner, must have assessed the possibility of recruiting a professor at a sufficiently high DTU level, both internationally and nationally, including whether there are any potential internal candidates for the post. In terms of staff policy it is important to ensure that internal candidates are not ignored, but candidates must be actively recruited internationally. 

See description of the appointment of a review committee, assessment by the Academic Council and the subsequent procedure

The review committee usually consists of three members: an internal chairperson, i.e. a DTU professor, and two external expert assessors at the professor level of which at least one, or both if possible, must be employed abroad. The review committee must assess the professional level of applicants on the basis of a high international standard that corresponds to technical universities or similar academic institutions that DTU wants to be compared with.

The committee has a relatively free hand when it comes to phrasing its conclusion, but it must primarily conclude whether a particular applicant is qualified or not qualified for the available post of professor. The committee is not required to rank qualified candidates if several apply.

Professor interview

The President will decide which of the qualified applicants are to be invited to a professor interview. In addition to the President, a professor interview panel includes: the Head of Department, the chairperson of the review committee and a member of the Executive Board, typically the individual in charge of matters relating to professors. It is also possible for others to sit in on the interview panel, e.g. a research manager, a future professor colleague from the institute or the institute's HR Partner.

Once the professor interview or interviews have been completed, the members of the interview panel (not including the applicant or applicants) will discuss any other matters of relevance to the appointment of an individual to the professor post in question. Subsequently, the President decides which candidate, if any, is to be appointed to the post of professor. In some cases, more than one applicant may be appointed on the basis of the same job advert.

The expectations placed on professors by DTU are outlined to applicants during the professor interview.

Professor posts

The post of professor is a permanent faculty post, with an associated obligation to teach of up to 50%. The professor post is in pay bracket 37 or pay bracket 38. Pay bracket 37 posts are graded in terms of salary into professor 1, professor 2 and professor 3, while pay bracket 38 posts are graded in terms of salary into professor A and professor B.

Commencement

The guideline on professors is approved by the Executive Board and discussed by the Cooperation and Joint Consultation Committee (HSU) in March 2017.

The guideline becomes effective from the time it is published on DTU Inside.

Objective

This policy is to ensure that all new employees feel part of the university as soon as possible.

Attitudes in the policy

DTU expects senior officers and employees to pay special attention to new colleagues and to help new employees become familiar with the structure of the university’s organization, the HR policy, culture, and formal and informal rules as soon as possible.

Senior officers are also to introduce new employees to what DTU expects of them.

DTU Culture Day

Participation in the introduction day ´DTU Culture Day´ is mandatory for all new employees. 

In addition to the general introduction to DTU, the employee’s department or office is to compile an induction program for the new employee that will quickly provide the new employee with knowledge of the local culture and an introduction to the department’s/office’s work areas.

Entry into force

The policy for induction was approved by the Executive Board and discussed by the Cooperation and Joint Consultation Committee (HSU) in March 2017.

The policy becomes effective from the time it is published on DTU Inside.

Amendments

The policy may be amended at three months' notice following review by the Cooperation and Joint Consultation Committee. Amendments are communicated via DTU Inside.

Objective

This guideline describes how an introduction/induction process for new employees should proceed.

Introduction of new employees

A program for a mandatory introduction day `DTU Culture Day´ is sent out to all new employees with the letter of employment.

DTU Culture Day includes a welcome by the Rector, an introduction to DTU, help with navigating the organization, and the opportunity to network across departments and offices.

Introduction to the department/unit

Local units also “tailor” local induction plans.

The immediate superior ensures that an induction program is devised for the new employee, with a duration and contents that depend on the job content. A recommended process is available as a checklist for the induction plan.

New employees must be introduced as fast as possible to the relevant work tasks, be involved in cooperation and feel one of the team. New employees are to become familiar with DTU’s culture, security measures, HR policy and DTU Inside, etc.

Within the first three months, the induction process is to be evaluated by the immediate superior and the new employee. DTU recommends using our template for the trial period interview. The evaluation session on the induction process is to end with a definition of the most important work tasks, targets involved and resources available for the period until the first performance review in the new job (MUS).

Entry into force

The guideline on the policy for induction was approved by the Executive Board and discussed by the Cooperation and Joint Consultation Committee (HSU) in March 2017.

The guideline becomes effective from the time it is published on DTU Inside.

Amendments

The guidelines maybe amended at three months' notice following review by the Cooperation and Joint Consultation Committee. Amendments are communicated via DTU Inside.