Tips for Applicants

The Hiring Committee Chair cannot choose who is and is not interviewed. The chair position is mostly in charge of communication and scheduling. With that said, I have seen some patterns in who does and who does not get called in for an interview. These tips are based on those patterns. 

It has come to my attention that HiCom emails OFTEN go to SPAM. Some people have told me that they never got the email inviting them to interview for a position. To prevent missing out on interviews and jobs, please add "hicom@bsc.coop" to your contacts so that emails do not go to SPAM. 

Tips for filling out the application:

Consider the reader. Interviewing candidates can be very time consuming. BSC staff and supervisors are often very busy. You have to give them a reason to want to interview you. Your application is this reason. Making sure your application is thorough and professional will help get you in the door. 

Apply for about 5 positions. If you apply for too many, supervisors and department heads will often dismiss the application. If you apply for only one, you're putting all your eggs in one basket. 

Take time to fill out your application. It is a very long application, but supervisors department heads look at different areas of the applications (specific questions) and they will ignore applications where those are not answered or filled out poorly. 

Take time to answer questions. Do not rank where you are asked to detail. I often hear people tell me that this gives them no information.  

Fill out all sections appropriate to your desired position.  Again, people are busy and will not take the time to interview someone if they are not given reason to. If important questions are left blank, the applications are often ignored. 

Be conscientious about spelling, grammar, and punctuation.  We do recognize that English is not the native tongue for many members. And we do hold space for grammatical and spelling errors that exist for this reason.  But some applications are clearly done carelessly. It can be difficult for me to get managers to pay attention to those. 

Fill out the availability schedule. And keep your availability in mind when choosing what to apply for. If a position requires daytime a certain time of day or number of hours and you don't have it, choose a position you have the availability for.  

Save the confirmation email. The confirmation email has the link to edit. This way you can edit the application as things change and not have to fill out a new one. 

If you do not get an automatic confirmation email, first make sure you submitted the application. Then search your SPAM box and other filtered mail.  More often than not, people find they did not submit the application. 

Tips for the interview:

Hiring is done by committee vote. So expect there to be multiple people at your interview. 

Please review the job description on the HiCom website before the interview.

Please try to schedule your interview at a time where you can be in a quiet space with good internet connection.