Posting Internal Job Openings

Purpose of Process:

Posting open positions internally is an integral part of a company's career advancement program. Career advancement is a key element in retaining valuable employees. If employees perceive that they have a fair and equal opportunity to fill openings that require greater skill, effort, responsibility, and/or career challenge, not only will they tend to remain at the company, they will also be more motivated.

Recommended Steps in the Process:

  1. The hiring manager obtains approval to open a new position.

  2. The hiring manager writes a brief description of the job opening on a job opening form (which will become the posted document), or refers to an existing job description. Consider publishing the salary range of the position on the internal posting.

  3. The description of the open position is communicated to all employees (along with instructions on how to apply for a position) in one or more of the following places:
    • The company newsletter
    • A bulletin board(s) dedicated to new job openings
    • On the HR Portal (Intranet) (see process tips).
    • Company news stands

  4. Require candidates to complete an internal position application form.

  5. Allow all eligible applicants to be interviewed. Even marginally qualified applicants can benefit from the interview by receiving input from the hiring manager on skills or experience they need, in order to be better qualified for a future opening.

  6. Determine when the internal applicant must inform their current manager of their interest in applying for another position. Typically notification is required before the interview. (See the sample Internal Transfer Policy.)

  7. Select the best qualified candidate who reasonably meets the requirements of the position. With every position filled by an internal candidate, the company sends the message that it supports its employees' career advancement. Therefore, consider selecting the most qualified internal candidate, even if he/she does not meet all the desired qualifications.

  8. If there are no suitable internal candidates, look externally for candidates (see the recruiting strategy development process). To allow time for internal candidates to apply, do not extend an offer to an external candidate within the first five working days of posting the job opening.

  9. Extend the offer to the best candidate. (Refer the offer process for information on extending offers to external candidates, and refer to the Internal Transfer policy for extending offers to internal candidates.)

  10. Have the hiring manager personally notify all interviewed candidates (especially internal candidates) to thank them for their application and informing them that another candidate was selected (whose qualifications more closely matched those required for the job).

  11. Update all internal position posting media.

Process Tips:

Posting open positions on the HR Portal (Intranet) has several advantages over traditional job posting (e.g. bulletin boards):

  • It provides better access to employees
  • Employees can review the job openings privately
  • Maintaining the job openings list is administratively easier.

Contact Auxillium West to help you create or enhance your HR Portal (Intranet).

It's worth repeating: With every position filled by an internal candidate, the company sends the message that it supports its employees' career advancement.

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