Process Summary
Illinois is a great place to work. There is a wide range of expertise needed across the campus each year. Academic professional positions offer access to all of the benefits—formal and informal—of a major university community and competition for them can be intense. Keep reading to get an overview of the process you’ll go through if you decide you want to be part of the Illinois experience.
While most hiring of academic professionals is conducted by individual colleges or units according to their own practices and policies, there are some common aspects to what you will find in the process.
- Academic professionals are generally salaried (exempt from overtime rules) employees whose positions meet specialized administrative, professional, or technical needs.
- They perform high-level duties, and frequently they have specialized responsibilities in academic, research, or administrative areas.
- All APs must have at least a bachelor's degree in a field required by the position (it is not uncommon for positions to require an advanced degree as well).
- Open positions will be advertised publicly and open to any qualified applicant. The locations and length of these advertising periods will vary by unit, but academic professional positions must be listed on the Jobs at Illinois database
- Generally, a position must be open for applications for at least two weeks. There are very rare exceptions where positions can be filled more quickly and without open searches, but these must be approved by the Provost and require significant special justification.
- Every position will have an official title. You can view a campus-wide list of commonly-used titles and their responsibilities.
- The position listing will always include the position title, position duties, application requirements and a point of contact.
- Posting of a salary level is not required and is at the discretion of the hiring unit. You should, however, feel free to contact the hiring unit directly and ask for this information.
- At the very least, you will be required to submit a specific cover letter and resume for any open position. You may also be required to submit work samples or provide other demonstrations of your expertise (such as a presentation).
- You will be asked to submit professional references at some point in the process. Some or all of these individuals will be contacted before a final hiring decision is made.
- Phone and in-person interviews by individuals or by committees will be required. Often units will conduct multiple rounds of interviews before determining a final candidate.
- There is no specified timeline for making hiring decisions. Some units may respond immediately, others may take several weeks to reach a final decision.
- If chosen, you will receive written offer letter detailing your title, your appointment period, your starting date and your initial salary. Your hiring is not official until you have received this written offer, regardless of any conversations or verbal offers you may receive.
- APs receive a contract for a specified appointment period, often with renewal possibilities for subsequent periods.
- Upon applying for any position, you will be asked to submit a short informational form to the campus Office of Equal Opportunity and Access. This information and submission is independent of the open position and is not used in any way in making hiring decisions. This data is used to compile University-wide statistics on hiring practices and trends and is also used to satisfy some state and federal reporting rules.
- Positions with an annual salary of less than $90,000 generally can be hired with the approval of the unit administrator. Positions paying above this level will require approval by the provost and by the board of trustees.
Learn more about AP hiring practices and policies
Office of Equal Opportunity and Access
Jobs at Illinois Employment Web Site
University Human Resources overview of AP Hiring
AP titles and associated responsibilities
Checklists for search and hire processes
Provost Policy Document on Academic Appointments