Using Box to Collect and Assess Job Applications

An increasing number of departments are using the Box "upload by email" option as an effective way to conduct job searches. Apart from making it easy to collect applications, committee members can assess and even “vote” on applications remotely, saving face-to-face meetings for reaching consensus on applications where none exists yet.

For general help on Box see the “Need Help” link at box.umbc.edu, but here are some basic steps DoIT recommends for using Box on a search committee:

1. Create an "Applications" or "Applicants" folder, anywhere in Box where you’d like to receive applications.  Maybe add "Qualified" and "Unqualified" subfolders, too, for sorting the received files.

2. Give your committee access to the folder(s) you just created.

3. Find the “upload by email” address function for the "Applications" folder, located under "email options." Note: By default, this address is is NOT enabled for “collaborators only.” This is good, because you want applicants to be able to use the “upload by email” address, too.

4. Include the “upload by email” address in your formal job posting for how interested parties should apply.

5. Ideally, ask applicants to submit their materials as a single .pdf file to the “upload by email” address for your Box folder. Why? A single file is preferable so the search committee doesn’t have to hunt and gather multiple files per applicant (e.g., cover letter, resume, references, etc.).

6. Once you’re ready to begin the review of applications, ask your committee members to add a “Yes, No or Maybe” comment to each applicant’s file in Box before the committee’s first face-to-face meeting. This way, you can spend your time trying to reach consensus on applicants where there clearly is no conensus.

There's really only one intervention that DoIT recommends for step #3 above: create an easy to remember email alias (such as "yourdepartmentjobsearch@umbc.edu") to replace the machine generated, difficult-to-remember email address that is created by default. To do so, submit an RT ticket requesting creation of the alias for your submissions. Your RT request might look like this:

If you're still not sure about the "upload by email" function in Box, here's an FAQ (with images) that illustrates this process:

https://wiki.umbc.edu/x/0QAxAg

Finally, here's a quick video created for a DoIT search committee on how they could "vote" on applications by adding a simple "Yes, No or Maybe" comment to each file in the Box folder:

http://screencast.com/t/0QaHoMSC