Employment Process

Personnel Requisition Authorizations (PRA) are entered into an electronic Forms Tracking System by requesting departments. Once a PRA is entered into the system, approval is obtained from the Director of Human Resources, the Chief of Budget and Management Research, and the Director of Administration. After the hard copy of the PRA is received by the Department of Human Resources (DHR), a Position Vacancy Announcement is prepared for advertising.

Position vacancies are posted on Wednesday of each week. External ads are placed in the Aegis, and the Baltimore Sun's Sunday Paper, if applicable. A vacancy advertised only in the Aegis is posted for ten working days; a vacancy advertised in the Sunday sun is posted for thirteen working days.

DHR's Employment Technician contacts the selected applicant to schedule a pre-employment physical and drug screening. Reference checks, pre-employment verifications, and a driver's license check, if applicable, are completed. An offer of employment is contingent upon the results of all required information.

If results are found acceptable, a tentative start date is determined and a confirmation letter is mailed to the new employee, indicating his/her start date.

After the closing date for vacancies, rating sheets are prepared by DHR. The Application Rating Committee rates applications qualified/not qualified based on the minimum requirements posted for positions.

For the pool of qualified applications, the department representative serving on the rating  committee selects those individuals who will be granted an interview. This process occurs usually within 2-3 weeks of closing at which time applicants who are not qualified or who are found qualified and not selected for interview are advised. Interviews are scheduled and conducted by the department requesting the position.

Once interviews have been conducted, the requesting department completes and forwards to the DHR an Interview Report Form listing those candidates interviewed and the candidate recommended for hire. A Personnel Action Authorization (PAA) Form to process the individual to fill the position is also forwarded to DHR. The Manager of Classification and Employment Services, and the Director of Human Resources review and sign-off on the Interview Report Form.

Email Questions or Comments to dhr@harfordcountymd.gov