FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Applicant Diversity Survey
1. What is the Applicant Diversity Survey?
The University of Toronto is committed to the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion, and their fundamental relationship to excellence. We collect applicant diversity data to help inform, evaluate and diversify our employee recruitment and talent management strategies. These efforts add to our ongoing work to build an equitable and inclusive community where all members flourish, and to advance employment equity across our three campuses.
The Applicant Diversity Survey includes questions pertaining to the four designated groups as specified in Canada’s Employment Equity Act (i.e. women, aboriginal people, persons with disabilities, and members of visible minorities). It also queries additional information that helps to advance equity, diversity and inclusion work at U of T, such as ethnocultural identities, gender identity, visible and invisible disabilities, and sexual orientation.
You may choose to decline to answer any of the questions in the survey. Any information directly related to you is confidential and cannot be accessed by search committees or human resources representatives administering the recruitment process. Response data will be aggregated for institutional planning purposes.
Faculty Positions
If you are having difficulty submitting an application from your country or region, please contact the hiring unit noted in the job posting you wish to apply to.
2. What do I need to provide when applying for a faculty position?
Before applying for a faculty position, you will need the following information for your application:
- Your current contact details, including email address and telephone number
- The date of your highest degree and the name of the degree-granting institution
- A cover letter and curriculum vitae (CV) as either a PDF or MS Word Doc
- Other attachments as requested in the job posting (see below)
- The names and contact information for at least three references (see below)
3. How do I attach materials to my application?
- Your CV and cover letter should be uploaded into the dedicated fields
- Several documents can be combined into one attachment in the ‘additional application materials’ field
- There is a maximum file size of 10 MB per attachment
- Only send materials requested in the job posting
Academic Reference Letters
4. Are academic reference letters required at time of application?
Faculty job postings at U of T require that applicants ensure submission of reference letters at the time of application. This is normally done through the online recruitment system which will automatically solicit reference letters (see more on this below). You must complete and submit your application before your references will be contacted.
Please note that applicants remain responsible for ensuring that their references submit letters of reference by the application deadline (see below for the timelines). If you have individual concerns relating to the automatic solicitation and collection of your reference letters, please contact the hiring department directly at the email noted in the job posting.
5. How does the automatic academic reference letter solicitation and collection tool work?
During the application process for a faculty position, applicants are required to enter the details of at least three referees. U of T’s recruiting tool will automatically solicit and collect letters of reference from each referee identified in your online application.
6. When are the letters of reference requested?
The trigger to begin the process of automatically requesting a letter is the submission of your application. The email request for a letter will be sent to your referee the day after your application is submitted (within 24 hours). Please allow for this delay when submitting your application.
7. How are letters submitted by my referee?
The automated email request will provide instructions to the referees on how to submit their letters of reference. Following the instructions in the email, referees must respond to the email they received and attach the reference letter.
Please note that there is no link for referees to upload their letters to a platform or a system. Submission of a confidential letter of reference is done via email directly by the referee.
8. How will I know if my referee received a request to submit a letter of reference?
At the same time as the referee receives a request email, the applicant will receive an automated email notifying them that each reference letter request was successfully sent. Please factor in the delays noted above before inquiring about the request for letters.
9. I submitted my application on Friday night, will the tool wait until the next business day?
The system will send requests for letters over the weekend.
10. Will my referee receive a reminder to submit a letter of reference?
If the academic reference letter tool has not received a valid response from a referee after 10 days, a reminder email will be sent automatically to the referee. No further reminders will be sent. The applicant will also receive a notification that a reminder was sent to a referee.
11. How will I know if my referee successful submits a letter of reference?
After a referee successfully submits their reference letter via email, they will receive an automated acknowledgement of receipt email within 24 hours. The applicant will also receive a notification advising the letter was successfully received within 24 hours.
12. Can you provide an example of the approximate timelines?
The following is a sample timeline of the successful submission of reference letters:
- Nov 1 - Candidate submits application online at 1pm, Toronto time
- Nov 1 - Candidate receives an automated email that their application was submitted
- Nov 2 - Referees 1, 2 and 3 receive an email from ‘UofT Academic Reference System’ with a request to submit a letter of reference for the candidate
- Nov 2 – Candidate receives separate notifications that referees 1, 2 and 3 were contacted to submit a letter of reference
- Nov 3 – Referees 1 and 2 submit their confidential letter of reference by responding to the email request with their letter attached, following the instructions to ensure a successful submission
- Nov 4 - Referees 1 and 2 receive an automated acknowledgement of receipt email that their letter of reference was successfully submitted
- Nov 4 - Candidate receives two separate automated acknowledgements of receipt emails for referees 1 and 2
- Nov 11 – Referee 3 receives a reminder email that they were asked to submit a letter of reference for the candidate
- Nov 11 – Candidate also receives a notification that a reminder was sent to referee 3
- Nov 12 – Referee 3 submits their confidential letter of reference by responding to the email request, following the instructions
- Nov 13 – Referee 3 receives an automated acknowledgement of receipt email that their letter of reference was successfully submitted
- Nov 13 - Candidate receives an automated acknowledgement of receipt email for referee 3
13. Who do I contact if I have questions about the status of my letters of reference?
The job posting will contain an email address of the hiring department to contact. If you wish to reach out to the hiring department to confirm receipt of reference letters, please wait at least two days after receipt of the automated acknowledgement of receipt notification.
14. I received a “Reference Letter Request Failure” email, what to I do?
The tool received a response that it cannot process correctly. Please read the email message carefully, including the suggested solutions. Depending on the scenario, please reach out to the appropriate contact to resolve the issue.
Applicants remain responsible for ensuring that their references submit letters of reference by the application deadline noted in the ad.
Research Positions
15. Where do I look for research positions?
All research associate and senior research associate positions are posted on our Staff Opportunities job board.
If you have a research background in a particular field, or are interested in a specific project, you may wish to contact the appropriate department or lead investigator directly to inquire as to whether or not they are hiring and when the positions will be posted.
Confidentiality
16. Will my profile remain confidential?
Yes.
Your profile information will only be accessed by appropriate U of T HR professionals and hiring managers, and we have implemented procedures to ensure that your information remains secure and protected. A privacy statement, which explains how information will be collected and used, can be found before you register your profile.