The Annual Meetings Employment Center will provide employers and job candidates with interview facilities, a message service, current job listings, and candidate credentials for review.

Location and Hours of Operation

November 16–19, 2012
Grand Ballroom, South Building
McCormick Place Convention Center, Chicago, IL

Special Notice about Interview Space

The labor contract for the workers at two hotels we plan to use at our 2012 Annual Meetings (the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place and the Hyatt Regency Chicago) has lapsed. As negotiations for a new agreement with the Hyatt are in process, the hotel workers’ union, Unite Here, has urged a boycott of the Hyatt Regency hotels until a new contract is ratified.

The Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion respect the rights, dignity, and worth of all people, and we recognize that our members may choose which hotels they wish to use. At present we are continuing our arrangement with the Hyatt hotels — canceling the contract is financially prohibitive — but we have renegotiated and reduced our obligations to the Hyatt in response to the labor situation. In addition, we have scheduled most programs in the McCormick Convention Center. Our intent is to ensure that AAR and SBL members have alternatives to boycotted space.

These decisions may have an impact on activities related to the Employment Center — both for candidates and employers. Please take careful note of the following:

Location: The Employment Center will be located in the McCormick Center.

Interview Space: We had initially planned to use only the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place for private interview rooms. That plan has been modified. Employers will now have three options for interview rooms.

1. Private interview rooms will be available in the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place.
2. Private interview rooms will be available in the Hilton Chicago Hotel. Please note that these spaces will be in hotels at some distance from the McCormick Center, but will be along our shuttle route.
3. Interview space using the “pipe and drape” arrangement will be also available. While this space does not afford optimum privacy, employers may elect to use it because it will be conveniently located in the Employment Center.

Matters of Conscience: The SBL Council and the AAR Board of Directors formed a subcommittee to meet and discuss the implications of the boycott and our response to it. In regard to the Employment Center, the subcommittee was unanimous in its commitment to protect the rights of both employers and candidates to follow their conscience with respect to the boycott. Please note the following:

A candidate shall have the right to inform a potential employer that the candidate wishes to avoid a private interview in boycotted space. SBL and AAR stand ready to protect candidate’s rights and will offer them practical assistance in securing alternate interview spaces. We do not want a candidate’s conscience regarding the boycott to interfere in any manner with his or her opportunity to secure employment.

We urge employers to honor a candidate’s conscience with regard to the boycott. Though employers may elect to use private interview rooms in the Hyatt, we urge them to make alternative arrangements for candidates who feel strongly about the boycott. 

We realize that these plans may complicate matters for users of our Employment Center. We ask your forbearance as we seek to protect our programs from undue disruption. As always, it is the expressed policy of our organizations not to sanction interviews in private sleeping rooms.

Our hope is that the union and the Hyatt are able to ratify a new contract well in advance of our Annual Meetings. We will keep the SBL and AAR members informed of any new developments.

Candidate Services

All registered candidates receive:

• Annual Meetings edition of Employment Listings.
• Opportunity to submit a CV for employer review.
• Access to the Employment Center message system to send and receive confidential communication with registered employers.

All candidates have the option of submitting a CV to the Employment Center. The submission system opens August 15. Candidates who would like their CVs accessible at the Employment Center must be registered by October 24.

Organized by job classification, the online CVs are available to employers electronically beginning August 15, 2012, through February 15, 2013, and onsite at the Annual Meetings Employment Center.

Please click here for more information.

Candidate Fees

• Preregistration: $25
• Onsite registration: $50

Employer Services

All registered employers receive:

• Use of the Interview Hall and the ability to invite any Annual Meetings registrant to an interview.
• Placement of job advertisement in the Annual Meetings edition of Employment Listings, available onsite to all candidates.
• Icon next to online advertisement indicating that the position is registered for the Employment Center.
• Access to candidate credentials at the Employment Center and online August 15, 2012, through February 15, 2013.
• Access to the Employment Center message system to send and receive confidential communication with registered candidates.
• Ability to reserve a Private Interview Room for an additional fee.*

*Employers who register onsite will not be able to reserve Private Interview Rooms or Interview Hall space prior to arriving onsite.

Employer Fees

• First job: $275 ($325 onsite)
• Each additional job: $60 ($85 onsite)

Advertising a Job

In order to ensure the widest possible pool of candidates, all jobs registered with the Employment Center must be advertised for at least 30 days in the September, October, or November issue of the online Employment Listings. The fee for the advertisement is not included in the Employment Center registration fee. To place an ad, click here.

Registration

Employment Center registration for candidates is currently open through the Annual Meetings registration system. Registration for employers is now open as well. Employers can register their ad for the Employment Center through their Employment Listings account. Registration for both employers and candidates closes on October 24.

Questions?

http://www.aarweb.org/Programs/Career_Services/Employment_Center
Phone: 1-404-727-3059
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it