SOP: Recruitment

[Bob]

To get all the confusion out of the applications process, here is a dummy's guide:
 
Step 1a:
Applicant use the web form to apply and the application automatically gets posted into the Applicants topic. Members have up to 4 days to comment.
 
Step 1b:
Once the application is 4 days old it should be moved to the 'Work in progress' forum (in the root, we don't use the different rank sub-sections for now) in the War Room Recruitment section (remember to add a post to the thread, so it gets marked as unread).
 
Step 2:
The Officers add their thoughts and discuss the application. Preferably it shouldn't take more than 3 days (making it a total of a week processing time for an application) to reach a decision.
The final decision should be confirmed with a post in the  applicant's thread, so that there is no doubt what was the outcome of the discussion.
 
Step 3a:
Applicant is accepted, topic title is suffixed with: ACCEPTED
The thread should remain in the Work In Progress forum until the applicant has successfully passed his/hers initiation period.
The following PM is sent to the applicant:
 

I am pleased to inform you that following a meeting of the Officers of the Silver Oak Guardians your application to join our Guild has been successful.
 
Please would you whisper any SOG Officer for an invite to the Guild as soon as possible.

As soon as you get access to the SOG Member's section at the forum, you should look around a bit, and also post a thread to say hi and introduce yourself.
 
We look forward to see you in-game.
 
The Officers
Silver Oak Guardians

Step 3b:
Applicant is put on hold or declined, the topic title is suffixed with: HOLD/DECLINED
The application is moved to the appropriate class topic (for Hold) or Class Trash Can (for declined)
The applicant is sent a PM with one of the following texts:
 

I am sorry to have to inform you that following a meeting of the Officers of the Silver Oak Guardians your application to join our Guild has not been successful. Thank you for your interest in SOG.
 
Quest well.
 
The Officers
Silver Oak Guardians

I am sorry to have to inform you that following a meeting of the Officers of the Silver Oak Guardians your application to join our Guild has not been successful. However your application was of interest and will be saved for consideration when a slot opens. Thank you for your interest in SOG.
 
Quest well.
 
The Officers
Silver Oak Guardians

Step 4:
When an accepted member is invited, the Officer who invited should add a post to the thread stating this. The thread title should be suffixed with INITIATE, and remain in the WIP forum during the initiation period.
Also remember to add the date to the Officers' note in-game. Their application thread should than be moved from the WIP folder to the Class Accepted folder.
 
Step 5:
Request forum access for invited member when a account is given through the [thread=19754]Request Forum Access[/thread] thread.

Step 6:
When a members initiation period has ended (about a month) and there has been no complaints or negative incidents with the member, he/she should be promoted to full member. Make a post about it, remove the INITIATE suffix from the thread title and move the thread to the Class Accepted folder.
 
Step 7:
If a member decides to move on from SOG, please request forum access to be removed in the [thread=19754]Request Forum Access[/thread] thread.

[Bob]

It's basically a shortened version of the old SOP thread, made some minor changes here and there. If anyone has any comments or suggestions it would be nice to get 'em here asap, so we could refine the guide so that is as good as possible.

Only thing about the previous version I wondered a bit about: it was said that the PMs that were to be sent to the applicant should be sent by in-game mail. I removed in-game here. Reason for this is firstly that it's easier for the Officer doing the job, as he/she is already on the forum, moving the application etc., but secondly it also "forces" the applicant back to our forums, which I believe is a good thing (at least for those that are accepted).
If there weren't any special reasons why it was done in-game before, I'll just leave it as it is.

[Bastet]

Mainly that was done to avoid ppl that applied and never came back to forums to stop pestering the officers, since it becomes quite tedious to talk to 2-3-4 dozen ppl that want an awnser on thier application. Yes, we had that many open at our biggest point, and more so if they dont read it stacks up quick.

[Bob]

Made some changes to the original post to show that an accepted application should also be suffixed with INITIATE and remain in the WIP forum during the members initiation period - as discussed in [thread=20683]this thread[/thread].

All could just re-read the OP as well - guess it doesn't hurt anyone of us to refresh the standard operation procedure :flirty: