Office of the VP for Student Life
Resources for hiring professional staff at the UW
This toolkit was created in an effort to enhance the ability of departments to recruit, hire, and onboard new professional staff.
Below is a collection of general guidance, tips and tricks, best practices, timelines, and templates designed to help UW teams and hiring managers effectively hire for professional staff positions.
HELPFUL RESOURCES
In addition to the tools and information on this page, here are some general resources from around the University that may help in your hiring efforts:
- Hiring Professional Staff (UW Human Resources)
- Inclusive Hiring at UW (UW Human Resources)
- UW Staff Diversity Hiring Toolkit (UW Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity)
- Working at UW Student Life
- Addressing Unconscious Bias in the Workplace
Hiring process
The hiring process can take a few months from start to finish. Below is an overview of each step of the process.
Building a job description
Public-facing job descriptions can and should look much different than the Professional Staff Position Description form that the UW Compensation office requires. They should be shorter, include active language, and serve as more of an advertisement for the general scope of the position rather than an all-encompassing task list.
Application/resume review process and tips
Having a sound and documented methodology for reviewing candidates is crucial. Below are some tips and guidance, as well as some sample scoring rubrics.
Communicating with candidates
Below are email templates for communicating with candidates at each step of the process. These are intended to offer guidance and sample language while leaving room for flexibility so that they can be adapted to fit the hiring managers’ style of communication.
Interview process and scheduling
There are many key considerations to keep in mind as you design the timeline and components of your interview process.