Hiring Students for a Campus Department

Employee recruiting is the activity of identifying and soliciting individuals to fill job vacancies. By using Handshake, departments can create a job posting in minutes to tap into a network of registered UC Davis students, and get qualified candidates with the skills and experience you need.

Recruitment refers to the process of identifying, attracting, interviewing, selecting, hiring and onboarding employees. While the recruitment process is unique to each department, here are some essential steps of the hiring process.

Identify the hiring need and create a recruitment plan

An effective recruitment plan helps you focus on the most important elements of connecting with and hiring the applicant who best matches your needs. Hiring new talent for your team can be complex, so developing a plan for attracting and selecting candidates before you need to fill a position streamlines the process. A recruitment plan includes information to guide each step of the hiring process, from creating job descriptions to onboarding employees

Figure out how your department hires and posts jobs

Departments hire and post positions in various ways. Some use service channels (Shared Services Organization (SSO), Academic Unit Shared Services Center (AUSSC), Distributed Shared Services Center (DiSSC), and Health Service Channel) while others post directly in Handshake. Check with your department to see how they prefer to recruit and how the services channels fit in to the process. Student Employment can also work with you in the most effective capacity for your department.

Create a job description and posting in Handshake

Creating an effective job description will aid significantly in recruitment. This is sometimes done with the assistance of a service channel, and sometimes without. If you use a service channel, check with them as they may have descriptions that are both uniform and effective. If you do not use a service channel, tools that can help you craft an effective job description are our Policies and Procedures page and our Basic Guidelines for Career/Job Postings.

A job description outlines the responsibilities of the position and desired skills, experience, and abilities to complete a job effectively, but it also communicates the values of your organization. It is worthwhile and strategic to first evaluate how any position being recruited for can advance the equity goals of an organization and how such expectations and responsibilities can be integrated into the job description.

Review the applications and select the students to interview

A candidate review that is thoughtful and consistent will allow for an effective and successful candidate hire.

Use the minimum qualifications listed in the job description as a guide for screening applicants. It is important to maintain consistency to stay true to the priorities identified when the position was created. Attempting to vastly narrow the pool at this stage is unnecessary and can disadvantage candidates who might not appear as qualified at first glance. Consider the initial screening a 'first look' before moving to something a bit more thoughtful.

Once the initial screening is complete, carefully review each applicant in the context of what has been submitted: resume and cover letter. During the review, be mindful of biases that may be present. Beware of over-valuing applications that arrive early in the process, or simply giving them more attention. Wait until the deadline before reading any applications, and organize applications by some method other than order of arrival.

Conduct phone interviews/screenings and interviews

The main purpose of the interview is to determine if the student is capable of filling your employment needs. It also allows the student the opportunity to determine whether he or she feels qualified and comfortable with the position. During the interview, information can be gained that is not only vital to assigning the student to a particular position, but also instrumental in determining future training and supervisory needs.

Preliminary phone interviews allow departments to select only the most promising candidates for in-person interviews with the hiring manager and other members of the hiring team.

When scheduling students for their interviews, consider referring them to the ICC resources for interviewing. Students may benefit from familiarizing themselves with sample interview questions, which you can also use to get ideas for questions to ask.

Select the students to hire and offer them the job

Applicant Assessment: Depending on the role you are hiring for, you may want job applicants to perform applicable assessments. For example, if you are hiring for a cashiering position, you may have the candidate give change. Assessments aren't always necessary, but they test whether the candidate can perform the responsibilities of the role. The assessment can be performed before, during, or after the formal interview.

  • Decision: Use the knowledge you've gained about your job candidates throughout the hiring process to make a final decision about who to hire. Consult all parties who spoke with each candidate to make a more informed decision. Consider qualifications and cultural fit, but don't make decisions based on biases or discrimination.
  • Reference Check: A reference check is a valuable opportunity to learn about your candidate from the perspective of their previous manager or colleagues. By asking appropriate questions, a reference can build a picture of your candidate's previous professional performance. It is the only stage in the recruitment process which leverages the opinions of someone other than the candidate. This insight can help you gain a deeper understanding of who the candidate really is and how they applied or learned the skills they have. A good reference check seeks to capture insights about the candidate's reliability, communication, ability to collaborate and how they work as part of a team among other aspects, depending on the role. Having this information can be helpful for a manager to understand how this person will fit into their team and if they have what it takes to succeed in the role and manage the tasks that will be required of them.

Initiate the onboarding process

Once a student has been selected and they have accepted the position, the next step is onboarding. Onboarding is the process of entering new employees into the payroll system and successfully assimilating them into the workplace. Students will need to gather certain documents to be onboarded.

The service channel a department uses for onboarding is determined by their administrative/academic unit or college. Each service channel has a different process to initiate onboarding of a new employee. Follow the process specific to the service channel you use:

  • Shared Services Organization (SSO)
  • Academic Unit Shared Services Center (AUSSC)
  • Distributed Shared Services Center (DiSSC)
  • Health Service Channel

Schedule the student's first day

The service channel will notify the department once the student has completed the onboarding paperwork and can start their first day.