Student Hiring & Recruiting

Before beginning recruitment, meet with your Executive Office HR contact to discuss your staffing needs. During this meeting, HR will guide you on selecting appropriate employment classifications and job codes.

Be prepared to discuss:

• An outline of job duties.
• A list of minimum requirements.
• Budget and resources available.
• Expected number of hours worked a week. Refer to Work Hour Limits for Student Hourly Staff.
• Any changes to current team structures or roles.
• Pre-approval status from the department Executive Head.
• Recruitment style (department handled or facilitated by EOHR).

After meeting with EOHR, you will then need to develop a draft position description. While working on its creation, consider revising an existing position description for a similar role. Contact Executive Office HR for sample descriptions, if needed.

A position description for a student position should describe the following:

• Key responsibilities.
• Essential duties.
• Reporting structure.
• Expected number of hours worked a week. Refer to Work Hour Limits for Student Hourly Staff.
• Required qualifications.
• Expected hiring type (ASE, student assistant, work study).
• Expected compensation.
• Any other relevant details.

Before proceeding with submitting a new student hire request, consider the following:

Paying over the standard student hire wage (minimum) must have that the planned pay rate pre-approved by:

• Your VP-level unit approver (Use the HR Hiring Approval Flow Chart to identify required approver)
• Kim Dinh, Senior Director for Finance, HR, and Administration

Consider additional resource needs:

• Office space and equipment
• Software, supplies, and IT needs

Once position development is complete:

1. Review the New Student Hire request form instructions for guidelines on document and information requirements, as well as best practices.
2. Submit a New Student Hire form with all required documents.
3. Await as request flows through the EOHR Approval Flow for routing and approval process.

There is no University requirement for how long non-ASE student positions must be posted. For roles posted through Handshake, a common best practice is to post for two weeks, then reassess whether the posting should remain open or if the current applicant pool meets hiring needs.

Application materials are reviewed by the department hiring manager or the position’s supervisor, this is to be decided departmentally. Depending on search committee’s preferences, materials may be shared via email.

Ensure any applicants that move forward in the process are eligible for student employment.

Student Employment Eligibility

• Be enrolled at UW (not including correspondence credits)
• Meet these minimum registered credits per quarter:
  • Undergraduate: 6 credits
  • Graduate/Professional: 5 credits
  • Ph.D. candidates (dissertation stage): 2 credits

Student Employment Eligibility After Graduation
Once graduated, UW students are no longer eligible to work as student assistants and must be terminated no later than the date of their last final exam.

Student assistants who graduate at the end of spring quarter are not permitted to work during summer quarter, unless the student has already enrolled into a graduate or Ph.D. level program for the following autumn quarter.

Students ”On leave” Eligibility
Undergraduate: One quarter after a 6-credit enrollment (including summer), unless graduated
Graduate: If officially granted on-leave status by the Graduate School

Veteran Candidates
Qualified veterans must be strongly considered. If two candidates are equally qualified, the veteran candidate receives preference.

Fair Hiring Practices

• All screening must align with the Fair Pre-Employment Inquiry Guidelines. For help on determining if the inquiry meets the guidelines, please reach out via the general consultation.
• Follow the best practice of maintaining equity, consistency, and confidentiality.

Diversity in Hiring
Diversity is a core value at the University of Washington and part of our commitment to inclusive excellence. Hiring managers should review the Career and Internship Center Diversity in Hiring Toolkit and Central HR’s DEI-Related Trainings for Hiring Managers, especially the Implicit Bias Training, when preparing for recruitment. Use these resources to support fair and inclusive hiring. These resources offer:

• Checklists for inclusive hiring practices
• Tips for reducing bias in candidate evaluation
• Strategies for attracting a diverse applicant pool
• Tools for equitable decision-making

Document Retention
You must retain all screening and interview materials and submit them to EOHR for filing. This includes all interview notes, rubrics, and rankings, whether paper or digital.

Interview Guidelines
Use a consistent and informed process for every candidate to support fairness, transparency, and compliance.

Interview panels should:

• Ask the same set of questions.
• Be familiar with the Fair Pre-Employment Inquiry Guidelines.
• Communicate expectations clearly, including:
  • Work schedule (including telework schedule).
  • Responsibilities.
  • Physical requirements (if applicable).
• Share benefits eligibility (based on position):
  • Undergraduate students are not eligible for employment benefits.
  • Graduate students filling a non-ASE position are not eligible for benefits. (For more information on who qualifies as an ASE, please skip to the Academic Student Employee section (link) of this webpage.)
  • Graduate Appointee / Academic Student Employee (ASE) insurance program summary of benefits (PDF).
• Provide time for candidates to ask questions.
• Be transparent about the recruitment timeline.
• Not inquire about salary history (per WA Equal Pay & Opportunities Act).
• Review Total Talent Management’s information on how to accommodate candidates with disabilities.

Extend the offer to the candidate. You must let them know the offer is conditional on passing a background check.

Graduate student employee hires only must also complet the sexual misconduct declaration (step 3) as a condition of employment.

Notify EOHR whether the offer was accepted or declined.

Should the candidate decline the offer, consult with EOHR before proceeding.

Should the candidate accept the offer, send an email to eohr@uw.edu that includes the following information about the selected candidate:

• Full name
• UW NetID
• Student status (undergraduate, graduate, or PhD)
• Attach any screening and interview documents to file.

EOHR will review the information, follow up with any questions, and manage the next steps in the final approval process.

This step is required before hire.
Once notified by EOHR, Total Talent Management (TTM) will send the Sexual Misconduct Declaration and other verification forms to the candidate via email. Please instruct the candidate to be on the lookout.

Once the offer is accepted and EOHR has been informed, EOHR will initiate the background check. When you are notified that the check clears, you must confirm the start date with EOHR.

Important Background Check:

• Must be completed before the start date.
• Processing time can range from a few days to several weeks, especially for international candidates.
• Finalists already employed at UW may not require a new background check; confirm with EOHR.

EOHR will send the letter to the candidate, beginning the onboarding process.

Once onboarding begins:

• Notify final candidates who were not selected (best practice).
• Review the EOHR onboarding process.
• Submit all recruitment notes and documentation to EOHR for recordkeeping.