1. The first step, once you have established your business need, is to work with your HR Division Partner to create a Position Description (PD) and to ensure your Position PD is written at the level you intend to hire for.  
2. Once you complete this step, you will submit a Hire Request Form here. 
3. The HR Solutions team will then create a draft requisition and send it to the Recruitment team, who will route the requisition through the established Division approval chain.

Before the job is posted, the Recruiter will reach out to the hiring manager or designee via calendar invite to develop a recruitment plan.  It’s important to communicate regularly with the Recruiter to ensure we are sourcing the correct skills and knowledge for your opening, and can adjust as necessary. 

• Periodic communication also ensures all policies, laws, and procedures are being followed. 
• The Recruiter can assist with all aspects of the process, including sourcing, providing examples of phone screen and interview questions, meeting with candidates to discuss benefits and salary/negotiating, explaining working conditions at the Lab, and offering guidance on reference checking.

The Recruiter will collaborate with the hiring manager to establish a recruitment plan, which includes a discussion about outreach and advertising for the open position. As part of this plan, all positions should be broadly publicized, leveraging job recruitment opportunities at conferences and through informal colleague networks, in addition to formal advertisements in print and online. The recruitment, networking, and advertising efforts should aim to attract a qualified pool of applicants. All efforts to advertise in professional networks or newsletters should be documented in Taleo, which the Recruiter maintains. Hiring managers should coordinate with the Recruiter for any advertising efforts.

While we are interviewing the candidate, the candidate is also evaluating the Lab and the staff to determine if this is the right fit. This is truly a two way street.  We should therefore act accordingly and professionally and make as good  an impression upon the candidate as possible. The Hiring Manager/host or the host’s designee is responsible for ensuring that travel arrangements and an interview schedule have been planned for the candidate. The host or the host’s administrative support person, is responsible for ensuring that a gate pass and reserved parking have been requested in advance. On the day of the interview the host should arrive at the Lab before the candidate arrives and make sure that the interview process proceeds smoothly throughout the day. If the candidate is interviewing virtually via Zoom, the host should make appropriate arrangements to ensure the candidate and the interview panel/search committee have the appropriate links. The host should arrange a waiting room for Zoom candidates.

The interview panel should be composed of individuals from diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. Panel members should have expertise in a variety of skills to evaluate a candidate’s skills, knowledge, and abilities (SKAs) broadly and effectively. A diverse yet nimble panel, typically 3-5 people, is ideal. Ensure that the interview questions are created and vetted by the Recruiter at least a few days before the interview process begins.

For Scientific positions, a national search is required for hires into both career-track and career Research Scientist/Engineer (S&E) and Divisional Fellow appointment series. An international search is required for hires into both career-track and career Staff Scientist/Engineer, Senior Scientist/Engineer, and Distinguished Scientist/Engineer appointment series. A prior search for Postdoctoral Fellows does not qualify as a suitable search for career-track or career positions unless they were selected for as a Alvarez or Grace Hopper Fellowship. 

As the title states, the responsibility of the Search Committee extends beyond that of an Interview Panel. In addition to the tasks mentioned above, the Search Committee is responsible for helping identify the most qualified candidates through their networks, making phone calls, utilizing Slack channels, and other methods. Committee members will also take ownership of specific parts of the process, such as conducting phone screens to narrow down the candidates for the open seminar and full interview.

For all positions (except Postdocs), the search committee/interview panel should include:

1. The group lead or someone to whom this responsibility is delegated (required).
2. At least one member of the project team with whom the candidate would be working and/or anybody with relevant technical knowledge in the candidate’s field.
3. At least one person outside the hiring group, preferably outside the division.
4. The group lead may also ask another group lead to join whenever it is appropriate, for example, the other group lead has relevant expertise or can provide a different perspective.

In addition to interviewing with the search committee, the candidate must interview with the respective Division Director (or a designee approved by the Division Director on a case-by-case basis) and with the respective Department Head or designee.

(Note: Candidates for Operations positions, as well as CSE1 and CSE2 positions, do not need to meet with the Division Director.)

The offer process may begin before the Division Director interview/meeting, but the Division Director, or their designee, will not approve the offer until they have met the candidate.

As part of the interview process for Scientific and CSE4/CSE5 positions, finalists should be asked to give a talk focused on their current research or a relevant technical topic they have worked on. The host should ensure the talk is advertised early and widely to maximize attendance. A seminar is required for Scientist positions, Postdoctoral Fellows, and CSE4/CSE5 positions (Note- NERSC also requires a seminar for CSE3). Seminars or presentations are also recommended when hiring for roles where presentation and communication skills are essential (e.g., User Support, Communications). In general, the talk should be 30-45 minutes long, followed by 15 minutes for questions.

Postdoc Search Committee

For Postdoctoral Fellow positions, the guidelines include a minimum of three committee members including:

1. The group lead or someone to whom this responsibility is delegated (required).
2. At least one member of the project team with whom the candidate would be working and/or anybody with relevant technical knowledge in the candidate’s field.

Postdoc Interviews

Please see seminar information above. In addition to interviewing with the search committee, the candidate must interview with the respective Division Director and with the Department Head or respective designee. The offer process may begin prior to these interviews/meetings taking place, however, the Division Director will not approve the offer until they, or the designee, have met the candidate.

Postdoc Reference Letters

Three letters of reference should be obtained for Postdoctoral Fellow appointments.  Please do not ask any candidate for referee information. Work with your Recruiter to obtain this information formally, along with electronic consent to have referees contacted.

The letter of solicitation may be sent by the hiring manager using the CS Area standard template found here. Letters of solicitation may be sent via email; letters received must include a signature.

Once received, the letters should be included on the Postdoc Request for Offer Details sheet when the request for hire is made.

For Scientific positions, the letters of solicitation for the reference letters must be sent by the Division Director.  Please do not ask candidates for referee information; instead, work with your Recruiter to obtain this information and electronic consent to contact the referees.

Reference checking is a critical part of the selection process. A thorough reference check helps confirm the selection decision and decreases the chance of selecting a candidate who will be unsuccessful in the position. The hiring manager is responsible for conducting at least 2-3 reference checks. For guidance and resources, please consult with the Recruiter.  Please do not ask candidates for referee information; instead, work with your Recruiter to obtain this information and electronic consent to contact the referees.

Internal Candidates

For an internal candidate who is a finalist, the hiring manager (or designee) should speak with the candidate’s current supervisor and any other references the candidate provides, both internal and external. Additionally, the hiring manager should ask the HR Division Partner to obtain copies of the employee’s last two performance reviews from their file to supplement the verbal reference check. Past performance reviews should only be reviewed for the finalist and should not be used as a screening criterion before the evaluation process begins.

External Candidates

For non-scientific positions, reference checking should involve contacting the candidate’s current direct supervisor/manager and two additional references, such as current or previous supervisors/managers, business partners (e.g., senior managers), co-workers, or direct reports. Two to three references are recommended, depending on the position.

For AMCR and SciData, when hiring at the CSE3 or CSE4 level, at least one reference should be a formal written letter.

When you have selected your top candidate and are ready to proceed with an offer, please complete the appropriate Request for Offer Details form linked below. Once the Request for Offer Details form is completed, the Recruiter and HR Division Partners will start processing the offer.

Request for Offer Details Form- Postdoc

Request for Offer Details Form- Non Postdoc

The forms will request specific information including

1. Proposed salary (you may work with the HR Division Partners, Bill Cannan and Nicolette Dunston, to develop a proposed salary amount)
2. Proposed relocation (you may work with our Recruiter, Bill Singh, to develop an appropriate relocation package)
3. Salary Project ID/Activity ID for the hire
4. A hiring justification to complete the offer
5. Date the individual was interviewed, in addition to names and dates of other candidates, interviewed for the same position

A hiring package for scientist positions must be developed in conjunction with the HR Partners and must contain all required elements outlined in the S&E Guidelines. The S&E process can be found on the Career Pathways Office website here.

Computing Sciences HR Team (including the HR Division Partners, and Recruiter, and Talent Acquisition Associate) are available at any time during the process to help ensure that you have a successful recruiting and selection experience.