Once the position is posted, meet with the Recruiter to develop a recruiting plan. During the recruiting process, refer to the recruiting plan for guidance on the steps involved. Providing regular feedback to the Recruiter will assist her/him in sourcing (locating) candidates that fit the job requirements. The Recruiter can assist with all aspects of the process, including but not limited to sourcing, developing phone screen and interview questions, meeting with the candidate to discuss benefits and working at the Lab, and providing guidance in reference checking.

The Senior Recruiter will work with hiring managers to establish a recruitment plan for each position. As part of this plan, all positions should be publicized broadly, taking advantage of job recruitment opportunities at conferences and informal contacts with colleagues in addition to formal advertisements in print and online. The recruitment and advertisement efforts should strive to gain a diverse pool of applicants by targeting sources that are directed toward underrepresented populations. All efforts to advertise in professional networks or newsletters should be documented in the recruitment plan maintained by the Senior Recruiter. Hiring managers should ensure the Senior Recruiter has all pertinent information regarding the advertisement efforts.

While we are interviewing the candidate, the candidate is also evaluating the Lab and the staff to determine if he or she would like to spend part of his or her career here. We should, therefore, act accordingly and professionally and make as good an impression upon the candidate as we can. The host, or the host’s designate, 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 has 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.

The candidate should interview with as broad and as diverse a set of people within Computing Sciences as possible. For scientific positions, please reference the suitable search guidelines at commons.lbl.gov for the requirements for search committees for scientific positions in addition to the requirements listed below.

Scientists and CSEs

For scientific and CSE positions, the search committee should include:

1. 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.
2. At least one person outside the hiring group, preferably outside the division.
3. The group lead or someone to whom this responsibility is delegated (required).
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 designee approved by the Division Director in advance on a case-by-case basis) and with the respective Department Head or designee. (Note: Candidates for CSE 1 and CSE 2 positions do not need to meet with the Division Director.)

The offer process may begin prior to this interview/meeting taking place, however, the Division Director will not approve the offer until they, or the designee, have met the candidate.

In addition, for scientific positions, the search committee must adhere to the suitable search guidelines at lbl.gov/workplace.

Note: Effective 08/01/2021, in addition to the requirements outlined in the Lab’s S&E suitable search guidelines, CRD management is requiring that reference letters be solicited and submitted for all S&E candidates that are invited for a formal interview. The letters for all candidates interviewed should be submitted on the Request for Offer Details sheet when the hire request is submitted for approval.

To expedite the receipt of letters, please consider sending solicitation letters when finalists are identified and interviews are being scheduled.

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 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.  To ensure a thorough interview and evaluation process, effective 08/01/2021, CRD Management is requiring reference letters to be obtained for all candidates that are invited for a formal interview.  The letters should be included on the Request for Offer Details sheet when the request for hire is made.  To expedite the receipt of letters, please consider sending solicitation letters when finalists are identified and interviews are being scheduled.

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

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.

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 (internal or external) that the candidate provides. In addition, the hiring manager should ask the HR Center to obtain copies of the last two years of performance reviews from the employee’s file as a supplement to the verbal reference check. Review of the past years’ performance reviews should only take place for the finalist for a position and should not be used as a screening criterion prior to making a selection decision.

External Candidates

For non-scientific positions, reference checking should involve contacting the current direct supervisor/manager and two or three other references provided by the applicant, e.g., current and previous supervisors/managers (primary), business partners (senior managers), co-workers, direct reports provided by applicant (two to five are recommended, depending upon the position). For CRD CSE 3 candidates or equivalent and higher level positions, at least one of the references should be a written letter. For Postdoctoral Fellows, please see the information noted above.

For scientific positions, the reference checking process should follow the latest Division and Laboratory guidance (http://www.lbl.gov/Workplace/RPM/R2.07.html#seca4a) from the Laboratory Director and Laboratory Staff Committee.

For scientific positions, the letter of solicitation for the reference letters must be sent by the Division Director. Letters of solicitation may be sent via email; all letters received must include a signature.

Offer Process

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 Nicolette Carrol, HR Division Partner, to develop a proposed salary amount)
2. Proposed relocation (you may work with Bill Singh to develop an appropriate relocation package)
3. Project ID for the hire
4. A hiring justification to complete the offer (see example below)
5. Date the individual was interviewed, in addition to names and dates of other candidates, interviewed for the same position.

Example hire justification: Amy Jones holds a Bachelor of Science degree from UC Berkeley. She has an excellent understanding of computer architecture, operating system concepts, and TCP/IP networking; and has completed several relevant programming courses. She has experience providing technical and hardware support for PC based hardware used for Linux computing in her previous positions. Further, she has experience compiling and using software used for high-performance computing. Amy meets all of the essential requirements for this position.

Scientists

The hiring package for scientists should be developed in conjunction with the HR Center and must contain all required elements outlined in the Suitable Search Guidelines.

HR Center staff (including the HR Center Manager, Senior HR Division Partner, and Recruiter) are available at any time during the process to help ensure that you have a successful recruiting and selection experience.