Student Supervisor Handbook: Recruiting and Hiring Student Workers
Establishing a process for recruiting and hiring student workers is crucial for accessibility and equity in on-campus work. Advertising open positions (via Handshake) and narrowing down applicants based on specific criteria provide consistency and clarity in the hiring process. Mirroring a ‘real world’ hiring process allows students to build job application and interview skills that they can use well beyond their years at Reed.
The Student Work Office offers regular group training on Handshake and hiring for student work supervisors. If you would like to schedule a 1:1 training, please contact the Student Work Coordinator at studentwork@reed.edu.
This google folder contains all supervisor resources related to hiring student workers, including a checklist for hiring student workers for quick guidance on the process of hiring student workers at Reed. Details on aspects of this process can be found below.
Posting student work positions on Handshake
Posting positions in Handshake is essential to making student work positions accessible to all students. On-campus student work positions are posted under the “Reed College Student Work” employer on Handshake. To set up an account with Handshake in which you can post positions to Reed College Student Work, please follow this link and request to join the "Reed College Student Work" employer.
For guidance on creating a position description for a posting, and how to post positions to Handshake, please see the Job Description Guide and the Guide to Posting Positions on Handshake. The Student Work Office and the Center for Life Beyond Reed hold regular Handshake trainings. If you would like to schedule a 1:1 training, please contact the Student Work Coordinator at studentwork@reed.edu.
Interviewing for student work positions
It is important to post student work jobs and conduct interviews as a part of your hiring process. Interviewing is the best method to evaluate candidates in a fair manner, and it provides important professional development experience to students. The length, type, and formality of interviews will vary depending on the student work position, but it is highly recommended to meet your candidates in-person.
Inclusive Interview Practices
It is important to create inclusive and welcoming interviews for on-campus jobs, and to evaluate candidates equitably. For guidance on creating inclusive interviews and reducing biases in the interview process, see Effective Interviews: Reducing Bias in the Interview Process (accessible via google drive).
Notifying students who are not selected
Please notify all applicants who were not selected for a position as soon as possible once this is determined. If a student was not selected to interview, a simple email notification is all that is required. If a student interviewed with you, offer to provide them with constructive feedback on their application or interview. Handshake allows you to download a spreadsheet of all applicants, where you can easily see the email addresses of all students who applied for the position.
See sample decline emails for examples.
Hiring in HireEm
Once you have made a hiring decision, you will need to hire the student in HireEm. If you do not have access to HireEm, contact Dawn Derry at derryd@reed.edu and reference the account (ORGN) number that you are using to pay student workers.
You can use HireEm to:
- Request a new hire
- Change the supervisor, approver, or pay rate for a current hire
- Terminate a current hire from payroll
- Create a new position
HireEm User Guide
Student Payroll Website
Student hiring paperwork
Before beginning work, a student worker must fill out hiring paperwork in the Business Office. If you hire a student who has not worked on campus before, direct them to fill out this paperwork as soon as possible. Once the student has filled out their paperwork, they will be hired through Payroll. Please do not allow students to work any hours before filling out this paperwork.
International student hiring
International students are defined as students that are attending Reed on F-1 or J-1 student visa. International students are eligible for on-campus employment and are not authorized to work off-campus. International students may also have Reed Work Study as a part of their financial aid.
In order to be paid, international students must apply for a social security number once they have received an offer of on-campus employment. When an international student is hired for the first time on campus, the following process must be completed. They may begin working as soon as they have filled out their hiring paperwork in the business office, while waiting for their SSN to arrive.
Non-discrimination and equal opportunity
When hiring student workers, supervisors are expected to uphold Reed College’s Non-Discrimination and Equal Opportunity Employment Statement:
Reed College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, military status, veteran status, genetic information, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, status as a parent, family relationship, or on the basis of any other category protected by law. Reed does not consider any of the above attributes in administration of its employment policies, educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan program, housing policies, and athletic and other school-administered programs. In its policies and actions, Reed will comply with its obligations under state and federal law including Title VI and Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), Oregon Revised Statutes, and any other applicable law.