November 8, 2001
New Web site helps job seekers learn about UW
People seeking employment at the University will be able to get more information than the job listings, thanks to a new Web site that debuted last week. Click on “employment” at the UW home page and you’ll land at a site with colorful photos of the campus and a list of options for further information.
The page, according to Jill Rinehart, director of Recruiting and Employment Services (part of Human Resources), is just the first step in a beefed up Web presence designed to “market the University as an employer of choice” rather than to simply list jobs available.
“It may seem strange to us on the inside, but when our recruiters go to job fairs they find people are often surprised the UW even is an employer – that we hire as many staff as we do,” said Karenlee Kitto, the unit’s public information specialist and designer of the site. She said the Web site is part of an overall strategy to raise the profile of the University among job seekers.
One feature on the new site, will, for example, highlight particular jobs or career tracks that people might not think about in connection with the University. Called “top jobs,” the feature gives a fuller description of opportunities in the career area and provides a link to actual jobs currently open.
“This will allow hiring departments to highlight a job or career track that is perhaps in high demand or difficult to fill,” Kitto said. About five top jobs are included at any one time and they will be updated often.
The page also includes a link called “working at the UW” that features quotes from current employees and photos of them on the job. This, Kitto says, is in response to new research that shows job seekers are focused on other things besides the bottom line of salary and benefits. Instead, they want to know what they might do in a day on the job, the kind of people who work at a particular site, etc. So, HR has gathered some interviews with employees and used quotes from them on the page. Human Resources is always looking for feedback from University employees, Rinehart says.
One new feature of the site is less flashy but of high interest to those seeking employment. Called the job-status page, it lists every job recently opened and what its current status is – whether the department is reviewing resumes, conducting interviews, etc. It also tells when a job has been filled or if the opening has been withdrawn. According to Kitto, this page is updated daily, thus eliminating the necessity for applicants to call the employment office looking for job-status information. Now job seekers can pull the information directly off the Web.
Other links include a Northwest living page primarily aimed at out-of-state job seekers who want to move here, a “meet your recruiter” page listing recruiting events and a diversity page with links to the University’s other outreach programs.
Still to come is a complete revamping of the actual job listings, which Rinehart says has a reputation for being inflexible and difficult to use in its present form. “We’ll be adding more up-to-date scripting and search functionality for the job seeker,” she says. Human Resources hopes to complete this update within a few months.
Other major systems updates are on the horizon that will significantly improve the hiring process for candidates and managers alike, Rinehart says. But for now the aim is to provide a better “window on the University” for people looking for employment. Kitto says feedback on the site is welcome. The URL is http://www.washington.edu/admin/hr/jobs/index.html.
