Before you apply
Our UW employment team’s top tip for applying to UW jobs is to use a comprehensive resume—one that reflects all of your experience. Why? Because our online application system only allows one resume per candidate.
So, if you are applying for multiple UW positions, you’ll want your resume to reflect how all your past experience and education meets the requirements of each position for which you are applying — and you don’t need to limit your resume to one or two pages.
Resume tips
Building a complete, detailed resume gives you the opportunity to make a unique impression during a job search.
- Including all of your experience on your resume gives us a more holistic view of you and helps us find where your skills will be the best fit.
- Our recruiters emphasize the importance of keeping an up-to-date resume on hand, because our application system only allows one resume per candidate.
With that in mind, here are some tips to use when preparing your resume:
- Include your contact information in full view at the top of the page.
- Add accurate and complete training and employment history. Detail your job duties and include your starting and ending dates in the position.
- Use keywords within the context of duties you performed or skills you applied to your job assignments. Creating a long list of skill words fails to highlight your experience or explain how you used those skills.
Formatting your resume:
- Save a backup copy of your resume.
- Remove tabs, tables, paragraph borders, columns, and fancy fonts.
- Remove any formatting created by adding spaces to text (indenting or center text).
- Keep all lines left justified.
- Emphasize words sparingly, but if you need to, use ALL CAPS (bold text loses its formatting in our system).
Submitting your resume
To submit your resume to your UW Candidate profile:
- Open your document in whatever program you use (Microsoft Word, Google docs, etc.).
- Save your document as text, plain text (.txt file extension), or with minimal formatting.
- Open the file you just saved and apply basic formatting to make it presentable (use paragraphs or line breaks to separate text).
- Select all of the text in your document, copy and paste it into the resume text box on your UW Candidate profile page.
Check out our tip sheet, Resumes the UW Way (PDF), for more recommendations.
FAQs
When you start looking for jobs, there’s a lot of information to sort through. Here is a list of frequently asked questions to help you with your UW job search.
- Go to the UW employment website and log in with your UW NetID.
- Edit your profile. Keep an electronic copy of your resume and employment details on hand while you do, because this will make it easy to copy and paste information. You may also use the “Resume Builder” feature. Make sure to enter your full legal name on both the Candidate Profile and resume as well.
- Start your job search. For best search results, only specify what category of job you’re looking for, and leave the rest of the fields blank.
- After you have selected a position, click the title for a full description. At the bottom, select Apply for this Job, but remember to complete your profile and resume before you do.
- Once you have submitted your profile and resume, you will also need to complete any assessments. These allow us to gather additional information about your employment background. Once you begin the assessment, you must complete it at that time. If you have limited time, choose “Click here to complete the assessment at a later time,” then return to it later. You cannot go back and edit an assessment after you complete and submit it, so be sure to review your answers or text carefully. For help, email uwhires@uw.edu or call 206-543-2544.
- Go to the UW Employment website, and log in or create a profile. Before you apply for any jobs, you’ll need to create a profile, but you can also browse open positions without logging in.
- Start looking for available jobs. Leave the other search boxes blank, and for the best results use the Category box to find positions available that pertain to your interests. This is where you can specify if you’d like a temporary job, among other categories.
- Choose a position. Once you have selected a position from the search results, click the title for a full description. To immediately submit your resume and profile, click Apply for this Job. If you prefer, save the job and review or apply later by adding it to you Job Cart. Your Job Cart will be emptied when you log out or leave the website.
- After you apply, follow the prompts to create your Candidate Profile and submit your resume, or simply log in if you have previously submitted your resume.
- Once you have submitted your profile and resume, you will also need to complete any assessments. These allow us to gather additional information about your employment background. Once you begin the assessment, you must complete it at that time. If you have limited time, choose “Click here to complete the assessment at a later time,” then return to it later. You cannot go back and edit an assessment after you complete and submit it, so be sure to review your answers or text carefully. For help, email uwhires@uw.edu or call 206-543-2544.
To apply for opportunities with UTemp Staffing, search for the requisition by using a Keyword search for UTemp. Click on the job Title to open the posting, and then click on Apply for this job. For more information about UTemp Staffing, see more on how you can Join the UTemp Staffing Candidate Pool!
If you are looking for other temporary opportunities outside of the UTemp staffing pool, use the Category search tool to find temporary jobs and apply directly. Before you submit your application for any position, be sure that your resume and candidate profile are updated and complete.
Once you apply, you may be asked to complete assessments, which you will need to do before your application is complete.
If you have limited time, choose “Click here to complete the assessment at a later time,” then return to it later. You cannot go back and edit an assessment after you complete and submit it, so be sure to review your answers or text carefully. For help, email uwhires@uw.edu or call 206-543-2544.
For help with a technical problem, you can contact the Help Desk at uwhires@uw.edu or 206-543-2544. If you are emailing the Help Desk, include your phone number and the Job Req #, in case we need additional information.
Candidate banks represent an ongoing need to fill certain types of positions. Applying for candidate banks makes you available for multiple job opportunities during the time period specified on the listing. Your job status in the candidate bank will stay Applied/In Review. If your experience is a good match for a current opening, your resume will be referred to the hiring manager, and then you will be able to track the status of your application specific to that job.
If you are interested in being considered for other positions, you must apply directly for them in addition to applying for any candidate banks.
The total time it takes to fill any position varies between three and six weeks, and hiring departments only contact the most competitive candidates to interview. To check your application’s status, visit the My Jobs page on your Candidate profile where you’ll see the jobs you have applied to, the status, the Req #, a link to the job posting, and the date you applied. Below are a few examples and explanations of status statements you might see while checking the status of your applications:
- Applied/In Review – Candidate has applied to a position and Human Resources is reviewing their qualifications.
- Resume Fwd to Department – Candidate has been reviewed by Human Resources and resume was sent to the hiring manager for departmental review. The department will select the top candidates from this review for interviews.
- Considered Not Selected – Candidate was not hired in this position.
- Hired/Accepted – Candidate has been hired for this position.
- Candidate Withdrawn – Candidate has asked to be removed from consideration for the position.
- Recruitment Canceled – Recruitment was canceled by the department, so the position will not be filled.
We ask you not to send additional materials, but if we need any more documents from you, the online assessment will request them or you will be asked for them during the interview process. Relevant licenses and certificates are important, so while we ask you not to send copies to us, be sure to include information about those in your resume.
Update your resume or profile by logging into the UW Employment site at any time. When you update your resume, it becomes the viewable version that all hiring managers for jobs you applied to will review in your Candidate Profile. For more information on your resume in our system, check out our Resume Tips, above.
No. If multiple candidate profiles are found for a candidate, they will be merged together, saving the most current contact information.
For new candidates, you will create a profile the first time you apply, and can access it by logging in as an existing applicant with your account’s email and password combination. If you forget your password, click on “Forgot your password?” or contact our Help Desk at uwhires@uw.edu or 206-543-2544 for assistance.
Our employment systems can hold only one active resume at a time for your candidate profile, which hiring managers will review in the application process. Tailoring it to one specific job could impact other positions you want to apply for. Instead, we suggest that you include a comprehensive resume that highlights all of the skills, education, and other qualifications that would make you a great fit at UW.
We ask that you use the simplest formatting possible on the resume and cover letter(s) submitted online. Do not use common formatting features like bullets, bolding, custom fonts, columns, and images. However, you can present formatted documents at an in-person interview.After completing your profile, use the Resume box on your Candidate Profile to copy and paste your resume (or you may directly type your resume into the box). Access your resume at any time by logging into UW employment website, and remember to always review your resume after saving your profile to be sure it is free of errors. For more information on preparing an effective UW resume, see the Resume Tips tab.
If a cover letter is required for the position, it will be noted in the job posting. After clicking Apply For This Job, you will be asked to complete a cover letter assessment. Because cover letters are reviewed by multiple people, we suggest you address it “Dear Hiring Manager.”
Please do not email us your resume, but instead create your own candidate profile using our online application. To do this, log into the UW employment website and select Click Here to Create Your Candidate Profile. Copy and paste your resume into the resume text box. Then, you can search and apply to jobs at the employment website.If you already have a candidate profile, or if you are already a UW employee, log in and update your information by selecting Edit Profile.
You’ll receive an email from uwhires@uw.edu regarding the confirmation of your application. If you use spam or junk mail filters on your email account, make sure that you add our email address to your “safe” list. If a department is interested in interviewing you, they usually contact you via phone using the phone number you provided in your resume, so be sure to keep your contact information updated.
*Disability Accommodation. To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Disability Services Office at: 206-543-6450 (voice), 206-543-6452 (TTY), 206-685-7264 (fax), or email at dso@uw.edu. The University of Washington makes every effort to honor all disability accommodation requests. Requests can be responded to most effectively if received as far in advance as possible.
Privacy and security
Privacy: At UW, we value your privacy, so none of your information provided on this site is shared outside of those involved in the hiring and recruiting process. In rare instances, we are required to disclose certain information for legal process.
Security: Protect your privacy and prevent unauthorized use. When you are finished using this site, log out and close your web browser.
Clery Act and Drug-Free Schools Act:
Your personal safety and the security of our campus community are of vital concern to the University of Washington. Available to you is the University’s Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, and Drug-Free Schools Act Information, as required by the Clery Act and Drug-Free Schools Act. It includes statistical information for the three previous calendar years concerning reported crimes which occurred on or near the UW’s campus or on certain properties owned or leased by the UW and institutional policies and procedures concerning campus security issues. A paper copy of the report is available upon written request to: University of Washington Police Department, 3939 15th Avenue NE, Seattle, WA 98105.