Frequently Asked Questions - Employment

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Affirmative Action (AA) are foundational to Berkeley's commitment to equity, inclusion and equal access on our campus.   An internal recruitment may be approved in cases where the anticipated pool of campus, divisional, or departmental applicants is equally or more diverse than the general workforce for the protected groups in question. 

The process to review if a job vacancy may be posted via an internal-only recruitment starts with the hiring manager providing the Berkeley job titles for the anticipated internal pool of qualified applicants. The Staff EEO Compliance unit in People & Culture reviews the campus affirmative action goals established for the vacant job and conducts an analysis to determine if the potential internal applicants are sufficiently diverse in areas where affirmative action goals exist.  If the internal representation is greater than that of the general workforce, the vacancy is approved. More often than not, the internal applicant pool is not sufficient for internal recruitment to be supported, in which case, a full recruitment is required. 

To request a vacancy be reviewed to determine if an internal-only recruitment can be conducted, please complete the Request - Internal Only Recruitment Form

Follow the procedures for Multi-Location Appointments for Staff.

HR will send a monthly list to them of all posted requisitions.

Indicate the external media venues and chart string you would like to use in the additional comments section and job posting destination section of the TAM job opening. Your recruiter will work with you on coordinating the advertisement efforts.

Follow the SPC management process.

Contact your Talent Acquisition Advisor or Director of Talent Acquisition for information regarding use of Executive Search firms.

• For all Career, partial-year career, and contract appointments: Day 15 of posting (Exception: SPC applicants are available within the first 14 days)
• Immediately for MSP and limited-900 hour postings.

To determine Affirmative Action recruitment goals, see the list of Control Unit Affirmative Action goals.

Affirmative Action goals also display within the TAM system.

There are several options for filling temporary needs, including hiring individuals on contract or limited appointments. You may recruit for these positions using the Talent Acquisition (TAM) system, or direct hire for limited appointments. To hire individuals on contract you must use an Employee Relations approved contract template. See information regarding temporary hires.

You may also, in some circumstances, hire through a UC approved temporary staffing agency. View more details regarding temporary agencies.

Thank you for your interest in staff positions at UC Berkeley. We ask all applicants to submit applications for specific positions on jobs.berkeley.edu.

You may apply to and be considered for more than one open position, if you are interested and possess the required qualifications.

Once you apply, you should receive a notification via email confirming your application. The hiring team may only consider your application once it is in our system via jobs.berkeley.edu. The hiring team will review applications and select top qualified candidates for a screening and/or interview process.

If you are selected to advance, you will be notified. Once a hiring decision is reached, you will be notified. Due to the volume we receive, we may not be able to provide live and/or individual updates to candidates. We thank you for your patience during the application and recruitment process.

The majority of positions on campus require a two-week posting period before applications can be reviewed. In most cases, the review process may take several weeks, if not months. After the department begins reviewing applications, they will contact applicants of interest directly for an initial screening and/or an interview. You may be contacted via email and/or phone. Please make sure to check your spam folder as in some cases e-mails can be filtered by your service provider.

You will receive an update regarding your candidacy via the email on your application and/or registered profile in our system. Due to the volume of applications we receive, we are generally not able to provide live updates to candidates for searches.

For a variety of reasons, including privacy protection, we are not able to provide that information.  If you would like to address your cover letter, you can address it to “Dear Hiring Manager” or “Dear Hiring Committee.”

The University requires that applications are submitted through our online system.

You may enter your username and get a new password sent to you via email and/or you may enter your email address and your username will be sent to you via email. Please make a note of the email address you used to register your username and password. We (UC Berkeley HR) do not have access to your login information, nor any ability to reset it manually. Only users can reset their own passwords.

Depending on the error message you receive, there are a number of possible solutions to this problem. Below are suggestions for troubleshooting:

• Check the spam folder for possible correspondences from our system and/or team.

• Please note that passwords expire once a year and require a reset.

• Try using the password reset to reset your password.

• If you have multiple accounts at the different University of California (UC) campus job websites, and the message continues to tell you your password is expired, it may be for a different UC campus’s site. 

• Ensure you are not logged into any other University of California (UC) campus job websites at the same time. 

• Use your browser’s “incognito” or “private” window to mask credentials that were previously used.

• Clear your browser’s cache. 

• Check for caps lock.   

• Turn off any autofill on your browser (or make sure that you do not have old passwords stored that need to be deleted).

• Try using a different browser. 

• If you are an internal applicant, ensure you are logging into the UCPath Portal, navigate to Recruiting Workcenter & then click UCB Careers.

• If you checked spam and if you’ve tried to register but receive the notification that the email address already exists (not the username), then we may need to review and update your email in the profile or inactivate your profile so you can re-register. Please contact HR Services First Contact at (510) 664-9000, Option 3.

• If you are still experiencing trouble, you may try contacting HR Services First Contact at (510) 664-9000, Option 3, and please make note of any error messages you get and/or grab screenshots for assistance with troubleshooting.

In most cases, the review process may take several weeks, if not months. After the department begins reviewing applications, they will contact applicants of interest directly for screening and/or interviews. You will be notified of your candidacy; however it may take some time.

The “First Review” date does not necessarily mean that the job posting will stop accepting applications on that date. The hiring team may begin to review applications on or after the “First Review” date. If the position is still published then you may still apply through the system. We can not guarantee when the hiring team may begin or stop reviewing applications, after the “First Review” date.

UC Berkeley requires application activity to be received and tracked in our HR system. For this reason, all persons seeking employment as staff must apply via our website at Berkeley Jobs.

We can not accept applications through other websites. You have not successfully applied to the position unless you applied through Berkeley Jobs If a position is not available on jobs.berkeley.edu then it may no longer be available and/or published.

After you have submitted your application you should receive an email notification acknowledging receipt of your application. If you do not receive this email, your application may not have been successfully submitted. Please make sure you have entered your email correctly, made a note of the email you used, and please also check the spam folder. The application should also appear on your list of applications in the system.

It may depend on the position. To apply, you will need to go through the system on jobs.berkeley.edu and upload or copy/paste a resume. For some positions, the hiring team may require a cover letter and/or a diversity statement. This will be noted in the application process and the job posting.

The application system will ask you to enter or upload a resume. You can also use the “Copy/Paste” option to type your Work Experience in a text box if you do not have a formal resume. In some cases, the application process may require other materials.

If you are uploading files as part of your application, the system will let you know which file types it can accept. Generally, doc, pdf, txt, or rtf may be accepted.

Some positions on the UC Berkeley campus are covered by a collective bargaining agreement. Employees in positions that are covered may be required to pay an Agency Fee to their exclusive representative union. Agency fees vary from union to union. For more information about this, please visit the Labor Relations website.

• Career Appointments are considered “regular” employment. They are defined as 50% or more of full-time for 1 year or longer.

• Contract Appointments are considered “temporary” assignments. They have a definite time period, i.e. 6-month or 1-year contract. Terms and conditions are specified in a written employment contract.

• Limited Appointments are considered “temporary” assignments. Individuals in this appointment are expected to be on pay status for less than 1,000 hours in a 12-month period.

• Partial Year Career Appointments are considered “regular” employment. Individuals in this appointment have regularly scheduled periods not to exceed 3 months per year, i.e. furlough.

Depending on the job, there will be different eligibility for benefits. Please visit the University of California ‘UCnet’ website to view information about health and welfare benefits.

All offers of employment to new employees are contingent upon the presentation of documents demonstrating the appointee's identity and work authorization consistent with the provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act.

The majority of the positions on campus require a two week posting period before applications can be reviewed. In most cases the review process takes several weeks. After the department begins reviewing applications, they will contact applicants of interest directly for an interview process. Please refer to our Job Applicant FAQs for more information.

Most applicants are initially contacted via telephone or e-mail. Make sure to have up-to-date contact information on your applicant profile as well as resume. Please check your spam box in your email just in case.

After you have submitted your application you should receive an email notification acknowledging receipt of your application. If you do not receive this email, your application may not have been successfully submitted. The application should also appear on your list of applications within your Careers home page. Please refer to our Job Applicant FAQs for more information.

Required qualifications are the basic knowledge, skills, education, and experience necessary for the position as defined in the specific job classification.

Use the advanced search option to search by various criteria such as (keywords or job codes). You can also save your search and set it up to notify you via email when new jobs matching your interests are posted. You can create up to five searches corresponding to various keywords, departments, or job codes that will generate emails. You can save more searches, but only five can be emailed to you with notifications. 

Yes. You may save your application and finalize it at a later date, provided the job is still posted. Your application will not be considered for the job posting until it is submitted.

While your information will remain stored in the applicant system, you will not be considered for future vacancies unless you have formally applied to the position.

You must fill out a new application for each position you would like to be considered for.

Your employment application is considered a legal document and will be used as a tool to determine whether you qualify for a specific position. Please make sure to include employment history, educational background, skills, and licensures in your application and/or resume/cover letter.

For a variety of reasons, including privacy protection, we are not able to provide that information. If you would like to address your cover letter, you can address it to “Dear Hiring Manager” or “Dear Hiring Committee.”

There is a login help link. You may enter your username and get a new password sent to you via email or you may enter your email address and your username will be sent to you via email. Please make a note of the email address you used to register, your user name and password. Please refer to our Job Applicant FAQs for more information.

Government regulations require that UC Berkeley track application activity. For this reason, all persons seeking employment as regular staff must apply via our website at http://jobs.berkeley.edu. Once you have applied for the job, your application is directly forwarded to the hiring department.

Yes. Thank you for providing us with the most complete information about your employment background. You may use the same resume, and update or revise your information as needed on subsequent applications, thus speeding up the process.

We are only able to consider applicants who apply online. Therefore, you must apply at http://jobs.berkeley.edu.

No, just fully complete the application. If you do have a resume you can upload it or cut and paste it. If you do not have a formal resume, please type in or copy/paste your Work Experience information into the “Copy & Paste Resume” text box on the 2nd page of the application.

We do not accept resumes at Human Resources.  All applications, including past employment information, must be submitted through the Careers website at http://jobs.berkeley.edu.

Until you receive information from the hiring department, you are “under consideration” for the position. Please refer to our Job Applicant FAQs for more information.

Applications can be submitted online any day of the week, at any time (24/7.)

To search for job openings at UC Berkeley, visit the Careers website at http://jobs.berkeley.edu.

If you are able to locate a job on the Careers website (http://jobs.berkeley.edu), then the position is still open and the system is still accepting applications for that specific job. Please note that the job posting duration is up to each hiring department and is variable. Due to the volume we receive, we are unable to confirm posting durations or end dates.

You must apply online at http://jobs.berkeley.edu. There you can create a profile and submit your resume and cover letter. Step-by-step job aids are available. Please refer to our Job Applicant FAQs for more information.

The near-term goal is to ensure that campuswide staffing costs are reduced by $50M (approximately 500 positions).

The following types of positions are excluded.

• Student appointments.

• Contract and grant funded positions, unless they are moved to central funds for more than 6 months.

• Academic titles: all faculty, as defined in APM 110-4(15) (e.g. ladder ranked faculty, adjuncts, Professors in Residence, all the Unit 18 titles such as lecturers, etc.).

• Researchers, Project Scientists, and Specialists (except where hired on non-grant funds).

• Positions funded by resources directly controlled by the faculty as identified by chart fields 1 and 2 (e.g. start-up package, retention, etc.).

• Chairs, Academic Directors, and Deans.

• Specialists and Advisors in Cooperative Extension.

• Academic Coordinators (currently reviewed by the Academic Personnel Office).

• Librarians (currently reviewed by the unit head).

• Post docs.

• GSIs and GSRs.

• Extension instructors.

• Readers and Tutors or other routine seasonal large scale hires.

Recruitments for all limited appointment positions do require approval.

Endowments and other philanthropically funded positions need to go through position control. The review is to determine whether the full costs are covered by the funding source, or if it is creating “hidden” costs that impact general funds; and “cost of ownership” in the long term.

Requests for approval to hire should be sent to the Chancellor, EVCP, Vice Chancellor, Dean, CFO, or University Librarian, as appropriate, with compelling justification via the list of designated communicators. They will evaluate the justification and decide which requests to approve, and notify the hiring manager of their final decision.

If the request to fill the position has been approved, the requisition along with the approval email from the designated communicators should be submitted to Berkeley Regional Services (BRS) via an HR ServiceNow ticket.

The faculty should continue to follow whatever process they are currently using to submit requests to recruit for these positions which may vary by school or college. In some cases they go through the Research Administrator, others go through the HR Partner. There is no need to change the process or to go through the designated communicator.

BRS, the Research Administrators and HR Partners will work together to get information to the recruiters via ServiceNow that identifies these positions so they can be posted.

All parties recognize the importance of meeting business needs in a timely manner, especially those that are urgent. The length of time to approve will vary depending on a variety of factors such as volume of requests and levels of review.

“Positions funded by contracts and grants” refers to the funding source, not the type of appointment, and those positions that are fully grant or contract funded are not subject to position control unless the position is moved off of those funds and onto a different funding source for more than 6 months.

Employment contract positions are temporary appointments with an end date and require position control approval. Contract extensions also need to be submitted for approval.

HR Partners should send contract appointment renewals back to the division if they have not been approved through the designated communicator for that specific division.

Requests to hire Contract and Grant funded positions which are moved to central funds for more than 6 months should be submitted after approval has been provided through the designated communicator following the unit’s review procedures.

These positions fall under position control and must be reviewed following the unit’s approval process.

Since student positions are excluded from position control, no approval is needed for these positions. They may be submitted for posting following your regular process.

Recruitment for these positions do require approval.

Recruitment for these positions do not require approval.

Before the possibility of a sign-on bonus allowance may be discussed with candidates or recruiters, the use must be pre-approved by both the Chancellor and the Presidents executive office.

Employee timesheets are able to capture multiple departments. Please approve employee work hours completed in your department. Departments should work with Payroll to determine the best method to use.

Each employee assigned to work in your department will need to record their time and pay on a temporary timesheet, which you can obtain from the Payroll Office. This timesheet must have the correct approval signature before submitting it to the Payroll Office.

HR Employment Services.

HR Employment Services will contact the agencies.

HR Employment Services will have contracts in place with selected temporary agencies. If you have a special request that a contracted agency cannot fulfill, please contact HR Employment Services to help you secure a contract with a specialized agency.

Departments can hire individuals offering “common or professional services,” i.e., Building and Maintenance Contractors, Janitorial Services, Security Guards, Doctors, Evaluators, System Analyst, etc. Please review the Procurement Services’ website for a complete list and hiring process.

HR Employment Services will advertise all open positions. You may request advertisement on the Deployment Triplicate form used to notify HR Employment Services of your vacancy.

Yes, please refer to the Procurement Services’ website to review contractor-hiring procedures. Procurement Services will have a complete list of eligible titles.