Recruitment Guidelines

KU Career Services is committed to maintaining a recruiting process that is fair and equitable to students and employing organizations. EEO policy requires that all professional employment opportunities (internships, co-op and full-time) must be made available to students/alumni within HireJayHawks. This practice ensures compliance with NACE guidelines as well as federal law. Furthermore, KU career services staff and university faculty will not pre-screen or recommend candidates for any company, as such action would subject us to laws governing employment agencies. For more information on NACE guidelines, please source National Association of Colleges and Employers. For more information regarding federal employment law, please source US Department of Labor.

• All employers must be legitimate organizations with verifiable business name, email address, phone number, website, and a contact. 
• Recruiters must be transparent with career services about their recruiting activities and the information provided to students. Falsifying information about opportunities or compensation will not be tolerated. Complaints will be investigated and may result in discontinuation of employer services. 
• Classroom engagement can provide value to students when coordinated in advance. Your career services office can help you identify and target appropriate faculty for a classroom visit, based on the content of your proposed presentation. Employers are strongly discouraged from dropping in unannounced to classrooms in order to promote their opportunities.  
• KU Career Services suggests you avoid serving alcohol at recruitment events since students attending may be under the legal drinking age.

Third-party recruiters are defined here as organizations or individuals recruiting candidates for opportunities other than for their own needs. These agencies must identify to the career center the organization on behalf of whom they are hiring. Third-party recruiters must identify themselves as such in any job postings as well as in their profile at HireJayhawks.com. We will not post positions that require payment of any type by the candidate. 

The University of Kansas Career Services reserves the right to refuse service to a third-party recruiter. Please see the following guidelines for service:

• Third-party recruiters may only be granted resume book access if hiring for one specific, named company. 
• Third-party recruiters may only attend career fairs if hiring for one specific, named company
• Job posting must be transparent that it’s a third party recruiting organization representing a client, and the client must be specified in the posting (either listed by name or with some industry/location context)  
• We allow some third party companies to re-post jobs to our system. These companies are paid by recruiting organizations to generate a broader candidate pool beyond those schools where they have a core recruiting presence. This scenario is a bit unique from the third-party or staffing company context. In these instances, the roles we elect to post are vetted opportunities with strong companies, usually with a broadened geographic focus.  
• In every instance, the fee is paid by the employer to the third party. Students are never asked to pay a fee for anything that is posted in our system. Generally, the third party is not being retained by the employer to hire for roles for which the employer is also engaged with direct recruiting on campus.  
• In rare instances, we have third party groups that are hiring for internal roles. 
• In some cases, the entire recruiting function has been outsourced to an external or third party agency. In these instances, they are branding themselves as their client when they are present on campus.  

If you have questions about your company’s status as a third-party recruiter, please contact the relevant career services office for guidance specific to your situation. 

Posting open positions through HireJayhawks.com can improve your chances of connecting with our students, and help you build your brand on campus. It’s easy to sign up for a free account at hirejayhawks. Once approved, you can post positions and have students apply through the site, or through your own CRM.

Position Description Guidelines 

Position Descriptions that provide sufficient details and relevant information will attract more attention from students. If your posted position on HireJayhawks.com is not receiving applicants, you may be able to improve results by reviewing the description and making modifications to it. 

When posting your positions for either full-time career positions or student internships, keep the following in mind:

• Include a description of your organization and/or its purpose. 
• Let students know what they can expect to learn in the position 
• Explain who the employee/intern will be working with, both inside the organization and outside of it. 
• Include information on the training provided 
• Offer information on special benefits or opportunities during employment, such as attending meetings, flexible schedule, travel, etc.  

Some suggestions for making your description more compelling (from WetFeet, Indeed, Recruiterbox):

• Find a balance between providing enough details so that students understand the job/internship, while also keeping your description concise and easy to read. Keep it simple and avoid jargon.  
• In the brief summary of your organization, include details on what makes your culture unique, or why do people want to work for you. Do you offer perks such as flextime, on-site gym, etc.  
• Make your job/internship title specific – targeted job titles are more effective than generic ones. Don’t use titles that seem to inflate or are euphemistic. 
• Focus on rewards and what the position offers, such as intellectual challenges or earning potential. Candidates need to know what they would gain from the position.  
• Include enough details in the responsibilities that students understand the work environment and the activities they would engage in on a daily basis. Detail the technical skills and include soft skills (communication, problem solving) as well as personality traits that a successful candidate would possess. 

Some employers set a GPA requirement as part of their job posting. However, this can actually exclude qualified candidates. When considering whether to use GPA as a screening tool, consider the following: 

• Use of GPA as a screening tool could be subject to non-discrimination laws. If you are asking for GPA as part of your screening, it should be related to the job and necessary for its performance. This fact sheet from the EEOC may be helpful in deciding whether to use GPA to assess candidates.  
• A GPA does not consider a candidate’s pursuit of self-guided learning or skill acquired through hands-on projects, volunteerism, extracurricular activities or internship/work experience. 
• How does the candidate’s GPA compare with their school’s average? A 3.5 may mean something different depending on the institution. 
• While a high GPA may indicate an individual has high ability in learning, it does not account for the impact of hard work on success. 

KU Career Services has the right to decline any job posting. Job postings that may be declined typically contain one or more of the following elements or circumstances:

• Requiring at the time of application personal information such as bank account and social security numbers; 
• Misrepresentation by dishonest information, misleading or ambiguous information or absence of information; 
• Email accounts such as Yahoo and Gmail that are not affiliated with the hiring organization; 
• P.O. Box addresses; 
• Positions not likely to be of interest to college students or alumni as they are attaining or hold post-secondary or graduate degrees; 
• Fraud; 
• Harassment of students, alumni, or staff by the employer; 
• Complaints have been filed against the employer by students, alumni, or staff 
• Breach of confidentiality; 
• Requiring a financial investment or payment by the student or alumni 
• Positions that may involve unreasonable physical risks, where known;   
• Failure to adhere to these Career Center policies and/or any violation of rules and regulations, and local, state, and federal laws 

View a job and internship posting template (docx)

Resume books can be an effective tool for employers when used in tandem with other recruiting efforts. Employers who have an approved, active account in HireJayhawks.com can request resume book access from their career services office. An active account will show job postings, information sessions, career fair participation, or other recruitment activity at KU.   

Employers utilizing resume books as part of their recruitment strategy are encouraged to:

• Be intentional about reaching out. Students receive a lot of email, and mass emailing them or emailing to often may dilute your message, or worse, leave it unread. For the best success, only reach out to students who you feel fit your needs. 
• Utilize the service for active hiring. Stockpiled resumes can quickly become outdated, and students may move on to other opportunities. Using resume books for active hiring improves your chances for connecting with candidates who are actively seeking employment. 
• Know your audience. Most students in HireJayhawks.com are seeking internships or a full-time, post-graduation position that require a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree.  
• Keep it confidential. To maintain the utmost confidentiality of student information, employment professional are not permitted to disclose any student information to another organization without the written consent of the student. 

KU Career Services reserves the right to restrict employers from registering for career events until outstanding balances have been paid.

• Employers should communicate final hiring decisions within a reasonable time frame, and this time frame should be outlined during the interview process. 
• Employers must give a student adequate time to consider an offer. A minimum of 2 weeks is customary and allows the student time to make an informed, confident decision.  
• Exploding offers (offers that do not afford a candidate the appropriate time to either accept or decline) are not permitted in recruitment activity at KU. Employers are to avoid undue pressure when making a job offer. 
• Employers making full-time offers at the conclusion of an internship should allow students to participate in fall on-campus recruitment events before communicating their decision. This provides time to explore all options and encourages a well-informed, confident choice. 
• Employers should never encourage a student to renege on a previously accepted employment offer. This behavior is unethical and will result in restricted access to our recruitment services and students. 
• If an offer must be rescinded from the employer, for any reason, we ask that you contact our office before taking action with the student. We will prepare to offer services and support in this potentially devastating situation. 
• If making an offer contingent on security clearance, background check or drug tests, students should be given a timeline for the completion of such screenings and notified if their offer is being rescinded due to the results.

Get more guidance on offer timelines from NACE.   

We educate and advise our students to maintain open communication with the recruiters throughout the interview process to avoid situations where a student has accepted multiple offers.  We inform them of the costs involved in the recruitment process, and educate them on the significance of reneging on an accepted offer for all parties - student, employer, university, department.  If a student does renege on a previously accepted offer, their access to our services will be revoked or suspended.  We ask our employers to share these situations with our staff so we can take available action.   

Many international students are qualified to work in the United States as interns, as well as hold full-time positions for up to three years following graduation, depending on their major. KU Career Services encourages you to consider the unique assets that international candidates may contribute to your organization, such as language skills and cultural knowledge.

Most students studying at KU are here on F-1 (foreign exchange) visas. They are permitted a period of practical work experience during or upon completion of their degree programs. This allows a company to assess the employee’s qualifications without sponsorship or completing any special filings or paperwork. Work is categorized under two programs:

• Optional Practical Training (OPT) allows F-1 students who have been enrolled full-time for two consecutive semesters to work up to 12 months in a job directly related to their major. Most students use OPT after they graduate to begin full-time work in the U.S., though it can be used part-time prior to graduation. Students in STEM majors can apply to extend their OPT for up to 24 months for a total of 36 months of work eligibility. Visit International Support Services OPT for additional information. 
• Curricular Practical Training (CPT) allows F-1 students who have been enrolled full-time for two consecutive semesters to work part-time in a position that is required or an integral part of their program. CPT must be used prior to degree completion, students must receive credit for the experience, and it must count toward degree requirements. Work can be full or part-time, but students have to remain enrolled full-time during the fall and spring semesters. Visit  International Support Services CPT for more information. 

When a company decided to continue the international graduate’s employment after the practical training period, a change in status to an H-1B visa is required at least several months before the practical training period ends. This provides an additional 3-6 years of employment with the company that files the petition. Applications are submitted by the employing organization to the local Department of Labor. There is a limit on the number of H-1B visas granted annually so a strong case must be provided for approval.

Interviewing Guidelines 

When interviewing international students, remember it is illegal to ask about an applicant’s immigration status, age, nationality, or marital status. It is permissible to ask whether an applicant has authorization to work in the U.S., and whether the applicant will need visa sponsorship now or in the future.