Center for Career Exploration

Recruiting Policies for Students

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Recruiting Policies for Students

Our goal at the Brown Center for Career Exploration is to ensure that students and organizations engage in fair, honorable recruiting practices. These policies are in place to help students adhere to a high degree of professionalism during the job search, and to support students in advocating for themselves throughout the recruiting process.

Our policies include all programming or recruitment activities including, but not limited to: on-campus interviews, information sessions/workshops, employers-in-residence, student group visit, all virtual events (interviews, career fairs, coffee chats, etc.) and consortiums or conferences where Brown students participate.

A similar set of policies and guidelines have been established for our employer partners which may be found here. If you suspect an employer has violated any recruiting policy, please report the incident to the Center immediately using the Recruiting Policy Violation form. If you report a violation, the Center will not share your identity with an employer.

The Center is here to help students. If you have any questions or concerns about employers, the recruiting process, or need assistance reviewing your resume or preparing for an interview, contact the Center!

  • Employer Partnerships: For questions relating to these guidelines and policies, and employer events or job fairs, please contact recruiting@brown.edu.
  • Peer Career Advisors (PCA’s): To speak with a fellow student for assistance crafting or improving your resume or cover letter and practicing your interviewing skills, please contact peercareeradvisors@brown.edu to schedule an appointment.  
  • Career Counselors: For assistance navigating multiple offers or offer negotiations, practicing your interviewing skills, or for guidance conducting and effective job/internship search, schedule an appointment using Handshake or contact careercenter@brown.edu. 
  • Pathways Deans: Explore industry specific pathways and understand what job fields look like and how to break through by meeting with a Pathways Dean.  Open office hours are held weekly, no appointment needed. Or, you may schedule an individual appointment via Handshake. 
  • Walk into the Center! We are located at 167 Angell Street. Staff is onsite during the academic year Monday - Friday from 8:30am - 5:00pm. 

Student Recruitment Guidelines and Policies

We partner with our students throughout the recruiting process to ensure that they have sufficient time to engage in the recruiting process, and to assist with questions throughout the decision-making process - especially understanding the consequences of reneging. Reneging is defined as going back on an agreement, promise or contract after accepting employment with an organization. Reneging can have unintended consequences for both the student and the center by eroding the relationship with the employer. The Brown Center for Career Exploration (CCE) staff are here to help alleviate  pressure throughout this process.

Students are expected to adhere to our guidelines, policies, and standards outlined throughout this document in all interactions virtually, on and off campus, with alumni, employers, community members, and other Brown students. Brown Center for Career Exploration holds itself and its employers to the highest level of professional integrity and social responsibility as established by the National Association of Colleges and Employers Codes of Professional Conduct.

Students who use the services of the Center for Career Exploration and the Handshake platform understand that honesty and integrity throughout the personal and professional development and job/internship search process reflects on their character. Students will provide accurate information in all materials and actions in the pursuit of a meaningful personal and professional future.

By engaging with Recruiting and the Center for Career Exploration, students must commit to timely communication with employers and Center staff. Students should acknowledge phone calls, emails, invitations for interviews and events, and any other correspondence relating to offers and employer onboarding in a timely manner. This generally means following up within 24 hours on weekdays and 48 hours on weekends. These standards are expected by our employer partners and they will hold students accountable to them.

Interviews

  • Students scheduled for interviews or any recruiting event engagement must give 48 hours’ notice to cancel an interview.
  • If a student is late for an interview, it will be at the discretion of the employer as to whether the interview will still be conducted.

Events That Require Pre-Registration (virtual or in-person)

  • Some events REQUIRE pre-registration because there may be a limited number of student slots available.  If you register for a timeslot for an event requiring pre-registration and then do not attend, you are taking a spot that would have been available to another student at Brown.  This can be harmful to your fellow Brown students, as well as your own reputation with an employer.
    • Examples of events which may require pre-registration are, but are not limited to: industry spotlights, coffee chats, mock interviews, and virtual career fairs. 
  • If you have pre-registered for an event that requires registration but cannot attend because of an emergency situation or illness, please let the Employer Partnerships team know as soon as possible in advance. It is recommended that you also follow-up directly with the employer to let them know why you were not able to attend the event. Employers are registering all attendance and will follow up accordingly.

 

Students are expected to act responsibly and professionally both in virtual and in-person settings with employers. Plan ahead to avoid unnecessary delays (such as Wi-Fi connections, time zone confusion, platform compatibility and / or links, etc.). Be sure to test everything in advance, note the meeting time, and have a way to email or text your contact person in case you have last-minute difficulties. The same cancellation policies apply for both virtual and in-person events.

OFFERS FOR JOB & INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES BEGINNING IN 2025

Employers are asked to follow the timeline below for Brown students. We strongly encourage employers to permit students to participate in recruitment activities and allow student candidates sufficient time to explore their career options before deciding whether or not to accept offers for internships or full-time employment. After October 18, 4 weeks or a decision window mutually agreeable between the student and employer are acceptable. Employers are asked to consider requests for additional flexibility on a case-by-case basis. Our office recognizes that there are times when a job offer and start date are less than 4 weeks apart; in those cases we ask employers to offer a reasonable amount of time (at least 48 hours and up to 1 week) for students to consider the opportunity.

Fall 2024 & Spring/Summer 2025
Date/Timing of Offer		 Acceptance Deadline
Full-time or Intern offer extended prior to October 18, 2024 November 8, 2024*
*This includes Summer '23 offers for Summer '24
Full-time or Intern offer extended October 18, 2024 or later Four weeks from Date of Offer or a decision window mutually agreeable between the student and employer

We understand you may encounter challenges with these deadlines. If you have questions, we at the CCE are here to help. Please email the Employer Partnerships team.

Student safety is our priority. We expect employers to take the health and safety of our students into consideration when scheduling interviews and offer a virtual option, if requested. 

We understand that at times scheduling and travel required for recruiting may conflict with a student's course schedule, exam schedule, or other academic or extracurricular commitments. The Center encourages employers to provide alternate dates without negative consequences for interviews (especially "Super Days" and second or final round interviews) if the date originally suggested conflicts with a student's academic commitments or other valid campus obligations. 

In the event of conflicts, students should reach out directly to employers to ask for flexibility in the recruiting process or alternate scheduling of recruiting activities. In the event that employers aren't able to be flexible, students should strive to communicate conflicts to professors, coaches, and advisors as far in advance as possible. Please note that the College does not provide Dean's notes in the event that a student needs to miss class, an exam, or another academic obligation in order to participate in an interview or recruiting activity.  As mentioned above it is important that students communicate conflicts with their professors and it is up to their discretion whether they can provide flexibility. If you need help or support in advocating for yourself with an employer or faculty member, please schedule a meeting with a Career Counselor or a Peer Career Advisor.  Please understand that the Center will not intervene directly with a faculty member on your behalf, but can help with your communications.

When an employer extends a verbal offer of employment, a written offer of employment with the same terms and conditions should be issued within 7 days of the verbal offer. We encourage students not to accept a verbal offer prior to reviewing the written offer. In addition, the four week date of offer countdown cannot begin until the written offer is extended.

Brown Center for Career Exploration defines an exploding offer as: Any offer that does not adhere to the policy stated above and/or that has special incentives attached, such as diminishing bonuses, location or job preferences, for purposes of inducing early acceptance. Exploding offers are strictly prohibited. Any offer made to students must remain “whole” during the consideration period, including any monetary incentives.


If students receive exploding offers (which can be different from an offer with a quick decision deadline) they can contact the Employer Partnerships team and the situation will remain confidential. The center will outline steps to help you negotiate all offers outside of deadlines listed above.

Once an employment offer has been accepted (written), students should withdraw all outstanding applications and cancel any scheduled interviews. We strongly discourage reneging on the acceptance of an offer as it can have unintended consequences for both the student and the Center by eroding the relationship with the employer.


Students who have difficulty deciding or need more time to consider an offer are strongly encouraged to contact the Center for Career Exploration and speak with the Employer Partnerships team or a Career Counselor.

In accordance with guidelines established by NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers), there should be no consumption of alcohol by candidates during the recruiting process. Employers should not offer alcohol to candidates. Any violation should be reported to the Center for Career Exploration immediately using the Recruiting Policy Violation form.  If you report a violation, the Center will not share your identity with an employer. 

If a student violates any aspect of the Student Policies, they will be blocked from the campus recruiting program immediately, including indefinite suspension from Handshake. Under a few circumstances, reinstatement may occur. In order to be reinstated, a student must:

  1. Meet with the Center for Career Exploration Associate Director and determine that there was an acceptable reason for violating Student Policy. 
  2. Communicate directly with the employer and apologize.

Again, if you have any questions about these guidelines and policies, please contact us at recruiting@brown.edu.