Career Services

Employer Policies and Guidelines

 

All employers must be deemed by Oklahoma State University and OSU Career Services to be legitimate organizations with verifiable: business name, physical address, email address, phone number and the name of a contact who can be reached at the address listed by telephone and email. OSU Career Services reserves the right to refuse services to employers due to any of the following: dishonesty; discrimination; breach of confidentiality; failing to comply with established agreements between OSU Career Services and the employer (verbal or written); revoking a job offer to a student; fraud; failure to pay for billed services; misrepresentation; harassment of students, alumni, staff or faculty; failure to adhere to OSU Career Services policies and/or any other violation of Oklahoma State University rules and regulations.

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Approved employers must agree to/abide by the following:

• Will comply with the nondiscrimination requirements of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO), Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights act of 1964.
• Will comply with policies and guidelines of Oklahoma State University and OSU Career Services.
• Will comply with employment guidelines designated by the U.S. Department of Labor as well as local, state and federal laws, including but not limited to the Fair Labor Standards Act.
• Will follow the Principles for Ethical Professional Practice as outlined by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).
• Will cooperate with the university in any inquiry regarding the recruiting process including providing the names of any candidates interviewed and/or hired.
• Will not ask or allow any OSU employees to screen applicant materials (resumes/cover letters, transcripts, references, etc) for any purpose, including the giving of university employee’s advice to recruiter/company on which applicants should be interviewed, recruited or hired.
• Will make reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities so that they may participate in the recruitment process.
• Will ensure that alcoholic beverages will not be a part of the recruiting process.
• Will clearly identify the name of the employing organization, job title, job description and rate of compensation.
• Will not solicit or sell products/services or offer any financial promotional offerings during the recruiting process.
• Will not use or disclose student information for any reason other than recruiting purposes for the posted position, including selling student information to other entities for a fee or other forms of compensation.
• Will have an employer-employee relationship for the positions they are recruiting. Employers recruiting for independent contractors, 100% commission jobs and positions which would require filing a 1099 Tax Form are all excluded from utilizing recruitment services provided by OSU Career Services.
• Will not charge any fees associated with becoming an employee of the organization, other than professional licensure fees for career employees that may be necessary to be paid by employee.
• Will have contact information viewable to students upon creation of an employer account in the OSU Job & Interview Portal, unless the employer emails careers@okstate.edu  to make their contact information private.

 

On-Campus Interviews

All interviews conducted on campus should be scheduled through OSU Career Services; further, employers are highly encouraged to hold all first-round interviews on campus regardless of their organizations’ location. On-campus interviews will often bring higher student response rates and a more efficient recruiting process for employers. In order to assist employers through the recruiting process, OSU Career Services offers two types of on-campus interviews – preselect and room only. To better assist all employers equitably, OSU Career Services offers the following timelines for on-campus interviewing:

 

Preselect On-Campus Interviews

• Offered in the fall semester for a four-week period, beginning the second Monday following Career Fair Week.
• Offered in the spring semester for six weeks, specific dates to be announced due to variable time frames.

Room-Only or Day After Fair On-Campus Interviews

• Offered throughout the year, excluding the start of the fall semester until Fall Career Fair Week (mid-August to mid-September).
• Limit of two rooms per day during Fall Career Fair Week and the day after all other career fairs (limited to only those employers attending appropriate career fair).

 

Offer Guidelines

OSU Career Services seeks to create a fair and safe recruiting environment for all OSU students, while maintaining a level playing field for the employers who recruit them. Students should have the ability to explore all their employment options through the college recruiting process, which may take one to two months in some instances. This is the primary distinction between “just-in-time hiring” and “college recruiting.” When all employers follow equitable recruiting time frames and offer clear, open communication throughout the recruitment process, instances of student reneges will be minimized and quality of hiring is maximized. In addition to the NACE advisory opinion on setting reasonable deadlines for job offers, OSU Career Services urges all employers recruiting OSU students on or off campus to honor the following offer guidelines:

• Refrain from exploding offers and high pressure, short response timelines.

  • These tactics create undue pressure on students, as they are instructed by OSU Career Services to remove themselves from contention for other jobs once they have accepted an offer. When students feel pressed to accept an offer before they are ready or lack all the information necessary for an educated decision, there is an increased likelihood they will keep searching and may renege on the initial offer.

• Keep end of summer and fall semester offers for full-time positions and internships open through fall recruiting season, the third Friday of October.

  • This does not prohibit employers from extending early offers, nor prevent students from accepting at any time should they feel ready to make a decision. We simply ask that employers do not require a response to any internship or full-time offer prior to the third Friday of October. Employers unable to provide this time frame should help students understand their extenuating business circumstances.
• For all other internship and full-time offers to students, allow a minimum of two weeks to respond.
  • Although we advise students to communicate openly with employers when they need an extension to an offer response date, many feel that doing so will jeopardize the current offer. We encourage employers to clearly outline the extent of rigidity of all response deadlines during the initial offer and remain flexible if an extension can be granted. Students are more likely to be transparent about their job search status when they understand the employer’s perspectives and challenges, leading to the best possible outcome for both your organization and the student.

 

Job postings

All job listings are posted at the discretion of OSU Career Services. OSU Career Services abides by the principles set forth by NACE and expects employers who use its services to adhere to EEO guidelines. Job postings appearing to discriminate against applicants based on race, color, religion, creed, age, national origin, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or gender will not be approved. OSU Career Services also reserves the right to refuse to post jobs that do not support the interests of OSU.

 

The following job types will not be allowed:

• No compromising positions such as adult entertainment, escort services, presentation modeling or similar activities
• No positions that pay for work in cash
• No jobs/internship that require out of pocket expense from the student (other than transportation)
• No jobs/internships that discriminate against designated groups
• No positions soliciting the donation of plasma, reproductive gamete or other organ donation
• OSU Career Services does not support the posting or advertising of job opportunities that involve door-to-door sales, solicitation or any other form of door-to-door activity by students.

 

Internships and Unpaid Internships

In accordance with NACE and the U.S. Department of Labor, OSU Career Services defines an internship as the following:

An internship is a form of experiential learning that integrates knowledge and theory learned in the classroom with practical application and skills development in a professional workplace setting (across in-person, remote or hybrid modalities). Internships provide students the opportunity to gain valuable applied experience, develop social capital, explore career fields and make connections in professional fields.

 

As such, all internships posted with OSU Career Services should meet the following criteria:

• A learning experience with a real-world opportunity to apply the knowledge gained in the classroom. It must not be simply to advance the operations of the employer or replace the work that a regular employee would routinely perform.
• Learned skills and knowledge that are transferable to other employment settings.
• A defined beginning and end that is mutually agreed upon and consistent with institutional sponsor guidelines and schedules.
• A position description with clear responsibilities and required/desired qualifications.
• Clearly defined learning objectives/goals supportive of the student’s academic program goals and institutional requirements.
• Direct supervision by a professional(s) with relevant expertise and educational and/or professional experience who provides productive feedback, guidance, and the resources and equipment necessary to successfully complete the assignment.

 

OSU Career Services endorses the NACE stance on paid internships:

There are three primary reasons supporting the idea that all internships should be paid: requiring internship to be paid would 1) promote equity and access by removing barriers that limit who can take part, 2) recognize that interns perform work—and all work should be paid, and 3) support diversifying the workforce by creating an inclusive pool of entry-level candidates who have the experience and competencies employers seek.

 

It is the responsibility of each employer to determine whether an internship should be paid or unpaid, based on labor laws. Each employer should be familiar with labor laws in order to determine eligibility based on the organization's specific internship opportunity. For more information about unpaid internships and labor law, please refer to the U.S. Department of Labor Fact Sheet #71  which details the seven-factor test for unpaid interns.

 

Work Authorization

The Immigration and Nationality Act prohibits citizenship status and national origin discrimination with respect to hiring, termination and recruiting or referring for a fee. See 8 U.S.C. § 1324b(a)(1)(B).

 

Employers may not treat individuals differently because they are, or are not, U.S. citizens or work authorized individuals. U.S. citizens, asylees, refugees, recent permanent residents and temporary residents are protected from citizenship status discrimination. Employers may not reject valid employment eligibility documents or require more or different documents on the basis of a person’s national origin or citizenship status.

 

OSU Career Services prohibits:

• Any posting that requires U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent residence in the U.S. as a condition of employment, unless otherwise required in order to comply with law, regulation, executive order or government contract.
• Any job requirement or criterion in connection with a job posting that discriminates on the basis of citizenship status or national origin.

All employers recruiting at OSU will:

• Treat equally U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, temporary residents, asylees and refugees in recruitment or hiring.
• Embrace equal employment practices, including: refraining from discriminating on the basis of national origin and/or immigration and citizenship status.
• Avoid making the assumption that only U.S. citizens are authorized to work in the United States.
• Avoid the following language in job postings: "Only U.S. Citizens," "Citizenship requirement,"* "Only U.S. Citizens or Green Card Holders," "H-1Bs Only," "Must have a U.S. Passport," "Must have a green card" *Unless U.S. citizenship is required by law, regulation, executive order or government contract.
• Allow all employees (including non-U.S. citizens) to provide any permissible documents to establish their identity or work authorization during the employment verification process.
• Recognize that refugees and those newly granted asylum who have not yet received a Social Security number may not be fully able to complete online applications even though they are authorized to work in the U.S. indefinitely and avoid creating unnecessary hurdles for such individuals.

Employers recruiting at OSU will have the opportunity to select one of the following options related to identifying jobs posted on the Job and Interview Portal:

1. Permanent U.S. Work Authorization Required
2. All Work Authorizations Accepted
3. Other Work Authorization Required

In compliance with the provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), job postings and interview appointments will be made available to interested students who are authorized to work full-time in the United States regardless of their citizenship status, unless U.S. citizenship is legally required. If citizenship is legally required for your company, please indicate this as such on your job posting.

For further reference, employers may refer to the following:

• Office of Special Counsel for Immigration-Related Unfair Employment Practices
• Department of Justice Best Practice for Online Job Postings
• US Department of Labor