On-Campus Recruiting Policies
On-campus interviewing is a privilege that carries with it certain expectations for your conduct. To reinforce appropriate use of MIT's on-campus recruiting program, we have adopted policies to better serve you and the employers visiting campus. Please read these policies before participating in any on-campus recruiting events. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your interactions with employers, please feel free to call 617-253-4733 or stop by 12-170 to arrange an appointment with one of our counselors. Walk-ins are also welcome. See http://careers.mit.edu for more details.
Cancellation and No Show Policy
Failure to appear for scheduled interviews prevents other students from using your time slot and wastes the recruiter's time. Such behaviors reflect poorly on your professionalism and could jeopardize MIT's relationship with the employer regarding research and related activities and ultimately cause employers to suspend recruiting at MIT. Therefore, it is important that when you sign up for an interview you follow through on it. If you cannot make your scheduled interview, please be sure you take the appropriate steps.
Canceling Interviews
INTERVIEW TIMES MAY BE CHANGED OR CANCELLED UP TO 48 HOURS BEFORE THE SCHEDULED INTERVIEW. Cancellations within 48 hours for reasons other than illness or an emergency are not acceptable and will jeopardize your recruiting privileges. If you must change or cancel an interview more than 48 hours before the interview, you can do so directly in InterviewTRAK, contact the MIT Career Office at 617-253-4733 or mitco@mit.edu to have a member of the staff assist you, if necessary. Cancelling an interview within 48 hours of your scheduled appointment does not exempt you from penalty, and may still be considered a "No Show".
No Show Policy
If you miss an interview for any unexplained reason, or cancel or reschedule an interview within 48 hours of your appointment, you will be required to submit a letter of apology to the recruiter explaining your reason for missing the interview, with a copy sent to the Employer Relations Team at mitco@mit.edu within two business days after the missed interview or your interviewing privileges will be suspended.
If you incur a second unexplained "no show", your recruiting privileges will be suspended immediately. You will be required to submit a letter of apology to the recruiter and justify missing the interview to the satisfaction of the Employer Relations Team before your privileges will be reinstated. A third "no show" will result in termination of your interviewing privileges for the rest of your tenure at MIT and will not be eligible for reinstatement.
Ethics of Negotiating
It is assumed that you will negotiate in good faith with employers. This means you should only negotiate with an employer whose offer you plan to accept if the negotiation goes well. It is unethical to negotiate with an employer whose offer you have no intent to accept. If you reach an acceptable compromise in your negotiations with an employer, it is assumed you will accept the position. Negotiate only if you plan to accept the compromise.
It is appropriate to politely refuse to provide an employer with specific information about any job offers you may have received from other employers. It is important that if asked, you will affirm if you do have other offers pending. You do not have to name the organizations that have made offers to you, nor are you obliged to provide specific information about what salaries, perks or other compensations you've discussed with these organizations. Instead, broad responses to these questions that include salary ranges rather than specific dollar amounts are perfectly acceptable.
Evaluating Offers
When you receive a job offer, you are likely to feel elated and probably a little anxious. Consequently, you may be tempted to rush into accepting the offer immediately. It is important to evaluate all aspects of the job offer and think objectively about your choices before responding to an offer (see tip guide on salary and benefits at http://web.mit.edu/career/www/guide/salary.html).
There is no standard amount of time that an organization is legally required to give you to make a decision. Some will allow a few weeks or more while others will require an answer within a day or two.
According to policies set forth by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Principles for Professional Conduct, "Employers are expected to provide you with a reasonable amount of time to make decisions about accepting an employment offer. They are also expected to provide you with a reasonable process for making your decision. An unreasonable process, for example, is one in which the student is told that the offer is good for a set amount of time; unbeknownst to the student, the same offer has been extended to others-and the student who accepts first gets the job. An example of an unreasonable amount of time to make a decision might be when an employer only gives you a few hours to accept to reject an offer (see "exploding offers" at http://careers.mit.edu/employers/policies.html) In addition, it is improper for employers to pressure you to revoke your acceptance of another job offer.".
The MIT Careers Office encourages employers in the strongest terms possible, to grant students enough time to make prudent, well-thought-out career choices. An employer's failure to do so could result in sanctions against the employer, and possible suspension from further on-campus recruiting. (Please refer to our recruiting guidelines for employers at http://careers.mit.edu/employers/policies.html).
Delaying response
You may find that you need more time than an employer initially extends to make a decision on a job offer, especially if you have other employment opportunities pending. There are appropriate ways to approach this matter that minimize any negative impact on the employer, your reputation, MIT or other students who would be interested in pursuing an opportunity with this employer. Please consult with an MIT Careers Office Counselor on ways to address this matter (Call 617-253-4733 or stop by 12-170 to arrange an appointment with one of our counselors. Walk-ins are also welcome. See http://careers.mit.edu for more details).
Accepting an Offer
Once you have accepted a job offer, it is important to terminate all other job search activity. Failure to do so could deprive another student of those opportunities. Notify all other employers that you are no longer available for employment, and cancel any interviews (on-campus or off) you might have pending.
Declining an Offer
If you are declining an offer, do so with as much sensitivity to the employer's needs as possible. Inform the recruiter verbally as soon as your decision has been made, following your conversation with a well -written thank you letter. DO NOT delay contacting the employer. While making that phone call may be difficult, it is unlikely bad news will get better with time. An employer needs to know you are declining their offer as quickly as possible, so they can adjust their plans accordingly. Waiting until the last moment to contact them could force them into a situation they cannot remedy.
Reneging on offers
Accepting an offer is a commitment to the employer who made you the offer. Reneging on an offer could be seen as an ethical and possibly legal violation of that commitment. Besides negatively impacting your reputation and MIT's, reneging on an offer could also taint the reputation of future graduates of your department. Professional communities are never as large as they seem. Recruiters share information, and it is possible they may share information on someone that reneged. If you are not ready to make that commitment, DO NOT accept the job offer.
The MIT Careers Office considers reneges undertaken in any but the most dire circumstances a serious ethical breach. Doing so may result in the forfeiture of your right to participate in any additional on campus recruiting. Check with the Careers Office Staff to discuss the matter with a counselor before taking any potentially irreversible steps.
Last updated on Monday, April 30, 07 at 11:31:25 AM EDT.
