Student Recruiting Guidelines

The policies below apply to all students and Career Advancement programs, including employer recruiting events and the Jeff Metcalf Internship Program. Incoming students are invited to complete the guidelines using a Handshake survey; the full text of the student guidelines can be viewed here. If you have any questions, please contact careeradvancement@uchicago.edu.

2022-23 CAREER ADVANCEMENT STUDENT GUIDELINES

ACADEMICS COME FIRST

  • Students should not miss classes, laboratories, discussion sections, or other academic commitments to attend Career Advancement events or interviews
  • Students should only RSVP for career events and interviews that do not conflict with their course schedule
  • If students have a class that conflicts with a required Career Advancement event, they should attend class and reach out to their career adviser to discuss alternative opportunities

PROFESSIONALISM AND INTEGRITY

Employers and alumni recruiting from the University of Chicago invest time and resources in the process. In submitting your application materials through Handshake and on employers’ websites, you join our professional community and therefore it is important you maintain the utmost integrity, professional and honest communication and conduct (e.g., prompt return/acknowledgement of all phone calls and emails), and honor your commitments to organizations with which you are engaging. This includes but is not limited to company information sessions, coffee chats, and networking events, job/internship search processes, and email and/or in-person interactions with employer partners and/or alumni, staff, and peers. Additionally, we expect that you attend Career Advancement programs and events for which you have signed up or have been selected, such as advising appointments, treks and job shadowing experiences, and workshops. Failure to attend an in-person or virtual event reflects poorly on the University and may result in deactivation from recruiting.

INTERVIEWS

  • If you must cancel an interview you scheduled via Handshake, please do so through Handshake at least 48 hours prior to the interview or contact erd@uchicago.edu for assistance.
  • If you need to cancel an interview you set up outside of Handshake, please contact the employer directly as soon as possible.
  • If you’ve accepted an offer, you must cancel other planned interviews.  If you need to cancel an interview you have already scheduled with a different employer, please inform Career Advancement immediately at erd@uchicago.edu to discuss appropriate next steps.

For the benefit of all UChicago students, we highly value our employer relationships and discourage actions which take away opportunities from your peers.  Accordingly, being a no-call, no-show to a scheduled interview (virtual or in-person) is considered a violation of professional conduct which can result in recruiting deactivation.

JOB AND INTERNSHIP OFFERS

Acceptance of a verbal or written offer is a commitment made in good faith. You should promptly withdraw your applications from all other positions and courteously decline other offers. Withdrawing from an accepted offer and/or continuing to interview for other positions once an offer has been accepted reflects poorly on you and the University, is a violation of professional conduct, and can result in permanent suspension of recruiting privileges.

You should not accept multiple full-time opportunities for the same time period. Students are to prioritize and honor their full-time commitments.  If you are considering adding a part-time experience to your existing full-time commitment, contact a career adviser to discuss before finalizing a decision.

We understand personal circumstances can change. If you plan to withdraw from an already accepted position before or after you have already started for any reason, you should discuss your situation with an adviser before finalizing this decision. Your actions in this situation impact you, your peers, UChicago alumni, and the University’s reputation.

  • Beginning September 1, 2022 if you have accepted a summer 2023 internship offer, you agree that you will no longer participate in the recruiting process.
  • UChicago asks employers to give students a minimum of one week to respond to all employment offers.
  • For return offers given during the summer, employers are encouraged to give students four (4) weeks to respond.

SUMMER INTERNSHIP START DATES & FCPA

Requests for early finals must be discussed directly with the appropriate faculty member and it is at each professor’s discretion to accommodate this type of request.

  • Finals cannot be taken earlier than College Reading Day. Plan ahead to avoid possible scheduling conflicts between final exams and internship start dates and ensure they are resolved prior to the end of add/drop registration period.
  • Consult with the University’s academic year calendar as you work directly with your employer to finalize a start date. The end of the spring quarter will be Friday, June 2, 2023 and therefore internships can begin as early as Monday, June 5, 2023.
  • If going overseas (including if working virtually for an overseas employer), you agree that you will educate yourself about applicable local laws and abide by them, including local anti-bribery laws. Please review the University Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) Policy.

CAREER ADVISING RECORDS

By submitting your application materials, you authorize Career Advancement to share information, including information that may be considered as education records under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, with individuals outside the University, including employers.

Please refer to our website for annually for any updates to our Student Recruiting Guidelines. 

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT RECRUITING

IF I AM FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO BE SELECTED FOR MORE THAN ONE INTERVIEW IN THE SAME DAY, CAN I SIGN UP FOR BACK-TO-BACK INTERVIEWS?

We recommend not signing up for back-to-back interviews. It is quite common for interviewers to run behind schedule, so students should schedule at least 30 minutes between the scheduled end time of one interview and the scheduled start time of the next interview.

HOW DO I FIND THE CONTACT INFORMATION FOR AN INTERVIEWER SO I CAN SEND A THANK YOU NOTE?

If you do not have the contact information of your interviewer, ask for it at the end of your interview so that you can follow-up with them. In the event that this information is not available, we recommend that you send a thank you email to the point of contact at the organization with whom you’ve been in communication to set up your interview experience.

HOW LONG SHOULD I TAKE TO DECIDE WHETHER TO ACCEPT A JOB OR INTERNSHIP OFFER OR NOT?

Employers typically expect a response to an offer within one to two weeks of the day the offer is made, but some are more flexible than others. Given that recruiting events are staggered, you may receive an offer for an opportunity while you are still waiting to hear whether or not you will receive an offer from another employer. We strongly encourage you to contact Career Advancement if this happens. Make an appointment with a career adviser to discuss.