by the NACE Principles for Ethical Professional Practice Committee
Choosing and attaining meaningful post-graduation employment is an important challenge for college students. To aid this process, your career center and employers develop connections and programs, such as on-campus/virtual recruiting and career fairs, in which you and your fellow students are active participants. For this process to be successful, everyone involved must work together.
NACE’s Principles for Ethical Professional Practice provide guidelines for career center professionals and employers to:
1. Practice reasonable, responsible, and transparent behavior.
2. Act without bias.
3. Ensure equitable access.
4. Comply with laws.
5. Protect confidentiality of job seeker information.
WHAT STUDENTS CAN REASONABLY EXPECT FROM THE CAREER CENTER
1. Confidentiality (Principles 4, 5)
Career center staff are expected to exercise sound judgment and fairness in maintaining the confidentiality of student information, regardless of the source, including written records, reports, and databases. Disclosure of student information outside the college/university should only be made with prior student consent along with compliance with local, state, and federal laws, statutes, and regulations e.g., FERPA, unless health and safety considerations necessitate the distribution of such information.
2. Freedom from bias (Principle 2)
Career center staff should offer equitable support in developing a career plan and making career decisions without having staff members’ biases or personal values imposed upon students.
3. Access to all services and events (Principle 3)
Career Centers should ensure equal employment opportunities to all students, with sensitivity to diverse or underrepresented populations. Career centers will be transparent about any fees students may be responsible for in the registration or participation in certain services or events. Such fees should be sufficiently nominal as not to deter student participation. Career centers should be prepared to discuss, and potentially provide reasonable accommodations to allow students with disabilities to adequately participate.
4. Access to career information (Principle 3)
All students, regardless of background, should be provided by career center staff with equal and full access to information on career opportunities and types of employing organizations. Career center staff are also expected to inform students about how and where to obtain information that may influence decisions about an employing organization.
5. Guidance on employer communication and engagement (Principle 1)
Career center staff help by advising students on the best and most professional way to communicate with any employer. This would include acceptance or refusal of employment/job offers, asking for an extension to consider an offer, requests for hiring process updates, time frame for decisions to hire, and so forth.
WHAT STUDENTS CAN REASONABLY EXPECT FROM EMPLOYERS
1. Confidentiality (Principles 4, 5)
Employers are expected to maintain the confidentiality of student information, regardless of the source, including personal knowledge, written records/reports, and databases. An employer should not disclose information about students to another organization without prior consent, unless necessitated by health and/or safety considerations.
2. Accurate information (Principles 1,4)
Employers are expected to provide accurate information about their organizations and employment opportunities. This includes, but is not limited to, positions available, responsibilities, career advancement opportunities, and benefits.
3. Freedom from undue pressure (Principle 1)
Employers are expected to provide students with a reasonable amount of time to decide about accepting an employment offer. They are also expected to provide students with a reasonable process for making a 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 made to others—and the student who accepts first gets the job. In addition, it is improper for employers to pressure you to revoke your acceptance of another job offer.
4. Timely communication (Principle 1)
Employers are expected to inform students of their status in the hiring process and communicate hiring decisions within an agreed time frame. Employers can communicate with students during the hiring process in various forms, such as telephone, phone screen interview, email, applicant tracking system, or text message.
They may also offer follow-up contact regarding the interview and perhaps an invitation for a second-round interview. A formal offer of employment can be made verbally or through a written document. Some form of communication such as a letter or applicant tracking system notification can be sent to indicate a decline of job offer because the position was filled by another applicant.
It is important to note there may be some time delay between the interview and employer follow-up notification. Once the offer has been accepted, there may be a background check and other contingencies for employment. Typically, other candidates are not notified until these contingencies have been resolved. Employers should provide status updates regarding the hiring decision to all candidates. It is acceptable for students to contact an employer to ask for an update in the hiring process within reasonable time frames.
5. Fair treatment (Principles 2, 4)
If an employer is required by changing conditions to revoke a job offer that a student has accepted, the student may be eligible to a fair and equitable course of action. That may include, but is not limited to, financial assistance and outplacement service if a lawsuit is brought. Employers should consult with legal counsel in this regard.
6. Pre-Hire Assessments (Principles 1, 4)
Employers should inform students in advance of any assessments used in the recruiting process and their policies regarding disclosure of assessment results.
7. Protected Categories (Principles 2, 3, 4)
Employers are required to avoid discrimination in their recruitment activities and to follow federal equal employment opportunity (EEO) guidelines and applicable state, local, and federal laws and regulations.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES AS A JOB SEEKER
Your career center and potential employers are strongly encouraged to abide by the NACE Principles as they work with you at every stage of the hiring process. The following support your engagement with career centers and prospective employers.
1. Be honest.
Conduct your job search with honesty and integrity. Do not lie or stretch the truth on your resume, applications, or during any part of the interview process. You need to provide accurate information about your academic work and records, including courses taken, grades, positions held, and duties performed. You can, however, refuse to provide an employer with specific information about any job offers you may have received from other employers. In fact, some states prohibit employers from asking a candidate’s salary history. You do not have to name the organizations that have made you offers, nor do you have to provide specific information about what salaries you have discussed with those organizations. Instead, you can give broad responses to such questions, naming the types of employers—”I have interviewed with employers in the retail industry”—and offering salary ranges rather than specific dollar amounts—”I am seeking a salary between [$] and [$].” Incidentally, it is in your best interest to research salaries and to let employers know that you have done so.
2. Interview genuinely.
Interview only with employers in which you are sincerely interested. “Practice” interviewing is misleading to employers—wasting both their time and money—and prevents sincerely interested candidates from using those interview slots. It is also important to respond back to all interview invitations so the employers know of your continued interest in their hiring process or your respectful declination of the interview invitation. If the employer asks for more information about why you are declining the interview, it is appropriate to give general information about a change in your particular situation regarding employment.
4. Adhere to schedules.
Show up for all scheduled interviews, virtually, on campus, or elsewhere, unless unforeseeable events prevent you from doing so. If you cannot make the interview because of an unforeseeable event, notify your career center and/or the employer at the earliest possible moment. It is unprofessional to withdraw from all communication without explanation with those who are expecting you to attend your scheduled interview.
5. Maintain communication with employers.
Communicate your acceptance or refusal of a job offer to employers promptly, so they can notify other candidates that they are still being considered or that the position is filled. Failing to communicate one way or another without explanation is unprofessional.
6. Respond to a job offer in good faith.
When you accept an offer, you should have every intention of honoring that commitment. Accepting an offer only as a precautionary measure is misleading to the employer and may restrict opportunities for others who are genuinely interested in that employer. It is poor practice to accept a job offer, then renege on your acceptance after you decide to take another offer. In all cases, notify employers of your decision promptly.
7. Withdraw from recruiting when your job search is completed.
If you accept a job offer or have another reason why you are no longer pursuing employment, notify your career center and withdraw from the recruiting process immediately. Also, let employers that are actively considering you for a job know that you are no longer pursuing employment. By informing all parties concerned that you have other plans, you can help other job seekers interested in these employers.
8. Claim fair reimbursement.
If an employer has agreed to reimburse you for expenses in its recruitment process, clarify in advance which types of expenses will be reimbursed.
9. Obtain the career information you need to make an informed choice about your future.
It is up to you to acquire information about career opportunities, organizations, and any other information that might influence your decisions about an employing organization.
10. Demonstrate professionalism in the job-search process.
Always maintain a gracious attitude/approach with all the different individuals and organizations that you engage with, including recruiters and career center professionals. Preserving cordial relationships with different industry professionals will serve you well in your future career prospects.
Revised by the 2022 NACE Principles for Ethical Professional Practice Committee.