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Employer recruiting policies & ethical guidelines

Employers recruiting at the School of Information must adhere to the Equal Employment Opportunity guidelines, the National Association of Colleges and Employers Principles of Professional Conduct for Employment Professionals and the following guidelines:

Approved employers may use UMSI CareerLink to post full-time, part-time jobs and internships. Employer-created job postings are approved by the Career Development Office before they are viewable by students. We reserve the right to refuse to post a position if it is not in alignment with the career interests of our students or curriculum of our school.

The University of Michigan, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action, including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The University of Michigan is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination and equal opportunity for all persons regardless of race, sex*, color, religion, creed, national origin or ancestry, age, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, or Vietnam-era veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions. Inquiries or complaints may be addressed to the Senior Director for Institutional Equity and Title IX/Section 504 Coordinator, Office for Institutional Equity, 2072 Administrative Services Building, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1432, (734) 763-0235, TTY (734) 647-1388. For other University of Michigan information call (734) 764-1817. *Includes discrimination based on gender identity and gender expression.

The University of Michigan School of Information Career Development Office CDO provides an online recruitment system, UMSI CareerLink, for our students and alumni as the primary portal for employers to recruit UMSI students for jobs and internships. All postings must contain sufficient detail to clearly convey the basic responsibilities and requirements of the position to the job seeker.​ We will not accept postings or event descriptions that limit access on the basis of protected identity characteristics, such as race, gender, gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, national origin, disability, age, economic status, or veteran status. To participate in the campus interview program or to post job vacancies, employers must set up an account in UMSI CareerLink complete specific request forms and comply with our guidelines. Certain uses are inconsistent with this purpose including, but not limited to:

  • Activities that are illegal or fraudulent
  • Activities that violate other system users privacy, such as granting access to the system or distributing information obtained from these services
  • Use that inaccurately implies endorsement, approval, or sponsorship by the UMSI Career Development OfficeMass mailings or spamming
  • Hate speech or harassment or pornography
  • Alcohol: Serving alcohol during the recruitment process is prohibited. The University of Michigan Student Policy on Alcohol and Other Drugs can be found at the following link http://alcohol-drug-policy.umich.edu/
  • Companies who fail to comply with the guidelines and policies may be excluded from future recruiting privileges at the CDO.
  • The Third-Party Recruiters (Employment Agencies, Temporary Agencies, Search Firms)

Third parties may list openings online. Job postings must be a specific position with a single company. The Third Party firm must include their third party status in the job posting and include the name of the employing organization. As stipulated in the NACE Principles of Professional Conduct, third-party recruiters will not disclose to any employer, including the client-employer, any student information without obtaining prior written consent from the student. Under no circumstances can student information be disclosed for other than the original recruiting purposes nor can it be sold or provided to other entities. Online job posting and resume referral services must prominently display their privacy policies on their web sites, specifying who will have access to student information.

  • Positions requiring candidates to invest, purchase supplies or pay a fee

Companies requiring candidates to invest, purchase supplies, or pay a fee as a condition of employment are excluded from posting positions on UMSI CareerLInk, and all other campus recruiting activity offered through the CDO. The CDO reserves the right to review any employer wishing to recruit on campus, prior to or after scheduling, based on an inquiry, complaint or concern from the CDO or its constituents. Constituents include students, faculty, staff or other relevant concerned parties. The CDO will investigate any allegation that an employer or employer representative has violated University policies, ethical or professional standards, or federal or state law.

UMSI CareerLink Student Data

  • Please note that the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) restricts employer use of student resumes. Organizations receiving such information may use it only for the purpose of evaluating candidates for employment within their own organization. Thus, employers may not transmit (or re-disclose) student information to any other employer or third party, nor to others within the employing organization for something other than employment purposes. If an organization improperly re-discloses student records, Federal law prohibits that party from obtaining student records for a period of at least five years.

The UMSI CDO will deny further access to UMSI CareerLink to those who engage in these or similar practices. Those who misuse information and communication services could also face disciplinary or legal action. 

Companies who fail to comply with the guidelines and policies may be excluded from future recruiting privileges at the University of Michigan School of Information.

Employers requesting a campus recruiting visit, schedule and/or activities must give at least two weeks notice for a preferred visit date as well as alternate dates by completing this Campus Recruiting Request Form.

CDO cannot refer, evaluate or select “top” students or diversity candidates for employers to interview. The CDO can consult with employers to provide strategies for attracting specific student populations or types of candidates only. 

Cancellations: Employers that cancel interview schedules once the student sign-up has opened are responsible for directly contacting students who had signed up for interviews. 

Scheduling: The CDO will make every effort to provide as well as customize full interview schedules to accommodate employers’ needs and requirements. If the employer misses the deadlines to provide the necessary information (e.g., job posting, candidate selection, etc.), the CDO cannot guarantee a full schedule. The CDO will provide ongoing schedule updates to provide the employer enough time to cancel a visit in the case of low student sign-up for an event or interview schedule.

Employers making an employment offer to a University of Michigan student are referred first to the NACE position on Reasonable Offer Deadline Guidelines. Efforts should be made on the part of the employer to give students adequate time to fully consider an offer of an internship or full-time employment. In accordance with NACE Principles of Professional Conduct, employment professionals will refrain from any practice that improperly influences and affects job acceptances. Such practices may include undue time pressure for acceptance of employment offers and encouragement of revocation of another employment offer. Employment professionals will strive to communicate decisions and updates to candidates within the agreed-upon time frame. Likewise, students are advised to carefully evaluate offers before accepting, and strongly discouraged from reneging after acceptance.

To curtail student declines after acceptance, it is highly recommended that employers offering full-time and internship offers remain open until November 30 and for at least a period of three weeks. This recommendation extends to offers given to current/previous interns and co-ops. It is permissible to offer incentives to students who accept a position in advance of these dates.

Employers needing to rescind or defer employment should carefully review the guidelines and follow the NACE recommendations within their Position Statement on Rescinded and Deferred Employment Offers. The NACE guidelines urge employers to adopt a two-part approach to employment offers under consideration for revocation. The first emphasizes the need for a commitment to high standards in recruiting. The second offers a reasoned approach to dealing with rescinded and deferred offers. NACE recommends that employers who must revoke a commitment do everything possible to avoid rescinding offers, and consider alternatives that do not require rescinding employment offers. These may include changes in job responsibilities, salary reduction and/or reduced work weeks, changes in job locale, delayed starting dates, and other reasonable options. Students are highly encouraged to inform the CDO of offers and acceptances of employment. However, once an offer has been accepted, they have been asked to discontinue campus interviews and cancel any remaining interviews in accordance with the CDO Job Search Ethical Guidelines. Students are asked to make every effort to avoid reneging on job offers. We advise them to gather information, ask plenty of questions, anticipate other offers, determine their career goals and needs, meet with a CDO advisor, and/or request an extension on the deadline, all in an attempt to make an informed decision regarding an offer of employment. They are informed that once the commitment is made, reneging on an offer has an extremely negative impact. It tarnishes their reputation and also damages the reputation of UMSI. Building a campus presence, identifying suitable candidates and participating in campus recruiting are time-consuming and expensive undertakings for employing organizations. We advise that students take any offer of employment seriously and plan to honor their commitments.

Each member of the University of Michigan School of Information’s scholarly community comes from a distinctive background, making our school stronger and helping us to fulfill our mission of building a better world through technology and information. 

Diversity broadens our perspectives and paves the way for innovation. Our community includes people from different races and ethnicities, genders and gender identities, sexual orientations, ages and socio-economic backgrounds. We speak different languages, come from different cultures and countries, and practice different religions. We have different abilities and disabilities, different political perspectives, and different life experiences.

We’re committed to ensuring all members of our community have the opportunity to participate fully without worrying about facing bias, harassment, or discrimination. As you engage with candidates, we ask that you join us by creating welcoming environments during your interactions.