Recruiting: Calendar & Guidelines

To engage with Stanford Career Education and participate in the above employer services:

1. Employers must create a Handshake account.
2. Opportunities and events must be posted onto Handshake before being marketed to students.

Please be advised that we do not approve the following:

• Employers using personal email addresses (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo, etc.)
• Employers without a company website
• Opportunities that require payment from students to access (e.g., events, internships, jobs)
• Employers or industries related to:
  • Adult entertainment
  • Alcohol or tobacco
  • Cannabis
  • Firearms
  • Gambling
  • Multi-level marketing (MLM) organizations
  • Third-party recruiters, agencies or job boards
• Stanford University does not offer a nursing major or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program.

Additionally, we do not approve:

• Employers with a history of discrimination or misrepresentation of internships
• Organizations conflicting with ideological or religious objections
• Third-party recruiters, agencies, or job boards

These restrictions aim to maintain a professional and equitable environment for students.

Exception: Third-party recruiters looking to hire for internal positions within their own organizations must obtain prior approval from the ERO team. For assistance, please reach out to us at recruiting@stanford.edu.

tanford University students are encouraged to participate in fall campus recruitment prior to accepting or declining any offers so students may have ample information to inform their important employment decisions. Our guidelines are designed to balance being respectful of employer recruiting priorities and providing students with sufficient time to review offers of employment. Employers are encouraged to consider the complexity of recruiting and provide support for students to make fully informed decisions with consideration for time extensions on offers where appropriate, we request no less than a two-week time frame for reviewing offers.  

• All offers should be extended to the student in writing, and include compensation and benefits, the role description, start date (and end date for internships) of employment, and any other pertinent details of employment before the student is able to consider the offer.
• Employers participating in campus recruiting, in-person or virtual, must agree to the following offer extension guidelines and acceptance timelines.
• The timeline begins after a student receives the offer in writing. No “exploding offers” (a job offer that is retracted if not accepted in a very short period of time) are allowed.
• For questions about our recruiting guidelines please email us.

Stanford Career Education strongly discourages serving alcohol at on- and off-campus events that involve the recruiting of Stanford students. For additional information, please consult guidance provided by Stanford Student Affairs regarding the alcohol policy. Please direct questions regarding this topic to Stanford Career Education's Employer Relations and Outcomes team at recruiting@stanford.edu.

The CareerEd Center defines an exploding offer as any offer which does not conform with the offer guidelines listed above. Students should not be pressured to accept offers “on the spot” or "early,” whether this is based upon a shorter time frame for consideration overall and/or due to any special diminishing incentives attached, e.g., tiered or expiring bonuses, reduced options for location preferences, etc. Employers are expected to refrain from such practices when recruiting at Stanford.

CareerEd works to ensure that all of Stanford's students are heard, supported, and included in career opportunities on campus. Regardless of a student's combination of identities and experiences, CareerEd works to help students have a sense of belonging. CareerEd is committed to diversity and inclusivity in all hiring and employment practices for campus recruiting. Learn more about equity and inclusion at Stanford.

Stanford Career Education, is the on-campus organization approved to plan and host employer recruiting events. Student organizations cannot host an employer recruiting event without formal approval. Please review the policy set forth by the Stanford Office of Student Engagement or reach out to recruiting@stanford.edu to learn more.

• Cryptocurrency, bitcoin, tokens, fiat, or equity are not acceptable forms of payment.
• Organizations only offering unpaid, stipend, or volunteer positions must meet the organizational definitions and requirements that allow them to do so legally, and they must clearly state the pay status when posting their opportunities on Handshake.  Students should notify recruiting@stanford.edu if they encounter this.
• Commission Sales Positions:  If no initial base salary is provided, the form of remuneration should be clearly stated in the employer's job descriptions and at the time of the initial interviews. 
• Postings that request donations, application fees, or investments cannot be listed on Handshake.
• Meet unpaid internship requirements outlined in Fair Labor Standards Act from the Department of Labor.

University Counsel prohibits on-campus testing of students by employers. Employers who decide to conduct tests off-site are advised to follow the Principles for Professional Conduct set forth by NACE and the EEOC guidelines. Employers must also advise candidates in a timely fashion, of the type and purpose of any test that they will be required to take as part of the recruitment process, what individual rights may be waived in consenting to testing terms and conditions, and to whom the test results will be disclosed. It is advised that the testing information is posted within the context of the job description so that students are informed at the beginning of the recruitment process.

On a rare occasion, students may have to cancel a confirmed interview or coffee chat. Students should comply with the following Stanford Career Education recruiting guideline if they need to reschedule or cancel their confirmed interview:

Students may cancel via Handshake a minimum of 24 hours prior to the interview or coffee chat (or by noon PT Friday if their interview is scheduled on the following Monday). This will allow the employer enough time to select an alternate candidate to interview in their place.

In addition to canceling the interview or coffee chat on Handshake, students must do the following as well:

1. Contact the Stanford Career Education team at recruiting@stanford.edu a minimum of 24 hours prior to their appointment to explain the circumstances so that we can try and make alternative arrangements, if possible.
2. Write an apology email to the employer’s contact listed on the schedule page, also copying the Stanford Career Education at recruiting@stanford.edu. 

We recommend this approach to support all Stanford students’ ongoing relationships with recruiters. The benefit of working to repair a relationship in the short-term far outweighs the potential of a negative impact on their relationship with recruiters.

• Stanford Fundamental Standard and Nondiscrimination Policy
• Sexual Harassment Policy & Title IX
• Non-Discrimination Policy
• NACE Principles for Ethical Professional Practice
• US Department of Labor and State of California
• Stanford Alcohol Policy