Policies and Guidelines

Recruiting

Terms & Conditions: Employer Eligibility

Employers may only recruit on-campus for existing job vacancies or those which will exist by the time a candidate is available for employment. Campus interviews must be directly scheduled and conducted by the organizations’ employees, rather than by third party representatives. Employers who recruit at UC Davis must adhere to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) guidelines and the NACE Principles for Professional Conduct.

Basis of Compensation

Employers must be offering bona fide salaried positions and may not require new hires to pay a fee for training or other job-related expenses. Employers who compensate employees based on a partial commission must give an accurate estimate of expected earnings.

Offer and Acceptance Policies

Exploding Offers/Excessive Pressure

Employers should not make offers or pressure students to accept “early” offers, including those requiring a quick response time. Employment professionals will refrain from any practice that improperly influences and affects acceptances. These may include undue time pressure for acceptance of offers, diminishing bonuses, reduced options for location preferences and encouragement of revocation of another offer.

The Career Center expects employers adhere to the following guidelines when recruiting UC Davis students:

  • Students will be given a minimum of two weeks or, in the fall recruiting season, until the first business day in November to accept an offer (whichever is longer).
  • A student may request additional time which will be granted at the discretion of the employer. 

If an employer has concerns, please contact the Career Center’s Employer Engagement team.

Cannabis

Proposition 64 legalized recreational marijuana use in the State of California in November 2016. As such, the UC Davis Career Center will approve cannabis companies to post job or internship opportunities within Handshake. At this time we are not approving event or career fair registrations for cannabis companies.

Cannabis use and possession is prohibited on all university property. Please refer to the University of California Office of the President guidelines.

Equal Employment Opportunity/Nondiscrimination

The UC Davis Career Center does not make its interviewing facilities and job listing services available to employers who unlawfully discriminate in the selection of employees on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity, pregnancy (including pregnancy, childbirth, and medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth), disability, age, medical condition, ancestry, marital status, citizenship, sexual orientation, or status as a Vietnam-era veteran or special disabled veteran. The university also prohibits sexual harassment. 

Posting Positions

Guidelines for Internship and Job Postings

  • Positions can be either part-time, temporary, one-time, summer full-time or full-time.
  • Positions must be career-related.
  • The posting must include a clear position description with expected duties, required skills and abilities, anticipated salary range, whether hourly, monthly or base pay plus commission.
  • Contact information must contain a functional street/mailing address, email address and phone number.
  • Commission-only positions must be clearly stated as such.
  • Positions requiring or requesting donations, fees, initial investment, independent contractor and paying less than California minimum wage or are items or services for sale will not be posted.
  • Third party recruiters/staffing agencies must indicate client and contact information in the “Notes” box, viewable only by Career Center staff.
  • Fees for application are prohibited.
  • Equal Employment Opportunity guidelines must be followed.

We reserve the right to refuse service to employers due to any of the following: requiring at the time of application personal information such as Social Security numbers; misrepresentation by dishonest information or absence of information; inability to certify the employer or business; fraud; harassment of UC Davis students or staff; breach of confidentiality; failure to adhere to these policies and/or any violation of University of California rules and regulations and local, state or federal laws.

Internships

Internships at UC Davis are supervised work-learn experiences in a professional environment outside the classroom to help a student's academic and career goals.

  • An internship is typically a minimum 10-week quarter commitment and can span multiple quarters.
  • Internships are guided, supervised and evaluated by professionals.
  • To qualify for transcript notation, internships require a minimum of 40 hours per quarter
  • Ideally, internships are paid. If the internship is unpaid, duties may not replace those of paid employees. Unpaid internships must follow the U.S. Department of Labor guidelines for unpaid internships. 
  • Students are encouraged to complete the transcript notation process through Handshake to document that their experience has been reviewed and approved by the Career Center.
  • Students may also choose to pursue academic credit. Academic credit requires a faculty sponsor. Students should meet with their department’s academic advising team for help with this process. 
  • Students at all class levels are eligible to participate in internships, depending upon the requirements of the organization.

The Career Center follows NACE guidelines for best practices. The above information does not constitute legal advice. Please confirm your state and federal requirements.

To post an internship, log in to Handshake. If you have additional questions regarding internships, contact the Employer Engagement team.

Co-op

A co-op is a full-time work experience that typically lasts six months or longer during which the student is not enrolled in academic coursework. Students return to the university to complete academic requirements for graduation.

Co-op guidelines are the same as for an internship (listed above) at UC Davis. However, students should check policies regarding withdrawal from the university to participate in a co-op.

To post a co-op position, log in to Handshake. If you have additional questions regarding internships or co-ops, contact the Employer Engagement team.