Employers

Career Services is located at 259 Capen Hall, in the heart of the North Campus.

By acting in accordance with these policies and guidelines, individuals and organizations can help the Career Design Center maintain a professional, fair and successful recruiting environment for all parties concerned. Your use of both our services and the Handshake platform constitutes your binding agreement to the following policies.

The University at Buffalo is committed to ensuring equal employment, educational opportunity, and equal access to services, programs, and activities without regard to an individual's race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, gender, pregnancy, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, predisposing genetic characteristics, marital status, familial status, veteran status, military status, domestic violence victim status, or criminal conviction status.

The Career Design Center at the University at Buffalo maximizes employment and internship opportunities for its students by offering a range of services to facilitate recruitment of prospective candidates. The Career Design Center requires that any recruiting organization or individual utilizing services, must abide by all applicable federal, state, and local employment laws, including Equal Employment Opportunity laws, New York State, local rules and regulations, the University at Buffalo’s Notice of Non-Discrimination, University policies and the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Principles for Ethical Professional Practice. 

The Handshake system (Bullseye powered by Handshake) is the web-based portal for publicizing all bona fide full-time, part-time, seasonal, and short-term positions and other recruiting activities for small and large businesses, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and on-campus employers.  All recruiting organizations or individuals are expected to accurately describe their organizations, positions and position requirements when posting their information on Handshake or when representing their firms and opportunities at any campus recruiting events. Companies and/or job postings requiring donations, application fees, fundraising, investments, payment for training, or payment to participate, or offering items or services for sale, will not be provided recruitment services.

UB Career Design Center reserves the right to refuse service to employers whose posting, policies or procedures appear to violate the University’s commitment to equal opportunity and fair treatment for all, regardless of race, color, sex, age, ethnicity, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, marital status or status as a military veteran; if opportunities are deemed to not be in the best interests of the student as well as factors such as the following:

• Misrepresentation by lack of information or dishonesty
• Fraud
• Complaints by students
• Harassment of students, alumni or staff
• Breach of confidentiality as required by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA);
• Requiring personal information such as bank and social security numbers when not part of the hiring process or at time of application
• Failure to adhere to federal, state, local laws or University at Buffalo rules and regulations

All employers recruiting with the University at Buffalo are asked to review all best practices on diversity and inclusion recruitment and hiring before connecting with UB talent.  Resources can be found on Handshake and NACE.

For-profit organizations unable to offer a paid internship should review the following guidelines from the Department of Labor. 

The following is required from every company or organization recruiting through UB Career Design Center’s Bullseye powered by Handshake system and will be the basis for consideration for approval in addition to the Recruiting Policies listed above. 

• All staff must provide their full name and phone number
• All employers must have a working website and be fully translatable to English
• All employers must have a valid company email address that matches the company domain name
• Employers post and set job/internship opportunities to expire within 60 days.
• Employment positions not requiring a four-year college degree and located outside of New York State will not be considered.
• We reserve the right to post opportunities that match the geographic preferences of students as stated on their profiles.
• On-campus solicitation, on-campus sales of goods or services, or opportunities violating UB’s Computer and Network Use Policy is not allowed and any job or internship opportunities of this nature will not be approved or posted.
• Employers with an Employer Trust Score of greater than 50% will be considered for approval.  Please read more about Employer Trust Scores.
• Employers with an Employer Trust Score of 90% or higher may receive auto-approval for job postings. 
• Organizations whose websites do not contain career information may be declined.
• International placement agencies (teaching, internships, volunteering, etc.) are referred to GoAbroad to post opportunities.  

The Career Design Center defines third-party recruiters as agencies, organizations, or individuals recruiting candidates for temporary, part-time, or full-time employment opportunities for other organizations rather than for internal positions. Third party recruiters may utilize Handshake and attend select career fairs. Third-party firms who are recruiting for positions within their own organizations must clearly differentiate those opportunities from their client engagements. The Career Design Center will not provide services to organizations wishing to promote their job board or website. Positions posted in Handshake by third party employers must be individual and specific.

• Charge no fees of any kind to student or alumni applicants upon request;
• Identify themselves as a third-party recruiter in their employer profile and all client job announcements;
• Provide to The Career Design Center upon request, a list of the employer clients for whom they are recruiting, and, if requested after review, provide a copy of the retainer(s) signed by their employer client(s) authorizing them to act as their sole campus representatives;
• Only release candidate information provided to the identified employer in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Re-disclosure of candidate information to any other parties is not permitted.
• At career fairs, represent specific employers who have authorized them and disclose to students and the Career Design Center in advance, the names of the represented employers.

The Career Design Center will not approve teaching or volunteer abroad positions in Handshake and may not work with companies who place and organize teacher/volunteer abroad positions due to the financial requirements of the applicants to partake in such opportunities. The Career Design Center does not currently have the ability to review and vet teach/volunteer abroad companies.

The Career Design Center has established these criteria for identifying appropriate entrepreneurial employment opportunities for promotion through its services.  Start-ups must have progressed sufficiently in their business development process so that they can:

• Provide a company name, business address, website and email address, and identify a principal as the key contact;
• Verify that they are not seeking potential partners or investors from our students
• Confirm that they have obtained the necessary business licenses and Tax ID’s, if requested;
• Offer positions for pay, not just for equity
• Provide clearly defined organization and position descriptions in Handshake.

In compliance with the University's policy prohibiting the unlawful possession, use, or distribution of alcohol and other drugs, employers should not serve alcoholic beverages at any employer-related functions held on or off-campus.

UB Career Design Center will not accept companies or positions involved with the use, production, testing, or distribution of recreational or medical marijuana or hemp. As the use of marijuana is illegal at the federal level and UB receives federal funds, we must comply with federal law.

By completing the Handshake registration form and submitting resumes and other application materials for opportunities posted on Handshake, students provide the Career Design Center authorization to release employment materials to those selected prospective employers.  Employment professionals must maintain the confidentiality of all student information released to them, regardless of the source, including personal documents, written records/reports, and computer databases. This means that there should be no disclosure of student information to another organization without the prior written consent of the student, unless necessitated by health and/or safety considerations, in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

• Cryptocurrency, bitcoin, tokens, or equity are not acceptable forms of payment.
• Commission Sales Positions:  If no initial base salary is provided, the form of payment should be clearly stated in the employer's job descriptions and at the time of the initial interviews. 
•  Postings that request donations, fundraising, application fees, or investments cannot be listed on Handshake.

Any employer seeking a candidate to promote a product, service, or website to students on campus will not be able to utilize UB Career Design Center for this purpose. 

Examples might include:

• Campus brand ambassadors
• Campus managers/representatives
• Campus marketing assistants

In addition, the Computer and Network Use Policy prohibits the use of UB computing resources for “personal or private commercial purposes or for financial gain.”

All employers must represent a recognized business with a business location and address.  Due to this guideline, we currently review and consider part-time, full-time, and internship opportunities on behalf of companies and organizations. Unfortunately, we do not approve personal advertisements or private residence positions posted by individuals.

The Career Design Center strives to support employers with their recruiting efforts and assist our students in making informed career decisions. Thus, we expect that all employers abide by the following offer policy which allows students sufficient time to carefully consider employment options and act.  Employment professionals will refrain from any practice that improperly influences and affects job acceptance. Such practices may include undue time pressure for acceptance of employment offers and encouragement of revocation of another employment offer. The Career Design Center understands that the landscape of recruitment is very competitive, especially when searching for the best talent. We have established these guidelines to provide students and employers a fair, transparent and up-to-date framework for managing the offer phase of the recruitment process.

Students need time to make informed decisions when comparing and responding to offers. To facilitate this process, please provide students with a minimum of two weeks from the date of the written offer, but preferably longer, to accept or decline. In some cases, students may ask for extensions beyond this deadline; we encourage you to accommodate their requests whenever possible.

Employers should not make offers or pressure students to accept “early” offers including those requiring a quick response time, nor should they attach incentives involving diminishing bonuses, reduced options for location preferences, etc. Further, asking a student to make a decision on the spot is also considered inappropriate.

Exploding offers put undue pressure on students to make decisions before completing the interview process and does not give them ample time to weigh employment options and make informed decisions. We discourage students from making rushed decisions about offers for which they cannot fully abide.

We strongly encourage employers to consider every alternative before revoking an offer of employment.

The Career Design Center reserves the right to make exceptions to these policies and guidelines as warranted by special circumstances, i.e., in certain situations deemed to be acceptable and beneficial to our students, the Career Design Center, the University, or recruiters using our services. Such exceptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis.  Any exception made does not constitute a change in policy, nor is there a guarantee that this same decision will apply in the future.

The Career Design Center staff will investigate all allegations by users of our services including job postings and employers. During an investigation, we may revoke an employer’s use of our services including access to Bullseye powered by Handshake. If the Career Design Center determines that a complaint is justified, we may choose not to offer or continue to allow recruiting activities to the employer. The Career Design Center will notify the employer in writing of the decision.

The UB Career Design Center office acts as a liaison between employers and university academic departments. The Career Design Center works to market internship opportunities for students as well as assist them in conducting their internship search, but does not grant academic credit for approved internships.

Internships can be either paid or unpaid and may or may not be credit bearing. If you are willing to support a student in receiving academic credit the student must contact his/her academic department. All internship credit is granted by an academic department or school/college and students are not guaranteed credit for their internship with your organization. The number of hours a student must complete is determined by the academic department, college, or school. Employers are free to determine the salary or hourly wage for a paid internship as long as it meets the New York State hourly minimum wage requirement. Commission-only experiences will not be posted as internships.

The following is based upon information from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) the leading source of employment information and trends regarding the college educated workforce, as well as on the U.S. Department of Labor standards:

You can offer an unpaid internship as long as the intern receives academic credit for the experience. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) severely restricts an employer's ability to use unpaid interns. It does not limit an employer's ability to hire paid interns. Essentially, if you are a for-profit company, you must either pay the intern, or require that he/she earn academic credit. Many academic programs allow students to earn credit and get paid at the same time, others do not. Please check with the student’s academic program for the most accurate information.

The Department of Labor stipulates that an intern is considered a “learner/trainee” and therefore can be unpaid, if:

• The training is similar to what a student might experience in a vocational school, even though taking place at the employer’s facilities.
• The training is for the benefit of the student.
• The student works under direct supervision of a regular employee and does not displace a regular employee.
• The student is not entitled to a job at the end of the training period.
• The employer provides training and derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the student.
• The employer and the student both agree that the student is not entitled to wages for the training.

No, on both counts. In a typical internship, the employer exercises control over the result to be accomplished and manner by which the result is achieved. Due to this, a student intern may not be considered an independent contractor. This means that an intern cannot be paid as an independent contractor, either. The Department of Labor (DOL) regulations define a volunteer as an individual who provides services to a public agency for civic, charitable or humanitarian reasons without promise or expectation of compensation for services rendered. Thus, an intern at any for-profit company would not fit the definition of a volunteer.

No. Interns generally are not entitled to unemployment compensation after completing an internship.

This is a complex issue and one with no definitive answer. Generally, if an intern is on the payroll, he or she should be covered under the employer’s workers’ compensation policy, just like all other regular employees. If the intern is unpaid and earning academic credit for the internship, he or she is most likely covered under the school’s policies should an injury occur. It is strongly advised, however, that employers who regularly recruit unpaid interns purchase a rider policy for volunteers at their workplaces, as this would prevent students from suing an employer for negligence with unlimited damages. In most cases, the courts look for employer negligence as the basis for any claims.

No. State University of New York (SUNY) administrators may not sign a hold harmless agreement or release of liability, according to statewide policy. This policy is in accordance with the principles defined by the Cooperative Education and Internship Association (CEIA), the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) and the National Society for Experiential Education (NSEE). While credit-bearing internships protect the student under SUNY insurance, it is the state's, and therefore the school’s position, that the school is not responsible for the actions a student may take independently. As the school does not select students for the employer and the employer controls the workplace, company employment policies and the intern’s assignment, signing a hold harmless agreement is not appropriate.

Your recruitment needs are top of mind. While we, the University at Buffalo (UB) Career Services, serve every student at UB, no matter what program or school, you may wish to work with other college specific career offices such as the School of Management Career Resource Center and the School of Law Career Services & Professional Development. We are happy to work together with other UB career offices to make recruiting students from different disciplines or programs as easy as possible for you.