Doing the job right

During the fall, posters advertising job information sessions seem as ubiquitous on the Princeton campus as colorful autumn leaves. In today's cooling job climate, students find securing a job offer stressful enough, but choosing whether and when to accept an offer can also cause considerable anxiety. Some companies place additional pressure on students by requiring them to respond within a few days of receiving an offer or by telling students that bonuses and other perks "explode" and will be withdrawn if not promptly accepted. Students facing such demands may feel they must accept an offer and do not have the luxury of waiting for smaller companies, government agencies or NGOs to complete their recruitment processes. As a result, some students are made to pass on jobs that would be better fits for them.

Princeton's Career Services office has several excellent policies in place that govern student and employer behavior during the on-campus recruiting process. Several rules protect students from companies pressuring them to make a premature decision. For instance, employers must give students with end-of-summer internship offers until Dec. 1 to decide; offers during the fall recruiting season must stand until January 1st. For offers made on or after Jan. 1, companies are asked to give students a full month to decide. Companies that violate these policies risk forfeiting the use of Career Services and its recruiting resources.

Many students, however, are unaware of these policies and find themselves pressured into hasty and sometimes unfortunate decisions. While students are ultimately responsible for knowing the rules governing participation in the on-campus recruiting process, Career Services can do more to increase awareness of its policies.

Students often learn about these policies only if they attend a Career Services workshop and pick up a flier, search through the often-confusing Career Services website or find that their employers are in violation of the rules. If Career Services explained the rights and responsibilities of students during the recruiting process in an e-mail or an addendum to its regular e-mails, it could increase upperclassmen's knowledge of these policies and help them make informed choices. Career Services could also make employers more hesitant to violate these policies by mandating that potential employers include a slide or provide a handout detailing the University's offer policies at the end of presentations.

Accepting a job offer is often the first important decision that students make about life after Princeton. Career Services should help make sure that students make this decision with both knowledge and forethought.