Recruiting Guidelines for Employers

Employers seeking to recruit MIT students for internships and jobs (whether with CAPD involvement or through independent recruiting processes) are expected to follow Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) guidelines, as indicated by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Professional Standards for University Relations and Recruiting, in addition to our outlined guidelines below.

  • Non-Discrimination Policy

    CAPD makes its services available to employers who do not unlawfully discriminate in the selection of employees on the basis of national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.

    CAPD and MIT students value employers that recognize that not everyone has equal access to career-related opportunities and networks. In addition to following MIT’s Recruiting Guidelines, we encourage employers to also review the recommended practices for Recruiting Underrepresented Students.

  • Recruiting Timeline

    The recruiting cycle at MIT starts annually in mid-late September with our career exploration week leading up to the start of the career fairs held in Fall semester. The start of the fall semester is when students apply for internships or jobs that start the following summer. Students use the tangible internship or research experiences from summer to help them narrow down the scope of roles and employers of interest to them and develop a recruiting strategy for the new academic recruiting cycle.

    Full-time Job Offers: Employers are asked to provide students until October 18, 2024, or four (4) weeks, whichever is longer, to make a decision on full-time job offers, including internship conversion full-time job offers.

    Internship Offers: We ask that employers provide students until November 22, 2024, or four (4) weeks, whichever is longer, to make a decision on internship offers. Internship offer deadlines should not be more than 6 months prior to the start of the summer internship.

    Micro-Internship Offers: We ask that employers provide students 5 to 7 business days to make a decision on a micro-internship offer for the January (IAP) term.

  • Interviewing

    When asking students to come back for second/final round interviews, employers must attempt to accommodate students’ schedules and allow reasonable time if their schedules need to be adjusted. Employers are asked to support students in upholding prior commitments to academics and other previously scheduled interviews. Please observe these guidelines:

    • Employers should extend invitations for second-round interviews to students a minimum of 72 hours in advance.
    • Employers should encourage students to raise any concerns about scheduling conflicts. If the date initially suggested by the employer interferes with a valid conflict, employers must offer alternative dates, without negative consequences, for a second-round interview.
    • International employers – Please review our Interviewing Tips for International Employers for greater details on cultural differences, illegal questions, and additional resources.
  • Full Disclosure of Start Date and Basis of Compensation

    Start Dates: All offer letters must include a start date. Candidates who interview with employers on campus expect to start work after graduation and by mid-September at the latest. Employers who anticipate start dates later than September 15 must disclose this information in their job descriptions and when scheduling campus recruiting dates. Employers who knowingly delay employment start dates beyond the terms specified in the offer letter will not be permitted to recruit on campus for at least one year.

    Basis of Compensation: For employers to participate in on-campus recruiting, they must offer bona fide positions that do not require new hires to pay a fee for training or other job-related expenses. Employers who compensate employees based solely on commission (i.e. without a base salary as well) must clearly disclose this information in the job description. Employers who compensate employees based on partial commissions must disclose accurate estimates of expected earnings in their job descriptions. They must also present an accurate base salary/expected first-year salary at that time.

    Timely Communication: Employers are expected to keep student informed of their status in the hiring process and to communicate hiring decisions within a reasonable time frame.

  • Cancellation and Refund Policies

    Interviews can be cancelled at any time. However, please provide our office and our students at least 24 hours advance notice of an interview cancellation. Interview reservations are eligible for refund, minus a 5% processing fee, only if both of the following criteria are met:

    • Cancellation is no more than 30 days after payment date
    • Cancellation is no less than 30 days before the interview date
  • Inclement Weather and Institute Closings

    CAPD is required to follow MIT protocol about inclement weather and emergency closings. Up-to-date information on closing decisions can be found at the MIT homepage, the MIT Emergency Information page, and on the Snow Line (617-253-7669 or 617-253-SNOW). If your Virtual Interview schedule is cancelled due to MIT closing, the Employer Relations team will work with you to identify potential rescheduling options or provide a refund if you are able to conduct your interviews by phone or video conferencing as an alternative. Employers will be expected to contact their applicants directly about interview cancellations and alternative interview options.
  • Third-Party Representatives

    All interviews must be directly scheduled and conducted by the organization’s employees, rather than by third party representatives. For a definition of a third-party representative or recruiter, please see NACE’s Third Party Recruiting Ethics. As stipulated in these guidelines, 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 other than for 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. Third-party recruiters who charge students for services will not be permitted to use any CAPD services.
  • Alcohol

    Serving alcohol should not be part of the recruitment process. This includes information sessions, presentations done on or off campus, and all events that are company-sponsored during the recruiting process.
  • Consequences of Unacceptable Recruiting Practices

    Students rely on CAPD’s  relationship with employers to advise them and insulate them from problematic or unethical practices. To do anything other than honor this commitment would show negligence and complete disregard for the well being of students. If an employer foresees a challenge in being able to adhere to NACE or MIT’s recruiting guidelines, please email our Employer Relations team at hiremit@mit.edu prior to recruiting at MIT. It is our hope that discussions in advance of recruiting will improve the employer and student experience during the recruiting process. Note that employers knowingly violating NACE or MIT recruiting guidelines may receive deferred interview dates or be denied access to the recruiting program for the following season. Letters to campus student groups may also be sent with the name of the employer involved and the behavior cited whenever such penalties are imposed.
  • Confidentiality Policy

    All materials received from our students (letters, resumes, transcripts, via email or hard copy), should be shared only with those persons at your firm involved in the hiring process. Forwarding these materials potentially embarrasses applicants or compromises their current employment; it also creates a negative impression of your organization.