Career Corner: Evaluating Full-Time Career and Internship Offers
As the fall semester comes to a close, many students are in the process of identifying what they want to do for the summer or immediately following graduation. The employment evaluation and acceptance process requires proper research, assessment, and informed decision-making, and there are some important details that you and your student should take note of throughout this process to handle it in an ethical fashion:
- Make sure your student weighs his or her options and examines the details of the offer, including:
- Personal fit with the organization’s mission, culture, and people
- Rewarding and challenging role within the organization
- Competitive salary and benefits: signing bonus, relocation coverage, health care plan, retirement plan, vacation time, stock options or profit sharing, graduate school tuition support, insurance packages, pre-tax dollar benefits on transportation, and flexible spending accounts
- Work/life balance
- Geographical location
- Opportunities for advancement/marketable career trajectory
- Have your student spend some time thinking about the overall fit of the opportunity prior to making a decision. If a deadline extension is warranted, encourage your student to have this discussion with the employer as soon as possible in the process. Honesty, openness, and transparency are always best.
- If your student receives a career or internship offer, encourage him or her to get it in writing. Most offer letters will arrive via email or postal mail with instructions to sign the contract and fax it back.
- It is NOT acceptable for a student to accept an offer and continue to interview with other organizations.
- It is highly unethical to accept an offer with one organization and then “renege” it simply because a better offer comes along. This not only affects the reputation of the student within the industry but also negatively impacts the University of Wisconsin’s relationship with the recruiting organization.
- Once your student is ready to accept an offer, encourage him or her to accept the offer first either verbally or in writing. At that point, the student should refrain from participating in further interviews and should notify other employers of their decision which will open up opportunities for other students.
- Please encourage your student to report their offers and acceptance to their home career center so that it may be used for aggregate salary information.
More information about career opportunities and employment evaluation strategies may be found on your student’s home career center website.