Employer Policies & Guidelines

Columbia Engineering is committed to practicing the Principles for Ethical Professional Practice outlined by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). All employers and hiring professionals seeking to partner with us are required to work within the same professionally accepted recruiting, interviewing, and selection techniques.

One of the most effective ways to engage our students is to meet them. We have many different avenues, including information sessions, career talks, career fairs, office hours, industry round tables and showcases, panels, office visits, and on-campus interviews. All of these events can be hosted in-person or virtually.

To achieve the best possible attendance, we recommend you get in touch with us in advance of your recruiting season to discuss your goals. Our Career Placement Officers will work with you to identify a strategy that best matches your specific needs.

All employer events, including off-campus events, virtual events, and alumni events where students are invited, must be reported to the GCP team prior to the event date.

We ask our employers to give students a minimum of 72 hours’ notice when scheduling interviews. Employers must accommodate student requests to reschedule for legitimate reasons such as class, work, or a previously scheduled interview. The same standard is applied to offers for second and future round interviews.

For interview events conducted on-campus, only current students from Columbia Engineering will be invited to attend (unless there is a previously established agreement with another school at Columbia University).

Employers recruiting Columbia University students are asked to follow the following offer guidelines. Employers are encouraged to accommodate reasonable student requests to extend offer deadlines. All offers of employment must be extended to the student in writing, including job title, start date, compensation, and benefits. The decision timeline begins only after the student receives the written offer.

Students will be given a minimum of two weeks to accept any offer from the date the written offer is received.

Exploding offers (e.g. an offer with a deadline of 24-48 hours to accept before the offer is rescinded) are prohibited. Any sign-on bonus should be honored, provided that a student accepts their offer within the established deadlines outlined above.

An exploding offer is also defined as any offer with diminishing incentives attached, such as tiered or expiring bonuses, or reduced options for location preferences if not accepted immediately. Employers who rescind or alter contract conditions after both parties have signed will be subject to suspension from Columbia recruiting activities.

In rare cases, exceptions to these guidelines may be made with prior authorization from the Graduate Career Placement team.

Beginning November 1, 2022, employers advertising jobs in New York City must include a good faith salary range for every job, promotion, and transfer opportunity advertised.

Employers must accurately disclose their ability and willingness to hire international students (including CPT/OPT and future H-1B sponsorship). Columbia Engineering recommends this information be included in all job descriptions and Handshake postings.

All Columbia University students should be compensated appropriately for the work they perform during an internship. We strongly encourage that internships are paid to respect the qualifications of Columbia Engineering graduate students and also allow access to those students who may be unable to afford to pursue unpaid internships.

We expect all employers to abide by the standards established by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which includes specific guidelines regarding unpaid internships outlined by the US Department of Labor. If any of these criteria are not met, the intern must be paid.

For employers seeking interns to work in the State of New York, attention must also be paid to the requirements set forth by the New York State Minimum Wage Act and Wage Orders.

Not-for-profit organizations seeking to hire interns in the State of New York are also required to review and adhere to the guidelines set forth by the New York State Department of Labor.

All employers are asked to please consider these criteria carefully before posting an unpaid internship.

Academic credit should not be given in place of compensation. We recommend that any unpaid internships require a maximum of 8-10 hours of work each week.

We ask employers to pay careful attention to the policies outlined above before posting any unpaid internship. If you require assistance, please contact us.

Third-party agencies and recruiters may be granted permission to post jobs on Handshake, provided that it is clearly stated that they are recruiting for a third-party client. We reserve the right to make decisions regarding the legitimacy of any posting before it is published to students.

Third-party recruiters are not given access to Columbia Engineering's career placement events or to our resume books. Students and alumni are not to be charged any fee for the services provided by the recruiter.

In rare cases, Columbia Engineering may choose to publish job postings that require a small fee (for example, civil service examinations with fees). We will not post positions that require a significant fee to be paid prior to employment (for example, tuition-based work abroad programs, programs with significant required training fees that candidates must pay, etc.).

Columbia Engineering urges employers needing to rescind or defer employment to carefully review the guidelines and recommendations outlined by NACE in their Position Statement on Rescinded and Deferred Employment Offers.

The NACE guidelines suggest employers adopt a two-part approach to employment offers under consideration for revocation: the first emphasizes the need for a commitment to high standards in recruiting while the second offers a reasoned approach to dealing with rescinded and deferred offers.

NACE recommends that before an employer revokes a commitment they do everything possible to avoid rescinding an offer and consider alternatives. These may include changes in job responsibilities, salary reduction and/or reduced workweeks, changes in job locale, delayed starting dates, and other reasonable options.

For candidates whose start dates are deferred, employers are urged to:

• Provide services to aid the candidates in securing other employment.
• Provide financial assistance if the deferral will be longer than three months.
• Communicate to candidates as soon as possible.
• Contact Columbia Engineering Graduate Career Placement (GCP).
• Stay in communication with candidates and GCP regarding start dates.

We expect all employers to treat candidates in an ethical manner. We reserve the right to deny access to on-campus recruiting to any employers who we determine have not conducted their recruiting efforts ethically.

Columbia Engineering is advancing and nurturing a welcoming environment built on mutual respect for all students, faculty, staff, and partners. Driven by our core mission, Engineering for Humanity, we believe true innovation is only possible when the field draws on the talents, perspectives, creativity, and intellectual richness of our entire community. The School prioritizes creating paths for participation from all groups.

We ask that employers partnering with Columbia Engineering share this commitment by

• Creating hiring and workplace practices that welcome participation from all qualified candidates.
• Valuing diverse perspectives as a driver of innovation and problem-solving.
• Maintaining workplaces free from discrimination and harassment, in compliance with applicable law.

Columbia University is committed to providing a working and learning environment free from unlawful discrimination and harassment. Consistent with this commitment and with applicable federal, state, and local laws, it is the policy of the University as both an educational institution and an employer to prohibit unlawful discrimination and harassment and to provide faculty, students, and staff who believe that they may be the victims of either with mechanisms for seeking redress.

We recommend that all employers, students, alumni, and vendors engaged in activities with the Columbia Engineering Graduate Career Placement review the Columbia Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedure.

If a student or staff member engaged in an activity sponsored by Columbia Engineering Graduate Career Placement (including but not limited to job listings, workshops, panels, advising sessions, employer presentations, career fairs, interviews, mentoring, internships, off-campus recruiting, and employment) believes that the Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedure may have been violated, they are urged to contact the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, a member of the Columbia University Panel on Discrimination and Sexual Harassment, or the Graduate Career Placement team. If the conduct complained of involves a person or persons within the Columbia community, the actions provided for under the Discrimination and Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedure may apply. If the conduct complained of involves, in addition to a member of the Columbia community, a party or parties outside the Columbia community, the GCP team may conduct an inquiry. In the event we determine that the complained- of conduct occurred or the outside party chooses not to participate in the inquiry, we may act to sever the relationship between the GCP Team and/or Columbia University and the outside party or organization.