Boston University - Career Services - Job-Search

Each year, employers come to the BU campus to interview graduating students for full-time positions. Employers working with our office interview students right here at 19 Deerfield Street. We publicize the employers’ upcoming visits on our website, along with descriptions of the jobs for which they are hiring. You apply on-line to those companies in which you are interested. If the employer selects you, you schedule an interview, and then come to our office on the designated day. If you see a company you want to interview with but you are graduating in December or May, go ahead and apply. Also, if you see a company in the fall, but you won’t be graduating until May, apply. Recruiters know that in most cases students won’t be available to start work until June, and they plan their hiring accordingly.

The recruiting season typically begins in October and runs through April, however there are exceptions, so look for announcements of events happening off-season.

Students sometimes say that they won’t use on-campus recruiting because they’d rather just apply through the company’s website.

When an employer comes to BU to interview students, they are actively seeking you out, and they want to conduct interviews. The number of applicants they receive through our system will be relatively small compared to the number of applicants they receive through their website, and you can be assured that they will at least look at, and consider, your resume. Think of it this way: would you rather be one of 20, or one of 20,000?

If you do get selected for an interview, you only have to go as far as 19 Deerfield St. If the company does find you on their website, you’ll most likely have to go to their offices for your interview, even if they are located in another state.

Visit our web site at least weekly, and also log onto BU CareerLink. You will need a username and password; follow the instructions to log on for the first time, then be sure to change your password. Once you are logged in, select the "On-Campus Interviewing Link" to find out who is coming to campus and to apply for their jobs.

You will need a resume in order to apply for jobs. Although it is not required, we strongly recommend that you have your resume reviewed by a career counselor, either in our office or in one of the other career offices on campus (Engineering, SMG, or COM) before you upload it to the system. (Having your resume reviewed by your roommate is not quite the same thing!)

Yes. As a registered BU student, you can use our office. In fact, we encourage students to use ALL the resources available to them. So if your school or college has a career office, use both!

Many employers hold information sessions before their on-campus interview dates, usually the evening before but sometimes as early as the week before. The purpose of these sessions is to give students a chance to learn about their company and ask general questions. That way, the time the recruiters have set aside for interviews can be devoted to purely the interview process. We strongly recommend that you attend any information session given by an employer with whom you plan to interview. If you don’t go, and you spend time in your interview asking the basic questions, well, you can imagine that the employer might not be highly impressed. If for some reason you absolutely cannot go, all is not lost. Apologize to the recruiter for not being there, and go on with your interview.

Yes! In most cases the employers will be glad to have you there. You are also welcome to go if you are not yet a Senior, but would like to learn more about the company for the possibility of an Internship or for future employment. If you are not in the current applicant pool, however, be careful not to steer the agenda away from the audience the recruiter is there to meet.

We expect that all students, as people entering the professional world, will honor the commitments they make and keep their appointments. If for any reason, you know in advance that you will not be attending an interview, you must let both the Recruiting Manager in our office and the company’s recruiter know as soon as possible, so that we can try to fill the interview spot with another student. Any cancellations later than noon the day before the interview will be considered no-shows.

Employers often travel a good distance in order to conduct interviews, and they expect their schedules to be as planned. Not only will your no-show reflect badly on you, but unanticipated no-shows can negatively impact that employer’s plans to recruit with BU the next season.

We therefore take interview no-shows very seriously.

The first time you are a no-show (or cancel later than noon the day prior) you must write a letter of apology to the recruiter involved, with a copy to our Recruiting Manager. If you are a no-show a second time, your recruiting privileges will be suspended until you meet with our Recruiting Manager, who has the option to reinstate you.

If you are a no-show for a third time, your recruiting privileges will be permanently revoked, no exceptions.

We find that the vast majority of students keep their appointments, so we seldom have a need to invoke this policy.

We have begun a new type of recruiting event which seems to work well for both students and employers. We call these events Interview Blitzes. All Blitzes are held right here in our offices at 19 Deerfield Street. Blitzes can either be targeted or general. In a targeted Blitz, we concentrate on one industry, such as Finance & Banking, or Science & Technology. In a general Blitz, any employer is welcome. The main requirement for employers to attend a Blitz is that they have real jobs that they are hiring for. In this respect, a Blitz is very different from a Career Fair, where employers may attend whether or not they are in a hiring mode. During a Blitz, students have the opportunity to submit resumes and possibly get on-the-spot interviews. We put information on all of our Blitzes on our web site, so look during Spring and Summer seasons for announcements.

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