Campus Recruiting Options and Policies

The best way to share your internship or job posting is to post on Handshake. Need help? Start with Handshake’s guide for posting positions.

Please note: The CCD reserves the right to accept or decline any postings submitted through Handshake.

For short-term, temporary positions (that are not internships), please post through the Student Employment Office.

Whether on-campus or virtual, request an information session through Handshake. Daytime sessions are possible, but note that student attendance may be lower due to class schedules. Need help? Start with Handshake’s guide to requesting an event.

If you wish to hold your event on campus, please take note of the following:

• Space in the Yawkey Center for Student Services is in demand, so please request your dates early.
• Information sessions held in the CCD are free of charge.
• If you would like catering at your event, please order from an area restaurant.  We recommend using a restaurant located near Kenmore Square.  Let us know if you’d like some recommendations.

The CCD provides a professional setting to interview BU students and alumni. All on-campus recruiting and interviewing services are free when held in the CCD’s space in the Yawkey Center for Student Services.

Recruiting season is October through April, with a winter break from mid-December to mid-January. For additional details, view the academic calendar

Through Handshake, you can:

• Browse submitted resumes and select which candidates to interview
• Message candidates
• View upcoming interview schedules for your organization

The Center for Career Development hosts in-person and virtual career fairs each semester. Both are open to students and alumni of all levels and majors. Organizations from all industry sectors are invited to attend. Check Handshake or email bucareer@bu.edu for information on upcoming career fairs.

Career Fair Refund Policy

Handshake uses Stripe to accept credit card payments.  If a registration is canceled, there are no fees to refund a charge, but the Stripe fees from the original charge aren’t returned. 

Full Refund: To cancel your registration, and receive a full refund (less the original Stripe credit card fees), you must notify the Center for Career Development (CCD), in writing at bucareer@bu.edu, 14 days prior to the event.  

No Refund: No refunds will be made for cancellations made with less than 14 days’ notice, same-day cancellations, or no-shows.

Please Note

• All outstanding registration fees for prior events attended at BU must be paid before the CCD will accept new registrations.
• It is not possible to transfer any paid fees from one CCD-sponsored event to another, future event.

BU + Beyond Blog Post

Promoted weekly in newsletters, on social media, and on our website, the CCD’s blog (BU + Beyond) features advice, tips, internship stories, and more. A post that spotlights your organization (mission/vision, why you recruit at BU, what you’re looking for in candidates) could be a good opportunity to build your organization’s profile with students—especially if written by a BU alum. Reach to the Employer Engagement team if you’re interested in discussing this option.

Employer in Residence

Gain a stronger presence on campus by regularly (once a week, once a month, or twice a quarter) meeting with students. This is an opportunity to build your organization’s brand on campus while providing career advice, industry information, mock interviews, and resume critiques.

Guest Presenter

Share your knowledge with students at a session hosted by the CCD or a professional student organization.

Meet and Greets

Meet with prospective students in an informal setting on campus. Meet and Greet events are typically hosted on the first floor of the Yawkey Center for Student Services, a highly visible location for student traffic to/from the building.

Mini Career Fairs

Mini Career Fairs bring together a small number of employers in a specific industry to share information about their organization, the industry, and any internships or jobs available. Open to the entire student population, attendance tends to be somewhat specialized and provides participating employers with an opportunity to gain a better understanding of a more targeted group BU students and their backgrounds.

Mock Interviews

Join a diverse group of employer volunteers to conduct virtual or in-person mock interviews with BU students (questions provided). This is a great opportunity to brand your organization, get a sneak peek at BU talent, and get in front of students who may not have you on their radar. Held twice (September and February) each year, this event is open to all BU students.

Student Treks

Host a Student Trek virtually or on-site at your workplace for students to explore and observe career areas, roles, and industries.

Yawkey Nonprofit Internship Program

This is a selective program designed to support student participation in unpaid internships at nonprofit organizations in the Boston area and beyond. Students must secure an eligible internship before applying. Learn more about the program.

In compliance with federal and state law, Boston University does not permit the use of work authorization, visa status, or citizenship data on our online job board, Handshake. This action is in compliance with a Department of Justice determination which reads as follows:

The Immigration and Nationality Act prohibits citizenship status and national origin discrimination with respect to hiring, termination, and recruiting or referring for a fee. 8 U.S.C §1324(a)(1)(B).

Employers may not treat individuals differently because they are, or not, U.S. citizens or work authorized individuals. U.S. citizens, asylees, refugees, recent permanent residents and temporary residents are protected from citizenship status discrimination. Employers may not reject valid employment eligibility documents or require more or different documents on the basis of a person’s national origin or citizenship status.

Any postings which require U.S. citizenship only will be accepted if your organization is required by law, regulation, executive order, or government contract to do so.

More information is available from the Department of Justice.

Employers should satisfy the criteria for acceptable unpaid internships as established by the United States Department of Labor (DOL). Employers and organizations offering unpaid internships may post these opportunities in Handshake provided the posting clearly states the internships are unpaid.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires for-profit private sector employers to pay all employees at the rate of not less than current minimum wage. Employers and organizations seeking to post unpaid internships in Handshake must apply the following six criteria when making the determination not to compensate interns:

1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment.
2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern.
3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff.
4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded.
5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship.
6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.

Sources: Department of Labor, FLSA Fact Sheet #71 (PDF); NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers), Position Statement on U.S. Internships

In order for third-party recruiting firms to be approved to recruit at BU, their Handshake profile must clear state that they are a third-party recruiter. Positions posted (in Handshake) by third-party recruiting firms will only be approved if the external client name is disclosed in the job description.

For further details, please refer to NACE’s Principles for Third-Party Recruiters and Handshake’s third-party recruiter guidelines.

The Center for Career Development (CCD) reserves the right to decline any internship, job posting, campus recruiting event or company which are not compliant with the BU Center for Career Development’s policies, the NACE Principles, or State/Federal law.

NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) has published an advisory opinion that advocates for setting reasonable deadlines for job offers. They note, “Experience shows the best employment decisions for both students and employers are those that are made without pressure and with the greatest amount of information and transparency. Students given sufficient time to attend career fairs, participate in on-campus interviews, and/or complete the interviewing in which they are currently engaged are more likely to make good long-term employment decisions and may be less likely to renege on job acceptances.”

Accepting a job offer is a big step in a student’s career development. They will need time to consult with family members, faculty, and career services staff. We recommend that employers avoid exploding offers and short decision timelines. We suggest an offer decision timeline of 3 weeks, and to grant reasonable requests for extensions.

For more information about fair and equitable recruiting and extending offers, please refer to the NACE advisory.

Although possession and use of marijuana (cannabis) are legal under certain conditions in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, it is not currently legal under federal law. The Drug Free Schools and Communities Act 1989 (DFSCA) provides, “as a condition of receiving funds or any form of financial assistance under any Federal program, an institution of Higher Education must certify that it has adopted and implemented a program to prevent the unlawful possession, use, or distribution of illicit drugs or alcohol by students and employees.” Further, under the DFSCA, institutions of Higher Education must employ “standards of conduct that clearly prohibit, at a minimum, the unlawful possession, use, or distribution of illicit drugs and alcohol by students and employees on its property or as part of its activities.”

To ensure compliance with federal law, the BU Center for Career Development (CCD) will not promote internship or work opportunities at companies where a student may come into contact with marijuana products (including work with a company’s clients, attendance at marijuana conventions, etc.). Dispensaries (i.e., retail shops), cultivators, or manufacturers of THC-infused edibles are examples of businesses that directly work with marijuana.

Some businesses fall into a gray area, including ancillary businesses (e.g., a grow-light manufacturer), real estate leasing businesses, consumption device, and consulting businesses). Other opportunities may arise with entities focused on compliance, regulation, research, and development within the cannabis industry. CCD will work with the Office of General Counsel on an as-needed basis to ensure compliance with University policy and state and federal law.

Boston University prohibits discrimination against any individual on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, military service, or because of marital, parental, or veteran status. More information is available from the BU Equal Opportunity Office.

BU adheres to the NACE’s Principles for Professional Practice and requires that all individuals who participate in recruiting activities abide by these standards.