Recruiting Guidelines

Recruiting and hiring trends have changed dramatically over the last few years, creating challenges for students and employers alike. Please take a moment to review the following University of Illinois guidelines and practical advice to ensure successful outcomes for all parties.

Offer Deadlines, Reneges, and Rescinds

We ask that all employers understand and abide by the Hire Illini Recruiting Guidelines. We expect that employers follow the NACE advisory opinion on setting reasonable deadlines for job offers and not place undue pressure on students.

Offers should be extended in writing, and employers should be prepared to exhibit written offers to the appropriate career services office if requested.

Illinois does not condone the use of exploding offers (offers that will be retracted or expire in a very short time), or any other practice that puts unreasonable pressure on students. Exploding offers do not afford a candidate the appropriate amount of time to thoughtfully accept or decline, and put enormous pressure on students to make a decision before they have completed the interviewing process. Your partnership and cooperation help ensure that students can accept an offer in full confidence and commit to your organization with less likelihood of reneging on your offer.

We understand that spring recruiting plans are typically based on the number of offers accepted in the fall. However, considering the current hiring landscape, the increase in reneges initiated by students, and the increase in rescinded offers from employers, our traditional system needs to be re-evaluated.

NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) members and the iSchool encourage employers to consider these actions to improve recruitment success:

    • Consider a longer process and wider funnel: Instead of extending offers in the fall, consider building a longer recruiting season, with a series of experiences between candidates and your team both before and after offers are made. These could include visits to the work site, informational interviews, hackathons, and other events to build stronger relationships.
    • Offer mentorship: When staffing allows, assign each finalist an early career mentor, preferably from the candidate’s university, who will reach out to them on a regular basis.
    • Include finalists in team building: If your company has a diversity network, social group, or other points of connection, invite finalists to join you, so each party can develop a deeper understanding of the other.
    • Emphasize the stability of your industry/sector: Candidates’ anxieties may be heightened as a result of the high number of layoffs and freezes in the tech
      sector.

For companies who rescind multiple offers:
Please be aware, you may lose access to posting jobs on Handshake with our school, just as students who retract offers do.

Negotiation/Renege Policies:
Once a student accepts an offer, professional and ethical guidelines dictate that the acceptance is considered final, and the student should cease participating in job interviews with other employers. Students who renege on job offers may lose access to the Handshake Career Services Platform for up to one semester. For further information, see the iSchool’s policies on reneging and negotiating.

Questions? Please contact Michele Plante, Assistant Director for Employer Relations.