Principles for Professional Conduct

The Career Development Center (CDC) collaborates with employers and alumni to sponsor programs and services that will professionally enrich students’ career and leadership development. These include: Graduating Student Services, the Cooperative Education Program, Summer Employment Services, Internships, and the Pathways Program. Participation in these programs and services is a privilege and mandates that students exercise good judgment, mature behavior, and professional ethics. Rensselaer holds its students to the highest standards as outlined below:

• Candidates should sign up for interviews and posted “resume drops” only when genuinely considering the position for which the organization is recruiting.
  
• Students are expected to represent themselves to the CDC and potential employers honestly and accurately on registration records, resumes, and application materials. Failure to do so will result in loss of privileges.
  
• All scheduled interviews, appointments, and site visits must be kept. If canceling an interview, the CDC requires 48 hours notice. The same courtesy must be extended to employers for site visits or other appointments. “No shows” will not be tolerated and will result in the loss of the next scheduled interview. In addition, the applicant is required to send the recruiter a letter of apology and provide a copy to the CDC. In the event of sudden illness, students must contact the Interview Center at 8 a.m. on the day of their interview.
  
• When an organization extends an offer of employment to the student, he or she is expected to mutually agree upon the deadline for making the decision. If extenuating circumstances occur, the employer should be contacted immediately to request a reasonable extension.
  
• Reimbursements for visits at an organization’s expense should be only for those reasonable expenditures pertinent to the trip. If other organizations are visited on the same trip, the candidate should inform the employer and prorate the costs.
  
• Co-op applicants and students applying for summer positions should not negotiate the pay rate with employers. Concerns about compensation rates are to be discussed with a member of the CDC counseling staff. Graduating students should research and know appropriate salary ranges for the positions for which they are applying and are expected to be ethical in salary negotiations.
  
• A job offer is to be very carefully considered. Candidates are asked to notify the CDC of all offers and the job acceptance and then withdraw from all other interviews. Upon the acceptance of an offer, a student repudiation of an accepted offer normally will result in program expulsion or deactivation of services.
  
• Students engaged in employment under the auspices of the university, such as the Cooperative Education Program, are expected to be professional, and they are bound by the rights and responsibilities outlined in the Rensselaer Handbook.
  
  I have read, and agree to, the Principles for Professional Conduct as outlined above.
  
  Signature ________________________________ Date _________________________