LDL Employer Guidelines
Employer Guidelines Engaging With Our Office
The Life Design Lab has implemented these guidelines to create a professional environment where students, alumni, and employers can interact. As a member of the Johns Hopkins University community, the Life Design Lab bears a unique responsibility to do our best to ensure a positive experience for our clients – students, alumni, and employers alike.
The Life Design Lab at Homewood serves students and alumni of the full-time programs of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, Whiting School of Engineering, and Advanced Academic Programs. Our recruiting services are not available to other individuals, including those affiliated with Johns Hopkins in another way (such as part-time students or students enrolled in other divisions). The Life Design Lab will do its best to facilitate your interactions with other career offices at Johns Hopkins whenever desired.
Guidelines for all Recruiting Activities
The following guidelines apply to any organization participating in recruiting activities at Johns Hopkins University, including On-Campus Recruiting (please read the additional On-Campus Recruiting guidelines below). The Life Design Lab supports the entirety of the NACE Principles for Employment Professionals and Third-Party Recruiters. Several of these principles have been highlighted because they merit special attention. A complete listing of these principles can be found at NACE Principles.
Highlighted NACE Principles
- Recruiters will refrain from any practice that improperly influences and affects job acceptances, including undue time pressure for acceptance of employment offers and encouragement of revocation of another employment offer.
- Recruiters will maintain equal employment opportunity (EEO) compliance and follow affirmative action principles in recruiting activities.
- Recruiters will maintain the confidentiality of student information, regardless of the source, including personal knowledge, written records/reports, and computer databases. There will be no disclosure of student information to another organization without the prior written consent of the student, unless necessitated by health and/or safety considerations.
- Recruiters will follow the policies of the Life Design Lab also when interacting with other Johns Hopkins administrators, student groups, or academic departments.
- Serving alcohol should not be part of the recruitment process.
On Campus Recruiting
The following guidelines apply to employers participating in On-Campus Recruiting at Johns Hopkins University. On-Campus Recruiting includes interviews, resume drops, career fairs, and information sessions.
Deadlines for Requests:
Requests may be submitted 4 months before that start of the semester and no less than 10 business days prior to the desired interview or event date. Once requests are submitted to Handshake, they are processed in the order in which they are received. Please note that events are processed once the semester begins, and space on campus is available to be reserved. View directions on how to request an interview schedule and learn more about requesting an event.
Contact Information:
Whenever possible, employers should provide contact information in their position descriptions (i.e., name and either a telephone number or an email address) to students when participating in On-Campus Recruiting. The Life Design Lab reserves the right to provide employer contact information to students under appropriate circumstances, even when an employer has elected to hide this information from student view.
Greeters:
When interviewing or hosting coffee chats on campus, employers may bring up to two greeters in addition to their interviewers. Greeters may check in interviewing students in the Life Design Lab’s lobby area and take them back to their interview room.
Extending Offers:
We recognize that employers have certain constraints in their flexibility to accommodate student needs. We ask employers to refrain from presenting exploding offers, which exert undue pressure on students by making offers with unreasonable time limits (less than two weeks) or time-sensitive penalties. We have seen in the past that by failing to abide by these preferred timelines, your organization is at a higher risk of receiving reneges.
For these reasons, we ask that employers recruiting our students follow these guidelines:
- October 1st for return offers as a result of Summer 2023 internships or recruiting from Fall 2023OR
- Two weeks from the date a written offer letter is received. WHICHEVER IS LATER.
All parts of the offer (including bonuses and other incentives) may not expire before the appropriate corresponding date.
All official offers must be in writing. Written offers are defined as electronic or hard copies. The start of the offer timeline is determined by the date on the written offer letter.
Second-Round Interviews
Second-round interviews must be scheduled in a way that does not interfere with student class schedules and previously scheduled first-round interviews. To this end, second-round interviews taking place outside the Greater Baltimore, Washington D.C. area may not be scheduled less than one week after the first-round interview. Employers will coordinate with individual students to make second-round interview arrangements. If you have any questions regarding these policies, or if you have concerns regarding a Hopkins student’s participation in recruiting activities, please contact the Life Design Lab at Homewood.recruit@jhu.edu.
Third-Party Recruiters
Third-party recruiters may utilize the Life Design Lab’s recruiting services in line with the following guidelines:
- Third-party recruiters will not disclose student information in any way to any employer or other person or entity without obtaining prior written consent from the student.
- Third-party recruiters attending career fairs will disclose the names of the represented employers to the Life Design Lab if requested.
- Third-party recruiters may post full-time jobs and internships in the Life Design Lab’s Handshake system.
- Third-party recruiters may not participate in on-campus interviews or resume drops.
Internships: Special Note on Unpaid Internships:
At Johns Hopkins University, students participate in internships both that are paid and unpaid. Academic credit for internships is coordinated through the student’s academic department. Students may complete an internship in the summer, fall, spring or during winter break Intersession. As an employer, it is your responsibility to be aware of the federal government’s requirements for unpaid internships, whether or not academic credit is awarded by an educational institution. For-profit organizations should review the U.S. Department of Labor’s Internships and the Fair Labor Standards Act. We highly encourage having all PAID internships. Below are some tips for complying with the DOL’s standards as well as links to other resources.
Internship Definition
An internship is a form of experiential learning that integrates knowledge and theory learned in the classroom with practical application and skills development in a professional setting. Internships give students the opportunity to gain valuable applied experience and make connections in professional fields they are considering for career paths; and give employers the opportunity to guide and evaluate talent. (Adapted from the National Association of Colleges and Employers)
Criteria for Internships that Primarily Benefit Students’ Career Development
- The internship’s central focus is educating students to use the critical thinking and communication skills they’ve developed at Hopkins in a professional environment.
- Interns receive regular and on-going supervision, feedback, coaching, and mentoring.
- The intern contributes to the organization in a value-added, meaningful way.
To do this:
- Create a job description that outlines the expectations and objectives of the internship. This provides a framework for students to learn about your field/industry and affirms the value of the actual work they complete. Having a specific project for the student to complete is an excellent way for students to develop career-related competencies while contributing to your organization.
- Connect the internship experience to learning. Whether or not a student receives academic credit for an internship, it should provide the student with an opportunity to develop career-related skills and competencies. These competencies should be transferable to other organizations or even other industries in order to foster the students’ career development. Students want to learn about organizational structure, engage with a variety of professionals, and receive insight into pertinent topics. Clear transparent communication is important for students to learn about your organization, field, and the world of work.
- Plan to supervise the intern. Supervision is the foundation for a successful internship. Setting clear expectations, engaging in regular follow-up and providing feedback are essential components of a great internship experience for both student and employer. Due to the educational nature of internships, employers provide a greater level of supervision to interns than employees. Providing opportunities for students to reflect on their internship experiences during supervision is an excellent way to foster to their career development.
If you have questions, please feel free to contact the Life Design Lab at Homewood at: homewood.recruit@jhu.edu.
For more information on internship best practices and federal regulations, explore the links below: