Adapted from Principles of Professional Conduct for Career Services and Employment Professionals by the National Association of Colleges and Employers; Created in October 2005.

Conducting Yourself with Civility and Integrity During the Job Search Process

The job search process only works well when both employers and candidates are open and honest in their communications with one another. The Career Center has developed the following code of conduct for students.

• As a candidate you have a responsibility to provide accurate information about yourself. Your AU CareerWeb profile, emails, cover letters and resume must be 100% accurate. Falsifying information is a violation of the University's Honor code. If you falsify application information when applying to jobs, you will lose access to AU CareerWeb.
• As a candidate you have a responsibility to notify the American University Career Center in a timely manner if you must cancel an on-campus interview due to illness, emergency, acceptance of another job offer, so that the recruiter can be notified of the schedule change.
• As a candidate you have a responsibility to show up on time for any interview that you have scheduled. If you do not attend an on-campus interview that you have scheduled, you must write a letter of apology to the recruiter. Your letter must be reviewed and approved by your Career Center advisor before you send it to the recruiter. You will not be permitted to participate in other Career Center events until your letter has been sent. A second occurrence will result in the loss of on-campus recruiting privileges.
• As a candidate you have a responsibility to apply only for positions in which you have an interest. While one purpose of the interview is to ask questions about the duties that a job entails, you should not interview for a position that you know you would never accept.
• As a candidate you have a responsibility to notify employers of your acceptance or rejection of an offer in a timely manner. When you don’t respond promptly to an offer, you may be depriving other candidates of the opportunity to secure a job they really want.
• As a candidate you have a responsibility to withdraw from the recruiting process after accepting another offer of employment. If you have multiple job offers you may use them to negotiate a better salary, but once you have accepted an offer (either verbally or in writing) you are expected to keep your commitment.

Your Rights as a Job Candidate

As a candidate you have the right to fair and equitable treatment from every potential employer. Therefore all employers are expected to:

• Use professionally accepted recruiting, interviewing, and selection techniques.
• Supply accurate information about their organization and employment opportunities.
• Recruit, interview and hire individuals without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, or disability.
• Provide reasonable accommodations for a disability uponrequest.
• Communicate hiring decisions to candidates within the agreed-upon time frame.
• Refrain from any practice that improperly influences job acceptances.
• Notify candidates promptly if a job offer must be revoked due to funding changes.