The first step to becoming a GVSU employer partner is to create a Handshake account. Handshake offers employers the ability to post jobs, track applicants, schedule on-campus interviews, register for career fairs and events, and receive recruitment-related invitations and announcements from the Career Center.

Register on Handshake

Once you have a registered and approved account in Handshake, you are able to post opportunities which are then accessible by all GVSU students and alumni. Here's how:

• Login to Handshake
• Click Post a Job from your home dashboard, or click on Jobs in the left hand navigation bar and click Create Job in the top right hand corner. 
• Input position details into 4 posting tabs: job Basics, Details, Preferences, and Schools you'd like to post the position to.
• Best Practice: the more fields you complete, the more well defined your job posting will be (and the more likely you’ll be to attract well-qualified candidates).
• Choose Create on the bottom navigation to create and review your job
• Your position will be reviewed by a staff member and approved in 1-3 business days

• Participating in career fairs and employer events is a great way to connect with GVSU’s talented undergraduate and graduate students. Keep your contact info current in Handshake in order to receive regular invitations.
• Sponsor the career fair or other events for even greater brand awareness and access to well-qualified students. Select a sponsorship level in your event registration or contact Kristie Scanlon with questions about sponsorship.

Build a strong internship or co-op program and employ GVSU students. When you provide students with meaningful experiential learning and work experiences, they become your ambassadors on campus!

Conduct virtual or on-campus interviews for full-time jobs, internships, co-ops and summer/seasonal work.

Help learners develop and refine their job and internship search skills by providing resume advice or facilitating simulated interviews. Invest in the programs that are training and educating your future employees by making your organization available for presentations, speeches, and meetings with student organizations.

Tabling in a high traffic location on either the Allendale or the Pew downtown Campus is a great way to raise brand awareness and reach students.

At GVSU, we are always willing to work with our employer partners to think outside of the box. Because of our distributed campuses and increasing demands on learner time, we have found that traditional information sessions do not always attract attention. However, we are happy to work with you to develop and promote your own event.

GVSU is excited to highlight an opportunity for our corporate and nonprofit partners to offer short-term, professional, paid work experiences to current students through Parker Dewey Micro-Internships. Through these Micro-Internships, students can demonstrate their skills, explore career paths, and develop their professional networks. Unlike a traditional internship, these paid, project-based opportunities typically range from 10 to 40 hours of work in total, and most can be completed remotely. Not only does this help the students, but it allows you a low-lift, low-risk, cost-effective way to get immediate support, engage hard-to-reach demographics, and enhance your company’s pipeline for future interns and new hires.

Parker Dewey Micro-Internships

Need additional assistance with developing a winning strategy to increase your campus visibility and build your employment brand? Request a consultation with a member of the Employer Relations team.

Meet with Cindy Employer Engagement, Recruiting Strategies, Campus Branding & Events

Meet with Kristie  Recruiting Strategies, Internship Development, & Events

The GVSU Career Center adheres to the NACE Principles for Ethical Professional Practiceand expects employers we work with to do the same, as well as comply with NACE Professional Standards for University Relations & Recruiting. Employers must also comply with all GVSU Career Center policies and procedures outlined below.

• Employers must maintain the strict confidentiality of student and alumni data as outlined in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Employers that violate FERPA regulations will lose access to GVSU Career Center services.
• The GVSU Career Center reserves the right to refuse service to any employer that violates the NACE Professional Standards for University Relations & Recruiting or any university policies. In accordance, GVSU Career Center staff  does not recommend or select candidates for employers.
• Employers must strictly adhere to all GVSU Job Posting Standards.
• The GVSU Career Center works with third parties recruiters only under limited circumstances (view policy).
• The GVSU Career Center reserves the right to refuse service to any employer if a review of a specific opportunity or the nature/status of the organization suggests that it is inappropriate for our students/alumni; if students/alumni are injured or exposed to unsafe working conditions at the employer work site; if the employer discriminates; or if GVSU receives student/alumni complaints about discrimination, harassment, threats, or other unsafe/questionable working conditions. In the event that a student/alumni experiences any harassment, or actual or potential harm in the employer workplace, the employer’s recruiting privileges will be suspended pending further investigation.
• Employers who do not provide complete organizational contact information (organization name, address, website, description, contact name(s), organizational email address for contact, contact phone number) will not be granted employer services. GVSU Career Center staff will review contact information and the employer’s website for appropriateness. Employers should have an EID number prior to initiating any campus recruitment activities.
• The GVSU Career Center will not provide service to any employer who charges fees of any kind or requires the upfront purchase of products or work equipment/tools.
• Employers are expected to maintain a positive, collaborative working relationship with GVSU Career Center staff, meet deadlines pertaining to on-campus interviews, and provide hiring data as requested.

Employer event registration fees must be submitted within 30 days following the event. Fees are non-refundable for an organization canceling within five business days prior to the event. Future event registration for an organization with an unpaid balance due to non-remittance, late cancellation, or non-attendance will not be approved until full payment is received. Access to all other recruiting services will also be denied.

In order to post and have your listing approved by the GVSU Career Center, employers and postings must comply with the following standards:

• Provide complete organizational contact information (organization name, address, organization URL, organization description, contact name, organizational email address for contact, contact phone number).
• Adhere to NACE Professional Standards for University Relations & Recruiting.
• Conform to applicable Equal Opportunity Employment laws and related legislation.
• Postings with expiration dates more than one-year after the initial posting date will not be approved.
• To ensure maximum exposure, we recommend expiration dates between two-weeks and six-months from the initial posting date.
• No fees of any kind may be charged to students or alumni.
• Job opportunities related to the use or distribution of recreational or medical marijuana or related products will not be posted or approved (view policy).

• Information for Campus Visitors
• On-Campus & Virtual Events
• GVSU Grounds & Facilities Usage Policy
• Kirkhof Center Lobby Usage Policy
• Commercial Activity Policy

In order to give students the chance to fully engage in the campus recruitment and interview process, we ask employers toreview and abide by NACE Guidelines regarding Setting Reasonable Deadlines for Job Offers (excerpted below). For Fall recruitment, we recommend a November offer deadline. For Spring recruitment, we recommend a March offer deadline.

“In a robust and fast-paced job market for graduates and interns, some employers attempt to mitigate the effects of job-market competition with practices, including offering incentives and/or requiring students to accept job offers within a short time frame. In some instances, these practices could lead to students feeling that they were pressured to accept offers. 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 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."

– National Association of Colleges and Employers Advisory Opinion

In accordance with the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), we define "third party recruiters" as agencies, organizations, or individuals recruiting candidates for temporary, part-time, or full-time employment opportunities other than for their own needs. This includes entities that refer or recruit on behalf of for-profit or non-profit organizations, and includes agencies that collect student information to be disclosed to employers for purposes of recruitment and/or employment. The term “third party recruiters” refers to, but is not limited to employment agencies, staffing services, temporary agencies, on-line job boards, recruiters, and contractors. Third party recruiters must agree to the following conditions:

1. The third party recruiter will disclose the name(s) of the client or clients that the third-party recruiter is representing and to whom the credentials will be disclosed.
2. The GVSU Career Center maintains the right to verify this information with the known client.
3. Although the client information does not need to be listed in the posting, the third-party recruiter must disclose the client name to prospective candidates.
4. Under no circumstances can student or alumni information be disclosed for other-than-stated recruiting purposes, nor can it be sold or provided to other entities outside of the client for whom the resumes are designated.
5. Attendance at GVSU events and fairs will be limited to a reasonable number of third party recruiters, approved on a first-come, first-served basis as determined by the GVSU Career Center. Any third party recruiters permitted to participate must represent employers who have authorized them to do so and must disclose the names of the employers they represent.

In order to ensure compliance with federal law (Drug-Free Schools and Communities Act of 1989 and the University’s Alcohol and Other Drugs Policy), the GVSU Career Center will not promote internship or work opportunities for positions in which students will possess, use, or distribute federally illegal cannabis products (contains > 0.3% THC). Additionally, GVSU will not host internships for credit in positions where a student will possess, use, or distribute federally illegal cannabis products (contains > 0.3% THC).  Subject to the above, this policy does not, however, prohibit the promotion or hosting of any other internship or work opportunities with companies in the cannabis industry or ancillary industries.

Employers are permitted to post positions on Handshake and to conduct Career Center-approved recruitment activities, however, students should never be solicited as clients explicitly or implicitly.  Additionally, employers must not involve students in the business of peer-to-peer solicitation. The purpose of recruitment activities is to hire students and alumni as employees or your organization, not to prospect for new clients. The GVSU Career Center reserves the right to revoke Handshake and recruitment privileges if this policy is violated.

Accounting Recruiting is an exciting time at GVSU, lasting from the week after Labor Day through the first week of October each year. Accounting Recruiting kicks off with the annual Pre-Recruiting events hosted by GVSU's Kappa Beta Chapter of Beta Alpha Psi to give students and firms an opportunity to meet. For more information on Accounting Pre-Recruiting, please visit v09.lkgear.com/bap.  

Following the Pre-Recruiting events, GVSU will host on-campus interviews the last week of September and first week of October for interested firms and corporations free of charge. Participating in on-campus interviews is not only convenient for students and alumni, but allows organizations to increase their visibility on campus and forge links with our Accounting faculty and administrators. 

In order to give students the chance to fully engage in the entire Accounting Recruiting and interview process, we ask employers to refrain from asking candidates to commit to an employment offer until after the first Friday of October , and to review and abide by NACE Guidelines regarding Setting Reasonable Deadlines for Job Offers (excerpted below).

“In a robust and fast-paced job market for graduates and interns, some employers attempt to mitigate the effects of job-market competition with practices, including offering incentives and/or requiring students to accept job offers within a short time frame. In some instances, these practices could lead to students feeling that they were pressured to accept offers. 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 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."

– National Association of Colleges and Employers Advisory Opinion