Information Sessions and On-Campus Interviews

Employers wishing to conduct interviews on campus for full-time opportunities and internships may participate in our on-campus recruiting program.

Register through Handshake

The Career Center uses Handshake, a Web-based system, for its campus recruiting program. The Career Center grants interview schedule reservations on a first-come, first-served basis. This online system gives recruiters direct access to recruiting activities. Through Handshake, you will be able to:

  • Enter your job listing(s) online
  • Attach your job listings to your on-campus recruiting events
  • View and print student resumes submitted for your position(s)
  • Preselect candidates for on-campus interview(s). Only those candidates whom you have preselected may sign up for an interview
  • Send email messages to students who have submitted resumes
  • View (and print) your on-campus interview schedule(s) and be informed about the status of student signups

Handshake is a time-sensitive system based upon deadline dates that relate to your particular interview date(s). It is crucial that deadlines are met. Please contact the Center for Career Development if you have a question about your deadlines.

Information Sessions

Information sessions allow organizations to visit campus to talk with students about their organization, industry, recruiting process, career opportunities and to network with interested students. Information sessions are generally held during Cooper Union’s “club hours” on Tuesday afternoons from 12:00pm – 2:00pm or Thursday evenings from 5:00pm – 6:00pm. We recommend that organizations reserve space early. There is no fee to host an information session; however, we do recommend that organizations provide lunch, dinner, or refreshments for student attendees.

For additional information or to request to hold an information session on campus please contact us at career@cooper.edu.

Interview Schedule Breakdown

The typical interview schedule for an employer in the program will begin at 9:00am and end at 5:00pm. Longer or shorter schedules can be arranged at the employer's request.

Interview schedules are as follows: 30-minute interviews will allow 13 candidates per schedule and 45-minute interviews will allow 9 candidates per schedule.

Recruiting Policies

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. Students given sufficient time to attend career fairs, participate in on-campus interviews, and/or 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.

The intent of these guidelines is to allow students reasonable time to give careful consideration to all of their employment options and to make informed decision about offers. In order to facilitate this process, we prefer that employers extend offers in accordance with these guidelines.

If a student is unable to make an employment decision within the expected time period, the student is encouraged to discuss their challenges with the organization and negotiate for more time in the decision-making process. The student and employer are encouraged to devise a mutually-convenient decision deadline.

We encourage all organizations to review the NACE Principles for Ethical Professional Practice.

We encourage all organizations to inform candidates of their status within one to two weeks of any interview.

Fall Full-time & Summer Internships Offer Guidelines

Employers making return full-time offers to summer interns during the summer or the fall semester will give students until November 15 or two weeks after the candidate receives the written offer, whichever comes later.

Employers making full-time or summer internship offers during the fall semester will give students until November 15 or two weeks after the candidate receives the written offer, whichever comes later.

Offers extended after November 15 (full-time or internship) will give students two weeks to make their decision.

Spring Full-time & Summer Internship Offer Guidelines

All full-time and summer internship offers made during the spring semester must remain open for two weeks from the time the candidate receives the written offer or until March 15, whichever comes later.

Exploding Offers

We ask that employers hold back from making “exploding offers” or rescinding bonus offers which put excessive pressure on students to make decisions in a short-time frame or before they have completed the interviewing process. Most students are not ready to make a final decision before completing all of their interviews. Unfortunately, pressure to accept early makes it harder for us to enforce our policy against reneging.

Rescinded/Deferred Job Offers

Employers needing to rescind or defer employment offers should review the NACE Position Statement on Rescinded and Deferred Employment Offers. Employer partners should contact the Center for Career Development and the candidate as soon as possible to discuss.

Student Reneges

We encourage students to immediately decline offers they do not plan to accept and to discontinue interviewing if they’ve already accepted an offer. Any student reneging on an accepted offer is considered in serious breach of our recruiting policies. If this occurs, please contact us prior to taking any direct action with the student. The matter will receive immediate attention from our staff.

Cooper Union Grading

The Cooper Union does not practice grade inflation. We discourage employers from selecting a closed list of Cooper Union candidates based on their scores, as the challenging curriculum is what separates the Cooper Union from other academic institutions. Should you want more information about grading at The Cooper Union, please contact the Center for Career Development.

For help booking an on-campus recruiting date, or for assistance with Handshake, please contact the Career Center at 212.353.4112.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

The Career Center encourages employers to review the laws, policies, and regulations outlined by The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, including the types of discrimination that are prohibited.

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.