Career Services Policies

Eligibility for Services

Career Services is the central career resource center for Penn undergraduates in the College of Arts & Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Science, School of Nursing, and Wharton. We are also the central career resource center for graduate and professional students in Annenberg, Arts and Sciences, Engineering, Graduate School of Education, Weitzman School of Design, Perelman School of Medicine (Master’s and PhD only), Penn Carey Law (Master’s In Law only), Nursing, Social Policy and Practice, and Wharton Doctoral Programs. We also serve current post-doctoral fellows. Students in a traditional degree program in these schools/programs have access to all services.

Other career offices exist for students in Wharton MBA, Wharton Executive MBA, Penn Dental, Penn Law (LLMs, JDs), and Penn Vet. Perelman School of Medicine offers MDs Career Planning by Year and by Specialty.

Online students in a degree program have access to Handshake, where they can search and apply for jobs from thousands of employers who are seeking Penn students and alumni. We have also curated a set of career resources for online students, which you will find below. Additionally, we partner regularly with your online academic programs to bring you webinars and virtual workshops that can assist you in your career journey. Please visit our Online Students Community for more details and contact information for each program’s career resources.

Students enrolled in non-degree certificate and post-bac programs at Penn are not served by the Career Services office and are not eligible for a Handshake account, unless they are also an alumni of a degree program served by our office.

All degree holding alumni from any of the schools or programs we serve are eligible for lifetime services, including a Handshake account.

Visiting international and exchange students here as part of a degree program are eligible for our services ONLY during the time they are on Penn’s campus.  Upon completing their time at Penn, they are no longer eligible unless their degree is awarded to them by The University of Pennsylvania. Visiting students whose degrees are issued by their home school are not eligible for any of our services after leaving Penn.

Employees of the university who are not also students or alumni, and have been in their current position at Penn for at least one year, are eligible to use Penn Human Resources Career Coaching.

Appointment Policy

Students may only meet with an advisor from their school. The only exception is students who wish to meet with our Pre-Grad/Pre-Med/Pre-Law Team. Students are limited to one appointment per week per team unless an additional appointment is approved by an adviser.

Mock Case Interviews: Because of high demand, we limit undergraduate students to 3 mock case interviews every six months (January 1 – May 31 and June 1 – December 31). Before a mock case interview, we strongly encourage students to prepare using our case interview guide.

Alumni may schedule up to three appointments per year with a Penn Career Services advisor.  Alumni who feel they may need additional support are welcome to review this list of External Career Coaches as an additional resource.

Same-Day Drop-In Policy

Same-day drop-ins are handled on a first come, first serve basis and conducted by phone. Students can sign-up for a same-day drop-in with a Career Services advisor when the time slots become available in Handshake every weekday at 9:15am. Students may sign up for an available time slot that day and an advisor will call the student at the time of the appointment.  Same-day drop-ins are 15 minutes.  A student may only have a same-day drop-in with an advisor from their school and only one same-day drop-in per day.

Resume Review Policy

Students may only submit one resume for review per week and may not submit a new resume for review until they have received feedback on their last submitted resume. Before you submit your critique, please first review our resume guide. Please email Word documents only (not PDFs or links to Google docs) and allow up to one week for your review to be completed by an advisor; you will receive an email when it is ready for you. You may submit the same document for review no more than two times in one month.

Online and Guest Students are not eligible for this critique; please visit your school’s section on this page for information about their resume critique services.

Iris Photobooth Policies

The Iris Photobooth, co-sponsored by GAPSA and the UA, is available for use by the entire Penn community to take free, professional head shots. The booth is self-serve and available during the regular business hours of Career Services. Users must agree to the Iris Terms & Conditions via an on-screen prompt before taking their photos. Users are provided with digital copies of their photos only. Career Services cannot print your photos. The creation of an account with irisbooth.com is required to download your photos. Photos are retained in the cloud for 12 months before being deleted. Career Services retains the right to access photos from the cloud service for technical support and review purposes.

Handshake Policies (For Students)

All users of Handshake are subject to our User Agreement and Terms & Conditions.

When searching for job and internship opportunities, please keep in mind that employers are able to enter their own jobs into our system. You should use your own judgment when applying for opportunities found in Handshake. Please DO NOT give an employer your Social Security, bank account or credit card numbers, or any other confidential information. A genuine employer should not request that information in the initial application. For example, from time to time imposters have represented themselves as being from a legitimate company, while in reality phishing for your personal information.  No legitimate company would ask for your confidential information or would require you to handle a cash transaction prior to employment.

If you think a job posting seems suspicious, please bring it to our attention.

Penn Career Services tries to offer you a full range of actual job and internship opportunities, but we are not responsible for the legitimacy of the jobs posted or the employers using our system.

Career Fair Policies (For Students)

Career Fairs organized by Career Services are for on-campus, degree seeking Penn students and alumni only.  Some fairs may have further restrictions by audience. (Graduate students only, etc.) Though we may occasionally invite students from Quaker Exchange partner schools, generally speaking non-Penn students will not be allowed entry.

Students may not solicit their own products, start-ups or other ventures at a career fair without written permission from Career Services.

Career Fair Policies (For Employers)

Employers who register must cancel within two weeks of the career fair or make payment in full.  We are unable to provide electrical outlets at most of career fairs.  Employers are responsible for shipping back any materials at the end of the career fair. Employers must call their preferred shipping service (UPS, FedEx, etc) and arrange for pick-up.  Career Services will provide a prearranged drop-off point for packages.

Interview Cancellation Policy

Students may cancel an interview through Handshake with no penalty at any time before the schedule closes on Handshake which is typically at 11:59 pm two working days before the interview.

Once the schedule closes on Handshake we expect students to attend their interviews. However, if you absolutely cannot make it, cancel your interview as soon as possible but at least one hour before the interview by calling OCI at 215-898-4068. (You may also stop by the receptionist’s desk in the On Campus Interviewing Suite to fill out a cancellation form.) This is considered a “late cancellation.” If you have late cancellations on more than two separate recruiting dates, your recruiting privileges and Handshake access may be rescinded for the remainder of the academic year. Failing to show up for your interview, or canceling less than 60 minutes before the interview, is considered a “no show”. If you no-show on more than one recruiting date, your recruiting privileges and Handshake access may be rescinded for the remainder of the academic year.

In either case, you must send the recruiter an e-mail apologizing for missing the interview. The e-mail must be sent specifically to the recruiter who interviewed on campus. The name of the recruiter and his/her e-mail are available the day after the interview from the “Recruiters Business Card Binder” in the Career Services library. However, if your interview was held at the Inn at Penn, no recruiter cards will be available. In that case, you will need to write to the employer’s recruiting contact, whose name can be found (if s/he chose to show it) on the job description in Handshake. In addition, you must send a BCC (blind carbon copy) to apology@pobox.upenn.edu so that OCI staff knows that the apology has been sent to the recruiter. If OCI does not receive the blind carbon copy within three working days of the interview date your recruiting privileges and Handshake access will be suspended until it is received. NOTE: THERE ARE NO CANCELLATIONS BY E-MAIL PERMITTED! PLEASE CANCEL BY PHONE OR IN PERSON AT THE OCR RECEPTIONIST’S DESK. DO NOT CONTACT A CAREER SERVICES STAFF MEMBER TO CANCEL

Recruiting Guidelines (For Employers)

Please see our guidelines here.

Non-Discrimination Policy Statement

The University of Pennsylvania values diversity and seeks talented students, faculty and staff from diverse backgrounds. The University of Pennsylvania does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status or any other legally protected class status in the administration of its admissions, financial aid, educational or athletic programs, or other University-administered programs or in its employment practices. Questions or complaints regarding this policy should be directed to the Executive Director of the Office of Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Programs, Franklin Building, Suite 421, 3451 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6205; or (215) 898-6993 (Voice).