Students Greed Is Good

Students’ Greed is Good? Multiple Interview Opportunities After offering congratulations and discovering out all the relevant details of the placement, my subsequent line of questioning relates to any excellent purposes that the student has made. For the vast majority, this is simply a query of tying up free ends. If an employer contacts them for an interview, politely decline explaining that they've now secured a placement elsewhere and so are not out there. This leaves issues on good terms for the long run, notably if the student wants to pursue alternatives with that organisation afterward of their career. Where my stomach turns, is when a student says they have interviews arising within the subsequent couple of weeks with Company B and Company C, regardless of already having signed a contract with Company A. This is a state of affairs that is fortunately unusual, but is one that presents a dilemma for a Placement Officer. The Bigger Picture On the one hand, you need your college students to seek out the right placement for them. For the following 12 months they are going to be endeavor the primary steps of their professional profession and the expertise should be one by which they'll flourish. However, as a Placement Officer you need to have a look at the larger picture and recognise that your duties lie not just along with your college students. If an employer has a unfavorable expertise from certainly one of my students, it doesn't replicate nicely on the University. We construct relationships over the long run with placement suppliers to ensure that our college students have a variety of opportunities available to them. If one of our students performs a u-flip after signing a contract, it might easily bitter the relationship with the employer. At a time when universities across the country are branching out into placements forward of the 2012 tuition charges, these are employers that we can dearly afford to lose. Wor th The Risk? For the coed, it's also a query of professionalism. Were the roles to be reversed and a company continued to interview until they found a better candidate, the student would rightly be outraged at having their placement taken away from them. I am sympathetic towards students who discover themselves on this situation. In a perfect world, having spent lengthy hours making applications you obviously would want to see all of your options before making a decision. However, after you have accepted a placement offer and signed that contract, it's time to step again from the recruitment process. At this early level of their career, is it well worth the risk of getting blacklisted by recruiters for the sake of touting for a better provide? I would say not. Comment under what you think about attending interviews after one has been supplied a placement. Is it being aggressive or moral? Interesting article. Don’t you have a set of tips or rules in the form of a coverage that students should si gnal to overcome this once they be part of you on the position degree? Rationalising the importance of professionalism with them from day one â€" so they understand acceptable etiquette and placement procedure? Surely if a great relationship with the student exists, this allows them to have trust and respect for our views making certain they understand and recognize the college’s stance on the matter? I actually have never had a student disagree when it’s laid out to them earlier than they begin their search. When a pupil does have a suggestion and a number of other interviews shut by, is it not our responsibility to talk to the company and cause with them, encouraging them to permit the student to exit to the remaining interviews inside the week (for arguments sake), to maintain their choices open till they'll make an knowledgeable decision? (Before they handle to signal their contract) Most employers would perceive (and from my expertise do), and if they don’t, then the coed has to decide â€" however the company is forcing their hand, not us as an establishment, if they choose to keep going out to interview they may threat having the offer withdrawn, in the event that they turn the offer down, once more it's their decision to do so. I comprehend it perhaps sounds draconian to have rules, but as you mention students are representing us as institutions, they don't seem to be doing a spot 12 months, they are completing an official programme â€" and following our tips is necessary to ensure the reputation of the university remains intact, and they understand appropriate ways to conduct themselves professionally. I need all of my college students to get the placement that's right for them, however I am certain if we didn’t make it clear what our expectations had been, they’d keep wanting till the cows came residence….! Hi Emily Thanks very a lot for your reply. You are appropriate to point out that students comply with the rules that our service sets out at the start of the placement process. They signal a type to agree that they will abide by these guidelines and for the overwhelming majority there may be by no means an issue. My article set out an instance that is the exception somewhat than the rule. However, every year that I even have been doing this job there have been a small handful of students who attempt to play the system. It is almost as if having been made a suggestion, the student begins to think of themselves as a commodity and need to see which employer would be the highest bidder. I am considerably sympathetic towards this, purely for the truth that if Employer A is offering a better salary than Employer B, human nature will draw you in direction of higher reward. However, as you have pointed out, this could violate the university tips that they have agreed to, and be a breach of contract. Thankfully a lot of the students I work with recognise their duties, both to themselves and the college. My inspiration to w rite the article happened after hearing that some my college students had been reinforcing the rules. An individual had written on a class message board that they had accepted a placement, however then went on to say that they were going to additional interviews. This triggered a adverse response from classmates who not solely contacted the Placement Office to advise of the situation, however made it clear in no unsure terms that they have been unhappy that this type of behaviour may influence upon their alternatives to secure a placement. I’m happy to say this matter was resolved shortly afterwards. Interesting dialogue! I’ve graduated now, but while in search of a placement a few years in the past, I assume I had a unique view. I even have to admit, when you're at college, cash is more often than not essentially the most enticing and persuasive argument you comply with! If I thought I might pull in a better bidder, I would’ve given it a shot. Would I even have been wrong? And why is it unfair to other college students? If they're good enough they might’ve beat me to the job? If not, powerful luck! Thanks for becoming a member of the dialog Faizan. In the context of job hunting, it is clearly not wrong to examine your options and hunt down the best package. However, what makes looking for sandwich placements different from making use of for graduate jobs is something that Emily has alluded to under. Most students take a placement yr as part of their undergraduate course and as such are ambassadors for his or her college, rather than simply appearing for themselves. Because the expertise is constructed into the course and might provide accreditation, it is in the scholar’s best pursuits to act with prof essionalism at all times, together with the recruitment process. As a final resort, behaviour that's deemed unacceptable could be subject to sanctions throughout the School, so there are boundaries which should be revered. Why is it unfair to different college students? If you accept a placement that you haven't any intention of seeing through, you take away that opportunity from different students, including doubtlessly your friends. The reason why my students have been upset with their classmate was not primarily due to what's written within the college tips. It was as a result of a number of them had also applied to Company A or had interviews with Company B or C and therefore have been put out that the unethical behaviour of one particular person may impair on their ability to secure a placement that they really wished. There is a time and a spot to be onerous-nosed in business, however I don’t think demonstrating a canine eat canine mentality in the infancy of your profession is the best way to get ahead. A sandwich placement can be your gateway to riches through graduate schemes, so for the sake of an additional £1k is it really value pissing off pals, recruiters and the careers/placement workers who pointed you in direction of the alternatives in the first place? I suppose that if the student has signed a contract and accepted a suggestion that the one reason they should be pondering of going to an interview is to realize details about the company and practising their interview expertise for the long run. At co-op/sandwich placement point they should mostly be trying on the alternative to gain expertise and information and so forth. The only point at which I’d say otherwise is if the sum of money is significantly totally different to the purpose that the decrease one can be very difficult to live off of. Great article (will link to it in my blog for second years getting ready for placement, should you don’t thoughts!). We simply had a session on the etiquette of provides, in addition to the way to deal with contracts and what information our group needs about the placements college students find. I can see Emily’s level about having a coverage and/or guidelines. We do â€" as I’m certain you do too â€" and we spell it out very specifically in a face-to-face session…however some college students still don’t quite get it. However, I suspect it’s not simply because they’re greedy or haven’t bothered to read the guidelines (although that does also occur) however due to three reasons which have a constructive intent behind them. 1) FEAR! of lacking out on a fantastic opportunity or of creating the wrong alternative by taking the first supply. Many usually are not assured about profession choices, because it’s very new to them. 2) LEARNING! about as broad as attainable a spread of selection processes â€" they really just do need to see what it’s like. three) POLITENESS! some are genuinely worried about how it looks for future opportunities if they turn down an invitation. Of course, we help students in making ready their correspondence with employers, however they are often so apprehensive about saying the incorrect thing that they daren’t say something at all. But I absolutely disagree that it’s our accountability to contact employers and advocate on behalf of the scholars. Our whole approach to their creating professionalism is that they should do issues for themselves. In my opinion, we shouldn’t “stick our oar in” as a result of that erodes the scholars’ status as impartial professionals. They apply as a person and are selected (or not) on merit, and ought to be trusted to do their very own negotiation. Help and assist in deciding what to say and tips on how to say it's acceptable, however doing it for them crosses the road. I perceive the problem although I don’t think it must pose an enormous dilemma. My ideas on the issure are as follows: 1. Set the context in place in advance and inform college students of the code of follow to safeguard all events. 2. Publish this and guarantee it’s accessible info. 2. Inform students that once a placement is signed it renders all different pending placement choices null and void. This will make the issue will go away if in addition you set up a system whereby all placement applications are recorded / logged so as soon as a suggestion is signed & accepted by a student quick notification is distributed to some other businesses the scholar might have utilized to. This procees will set off an instantaneous deletion of such college students details from the record of applicants awaiting placement interviews & free up the space for other scholar candidates pending. I hope this helps.