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Helping You Reach Top Prospects

UC Merced's Student Career Center offers a wide range of customizable engagement opportunities to connect with UC Merced students and alumni and to recruit qualified interns and full-time employees. With numerous opportunities to raise your profile, promote your organization, and engage with our diverse students, the Student Career Center will help you to remain actively involved with the campus for best results.  To design your customized engagement strategy, connect with Magali Torres, Employer Services Manager, at mtorres86@ucmerced.edu 

For a complete overvciew of our engagement opportunities, please explore our Talent Acquisition Engagement Guide. This guide details how you can partner with us to tailor a recruitment strategy that meets your organizaiton's needs. 

UC Merced Employer Recruiting Policies

Policies and Guidelines for Employers

By acting in accordance with these policies and guidelines, individuals and organizations can help the Student Career Center (SCC) maintain a professional, fair and successful recruiting environment for all parties concerned.

Employer Policies

The Student Career Center (SCC) at the University of California Merced maximizes employment and internship opportunities for its students by offering a range of services to facilitate recruitment of prospective candidates, including, but not limited to, job/internship postings, on-campus recruiting, career fairs, and information sessions. SCC requires that any recruiting organization or individual utilizing these services must be aware of and adhere to the Terms and Conditions and abide by all applicable federal, state, and local employment laws, including Equal Employment Opportunity laws, University of California rules and regulations, and the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Principles for Employment Professionals. (Refer to the detailed resources below.)

Handshake system is the web-based portal for publicizing all bona fide full-time, part-time, seasonal, and short-term positions and other recruiting activities for small and large businesses, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and on-campus employers.. All recruiting organizations or individuals are expected to accurately describe their organizations, positions and position requirements when posting their information on Handshake or when representing their firms and opportunities at any campus recruiting events. Postings requiring donations, application fees, or investments or offering items or services for sale cannot be advertised on Handshake.

SCC reserves the right to refuse service to organizations or individuals due to any of the following, including but not limited to:

  • requiring personal information at the time of application, such as bank and social security numbers;
  • misrepresentation, whether defined by dishonest information or absence of information;
  • fraud;
  • harassment of UC Merced students, alumni, or staff;
  • student complaints;
  • breach of confidentiality as required by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA);
  • failure to adhere to SCC employer guidelines;
  • any violation of University of California rules and regulations;
  • any violation of local, state, or federal laws.

We reserve the right to make exceptions to our policies for situations we deem to be acceptable and beneficial to our students, our department, or recruiters using our service. Such exceptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and do not constitute a change in policy, or a decision that this exception will be made again in the future.

Terms and Conditions

Your use of UC Merced’s Student Career Center (SCC) services and the Handshake is deemed to constitute your awareness of and adherance to the following terms. If you do not agree to these terms, do not use SCC services or Handshake.

The SCC and Handshake provide venues for employers to advertise job opportunities, for job candidates to search for and evaluate job opportunities, and for employers and job candidates to communicate and exchange information. UC Merced and the SCC do not undertake to enter into any employer/employee relationship with any user of SCC services or Handshake by virtue of their use. The SCC is not involved in the actual recruitment and employment transactions between employers and candidates, and, therefore, has no control over or responsibility for: the quality, safety or legality of the jobs/internships or resumes posted, the truth or accuracy of the listings or of the parties’ representations regarding those positions, the ability of employers to offer job/internship opportunities to candidates, the ability of candidates to fill job/internship openings, or the behaviors of employers and candidates.

The SCC expects that all parties will exercise caution and common sense when using Handshake and other SCC services. Handshake may contain inaccuracies or typographical errors. Employers and candidates are solely responsible for the content of their postings on the Handshake job portal and for any information they exchange through the portal when using other SCC services. The Career Center makes no representation about or guarantee of the truth, accuracy, completeness or timeliness of any such content or information. While the SCC reserves the right in its sole discretion to remove job postings, resumes or other material from the Handshake job portal from time to time, the SCC does not assume any obligation to do so and to the extent permitted by law, disclaims any liability for failing to take any such action. The SCC also cannot verify that users are who they claim to be because user authentication on the internet is difficult. You acknowledge that your use of the Handshake job portal and other SCC services and your reliance on any content posted on the website or obtained through the services are at your own risk.

Note that there are risks, including but not limited to the risk of physical harm, of dealing with strangers, underage persons or people acting under false pretenses. You assume all risks associated with dealing with other users with whom you come in contact through the Handshake job portal or other SCC services.

In the event of a dispute between one or more users of the Handshake job portal or SCC services, you release the SCC and UC Merced (and our agents and employees) from liability for any claims, demands, and damages (actual and consequential, direct and indirect of every kind and nature, known and unknown), arising out of or in any way connected with such disputes to the fullest extent permitted by law. You waive California Civil Code Section 1542, which says: "A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him or her must have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor."

Resources

University of California

US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

US Department of Labor

US Department of Education

Other Federal Workplace Laws & Resources

State of California

Professional

Third-Party Recruiters

SCC defines third-party recruiters as agencies, organizations, or individuals recruiting candidates for temporary, part-time, or full-time employment opportunities for other organizations rather than for internal positions. This includes entities that make referrals or recruit for profit or not for profit, and it includes agencies that collect student information to be disclosed to employers for purposes of recruitment and employment. Examples are employment agencies, search firms, contract recruiters, venture capital firms acting on behalf of their portfolio companies, and online job posting or resume referral services. See more at NACE Principles for Ethical Professional Practice .

Third party recruiters may utilize SCC job listing services, participate in on-campus recruiting and attend select career fairs. They will be required to verify in advance whether they are recruiting for their own organizations or for their clients. Third-party firms who are recruiting for positions within their own organizations must clearly differentiate those opportunities from their client engagements. Failure to abide by these third-party requirements will result in loss of access to SCC services.

Third-party recruiters representing client organizations must:

Verify that they charge no fees of any kind to student or alumni applicants;

  • Identify themselves as a third-party recruiter in their employer profile and all client job announcements;
  • Provide accurate position descriptions in all jobs posted on Handshake;
  • Only release candidate information provided to the identified employer in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Re-disclosure of candidate information to any other parties is not permitted.

Failure to abide by these third-party requirements will result in loss of access to SCC services

Start-ups

SCC has established these criteria for identifying appropriate entrepreneurial employment opportunities for promotion through its services. Start-ups must have progressed sufficiently in their business development process so that they are able to, if requested, provide the following::

  • Provide a company name, business address, website and email address, and identify a principal as the key contact;
  • Verify that they are not seeking potential partners or investors;
  • Confirm that they have obtained the necessary business licenses and Tax ID’s as well as sufficient funding, including identifying their funding model and investors, if requested;
  • Offer positions for pay, not just for equity; see Compensation and Fees below.
  • Provide clearly defined organization and position descriptions in Handshake.

Those ventures who cannot meet these guidelines may contact the SCC at a later stage to discuss access to services.

Job Offer Guidelines

Recognizing that students need time to make informed decisions when comparing and responding to offers and employers need to be able to effectively manage their time-sensitive recruitment processes, the following guidelines are intended to provide students and employers a fair and transparent framework for managing the offer phase of the process in this increasingly competitive job market:

  • In accordance with best practices, for all offers extended for internships or full-time employment, including return offers, we suggest that employers allow a minimum of three weeks from the date of the written offer, but preferably longer, for students to accept or decline any offer.
  • The written offer should clearly state all appropriate terms and conditions, including, but not limited to, position title/description, location, benefits, start date, salary, bonuses, etc.
  • All bonuses or other incentives are to remain in full effect for the entire duration of the offer period.
  • Students will be encouraged to contact employers directly if they have any questions or concerns about their offers, including needing more time to make their decisions.
  • Employers are requested to be flexible in granting offer extensions on a case-by-case basis if the circumstances warrant it.

Exploding Offers

SCC defines an exploding offer as any offer which does not conform with the offer guidelines listed above. Students should not be pressured to accept offers “on the spot” or "early,” whether this is based upon a shorter timeframe for consideration overall and/or due to any special diminishing incentives attached, e.g., tiered or expiring bonuses, reduced options for location preferences, etc. SCC expects all employers to refrain from such practices when recruiting UC Merced students and alumni.

Compensation and Fees

  • Employers offering paid positions must pay at least the California State minimum wage or the applicable local minimum wage (calculated over any time scale such as hourly, weekly, semi-monthly, monthly or annually).
  • Organizations only offering stipends, unpaid or volunteer positions must meet the organizational definitions and requirements that allow them to do so legally, and they must clearly state the pay status when posting their opportunities on Handshake. Consult legal counsel regarding any questions.
  • Commission Sales Positions: If no initial base salary is provided, the form of remuneration should be clearly stated in the employer's job descriptions and at the time of the initial interviews.
  • Cryptocurrency, bitcoin, tokens, fiat or equity are not acceptable forms of payment.
  • Recruitment for positions requiring monetary outlay by candidates for equipment and training is strongly discouraged. Students and recent graduates will be reluctant to apply for such positions. This includes fees for certain federal and state licensing requirements, e.g., real estate, securities, etc. If fees are involved, this information must be explicitly included in the position description.
  • Postings that request donations, application fees, or investments cannot be listed on Handshake
  • Unpaid internships can be added to the Handshake as long as the definition of an internship is met.

SCC reserves the right to remove job listings on Handshake or decline further service to those employers who do not abide by these compensation/fee guidelines.

On-Campus Recruiting & Job Posting Guidelines

  • All bona fide full-time, part-time, seasonal, and short-term positions and other types of recruiting opportunities for small and large businesses, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and on-campus employers that conform with the Employer Policies noted above may be posted via Handshake and contact the Employer Relations Team for On Campus Recruiting Opportunities. However, On-Campus Recruiting is intended for use by organizations recruiting for paid full-time and internship positions, not for part-time or volunteer positions.
  • Preselection Screening Criteria: Major, school year, GPA and work authorization are the screening criteria used for positions in Handshake. Any student who meets these job requirements (as determined by the employer) and submits a resume will be deemed a "fully qualified" applicant. Other interested students who do not match the screening criteria will still be able to submit resumes. They will appear as "not fully qualified" and are available as alternate candidates for your consideration. Therefore, enter your screening specifications carefully, but without being too restrictive, to ensure the best possible "fully qualified" applicant pool. Please note that students are unable to indicate their work authorization status in Handshake so do not rely on that qualification when screening students who are fully qualified or not fully qualified.
  • OCR Reception Area as Neutral Territory: Employers are asked to respect the neutrality of the On-Campus Recruiting reception area. Students may feel uncomfortable talking to other employers while waiting to be called by their scheduled interviewers. Greeters are permitted as long as their presence does not create an unpleasant environment for students and other recruiters and does not interfere with other SCC business.
  • Testing: Employers must proctor/monitor any testing conducted in the SCC within space and time parameters arranged in advance with the Corporate Relations Office.

Confidentiality of Student Information

By completing the Handshake registration form and submitting resumes and other application materials for opportunities posted on Handshake, students provide the SCC authorization to release employment materials to those selected prospective employers. Employment professionals must maintain the confidentiality of all student information released to them, regardless of the source, including personal documents, written records/reports, and computer databases. This means that there should be no disclosure of student information to another organization without the prior written consent of the student, unless necessitated by health and/or safety considerations, in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).

Employment Eligibility

In compliance with the Department of Justice's recent rulings regarding citizenship discrimination and best practices for online job postings, the SCC does no screening of candidates in Handshake based upon verification of work authorization. Employers may include employment eligibility information in their Handshake job descriptions as a point of information for potential candidates so that the candidates may self-screen.

Employers are encouraged to consult with their legal counsel and establish legally permissible internal screening procedures before posting jobs or recruiting on campus. SCC reserves the right to modify or remove any statements or job postings that include any potentially illegal or discriminatory language.

More information re: the DOJ's recent decisions can be found at:
http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/osc/htm/best_practices.php
http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/May/11-crt-705.html

GPA

Students' GPAs are self-reported in Handshake and the SCC does not verify the accuracy of student GPAs. Employers may include this information in their job descriptions as a point of information for potential candidates. Employers may also request unofficial grade reports or transcripts from students or alumni as part of their required Handshake application documents in order to verify academic performance.

Alcoholic Beverages

In compliance with the University's policy prohibiting the use of alcoholic beverages, employers should not serve alcoholic beverages at employer-hosted recruiting functions hosted on campus. Employers are encouraged to consider NACE guidelines for other functions.

Exceptions to Policies and Guidelines

The SCC reserves the right to make exceptions to these policies and guidelines as warranted by special circumstances, i.e., in certain situations deemed to be acceptable and beneficial to our students, the SCC, the University, or recruiters using our services. Such exceptions will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Any exception made does not constitute a change in policy, nor is there a guarantee that this same decision will apply in the future.

Data Reporting:

If you hire a UC Merced student please report this hire to the Student Career Center by contacting our Employer Services Manager:

Magali Torres at mtorres86@ucmerced.edu   

Non-Discrimination Policy Statement:

The University of California, Merced Student Career Center does not make its interviewing facilities and online job listing services available to employers who unlawfully discriminate in the selection of employees on the basis of age, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or any other basis prohibited by applicable local, state and federal laws. We reserve the right to refuse service to employers due to any violation of University of California rules and regulations. We reserve the right to refuse UC Merced Handshake access at UC Merced to employers requiring at the time of application personal information such as back and social security numbers; misrepresentation by dishonest information or absence of information; fraud; harassment of students, alumni, or staff; breach of confidentiality; and failure to adhere to stated policies. 

Map & Directions

UC Merced is located at 5200 N. Lake Road and is about eight miles northeast of the city of Merced’s downtown area. Driving directions to the campus from the region’s major airports (San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose and Fresno) are available online.

Directions from southbound Highway 99

  1. Head southeast on CA-99 South.
  2. Take Exit 187B toward Martin Luther King Jr. Way.
  3. Turn left onto CA-59 North/Martin Luther King Jr. Way.
  4. Take the third right onto West 16th Street.
  5. Take the third left onto G Street.
  6. Turn right onto East Bellevue Road.
  7. Turn left at Lake Road.
  8. Arrive at main entrance to the UC Merced campus.

Directions from northbound Highway 99

  1. Head northwest on CA-99 North.
  2. Take exit 187A for G Street.
  3. Turn right onto G Street.
  4. Turn right onto East Bellevue Road.
  5. Turn left at Lake Road.
  6. Arrive at main entrance to the UC Merced campus.

A campus map, including buildings, landmarks, roads and other points of interest, is available online.

Download a map of campus (.pdf)

Hotel & Travel Information

If you need a place to stay while visiting UC Merced, there are several lodging options available and all are a short drive from the campus.

The property listed below is provided for your convenience: