Centre for Student Careers & Skills
Policy on advertising vacancies on myAdvantage
1.
Introduction
We aim to provide the widest possible range of opportunities to our students and we work in
partnership with employers to achieve this. We aim to support both graduate employment for our
students and the business needs of our employer partners.
2.
Our Policy
Vacancies are published through our website, myAdvantage. Employers can upload vacancies directly
into myAdvantage, giving you control over the wording and look of your advert. Once uploaded, we
review the content of the opportunity. We work with employers to try to ensure that advertisements
comply with our policy and will contact you if we have any queries. We reserve the right not to
advertise vacancies if they do not comply with the following principles:
(a)
(b)
General policy

In advertising vacancies to students and graduates we are bound by UK employment
legislation, including anti-discrimination laws as well as National Minimum Wage (NMW)
requirements. For overseas opportunities, we are not responsible for checking that the
vacancy complies with employment law in another jurisdiction and we rely on
employers to ensure that opportunities meet relevant legal requirements and good
practice.

We will not normally advertise vacancies which require students/graduates to make any
payment to take up the opportunity. We recognise that some not for profit/charitable
organisations offer opportunities of this type, which may be of interest to
students/graduates. We would encourage students and graduates to refer to guidance
on our website when evaluating such opportunities:
 www.warwick.ac.uk/go/volunteers/projects/volunteeringoverseas (advice on
questions to ask when considering overseas volunteering opportunities)
 www.warwick.ac.uk/services/scs/findingajob/researching/ethical/ (advice on ethical
considerations when researching employers)
Internships, work experience and placements

In relation to work experience, placements and internships, we are guided by the
position statement on internships set out by AGCAS, the professional body for HE
careers services (see below for further information).

We expect placements to have clear aims and objectives, established at the outset to
help the student/graduate to decide whether to apply.

We also expect the content of the work to be appropriate for graduate-level applicants,
and/or offer an opportunity to gain insights into a sector, organisation or workplace that
would be beneficial to a graduate.
(c)

We will only advertise an unpaid placement if:
 it meets the conditions for exemption from NMW requirements for voluntary
workers, as set out in the NMW legislation; or
 it is for no longer than four weeks duration (or full-time equivalent)

We recommend that employers offering unpaid placements of up to four weeks (or fulltime equivalent) reimburse students/graduates for reasonable expenses incurred, as a
gesture of good-will.
Recruitment agencies, jobs boards and other third party organisations

We will normally publish agency advertisements when all of the following are met:
 To ensure students can research an opportunity fully before applying, we check that
the employer concerned is explicitly named in the advertisement (or the opportunity
is to work directly for the agency itself) and full details of the role are clear;
 To ensure the students who apply via the agency’s link can be assured that their
application will be received and considered by the listed employer, we check that the
agency has the agreement of the employer concerned to advertise on their behalf,
and we contact employers to verify this;
 To be confident that the opportunity is a genuine addition to those already available
to students, we check that the vacancy is not already listed with us directly by the
employer concerned. This also protects employers who advertise their vacancies
direct on myAdvantage from incurring a fee for accessing Warwick students’
applications which they could receive free of charge;
 To protect students from possible commercial exploitation and ensure equal access
for all, regardless of their background and circumstances, we check the student or
graduate is not required to make any payment to take up the opportunity.

3.
Jobs board organisations will not be permitted to hold an account within myAdvantage
for the purpose of signposting to the organisation’s website. An account will only be
approved if the organisation is seeking to recruit students to its own business.
Queries and further information
If you have any questions about the application of this policy, or in relation to advertising your
vacancies, please get in touch with us on 024 76524748 or email careers@warwick.ac.uk

AGCAS position statement on internships: www.agcas.org.uk/assets/725-AGCAS-positionstatements-downloads

Advice and information on the National Minimum Wage legislation:



Business Link (includes a NMW online entitlement and rates checker tool):
www.businesslink.gov.uk
Directgov website:
www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/TheNationalMinimumWage/index.htm
BIS guide for employers: www.bis.gov.uk/policies/employment-matters/rights/nmw
Approved by the Student Careers & Skills Executive team, 2 August 2012