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Disclaimers

Protect Yourself-Be Aware of Fraudulent Job and Internship Postings

As you conduct your job search, please continue to be alert that scams on the internet include fraudulent job postings designed to draw an unsuspecting job searcher into disclosing confidential financial/personal information. Remember:

• Always do some research to satisfy yourself that an announcement is legitimate.  Visit the organization's web site.  Are their job postings consistent in style and content with any information you received via the internet?
• Are you able to speak with a number of people that work in the organization?
• Do not provide bank/credit card/ financial information when applying for a job.  There should be no requests for fees or money associated with a job application.
• Do not provide a social security number or other personal identification information until you are sure of legitimate offer of employment.
• Be very skeptical of job offers that do not include an interview of some kind.  Do not accept such an offer at face value; further investigation is warranted.
• If you have concerns about the legitimacy of an announcement, please let us know at careerdevelopmentcenter@tnstate.edu

Unpaid Internships

The Career Development Center is part of a consortium of other colleges and universities and our internship database is shared and available to students of all member schools.

Additionally,  there are unpaid internship listings that do not require academic credit.  As such, you should be aware of the criteria used by the Department of Labor (DOL) addressing the Fair Labor Standards Act when determining if an experience may be unpaid.

The DOL criteria are:

• The training, even though it includes actual operation of the employer's facilities, is similar to training that would be given in a vocational school.
• The training is for the benefit of the student
• The student does not displace regular employees, but works under the close observation of a regular employee.
• The employer provides the training and derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the student.  Occasionally, the operations may actually be impeded by the training.
• The student is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the training period.
• The employer and the student understand that the student is not entitled to wages for the time spent training.

Source:National Association of Colleges and Employers

The Career Development Center does not affirm or represent that any particular posting or opportunity, whether paid of unpaid, complies with The Fair Labor Standards Act and/or other Federal and State Labor and Employment Laws.

Please also note that the Career Development Center's website contains links to other websites not under control of the Career Development Center.  The Career Development Center is not able to change their content.  Please use discretion when exploring these links and consider your own values when seeking opportunities and resources appropriate for your career goals.