Vacancy and Opportunity Advertising Policy

This policy applies to all opportunities submitted for promotion through the Careers & Employability Service and its vacancy portal, ABERcareers, including:

• Graduate employment
• Student employment (part time, term time roles)
• Placements and internships
• Freelance work
• Volunteering
• Vacation work
• Funded postgraduate opportunities

To advertise via ABERcareers, employers must:

• Register an account on ABERcareers - providing their full organisation details, including organisation name, business address, website, and a role-specific contact.
• Be a legitimate organisation or registered business and hold all insurance, licences, registrations or accreditations required by law. The Careers & Employability Service reserves the right to request additional information to verify an organisation or opportunity before publication, including checks through Companies House and other publicly available or regulatory sources where applicable.
• Provide complete and accurate vacancy information - including a clear job description, responsibilities, required skills and qualifications.
• Provide clear application and advertising timeframes - including providing sufficient notice before closing dates, and a link for online applications
• Provide fair remuneration - including a clearly stated salary, salary range or hourly rate. Opportunities based in the UK must comply with National Minimum Wage legislation. Please see the Advertising Volunteering Opportunities section below for details of volunteer opportunities
• Comply with current employment legislation and professional standards – including, but not limited to:
  • The legal obligations related to employing people within the UK, including health and safety, pensions, working hours, payroll, etc.
  • Employers advertising overseas opportunities are responsible for ensuring compliance with applicable employment legislation within the host country.
  • Principles of the Institute of Student Employers (ISE) and the Graduate Futures Institute.
  • Obligations related to the recruitment of international students and graduates, including visas and right-to-work requirements.
  • Compliance with equality and anti-discrimination legislation, including the Equality Act 2010.

The Careers & Employability Service reserves the right to decline any opportunity we consider unsuitable, unsafe, unethical, misleading, discriminatory, or contrary to the best interests of our students and graduates, even where the circumstances are not explicitly covered within this policy.

This includes vacancies that:

• Lack transparency or employer legitimacy - including providing incomplete, inaccurate or misleading information; failing to provide sufficient information to verify the organisation or vacancy; or being advertised through third parties where the recruiting organisation cannot be identified.
• Breach legal, regulatory or ethical requirements - including non-compliance with employment, equality, health and safety, National Minimum Wage or other relevant legislation.
• Create financial or personal risk for students and graduates - including requiring applicants to pay to apply for, access or undertake paid employment opportunities; offering commission-only remuneration; or being associated with pyramid selling, or similar schemes.
• Undermine Academic Integrity - including writing, editing, selling or supplying academic work on behalf of others.
• Are considered unsuitable for promotion via ABERcareers - based on the nature of the organisation, opportunity, working environment, potential risk to students and graduates.

The Careers & Employability Service recognises the value of volunteering in supporting personal development, employability, community engagement and social impact.

Volunteering opportunities may be advertised through ABERcareers where they represent genuine voluntary activity and are offered by a legitimate organisation. This may include registered charities, social enterprises, community groups, public sector organisations, educational institutions, and not-for-profit organisations.

Volunteering opportunities should:

• Be freely undertaken without expectation of payment. Where participation involves any costs to the applicant, these must be made explicit in the vacancy advertisement and communicated transparently throughout the recruitment process.
• Not replace paid employment or be used to avoid National Minimum Wage obligations.
• Clearly describe the nature of the role and expected responsibilities.
• Be offered by an identifiable organisation that can be verified by the Careers & Employability Service.
• Comply with relevant health and safety, safeguarding and equality legislation.

The Careers & Employability Service reserves the right to decline volunteering opportunities that it believes are more appropriately classified as paid employment, internships or work experience.

The Careers & Employability Service supports students and graduates to explore opportunities across a wide range of sectors and organisations. As outlined in the University’s Ethical Careers Policy, we encourage opportunities that demonstrate responsible employment practices and positive social or environmental impact, while reserving the right to decline opportunities that conflict with the principles of that policy.