Employer Information

When: Tuesday, March 11, 2025 | 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. | CFSB Center 2nd Floor, located at 1401 KY-121 Murray, KY 42071

This event is tailored towards all students with any major and any set of skills.

Murray State University enrolls over 10,000 students representing 46 states and 55 countries. With 126 academic programs, we have students from many different fields!

Register Your Organization for the Fair

Post available positions prior to attending event on Handshake.

When: Tuesday, March 11, 2025 | 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. | Burton Family Hall of Champions (adjacent to the CFSB Center)

Connect with Murray State Faculty & staff - Discuss your hiring needs in a conversational environment while enjoying light refreshments after the All Majors & Grad School Fair.

RSVP will open soon!

When: Wednesday, March 12, 2025 | 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. | CFSB Center 2nd Floor, located at 1401 KY-121 Murray, KY 42071

This event is for students from science, technology, engineering, mathematics and occupational safety and health fields.

Murray State University enrolls over 10,000 students representing 46 states and 55 countries. With 126 academic programs, we have students from many different fields!

Register Your Organization for the Fair

Post available positions prior to attending event on Handshake.

When: Friday, March 14, 2025 | 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. | CFSB Center 2nd Floor, located at 1401 KY-121 Murray, KY 42071

This event is specifically designed for students who are pursuing a career in teaching.

Register Your Organization for the Fair

Post available positions prior to attending event on Handshake.

Employers - Ship your career fair materials for the events! A few notes on shipping career fair materials:

• Please have a return label attached to your materials. Labeling your package with your organization name is also a good idea.  

• Notify your shipper that your materials need to be picked up upon the closure of the event. 

• Murray State does not have an account with UPS or FedEx, so we cannot request a pickup on your behalf. 

Please send materials to the address below:

CFSB CENTER

ATTN: Materials for Career Fair

1401 KY-121

Murray, KY 42071

Welcome to Handshake!

What is Handshake?

Handshake is the online career management platform for Murray State Career Services. 
In addition to being the place where you can post internships, Co-op, part-time, and full-time jobs, you can also use Handshake to:

• Search for students who might be potential candidates for your positions

• Create events such as webinars or company career fairs for students to discover

• Register to attend career fairs hosted at Murray State University

• Create and host on-campus interviews for your company

• Create and host information sessions at Murray State for your company

Access Handshake today!

Murray State University is excited to announce a great opportunity for our employer partners to offer short-term, professional, paid work experiences to current students through micro-internships. Through micro-internships, students can demonstrate their skills, explore career paths, and develop their professional networks. Unlike a traditional internship, these paid opportunities typically range from 5 to 40 hours of work, and many can be completed remotely. Not only does this help the students, but it allows employers to get immediate support and enhance your company’s pipeline for future interns and new hires.

For more details, please visit the Parker Dewey micro-internships website.

Murray State Career Services would be delighted to host your company/organization on-campus to interview our Racers! 

You can request an interview room through Handshake!  

Directions to Murray State

Murray State Campus Map

Please visit Tour Murray for a list of accommodations and restaurants in the area. Some hotels will provide a Murray State discount upon asking.

Resources for Employers

• Murray State Employer Guide

• Murray State Campus Calendar

• Murray State Student Organizations

• Murray State Majors

Recruiting Policies

• NACE Recruiting Ethical Standards

Third Party Recruiting Policy

Murray State University Career Services works to connect our students and alumni with varied kinds of bona fide employment opportunities. We encourage organizations, large and small, public or private sector, to utilize our services. It is the policy of Career Services to NOT grant recruiting access to organizations who engage in the following activities:

• Sponsors individuals to set up their own businesses for the purpose of selling products or services and/or recruiting other individuals to set up their own businesses

• Requires an initial investment (payment of a fixed fee, payment to attend orientation or training session(s), and/or the purchase of a starter kit or product samples)

• Offers compensation in the form of straight commission, fees from others under their sponsorship in the organization, and/or a percentage of sales generated by others 

• Offers compensation in the form of merchandise (commonly known as “swag”)

Third Party agencies may only utilize our services if they meet the following requirements:

• Provide disclosure of vacancy position(s) and employer represented for recruiting activities

• Acknowledges that Career Services may verify with the employer the third party’s recruiter relationships

Career Services reserves the right to review all postings for legitimacy and accuracy. If you have questions, please contact Career Services at 270.809.3735 or msu.careerservices@murraystate.edu. 

As a sponsoring organization, you can offer substantive work experiences that support students' academic and career goals. Post your position to Handshake. Our staff then makes every effort to alert faculty and students whose interests, preparation and capabilities meet the requirements and qualifications needed for the position you are offering. You then have the opportunity to interview and screen the candidate(s). Once you select a student(s), we work cooperatively with you to support their work performance and learning experience.

Employer Benefits

Many supervisors simply enjoy sharing their expertise and savvy in their roles as professional mentors. In addition, some tangible benefits include:

• Year-round source of highly motivated pre-professionals

• Quality candidates for temporary or seasonal positions and projects

• Freedom for professional staff to pursue more creative projects

• Flexible, cost-effective work force not requiring a long-term site sponsor commitment

• Proven, cost-effective way to recruit and evaluate potential employees

• Increase exposure to latest academic theory and educational literature

• Become involved with key faculty/staff members on campus

Requirements

• Provide a clear job/project description for the work experience

• Orient the student to the organization, its "culture" and their work assignment(s)

• Assist the student in developing/achieving personal learning objectives

• Willingness to host an on-site visit from campus representative sometime during the work term

• Offer feedback to the student on a regular basis

• Complete formal written evaluations at the conclusion of the work experience

Internship Best Practices

MUST AN INTERNSHIP BE PAID?

If your organization is a for-profit business, compensation is expected and virtually mandated by federal regulations. Many students work their way through college and often give up a paying part-time position to take an internship, so receiving some form of remuneration is appreciated. If your organization (for-profit or nonprofit) is unable to offer a regular wage, consider helping the student with a stipend or internship-related expenses such as parking fees, mileage, meals, etc.

Unpaid student employment will not violate the U.S. Department of Labor's Fair Labor Standards Act if it is a training program which meets the following criteria:

1. The training should be similar to that given in a vocational setting.

2. The experience is for the benefit of the student.

3. Students do not displace regular employees.

4. The site sponsor provides the training and receives no immediate advantage from the activities of students.

5. Students are not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the training period.

6. The site sponsor and student understand that the student is not entitled to wages for the time spent in training.

Another consideration is the Primary Beneficiary Test:

1. The extent to which the intern and the provider of the internship clearly understand that there is no expectation of compensation. Any promise of compensation, express or implied, suggests that the intern is an employee.

2. The extent to which the internship provides training similar to that which would be given in an educational environment, including the clinical and other hands-on training provided by education institutions.

3. The extent to which the internship is tied to the intern’s formal education program by integrated coursework or the receipt of academic credit.

4. The extent to which the internship accommodates the intern’s academic commitments by corresponding to the academic calendar.

5. The extent to which the internship’s duration is limited to the period in which the internship provides beneficial learning to the intern.

6. The extent to which the intern’s work complements, rather than displaces, the work of paid employees while providing significant educational benefits to the intern.

7. The extent to which the intern and the provider of the internship understand that the internship is conducted without entitlement to a paid job at the conclusion of the internship.

Many employers ask how much they should pay students. The average hourly pay for interns in 2023 was $22.06, according to NACE research.

What is an Internship?

"An academic internship is a form of experiential education that integrates knowledge and theory learned in the classroom with practical application and skill development in a professional setting. Students earn academic credit, or there is some other connection to a degree-granting, educational institution. This work/learning arrangement is overseen by a faculty or staff member of an educational institution and by a designated employee of an organization. The internship is usually the length or equivalent of an academic term, may be part-time or full-time, paid or unpaid. An integral component of the experience that distinguishes it from other types of work is one or more forms of structured and deliberate reflection contained within learning agendas or objectives." (Definition Formulated In May 2010 By Internship Professionals Subscribed To The Internship-Net Listserv)

Internships are available to any Murray State student who is currently enrolled with a minimum of 24 credits (at least 6 at Murray State) and in good standing (GPA of 2.00 or higher). Enrollment in the internship course must be concurrent with employment. Approved internships should allow students to enhance their skills, network with employer contacts, evaluate strengths, test classroom theories in a real world setting and develop as a professional.