Rank and Match Instructions

These instructions and guidelines are for the rank and match process, used during phase one of MBA co-op and commerce internship recruitment.

The Rankings

Employer Ranking of Students

How it Works

  1. Employers rank all the students they interviewed.
  2. Only one student can be ranked #1 for each position. (If you have two positions available, then you can choose two #1s, and so on.)
  3. In the event of a tie, the system will break it using pre-determined criteria. If you are offering multiple positions, use the “tie breaker” column on the ranking form to indicate your candidate preference for a position. For example, if you are offering two positions and ranked two candidates as #1, use the “tie breaker” column to indicate your preference between those two candidates. This will help us break ties while still considering your preferences.
  4. The more students you rank, the greater your chance of being matched. However, you are not obligated to rank every student. If a candidate is not suitable for your position or is not a good fit, indicate this by selecting “NR” (not ranked) next to the student’s name. By ranking a student with a number, you are saying that you will take that student if a match is made with your company.

Student Ranking of Employers

How it Works

  1. Students view the employers’ rankings online and they, in turn, rank the employers.
  2. Student rankings are done in a similar manner, with only one position listed as their first choice. All other rules remain the same.
  3. Students are allowed to access  their employer rankings.
  4. Employers will not be able to view student rankings.

The Match

How it Works

  1. The matching process works on the principle of “low score wins.”
  2. Once the employer and student rankings are submitted, the computer reads the information and adds the employer and student ranking to produce a total score for each combination.
  3. The computer then performs the match, starting with the lowest score combinations, which would be a 1-1 ranking by both the employer and the student, for a total of “2.” This is considered an automatic match.
  4. The computer then continues to match employers with students sequentially by examining total scores of three, four, etc., until all possible combinations are exhausted.
  5. Ties:
    Three assumptions are built into the program:

    1. In the case of a tie with ONE employer and TWO students, EMPLOYER preference wins.
    2. In a tie with TWO employers and ONE student, STUDENT preference wins.

Match Results

You will be notified of the results by email after the match is completed.

Questions?

If you have any questions, please contact: recruit.degroote@mcmaster.ca