Profile Privacy Options in Handshake

Handshake provides three profile privacy options for student accounts: Community, Employers, and Private.

If your institution has partnered with Handshake and created an account on your behalf, the account privacy is automatically set to Private, meaning it is not visible to any employers or peers.

If you created your own account, or when you activate an account created for you, you have the option to update your privacy setting when you first log in.

Topics:

What does each profile privacy option allow me to do?
- Community
- Employers
- Private
Example images of privacy prompts in Handshake:

What does each profile privacy option allow me to do?

Most features of Handshake are usable without making your profile visible to employers and/or students, including applying to jobs, registering for in-person events or fairs, and scheduling appointments.

Some features within Handshake require either Employers or Community to be selected, such as participating in a virtual fair 1:1 session, group session, virtual event, or connecting with peers via Campus Profiles and messaging.

If you choose either Community or Employers, we recommend ensuring that your profile is fully filled out for the best experience, as a complete profile enables more intentional and relevant interactions.

Community

The Community option is all encompassing and includes access to each possible interaction in Handshake. If you select this option, you will not be prompted to update your profile privacy for any action.

With the Community option selected:

You can message students and alumni with similar experience
You can receive messages about job opportunities from potential employers
You can browse jobs and other resources from Handshake or your institution
Your profile will be visible to employers, students, and alumni across all Handshake colleges and universities.

Virtual events hosted in Handshake and virtual fair group sessions require the Community privacy option, since employers and other students participate in these sessions.

Virtual fairs and events mimic the in-person experience by participant names being visible in the participants list, interaction via chat, and the current speaker (employer host or student speaking on audio with video enabled).

If you have selected Community, then you can register for virtual events hosted in Handshake and fairs with no setting changes. If you have Employers or Private selected, you'll be prompted to update your privacy setting to proceed with the virtual event or virtual fair group session signup.

Employers

With the Employers option selected:

You cannot message students and alumni with similar experience
You can receive messages about job opportunities from potential employers
You can browse jobs and other resources from Handshake or your institution
Your profile will be visible to employers.

If you'd prefer to not be visible to other students/alumni, you may select the Employers privacy option. This enables employers approved at your institution in Handshake to discover your profile and connect with you via messages or inviting you to apply.

You can register for virtual events hosted outside of Handshake with a different provider. You can also register for virtual fairs in Handshake and sign up for only employer hosted 1:1 sessions (one recruiter and one student). If you'd like to sign up for group sessions or register for virtual events that are hosted in Handshake, you'll be prompted to update your privacy setting to Community.

Private

- You cannot message students and alumni with similar experience
- You cannot receive messages about job opportunities from potential employers
- You can browse jobs and other resources from Handshake or your institution
- Your profile will be visible to you and employers you apply to.

If you choose to keep your profile Private, you can search for and apply to jobs, register for in-person events and fairs, explore career paths, and if your institution is partnered with Handshake, you can interact with the Career Centre via appointments, experiences, surveys, First Destination Surveys, and institution posted resources.

Profile privacy prompt at first login

The onboarding prompt for profile visibility displays the three options, and you can click on each option for more details of the setting. The details listed here align with the bulleted summaries in this article, under each option above.

Virtual fair session signup prompt

If you click to sign up for a virtual fair session and need to update your privacy setting to join, a prompt will appear to make that change.

It states: "In order to participate in a virtual career fair on Handshake, you will need to change your visibility."

It will display your current profile visibility setting, with the options and details below:

Community - Required to participate in a group session.
Employers - Required to participate in 1 on 1 sessions with employers.

Virtual event registration prompt

Virtual events require either Employers or Community, depending on the employer's configuration:

If the event is hosted outside of Handshake, meaning there is an external video provider like Zoom, the Employers option is the minimum required.
- If you are set to Private, you'll need to update.
- If you have this setting already, you can register for the event as normal.
If the event is hosted in Handshake with our video provider, the Community option is required.
- If you are set to Private or Employers, you'll be prompted to update.
- If you are already on Community, you can register as normal.

The prompt layout is identical to the virtual fairs prompt, with slightly different language:

It states: "In order to participate in a virtual event on Handshake, you will need to change your visibility."