How to Send a Student a Message

Employers can proactively message students on Handshake as long as the following are all true: 

• the company profile has a Trust Score of >80
  • Employers with a Trust Score of N/A or lower than 80 won't be able to proactively message students. This is to ensure that students are contacted by established employers via Handshake. For more information, refer to Why can't I message students?
• the company is approved to connect with the institution
• the student has activated their profile and their profile visibility is not "Private"
• applicable messaging limits have not been reached
  • Handshake has set messaging limits to encourage more meaningful and intentional interactions with students. More details are available in Messaging Limits in Handshake.

Note: we enable employers with a Trust Score of N/A or lower than 80 to message students that have applied to a posted position - for more information, view Messaging Applicants.

Send a message from Search Students

1. Access the Search Students page by clicking Search Students or Candidates > Search All tab from the left navigation bar in Handshake. For more details on this page, refer to Search Students Feature.

2. Click on the small conversation bubble icon next to the student's name you'd like to message.

3. This will immediately bring up a popup message box for you to craft your message.

• We recommend adding a subject line as well as text in the body of your message. 
• Pro-tip: add your signature in the body of the message 

4. Once your message has been crafted, click on Send, in the lower-right corner of the message popup box.  

Message a student from their profile

1. Click directly on the student's hyperlinked name. As long as the student has chosen to share their profile with employers, this will take you directly to the student's profile.

2. From here, click on Send a Message under the Actions section, to the right on the page.

3. The same message screen from above will appear. 

• We recommend adding a subject line as well as text in the body of your message. 
• Pro-tip: add your signature in the body of the message 

4. Once your message has been crafted, click on Send, in the lower-right corner of the message popup box.    

Viewing and responding to messages

1. To view your sent messages click the Messages (conversation bubble) icon located in the top search bar, in the upper-right of the screen.

2. This will load your inbox. From here, you may click on a message to read and respond to the student. 

3. To view Sent, Favourited, or Archived messages, click on Inbox and click the desired choice from the drop down menu. 

Best practices when messaging students

• {Company name} - Job Opening in {location}
• {Company name} - Full Time Opportunities
• {Company name} - Full Time ______ - Still Hiring!
• {Job Opening Title} Still Hiring

For additional best practices, see Messaging Best Practices.