We've designed Handshake's implementation process as easy on IT teams as possible.
What is Handshake?
This guide is designed to help IT professionals quickly launch Handshake with their university career service. It will walk you through the key steps required to get Handshake ready for launch.
Handshake is a modern approach to career management platforms. University career centres use Handshake to manage their key workflows including student advising, employer relationship management, career fairs, events, and much more.
Handshake arrived in the UK in 2019 but is the #1 player in the United States - supporting over 900 universities of all shapes and sizes. These 900 universities use Handshake to connect with their 17M+ students and over 420,000 employers.
Is Handshake Secure?
Yes. Handshake is proud of our industry leading security posture. Handshake has been assessed by JISC (report here) and reviewed by many of the world's top universities.
You can learn more about Handshake's security here.
All university data is stored in the United Kingdom.
Three Steps for IT Teams to Implement Handshake
We created Handshake to be as easy as possible for IT to implement. Handshake Success and Support teams work directly with the business users to manage configuration, training, and importing data from legacy systems. Handshake takes a proactive role in ensuring every implementation is a success.
For a successful launch, there are three key things needed from an IT organisation. They are:
- Student account provisioning (and automatic updating),
- Configuration of single sign on (SSO)
- Whitelisting Handshake's emails to ensure deliverability.
Each of these processes are outlined in the documentation in this section.
What is not required from IT Teams
Just as important as what is required from IT teams is what isn't. Handshake has staffed our implementation team to take on many of the responsibilities that would normally fall to an IT or project management team.
These include:
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Project management - Handshake's partnership manager will project manage every step of the implementation to ensure things are on time and set up for success.
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Training and Configuration - Handshake provides both virtual and in-person training as a part of the contract. Our team will make sure university team members are up and running on the new tool quickly.
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Legacy Data Import - We'll work with the university careers team to import key legacy data into the Handshake platform. For data that isn't brought into Handshake, we'll work with the careers team to come up with a plan for storing that data locally so it's not lost when the legacy system shuts down.
What other IT teams are saying about implementing Handshake
'Handshake has been the single best integration experience we've ever had' - CIO at Wellesley College in the United States.
Optional: Integration with other Platforms
Handshake has a built-in data reporting platform that allows universities to create and schedule custom reports. These reports can be automatically sent, via email, to other platforms creating a completely custom and flexible way to integrate Handshake with other platforms.
For example, the university may wish to send data about a student's appointment history in Handshake to a central University CRM. With Handshake the university can define which data they want to pull from the system, the cadence at which they wish to pull it, and where they wish to send it - all without having to involve a developer or the Handshake team.
We believe Handshake offers the most robust way to integrate with other systems but it's worth noting that this is an *optional step. No integrations are required to successfully use Handshake.
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