Submitting a contacts file to the Importer is the most efficient way to upload information for new employer contacts (individuals at each company who recruit at your institution) into your Handshake system, as well as updating information for existing employer contacts. For existing contacts, we recommend updating them in a subsequent upload.
To start, download this example CSV file - it includes all of the fields you can upload, with example data. You'll notice that each field has its own column — make sure that the headers match exactly! If any of your headers differ from the formatting included below, the Importer's analyzer won't be able to identify it, and it will be ignored! We recommend copying and pasting the headers from the example file to ensure the formatting for each of your headers is correct.
Required Fields
Every employer file you upload must have these three fields:
email_address This is the basic identifier for each user in Handshake. It must be unique for that user, meaning that the same email cannot be tied to two accounts. All duplicate emails in the file will fail.
first_name Contacts first name in this column only
last_name Contacts last name in this column only
Here's an example of how a contacts file may appear with required headers:
Optional Fields
These are fields that you can include (if you have this information), but they are not required. If you do not want to include this information on your file, you can leave them out!
title Contact's title/position
description Description of the contact or employer
employer_id This is the ID of the employer in Handshake. Do not include this unless it is the correct ID, found in that employer's Handshake URL. This can be used to directly associate the contact with a company profile in Handshake (not commonly utilized, but can be used for reporting purposes).
employer_name Name of the company
location_attributes:name Location of company or contact's office. (Please Note: We recommend using the full physical address. When using only the street address, our system will use geocoding to autofill for a full physical address.)
phone Phone number for employer contact. This can include spaces and extensions. (Please note: a warning message will generate that the phone number needs to be valid. This warning can be ignored and the row will process without issue.)
cell_phone Must be 10 or 11 digits (no special characters).
fax Must be 10 or 11 digits (no special characters).
assigned_to_id This is the user ID for the Career Services staff member who 'owns' this contact. In order to generate a user ID for your Career Services staff, you must:
- Add them as a Career Services Staff member at your school.
- Select their Career Services Staff member profile.
- Grab the digits at the end of the URL when you are on their profile. That is their ID!
- You should pull this file out of your old system with your Career Services Staff Names or "account managers". Then, you can use Excel to Find and replace each name with their newly generated Handshake ID!
Here's an example of how the optional headers in a contacts file may appear:
When your file is ready for import
- Upload directly to the Importer tool as a 'Contacts' job type:
- Once your file is uploaded and analysis is complete, click "Submit and Request Run"
For information on troubleshooting file issues, refer to Importer Errors: Common Message and Next Steps!
If you don't have access to Handshake's Importer tool, check out Importer: Gaining Access.
Next Steps: Invite Your Employer Contacts
Once you've imported your Employer Contacts, follow the steps in this article for Inviting Contacts to Become Users: Standard Employer Invite Process!