Work Authorization Overview

We collect work authorization information directly from students to increase transparency for employers and improve the application experience.

We believe this process provides a better experience for both students and employers:

• • Students are not spending time applying and interviewing for a job they cannot get.
  • Employers reduce the amount of time they are spending interviewing and reviewing candidates they cannot hire, while gathering more information about applicants without requiring them to disclose their work authorization status.

Topics: 

• Student prompt with work authorization questions
• Application Qualifications 
  • Student Perspective
  • Employer Perspective
• FAQs

Student prompt with work authorization questions

Before a student submits their first job application, they are prompted with work authorization questions. These questions are used to determine their qualification for employer job posting preferences and virtual fair session requirements.

Likewise, if the student has not applied to a job in Handshake yet or answered these questions within their Settings & Privacy section, the prompt will appear after registering for a virtual fair.

The answers to these questions are stored in the student's profile under Settings & Privacy, and the student is not prompted to answer again after they've answered the questions once. 

• Note: If the student answers the work authorization questions prior to applying (either via a virtual fair session sign up prompt or via Settings & Privacy), we will not prompt them to answer these questions at all during the application process.

The prompt contains three options:

• Are you legally authorized to work in the United States? (yes/no)
• Will you now or in the future require visa sponsorship? (yes/no)
• Prefer not to answer these questions. (checkbox)
  • • There is a tooltip with a "?" icon - hover over the icon to display the following: 
      If you select "Prefer not to Answer", then you will show up when an Employer filters for students who don't require sponsorship or if they filter for students who do require sponsorship.
      If they look at your work experience field they will see status listed as "Unknown." Students who have yet to answer these questions will also be listed as "Unknown.
      If you have DACA and don't know how to answer, here is a resource on how to answer these questions: www.informedimmigrant.com/guides/daca/#employment-rights-daca

The selections on this prompt will determine whether or not a student is fully qualified for the job based on the preferences set by the employer on the posting.

If the student checks the option "Prefer not to answer these questions", the student will be FULLY QUALIFIED for all positions or virtual fair sessions with work authorization requirements.

• Note: Even though "visa status" can still be populated on a student's profile for reporting purposes, we will not use that field to determine qualification on job postings, unless both of the following are true: (1) the student has not answered these questions and (2) a Career Services user is submitting an application on the student's behalf. 

If you'd like to share this information with your students, you may share the student article: Student Work Authorization Information

Application Qualifications

Student Perspective

Students can filter job searches by work authorization requirements by clicking All filters on the job search page, then scrolling to the Work authorization section. There are two checkboxes that correspond to the questions both employers and students answer: 

• Open to US visa sponsorship
• Open to Optional Practical Training (OPT)
• Open to Curricular Practical Training (CPT)
• No US work authorization required
• Unknown

Important: if the student checks the option "Prefer not to answer these questions", the student will be Fully Qualified for all positions or virtual fair sessions with work authorization requirements.

On the job postings page, students can identify whether a job requires US work authorization or not under the At a glance section of the job details page.

Employer Perspective

When an employer is reviewing the applicants tab, located within the job postings details, they have access to a row titled "Qualifications". This row provides the amount of employer preferences each candidate meets. This is presented as a number, for example: 1 of 3, 2 of 3, 3 of 3, etc. 

If a student meets all employer preferences, a green check mark is displayed as an icon next to the number. 

Tip: hover over the number presented in the "Qualifications" row to access more information as to which of the employer preferences the student meets and doesn't meet. A checkmark is presented next to the preferences they meet, while an X is presented next to the preferences they do not meet.

Prefer not to answer these questions

When a student selects "Prefer not to answer these questions", the student is FULLY QUALIFIED for all positions or virtual fair sessions with work authorization requirements.

On the applicants tab, located within the job postings details page, employers can filter by students who meet particular preferences. These filters are listed above the applicants names within the "View only those who match my qualifications" section. Employers can add a checkmark next to the boxes they want to view candidates for.

Note: when they filter out students who don't match their Work Authorization preferences, opted out students will still show up.

When hovering over the qualification numbers, if "Prefer not to answer these questions" is checked, the Student Information will display a gray "?" with "Unknown".

Note: Students will always show up as fully qualified for jobs not requiring U.S. sponsorship, regardless of their answers to the work authorization questions.

If you'd like to share any of this information with employers, please share the employer article: Employer Work Authorization Workflows.

FAQs

What do the work authorization questions look like from the employer's perspective?

• Questions appear for employers in three instances: fair registration, job post-creation, and 1:1 schedule qualifications. For examples of each, please refer to the "Employer-facing questions" section of Employer Work Authorization Workflows. 

Can we still import Work Authorization Name?

• Yes, you can; however, we do not recommend that you import these fields, as students are prompted for the correct values.
  • The field for “Visa Status” does still exist on the student profile, but it is not visible to students; it is only viewable by Career Services. 

Can a student edit these fields after they've submitted them for the first time?

• Yes, a student can edit these fields at any point by clicking their account icon in the upper-right corner of the page, then clicking Settings. They'll scroll to the Work Authorization section and make desired updates, then click Save Update at the bottom of the page.

How do employer work auth selections impact students that aren't fully qualified? 

• For job postings, they will still be able to apply for the job. 
• For virtual fair 1:1 sessions, students will not be able to view or sign up for 1:1 sessions if they do not match the employer's requirements.

What is the exact logic for each work authorization situation? 

In the qualification chart below, the upper-most row is the Employer Preference indicated on the job posting, and the Student Selection heading represents the far-left column, with each possible student selection combination listed per row. 

Student qualification outcomes are listed as Fully Qualified or Not fully qualified –– if not fully qualified, the reasoning is listed in italics below.