Employer Work Authorization Workflows

By collecting work authorization information directly from students, we increase transparency for employers and improve students' application experience. 

Employers also reduce the amount of time they spend interviewing and reviewing candidates they cannot hire, while gathering more information about applicants without requiring them to disclose their work authorization status.

Topics: 

• Student work authorization questions
• Employer work authorization questions 
• U.S work authorization: laws, regulations, and exceptions
• Reviewing your applicants' work authorization qualifications 
• Work authorization disclosure (student profile settings) 
• Work authorization qualification matrix (job posting)

Student work authorization questions 

Students are required to either answer the following questions, or they can choose to opt out:

• Select Yes/No for both questions:
  • Are you legally authorized to work in the United States?
  • Will you now or in the future require visa sponsorship?
• Or select (checkbox) Prefer not to answer these questions

Students can respond to these questions in their account settings. However, if they have not been answered, this prompt will appear the first time students apply for a job, or if they register for a virtual fair and haven't yet applied for a job in Handshake.

The answers to these questions will determine whether a student is fully qualified for a position.

Note: students who select "Prefer not to answer these questions" will be shown as FULLY QUALIFIED for the position and able to view and sign up for virtual fair 1:1 sessions with work authorization requirements. 

Employer work authorization questions

The questions are present on the job form, career fair registration form, and when setting up 1:1 sessions for a virtual career fair. However, the way the questions are asked may vary.

Job form (optional) 

Employers can select from the following options: 

• This job requires US work authorization 
  • This job is eligible for US visa sponsorship 
  • This job is open to candidates with Curricular Practical Training (CPT) 
  • This job is open to candidates with Optional Practical Training (OPT)
• This job does not require US work authorization 

To not disclose work authorization requirements, click the hyperlinked text Don't disclose.

Note: the job post will indicate whether a student's selections match your qualifications. However, all students may apply, regardless of whether their selections match the job's qualifications.

Career fair registration (required) 

Employers are prompted to answer the following questions when registering for a career fair: 

• Does this job require U.S. work authorization? (select Yes/No)
  • If you select Yes, you'll also be required to answer the following questions:
    • Would you sponsor a work visa for the right candidate? (select Yes/No)
    • Are you willing to hire candidates that are temporarily authorized to work for a defined period in their field of study (e.g. for an internship under OPT/CPT)? (Select Yes/No)

Note: the response is only an indicator, and students can register for a career fair regardless of their work authorization status.

Virtual career fair (1:1 sessions) (required) 

Employers are prompted to answer the following questions when registering for a career fair: 

• Do any of the positions that you are hiring for require work authorization? (select Yes/No) 
• If Yes, you'll also be required to answer the following questions:
  • Are the positions you are hiring for located in the US? 
  • Would you sponsor a work visa for the right candidate? 
  • Are you willing to hire candidates that are temporarily authorized to work for a defined period in their field of study? (e.g. for a job/internship under OPT/CPT)

Note: schedule qualification selections act as a blocker, preventing students who do not meet the qualifications from viewing or signing up for 1:1 sessions.

U.S work authorization: laws, regulations, and exceptions

All jobs posted in the U.S. must comply with 8 U.S. Code Section 1324b and must not discriminate against applicants based on U.S. citizenship status, unless one of the following exceptions applies:

1. You employ three or fewer employees.
2. Your entity’s discrimination based on national origin is covered under 703 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2.
3. Discrimination based on citizenship status is required to comply with federal, state, or local government contracts.

Reviewing your applicants' work authorization qualifications 

Job

To view only candidates who meet your work authorization criteria, select the Work authorization option within the Matching qualifications filter. 

Note: when this option is selected, all candidates who meet your work authorization criteria or chose not to disclose their status will be displayed. Read more in Disclosing work authorization.

On-campus interview 

To review only applicants who meet your work authorization criteria, select the Work Authorization Status option within the Exclude Students That Do Not Match filter.

To review the work authorization status for all applicants, hover your cursor over the card icon in the Preferences column for each applicant.

For candidates who do not meet your work authorization criteria, the card will display the message 'Not authorized'."

Work authorization disclosure (student profile settings)

Students may choose not to disclose their work authorization status in their profile settings.

Students who select 'Prefer not to answer these questions' in their profile settings are considered fully qualified for all positions and virtual fair sessions that require work authorization.

Note: students will always appear as fully qualified for jobs that do not require U.S. sponsorship, regardless of their responses to the work authorization questions.

Work authorization qualification matrix (job posting)

In the qualification matrix 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 highlighted in italics.