The Student Onboarding Experience

Some schools may choose to create an account for you prior to your start date. If this is the case, you'll need to finish setting up your account using your provided .edu email address.

1. Go to https://joinhandshake.com/

2. Click the blue button Sign up in the upper-right corner of the page. 

3. Enter your .edu email address, then click the blue button Next.

4. If your school has created an account for you, your account will be displayed on the screen for you to claim. Click the blue button Get Started. 

If an account hasn't been created for you, you can start the process by following the steps outlined in Getting Started with Handshake.

An email is sent to your inbox to verify the account. Click the link Confirm My Account within the email to confirm your account, and be directed back to Handshake where you're prompted to create a password. 

Once logged in, you'll be required to confirm a few details about your education plans. We allow students to decide how they'd like to share their information on Handshake. If you plan to keep this information private, or share it on Handshake, the decision is entirely up to the student and it can easily be changed at any time.

• Education Level
  • High School
  • Associates
  • Certificates
  • Advanced Certificates
  • Bachelors
  • Masters
  • Doctorates
  • Postdoctoral Studies
  • Non-Degree Seeking
  • Technical Diploma
• Expected Graduation date 
  • Month
  • Year 

To receive marketing emails from Handshake, ensure the box is checked.

You'll need to agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy to proceed with the on-boarding process to set up your account.

Click the blue button Continue. 

Upon agreeing to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, students are presented with the profile visibility options. 

For more information on each of the options, refer to Profile Privacy Options in Handshake.

Note: when you click that you want employers to be able to find and view your profile, you're consenting to the section of our terms of service and claiming your own account. By doing so, you take ownership of the FERPA data and choose to share it. That information is no longer protected by your school's FERPA responsibility and is now owned by you.

We provide type ahead suggestions based on common answers, but this field will allow for other entries as well.

Pronouns 

Pronouns help everyone on Handshake address each other in an inclusive, respectful way. They may be shared with employers and other students, depending on the visibility settings you choose. To learn more about this, refer to Employer Interactions with Students.

If you choose to enter your pronouns, you'll be prompted to display your pronouns to employers or other students. You may choose either or both options. 

Demographic Information (optional)

Answer a few short questions for the opportunity to view relevant job opportunities!

What are you looking for? 

Location

Industries

Company Qualities

Select what qualities you're looking for in a company. Your selection will help us give you better recommendations. For more information on this, refer to the last section of Employer Attributes in Student On-boarding.

Types of jobs

Skills

Relevant Courses

For schools who have synced their coursework data with Handshake, students will be able to easily select from their courses they'd like to share with employers. Employers can then search for students who've taken certain courses.

• For certain majors, you'll have access to a generic list of courses you can add. Some employers may reach out to you if you've taken a particular course. 

GPA

Note: on mobile, students would need to uncheck the box for Make my GPA visible to employers to hide their GPA from employers. Once they've completed on-boarding, GPA visibility may only be changed via web browser. 

Clubs or Organizations

Work/Volunteer history

Interesting Jobs

Select jobs as interesting or not interesting to help us better personalize their job recommendations.