Handshake’s onboarding experience is designed to quickly set you up for success with just a few impactful questions. Right from the start, we help you clarify your career direction, personalize your job search, and begin building your professional network. Whether you're exploring internships or searching for full-time roles, the onboarding flow ensures you’re seeing relevant opportunities and making meaningful connections from day one.
Additionally, every 6 months, you'll be prompted to complete a quick re-onboarding process. This helps you review and update your selections to ensure you’re getting the most relevant job recommendations.
Don’t worry—re-onboarding does NOT mean your profile has been deleted. It’s simply a prompt to ensure you’re getting the most relevant job recommendations.
To update your career interests, refer to Update Your Career Interests. To update your information, refer to Update Personal Information on Your Profile.
Let's get the basics
Add the following information to create your account:
- First name
- Last name
- Major
- Education pursuing
- Graduation month
- Graduation year
- Additional information required by your school (if applicable)
If you’re prompted to re-onboard, you’ll be asked to review your information and update it as necessary.
What kind of jobs are you open to?
Choose from the following:
- Full-time job
- Part-time job
- Internship
- Not sure yet
Which jobs sound interesting?
Select from the available options or use the search bar to add your own.
Where are you open to working?
Select from the available options or use the search bar to add your own.
Get Job Alerts
Your selected interests are saved to your profile. Click Turn on job alerts to receive notifications for jobs that match your interests, or select Maybe later if you prefer not to receive alerts right now.
Choose Your Profile Visibility
Your profile helps people, employers, and opportunities find you. By default, your profile visibility is set to Community, which means other students, alumni, and employers on Handshake can view your profile, message you, and follow you. You can also post to the feed!
To change your profile visibility, click Change, then select your preferred setting in the pop-up window. For a detailed explanation of each option, refer to Profile Privacy Options in Handshake.
If you choose the Community option, you’ll also have the option to make your profile shareable outside of Handshake. To do so, check out How to Make Your Handshake Profile Public and Share Your Profile Link.
Important: When you select the option for employers 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.
Build Your Network
Follow suggested users to jumpstart your community and enhance your feed experience. Click Follow & finish up to follow all suggested users, uncheck any you don’t want to follow, or select Maybe later to skip this step for now
Once you’re done, you’re all set to start exploring Handshake! Click Start exploring to dive into jobs and connect with the community.