Handshake’s onboarding experience sets you up for success with a few impactful questions. From the start, we help clarify your career goals, personalize your job search, and build your professional network—so you can discover relevant opportunities and make 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.
Confirm your information
Add or review the following information for your account:
- First name
- Last name
- Education level
- Graduation month
- Graduation year
- Major
- Add a personal email — Use this email to access Handshake after you graduate.
If you’re prompted to re-onboard, you’ll have the opportunity to review and update your information as needed.
What brings you to Handshake?
Choose from the following.
Where are you open to working?
Select from the available options or use the search bar to find a different location.
Which industries are you curious about?
Select from the available options or use the search bar to find a different industry.
What roles are you interested in?
Select from the available options or use the search bar to search roles.
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.
Optional: During onboarding, you can also add a LinkedIn profile link to your Handshake profile. Simply copy and paste your LinkedIn profile URL into the field provided. This gives employers and other users an additional way to learn more about you alongside your Handshake profile.