Welcome to Handshake! Below, you will find carefully curated steps designed to ensure a seamless onboarding experience.
To get started, determine if you are considered an on-campus employer. For detailed guidance, refer to Identifying as an On-Campus Employer on Handshake.
Notes:
- Identify whether your school uses the Company or Divisions model for employer accounts, as this will guide you in connecting with your school's profile on Handshake.
- If you created a new company profile, ensure it is connected to your school on Handshake as soon as you gain access to your account. This connection is essential to facilitate the management of staff and jobs by your school. If you joined an existing company profile, you may confirm with the profile owner that it is properly connected to your school.
Expand each header to review the steps and key details for setting up your Handshake account.
Sign up
1. Visit https://app.joinhandshake.com/employer_registrations/new and enter the following information:
- Email Address
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Password (create new password)
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Passwords on Handshake must:
- Contain eight characters, or more
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Contain characters from two of the following three character classes:
- Alphabetic (e.g., a-z, A-Z)
- Numeric (i.e. 0–9)
- Punctuation and other characters (e.g.,!@#$%^&*()_+|~-=\`{}[]:";'<>?,./)
- Note: Passwords are not encrypted.
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Passwords on Handshake must:
2. Click the blue button Sign Up, and on the next page, enter the following information:
- First Name
- Last Name
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Phone Number
- A phone number is required to provide a point of contact for career centers. This information isn't visible to students.
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Job Title
- Enter your personal job title, and not the job that you are recruiting for.
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Country
- This information is collected to ensure that Handshake can observe all relevant practices in your country.
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Tell us the types of candidates you would like to find
- Check the box next to the major categories you'd like to source from.
- Note: while there isn't a way to add categories to this list, you may choose from additional major categories in the Candidate qualifications section of the job posting form.
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Add your Alma Mater (the school you formerly attended and/or graduated from)
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School Name
- Type to search, or click the dropdown menu to search for and select your school.
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Grad Year
- Click the dropdown menu to select your grad year.
- Note: if your Alma Mater is partnered with Handshake, an alumni contact entry will be automatically created at your Alma Mater.
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School Name
3. When finished, click the blue button Save and continue in the lower-right corner of the page.
3. Review Handshake Employer Guidelines, as well as the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Our guidelines require third-party recruiters to identify their Handshake account as such.
According to Handshake, a third-party recruiter is:
- An employer who is hiring or posting jobs for a company other than the one they work for.
- An employer who is hiring or posting jobs, but another company provides the pay/salary.
- An employer who is hiring or posting jobs for both the company they work for and another company.
Below the guidelines listed, you're prompt to answer the question "Are you a 3rd party recruiter working on behalf of another company?"
- If you are a third party recruiter, click the button Yes, then review our third-party recruiting policies, and check the box for "I agree and comply with the above third-party recruiting policies."
- If you're not a third-party recruiter, click the button No.
4. Click the box for "I agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy" to move forward, and "I agree to recieve marketing messages including promotions and special offers from Handshake" if desired.
5. Click the blue button Save and continue. The next page contains instructions on how to verify your account via the email address you used to sign up. The email should arrive in 10 minutes with a link to confirm your account.
If you don't receive a confirmation email, check out Troubleshooting a Missing Confirmation Email.
6. When the email arrives, click the red button Confirm Email in the email to verify your account. Note: email verification links are active for 12 hours after they are sent.
Join your company (school) or create a new company profile
After confirming your email, you will be redirected to Handshake, where you can either join your company’s existing profile or create a new one if a profile does not already exist for your company (school).
The process varies depending on whether your school uses the Divisions Model or the Company Model for on-campus employment.
Divisions model
If your school uses the divisions model, there will be a single company profile on Handshake for all on-campus employment. To connect with the company:
- Click the blue button Request to the right of the company's name.
- Once connected, the company profile owner can create a division for your department.
- This division can be used for future job postings, events, or fair registrations.
Company model
If your school uses the company model, multiple company profiles may appear. Follow these steps to connect:
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Search for your company:
Use the search bar to find the company you are associated with. -
Send a connection request:
Click the blue button Request to the right of the company's name. -
Create a new company profile (if needed):
If no profile exists for your company, you can create one. For detailed instructions, refer to How to Create a New Company Profile.
Tip: Before creating a new profile, confirm with your school's career center if there is a naming convention for on-campus employer accounts.
Validate your account
If you’ve created a new company profile, your account will be manually reviewed and validated by Handshake’s Trust and Safety team.
- Once your account has been validated, you will receive an email notification.
- After validation, you will be able to access your account.
For additional information, refer to Employer Validation.
Connect with your school
After your employer account is validated or you have successfully connected with your company’s (school’s) existing profile, ensure that your company settings on Handshake designate you as an on-campus employer and are properly connected to your school.
Click on your name in the upper-right corner of any page in Handshake, then select Company settings from the dropdown.
In the Details section, check the On-Campus employer box, then select the school you are associated with from the dropdown menu, then click the black button Update employer in the lower-right corner of the page.
Notes:
- Only the owner of a company's profile can edit its settings.
- Employers can designate themselves as an on-campus employer for only one school.
- If the box is not checked and your associated school is not selected, your school will not be able to manage your jobs or staff.
- On-campus employers can only post jobs associated with their selected school.
School permissions
To select the schools that can post and edit jobs on your behalf and manage your profile, navigate to your Company settings, then click Global Settings from the left sidebar.
In the School permissions section, use the respective dropdowns to select which schools can post and edit jobs on your behalf and which can manage your profile, then click the black button Submit in the lower-right corner of the page.
Notes:
- Permissions cannot be removed for the school where you are an on-campus employer.
- If a school has declined your connection request on Handshake—submitted through a job—cannot be added.
Engage with early talent
Once your settings are properly configured, you can start posting jobs to your associated school and any other school on Handshake.
If you don’t have a job to post but want to host an event at a specific school, reach out to the school directly to request proactive approval.
For assistance in locating a school’s contact information, refer to How to Contact a School.
Additional resources
- Requested to join the wrong company? Refer to Canceling a Request to Join the Wrong Company.
- If you've automatically connected to the wrong company, refer to Leaving a Company in Handshake.
- If you've created a new company profile, check out Employer Owners & Admin Tools.
- Explore your Employer Account User Settings.
- Learn How to Post a Job.
- Learn more about Registering for a Fair (Employers).
- Ready to host your first event? Discover How to Create an Event.