Hosting Virtual Fair Sessions

Handshake's partnership with video-provider Twilio provides an integrated and smooth video experience for both students and employers. 

Check out our video walkthrough of hosting sessions here!

Before the day of the fair

We recommend using the Handshake Video Test to ensure your audio, video, and screen-sharing settings are correctly configured.

For more details on system and security settings, refer to Handshake Video Requirements & Troubleshooting (Employers).

On the day of the fair

You'll be able to launch sessions up to 60 minutes early. Students are able to join up to five minutes early to test their connection, so please know that if you are in a session early, students could appear early as well. 

1. Navigate to the fair overview page by clicking the notification at the top of your home screen, or by clicking Fairs from the left navigation bar, then click on the Schedules tab. 

2. Click on the blue Launch video button for the upcoming session. 

3. Once you've clicked Launch video, you'll be taken to the launch screen, which provides an overview of the session details, video preview, and a button to Join now. 

4. Click the three dots menu icon on this page to adjust audio and video settings.

• Once you've started the session, you can click Settings in the lower-left corner of the page to access audio, video, and participant settings.
  • Audio: Select and test your default microphone and speakers
  • Video: double-check that your camera is working correctly, or select another video source if needed.
  • Participants: check the box to allow participants to share their screen. Hosts will also be able to “End Presentation” for participants at any time.

5. Click Join Now to start the session. If your video is not enabled, a circle with your initials will appear instead.

If any students have already joined (up to 5 minutes prior to the start of the meeting), they will be able to participate upon you joining.

Note: For group sessions, we will automatically disable audio/video for participants when 15 or more people are registered - this is to preserve your audio, video, and screen-sharing quality! The Raise Hand feature allows students to interact view audio/video by raising their hand, then being "called on" by the host.

You can choose to enable the Raise Hand feature by clicking the hand icon in the upper-right of the video screen. 

When you click the hand, a pop-out will load on the right with more information.

Put a check in the box to enable this feature. 

Students are able to select Raise Hand (a hand icon on their video screen as well), which will add them to the queue. Call on a participant to allow them to utilize audio and video. 

6. If you'd like to share your screen, click the computer monitor icon, to the right of the video icon in the bottom middle of the screen.

You can select from your entire screen, an application window only, or a specific browser tab. 

• The first time you share your screen, you may have to grant access for your computer to share the screen successfully. 
• There will not be a way to play a pre-recorded video during group sessions, as the video will need to be live. However, if you are able to share your screen during the session and play a video, you can do that!
  • Note: the audio will play from your computer's selected microphone, so if the video has audio, make sure there are no headphones connected and your mic volume is increased to pick up the audio! 

7. Click the Chat and Participant icons in the upper-right of the video window to switch between which side panel displays. 

8. As session host, you will have complete control to report participants or remove participants from the session. 

You can report or remove a user from either the participants list or the chat window. 

Participants list: 

Chat window: 

If you choose to remove a user, that user will not be able to rejoin the session. 

If you choose to report a user, a pop-up will appear asking for more details. You'll need to choose one reason, and you can provide additional details in the text box.

• I think this user is fake or fraudulent
• This user is harassing me or someone else

These reports will be investigated by our Trust & Safety team. 

9. When you are ready to end the session, click End Session in the lower-right corner of the video window. A confirmation will appear with a prompt to End session for all or Cancel.

If you accidentally leave the session, you will be able to rejoin until the scheduled end time!

A countdown will appear 1 minute prior to the scheduled end of the session. 

Sessions will automatically close 20 minutes after the scheduled end time to allow for ongoing conversation. 

10. When you've ended the session, a brief survey will load prompting for feedback on the session quality. Our team will use these results to continue to improve our product!