Virtual fair notifications are sent to students who register, helping them prepare for and follow up after virtual career fairs hosted in Handshake. This article outlines the emails students receive, when they’re delivered, and what career services users can customize.
Overview
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A series of notification emails is sent to students who register for a virtual fair in Handshake (similar to in-person fairs).
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All student virtual fair emails are sent from mail.joinhandshake.com.
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Students who have not registered for the virtual fair do not receive this registered-student series.
Emails to registered students
Once a student registers for a virtual fair, they receive the following emails:
1. Fair invite
- Sent when: student is invited to a fair.
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Subject: “You're invited to a career fair"
- Body: "Your school invited you to [VIRTUAL FAIR NAME]" with a link to register for the fair.
2. Registration confirmation
- Sent when: student registers for the fair.
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Subject: “You’re registered: Summer Sunset Job Fair"
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Body: "You're registered! Confirming you've registered for [VIRTUAL FAIR NAME] on [DATE]." Includes a link to view the fairs details as well as some "What's next" steps to prepare. If you added a custom student message when creating the fair, it appears at the top of the email.
3. Reminder – 2 days before the fair
- Sent when: student is registered and the fair is 2 days away.
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Subject: “Two days away! Get ready for [fair name]”.
4. Reminder – day of the fair
- Sent when: student is registered and it is the day of the fair.
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Subject: “Today is [fair name] – get ready!”.
5. Session cancellation emails (employer-initiated)
These are sent when an employer cancels sessions that the student is already signed up for:
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1:1 session canceled
- Subject: “Career fair 1:1 session canceled: [employee name]”
- Body: Lets student know their 1 on 1 session with the company is cancelled with a link to browse other other open sessions.
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Group session canceled
- Subject: “Career fair group session cancelled: [employer name]"
- Body: Lets student know their group session with the company is cancelled with a link to browse other other open sessions.
6. Post-fair follow-up email
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After the fair ends, Handshake sends a follow-up email to students who attended the virtual fair.
“Just in time” email to unregistered students
To help fill employer sessions, Handshake may send a separate promotional email to students who have not registered for the virtual fair:
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Purpose: drive additional student signups so employers have students to meet with.
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Timing: sent the day before the fair when less than 50% of available employer session slots are taken.
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Audience:
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Activated, undergraduate students whose activity in Handshake (companies they follow, career interests, etc.) suggests they may be interested in one or more employer sessions at that fair.
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Qualifications respected: if you set student qualifications for the virtual fair, the system respects those when selecting students for this email.
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Invite-only events: Handshake does not send this “just in time” email for invite-only events.
This email recommends specific employer sessions and calls them out in the body of the message.
What career services can configure
You can influence parts of these emails when setting up your virtual fair:
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Custom student messaging
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The Student welcome message you enter in fair setup is emailed to students after they register for the career fair and appears in the registration confirmation email. Learn more about adding a custom student message in Career Fairs: Creation.
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Invite students email from the fair page
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You can send invitation emails based on filters such as school year, major, and labels. To learn more about inviting students to a fair, refer to Fairs: Inviting Students.
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