Candidate analysis helps employers understand how external candidates from their ATS engage with their company on Handshake, and measure the ROI of their recruitment efforts.
If you haven’t already, please reach out to your Handshake CSM before using this tool.
This feature is available to Premium partners only. For more information, check out this resource!
How do I access Candidate Analysis?
Click Analytics from the left navigation bar, then select Candidate analysis from the Applicants tab.
- Handshake anonymizes the information imported to preserve your data privacy.
- Candidate accounts will only be displayed if the candidate has an active, public student or alumni account. Accounts that are not activated or are set to private will not be included.
How do I upload a candidate list?
Step 1: Prepare your file
The headers below are mandatory and must be present in your file. Create a spreadsheet in CSV format with the following headers:
- First Name
- Last Name
- Email Address
| First Name | Last Name | Email Address |
Tips:
- Before preparing your list, discuss with your Customer Success Manager which categories of candidate data to analyze:
- Interns, Full-Time Early Talent Roles
- Stage in the recruitment funnel:
- Candidate leads
- Applicants
- Qualified applicants
- Applicants who received offers
- Hires
- Upload files based on the most recent hiring season, typically 4 months to a year. For example: All Summer 2024 Intern Applicants.
- Upload candidates who graduated from an academic institution in the past year or are currently enrolled in an academic institution.
- Only include candidates for US-based roles. Do not include global or international candidates.
- Use descriptive file names (for example: Handshake_2026_fulltime_offers.csv).
Step 2: Upload your file
1. Click the Get started button.
2. A pop-up will appear with the Data Privacy Policy. Click I understand in the lower-right corner to proceed. To stop receiving this message, check the box for "Don't show this again." .
3. Choose your file (maximum file size: 20 MB). To obtain a sample file, click Download sample file. After selecting your file, complete the following fields:
-
Candidate status
- Hired
- Offered
- Applied
- Interviewed
- Other
- Starting and ending dates
-
Role type
- Full-time
- Internship
- Part-time
- Co-op
- Management trainee
- Other
-
Information about candidates (optional)
- e.g., Accounting candidates, candidates within our e-commerce division only, etc.
Once all fields are completed, click Continue in the lower-right corner.
4. The data will be hashed. The hashing process may take up to 20 seconds.
5. Once hashing is complete, a message will confirm that the data has been hashed. A sample of the file will also be displayed for review.
6. Click the Import and launch analysis button to import the data into Handshake.
7. Handshake will begin searching for candidates with matching hashed values:
- First, Handshake searches using the hashed candidate email against its own database of hashed user emails.
- Next, all remaining records not found by email are searched using hashed names.
8. Handshake will retrieve details on your historical interactions in the last 24 months with matched candidates. Results will be shared through your Customer Success Manager.
Note: Handshake does not report on candidates you have not interacted with in the last 24 months. Because of limitations inherent in the matching process, results may be incomplete. To ensure that employer-provided hashed data is not stored indefinitely, Handshake regularly deletes all uploaded files.
How does Handshake anonymize candidate data?
Once you have prepared a file with a list of candidates and validated its format, Handshake will anonymize all fields in the file that could be used to identify a specific candidate. Handshake runs an SHA-256 hashing algorithm on the First Name, Last Name, and Email fields in the file. This process transforms plaintext names and emails into 64-character hexadecimal values that are functionally impossible to decrypt.
For example, "John Doe" would appear as "6cea57c2fb6cbc2a40411135005760f241fffc3e5e67ab99882726431037f908" after hashing. A preview of these hashed values is available for verification before any data is transferred to Handshake.
File validation and hashing take place in your browser on your computer. Handshake does not receive any data from your local system until after hashing and you explicitly click the button to upload.
What happens to hashed data after it is uploaded?
Handshake matches student and alumni accounts with the hashed fields by identifying matching values produced by the hashing algorithm against its own set of hashed data, in the same way that web passwords are securely validated.
Handshake compiles an output report summarizing your historical interactions with the matched Handshake accounts in the past 24 months. This output report is emailed to your Handshake success team.
Once the above process is complete, the original hashed file is deleted from Handshake's system. Handshake keeps the original file only for as long as needed to match Handshake accounts. Unmatched records are never shared or stored.