This resource shares major virtual fair features that have launched or are coming soon. We will update it every time a new feature is launched (and note the date of the update)—keep checking back for updates. Smaller updates like bug fixes will not be documented here. If you are tracking a specific bug fix, your relationship manager or our support team will be able to keep you updated.
More substantial updates that are in the research and development phase will not be added until we are able to commit to a timeline. Keep sharing feedback with your relationship manager and our support team!
Jump to review release notes:
For Career Services
Category |
Feature |
Release Timeline |
Fair Data |
View number of group and 1:1 sessions per employer on employer registration page (Help) |
RELEASED 7/20/20 |
Fair Data |
View number of student signups for group and 1:1 sessions per employer on employer registration page (Help) |
RELEASED 7/20/20 |
Fair Creation |
Transition a physical fair to virtual (Help) |
RELEASED 7/20/20 |
Employer Scheduling |
Change fair schedule owner for employers (Help) |
RELEASED 7/27/20 |
Fair Marketing |
Refreshed student invite template (Help) |
RELEASED 8/7/20 |
Fair Data |
Quick downloads—student and employer signups and attendance (Help) |
RELEASED 8/18/20 |
Testing |
Career services can go to this link to create a test session to check that video/audio are working. You can also invite other career services staff to participate. (Help) **This is also available for employers** |
RELEASED 9/9/20 |
Fair Management |
Session details page allows you to review qualifications set on 1:1 sessions, see all sessions in progress and check in on no show statuses for students and employer hosts. |
RELEASED 9/13/20 |
Fair Data |
Virtual fair registration and attendance data fields in Insights + new saved virtual report templates (Help) |
RELEASED 9/13/20 |
Fair Management |
Display specific 1:1 qualifications on employer registration page |
RELEASED 9/29/20 |
Fair Data |
1:1 qualification data available in Analytics + new 1:1 qualification saved report template |
RELEASED 10/1/20 |
Fair Management |
Email all employer session representatives or students who haven't signed up for sessions |
RELEASED 10/5/20 |
Fair Data |
Bulk download student participant data from the Session Details page |
RELEASED 10/5/20 |
Fair Management |
Access the external video link for sessions hosted outside Handshake |
RELEASED 10/5/20 |
Fair Management |
Display a warning if a registered employer is not approved at your school overall |
RELEASED 10/5/20 |
Fair Management |
Students marked as "checked in" to a fair if they attend at least one session. This update also applies retroactively to old fairs. |
RELEASED 10/5/20 |
Fair Management |
Banner with link to the Session Details page on the day of the fair |
RELEASED 10/5/20 |
Fair Management |
Day of fair banner links directly to sessions in progress on Session Details page |
RELEASED 10/29/20 |
Fair Management |
"Payment Status" column removed from employer registration page—we now display Amount Due and allow you to filter on Payment Status |
RELEASED 12/3/20 |
Fair Management |
"Employer", "Status" and "Amount Due" columns on the employer registration page stay in place as you scroll through other columns |
RELEASED 12/3/20 |
Fair Management |
New fields on the fair creation form collect estimated student and employer registrations + industry focus (if applicable) |
RELEASED 12/16/20 |
Fair Marketing |
New Targeted Email templates to promote virtual fairs (Help) |
RELEASED 3/15/21 |
Fair Data |
Host first and last name added to quick download on Session Details page (Help) |
RELEASED 5/14/21 |
Fair Management |
Institutions co-hosting a multi-school fair have access to their students' registration and attendance data |
RELEASED 7/26/21 |
Fair Management |
Institutions co-hosting a multi-school fair can email their registered students through Handshake |
RELEASED 7/26/21 |
Fair Management |
Links to virtual student/employer help rooms (hosted via external platforms like Zoom) are embedded in the fair experience |
RELEASED 8/11/21 |
For Students
Category |
Feature |
Release Timeline |
Attend Sessions |
Sign up for and participate in group and 1:1 sessions [Web & iOS] (Help) |
RELEASED 7/20/20 |
Fair Discovery |
Banner on Handshake dashboard linking registered students to the fair on the day of (Help) |
RELEASED 7/30/20 |
Attend Sessions |
Sign up for and participate in group and 1:1 sessions [Android*] |
RELEASED 8/21/20 |
Qualify for Sessions |
Work authorization prompt when registering for the fair to help students qualify for 1:1 sessions |
RELEASED 8/21/20 |
Attend Sessions |
Raise hand functionality for students who wish to speak in a large group session |
RELEASED 8/26/20 |
Attend Sessions |
Sign up for 1:1 sessions with multiple representatives per employer |
RELEASED 9/1/20 |
Fair Follow Up |
Post-fair email with employers to follow and a fair experience survey |
RELEASED 9/2/20 |
Attend Sessions |
Students receive a popup notification 1 minute prior to session end time |
RELEASED 9/9/20 |
Accessibility |
Allow interpreters to join sessions and add captions for students who request (Help) |
RELEASED 9/11/20 |
Fair Follow Up |
After 60% of sessions, students see a popup suggesting they follow the employer they just met with + view open positions. The other 40% of the time, they see a survey asking them to rate video quality in the session. |
RELEASED 9/13/20 |
Fair Discovery |
Display employers attending the fair in order of relevance to the student |
RELEASED 9/16/20 |
Fair Discovery |
“Just in Time” email for fairs with low session signups (Help) |
RELEASED 9/22/20 |
Fair Discovery |
**See below for details on automatic removal of 1:1 qualifications** Update reminder email sent 2 days before the fair to indicate if new 1:1 sessions are available |
RELEASED 9/25/20 |
Attend Sessions |
If an employer cancels their entire schedule, all students signed up for sessions get a cancellation notification |
RELEASED 10/6/20 |
Attend Sessions |
“Join Video” button is synced with the global time, allowing students to always be able to join meetings and virtual events at the correct time, even if their device’s time or timezone is off. |
RELEASED 10/7/20 |
Attend Sessions |
Employers can enable students to share their screen during 1:1 and group sessions |
RELEASED 10/21/20 |
Fair Discovery |
Follow an employer who has no sessions available (schedule not set up yet) and be notified when sessions are added |
RELEASED 10/29/20 |
Attend Sessions |
Sign up for and join a group session after it has already started |
RELEASED 11/6/20 |
Fair Discovery |
Filter available sessions by time |
RELEASED 1/7/21 |
Facilitating Connections |
The "Your Schedule" tab includes a reminder to upload or update your resume ahead of the fair |
RELEASED 1/12/21 |
Fair Discovery |
Clarify language shown when a fair is visible to students but registration period hasn't begun yet |
RELEASED 2/9/21 |
Facilitating Connections |
Students are prompted to upload or update their resume after registering for a session |
RELEASED 2/11/21 |
Attend Sessions |
Video troubleshooting help article included in day-of fair reminder email |
RELEASED 3/10/21 |
Fair Discovery |
Students can browse and sign up for fair sessions without registering first—students are auto-registered for the fair (and shown your pre-fair survey) when they sign up for their first session |
RELEASED 6/17/21 |
Fair Discovery |
Relevant 1:1 sessions are promoted to students via the homepage |
RELEASED 6/17/21 |
Facilitating Connections |
Students can message employers before their 1:1 session starts |
RELEASED 6/28/21 |
Facilitating Connections |
Students can send a follow up message to every employer they met with 1:1 after the session ends. We also auto-create message threads for each 1:1 so the student can send their follow up messages after the fair. |
RELEASED 6/28/21 |
Facilitating Connections |
Post-fair email includes a summary of all employers the student met 1:1 and prompts the student to send follow up messages |
RELEASED Oct 2021 |
*NOTE* Students can sign up for and participate in virtual fairs using iOS and Android mobile apps. As we release subsequent updates for the web version of Handshake, we’ll follow up by adding them to the iOS and Android apps.
For Employers
Category |
Feature |
Release Timeline |
Managing Schedules |
Schedule owner can create schedules for representatives (Help) |
RELEASED 7/20/20 |
Session Participation |
Representatives can participate in group and 1:1 sessions (Help) |
RELEASED 7/20/20 |
Editing Schedules |
After publishing a schedule, schedule owner can:
(Help) |
RELEASED 8/3/20 |
Managing Schedules |
New “representative” user type for attending virtual fairs with limited admin privileges |
RELEASED 8/5/20 |
Managing Schedules |
Maximum number of participating representatives increased from 15 to 100 per employer |
RELEASED 8/20/20 |
Editing Schedules |
After publishing a schedule, schedule owner can add an existing user to a group session (Help) |
RELEASED 8/20/20 |
Managing Schedules |
Maximum number of group sessions increased from 3 to 12* per employer |
RELEASED 8/27/20 |
Editing Schedules |
Allow all attendees to manage / edit the schedule, not just registration owner |
RELEASED 8/28/20 |
Editing Schedules |
After publishing a schedule, schedule owner can add a new group session |
RELEASED 8/31/20 |
Editing Schedules |
After publishing a schedule, can re-add group sessions to cancelled slots |
RELEASED 9/2/20 |
Editing Schedules |
After publishing a schedule, you can increase the number of employer reps hosting a group session |
RELEASED 9/3/20 |
Editing Schedules |
Switch a group session from Handshake-hosted video to an external video provider |
RELEASED 9/8/20 |
Managing Schedules |
Swap schedule with another user |
RELEASED 9/8/20 |
Managing Schedules |
Schedule owner receives automated reminder emails to create their schedule 3 weeks, 2 weeks, 1 week, and 1 day before the fair. |
RELEASED 9/8/20 |
Session Participation |
Employers receive a popup notification 1 minute prior to session end time |
RELEASED 9/9/20 |
Session Participation |
Employers can go to this link to create a test session to check that video/audio are working. They can also invite colleagues to participate. (Help) **This is also available for career services** |
RELEASED 9/9/20 |
Editing Schedules |
After publishing a schedule, attendees can re-add 1:1 sessions to cancelled slots |
RELEASED 9/11/20 |
Managing Schedules |
If an employer registers for a hidden career fair, all users at that employer can see the fair in Handshake. |
RELEASED 9/11/20 |
Session Participation |
Premium employers can record their sessions |
RELEASED 9/11/20 |
Managing Schedules |
Employers can see a list of students who RSVPed for their sessions and view/download any of their public resumes |
RELEASED 9/11/20 |
Editing Schedules |
Switch a 1:1 session from Handshake-hosted video to an external video provider |
RELEASED 9/11/20 |
Editing Schedules |
Add new group sessions, manage existing group sessions, swap schedules, and add reps to schedules at any time during the fair, not just before it (Help) |
RELEASED 9/12/20 |
Session Participation |
Employers with a fair in the next 24 hours will see a banner at the top of the Handshake dashboard linking to the fair |
RELEASED 9/13/20 |
Managing Schedules |
Provision new user accounts in the scheduling flow—new users claim their account via email, set a password, sign our terms of service, and then have access to Handshake |
RELEASED 9/13/20 |
Managing Schedules |
Employers who created a schedule see an in-app notification to test Handshake video |
RELEASED 9/13/20 |
Editing Schedules |
Allow individual users to mark themselves "not attending" group sessions without canceling the session |
RELEASED 9/13/20 |
Session Participation |
Email sent to all employer participants 24 hours before the fair sharing help articles and a reminder to test Handshake video |
RELEASED 9/13/20 |
Editing Schedules |
Use the "Manage Sessions" dropdown menu to clear 1:1 qualifications from a session at any time before or during the fair |
RELEASED 9/17/20 |
Editing Schedules |
Adding a new rep to a group session will automatically increase your host count for the session. |
RELEASED 9/23/20 |
Managing Schedules |
Popup reminder for registered employers to set up a schedule after having registration approved |
RELEASED 9/23/20 |
Managing Schedules |
Employer users with the recruiter, owner, or admin role can change the schedule owner via their fair registration |
RELEASED 9/23/20 |
Managing Schedules |
Reminder email to employers that have not created a schedule 48 hours before student registration opens |
RELEASED 9/24/20 |
Session Participation |
Schedule page auto-refreshes and displays a notification every time a student cancels or signs up for a session |
RELEASED 9/25/20 |
Managing Schedules |
Qualifications on 1:1s will be removed 48 hours before the fair unless the employer opts out. This will only apply to schedules created moving forward. We will send an email to employers notifying them about this 72 hours before the fair. |
RELEASED 9/25/20 |
Editing Schedules |
Employer users can remove their entire schedule. A cancellation email is sent to any impacted students. |
RELEASED 9/28/20 |
Driving Registrations |
An email is sent to employers with 1+ active job postings at a school hosting an upcoming virtual fair with less than 20 registrations, encouraging them to register. |
RELEASED 9/28/20 |
Streamline Registration |
Remove prompt for representatives during registration—employers will continue to identify representatives when creating their schedule |
RELEASED 10/26/20 |
Editing Schedules |
Add "Edit 1:1 Qualifications" to schedule actions menu |
RELEASED 11/6/20 |
Editing Schedules |
Employers can "Add a new teammate" to their schedule after it is published |
RELEASED 1/26/21 |
Editing Schedules |
Employers can "Add a new 1:1 session" to their schedule after it is published |
RELEASED 1/26/21 |
Editing Schedules |
Schedule editing options reorganized into two dropdown menus—"Manage Team" and "Manage Sessions" (Help) |
RELEASED 1/26/21 |
Editing Schedules |
When editing group session, the session time is now listed in addition to the session name. |
RELEASED 1/28/21 |
Branding |
Added a callout on the fair registration form to encourage employers to include fair-specific information in the company description field. |
RELEASED 8/19/21 |