Virtual appointments with your career center can happen in one of two ways, depending on how your school has set things up: through Virtual on Handshake, Handshake’s integrated video tool, or through an external link (such as Zoom or Google Meet) provided by your career center. The method used for your appointment is set by your career center and will be listed on your appointment details confirmation.
- Virtual on Handshake — Join your appointment directly inside Handshake. No external meeting link or download is required.
- External link — Your career center schedules the appointment using an external Zoom meeting, and you'll join via a link they provide.
If you haven't scheduled a virtual appointment yet, follow the steps in Request an Appointment with your Career Center.
Preparing for your appointment
Virtual on Handshake
The integrated video used for virtual appointments is the same service provided for some virtual events/fairs on Handshake — if you've previously used our video integration, your system should be all set!
To ensure your device is ready for the scheduled appointment, refer to Attendee Requirements for Integrated Video.
External Link
Some career centers choose to hold virtual appointments over Zoom, Google Meet, or another video platform instead of using Handshake's integrated video. In this case, your appointment medium will show as a link for an external meeting link rather than "Virtual on Handshake."
Notifications and reminders
Handshake sends three notification emails for your appointment depending on your notification preferences:
- Appointment confirmation: Sent when your virtual appointment is confirmed or approved in Handshake.
- 24-hour reminder: Sent 24 hours before your appointment start time.
- One-hour reminder: Sent one hour before your appointment start time.
If your virtual appointment is being held through Virtual on Handshake, the final reminder email includes a "Go to my appointment" button. Click the button to log in and access your appointment.
If your virtual appointment is being held on an external site, the final reminder email includes a link provided by your career center instead of the "Go to my appointment" button. This link will take you to the external video platform, such as Zoom or Google Meet.
Note: We don't include the office location in the reminder email if the appointment is Virtual on Handshake.
Joining your virtual appointment
You can access your appointment in two ways:
- From your reminder email: For appointments held through Virtual on Handshake, click the button in your final reminder email. You’ll be directed to Handshake, where your appointment overview page will open. For appointments held on an external site, click the link provided in your final reminder email to access your appointment.
- From Handshake: Click Career Center in the left navigation menu, then select Appointments. Find and select your upcoming appointment from the list.
Note: The Join button becomes available five minutes before your appointment’s start time.
For appointments held through Virtual on Handshake, you can join directly from the appointment overview page by clicking Join now. Alternatively, click the appointment to open the appointment details page, then click Join.
Alternatively, click the appointment to open the appointment details page, then click Join.
To learn more about the available settings and options using Handshake's integrated video, including screen sharing, refer to Attending via Video on Handshake!
Note: Because external appointments are hosted outside of Handshake, features like Handshake's built-in screen sharing controls won't apply — you'll use the external sites own in-meeting tools instead.