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How to Use Messages in Handshake

Jaci
  • Updated

Messaging on Handshake is a powerful tool for networking, building relationships, and advancing your career! Once your account is activated, you'll be able to send and receive messages from employers, fellow students, alumni, and career services professionals.

This article will guide you on how to maximize your messaging experience on Handshake.

Employers and students cannot send messages to you if your profile is private. To send and receive messages, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Learn more about your profile privacy options in Profile Privacy Options on Handshake.

 

Accessing Messages 

You can access your messages on both the website and mobile app.
Types of messages you may receive on Handshake include:
  • Personal messages from peers and alumni.
  • Follow-up messages from employers about a fair, event, or job application.
  • Promotional messages from employers targeting specific students about job openings or upcoming events/fairs they are attending.

To check your inbox and view your messages, follow the steps below.

Note: to ensure you don't miss important opportunities, bulk actions (like marking all messages as read) are not available. 

 

Website

1. Click Inbox on the left navigation menu to view your conversations with employers and peers. 

2. Conversations are sorted by the most recent message received. Click on the conversation to display the message. 

3. At the top of the message thread, the following sender information is displayed: 

  • Employer: name, job title, and company. 
  • Student/Alumni: name, major, degree, school, and school year. 

4. When using messages via desktop web, you can filter conversations by:

  • Inbox
  • Unread
  • Archived

To filter, click on the desired tab above your messages.

Student Inbox.png

 

Mobile app

1. Tap Inbox in the lower-right corner of your device's screen.

2. Conversations will appear in order of the most recent message. You can also use the search bar to look for a specific sender or keyword within a message.

3. Tap on the conversation to open the message thread. At the top of the message thread is information about the sender: 

  • Employer: name, job title, and company. 
  • Student/Alumni: name, major, degree, school, and school year. 

 

Responding to a Message

To respond or continue the conversation, start typing your message in the available text box, then click or tap Send to the right of the text box.

Send Messages.png

 

To learn more about responding to employer messages, check out Responding to an Employer Message on Handshake.

If you've received a campaign message from an employer, and you'd like to respond that you're not interested in the opportunity, refer to "Not Interested" in Employer Campaign Messages for more details.

 

 

Trust and Safety of Messages 

At Handshake, your safety is our top priority. To help ensure a secure experience, all messages sent through the platform automatically go through Handshake's text analyzers to detect and prevent inappropriate content.

When using Handshake’s messaging feature, you have the option to report or flag message threads. Our Trust and Safety team carefully reviews all reported or flagged messages. This allows our team to research the flag and followup as needed. 

We strongly recommend keeping all conversations within the Handshake platform. If messages are exchanged outside of Handshake, our guidelines can no longer be enforced, and we won't be able to assist in ensuring your safety.

 

 

Additional Resources