Safety and security for all of our users is of the highest importance for Handshake. As we’ve looked into increasing access on Handshake, we have diligently worked on modifying our Employer Validation process. In the past, we utilized the Trust Score to help determine whether career services should approve certain employer connections. Through our research, we’ve identified that the Trust Score is not a reliable enough tool to vet trustworthy employers. We have removed the Trust Score system from Handshake and have created a new system for Employer Validation.
This Spring, our Trust and Safety team will be manually validating all new employers. This will help us effectively transition into our new validation system. We keep this article updated as our validation process continues to evolve.
Topics:
Employer Validation
We're partnering with Sift and Google’s webrisk API to provide an effective employer validation process. Sift is an industry leader in Digital Trust and Safety, their methods are effective in detecting and removing fraud as soon as it appears. Sift removes risky users before they contact any students. Google’s webrisk API is integrated into Sift to automatically remove employer accounts posting any malicious website content on Handshake. Any flags on suspicious employers are forwarded to our Trust and Safety team.
Our Trust and Safety team will work with any employers that require manual validation to ensure that only legitimate employers have access to Handshake. We're looking into different documentation associated with the employer, including, but not limited to:
- An endorsement from an existing Handshake Partner institution
- Content uploaded to Handshake (ex: jobs posted, messages sent)
- Evidence of the company on public platforms (ex: Open Corporates)
Once manual validation is successfully completed, the employer will have access to Handshake. If you’re suspicious of an employer’s activity or job posting, you can always flag that employer or job. Learn more about this process here: Handshake’s Flagging System.
FAQs
Q: The employer’s Trust Score needed to be over 80 in the past to message students, how will messaging students work now?
A: On top of the fact that Sift is able to identify fraudulent messages, we require that employers have at least one job posted and approved by your institution before gaining the ability to message students at your school.
However, if your school is a Handshake Open school, employers will need to have a job approved by at least 10 Handshake Partner schools before messaging your students.
Q: How will the new validation process affect On-Campus Employers?
A: We’re aware that institutions will use On-Campus Employer accounts for a variety of reasons; including creating placeholder accounts/events, hiring students for on-campus employment, and testing out what an employer might see on their side of Handshake. On-Campus Employers still needs to go through a similar validation process because we want to prevent any malicious activity from taking place on these accounts. On the off chance that a legitimate On-Campus Employer is required to validate through our Trust and Safety team, this process will be expedited so they can access Handshake sooner.
Q: It was difficult getting smaller, local employers access to Handshake because their Trust Score might’ve fallen below 80 and they were unable to raise it. How will this process support smaller employers?
A: We want to keep smaller employers in mind as we update our validation process. As a result, our Trust and Safety team may ask for a specific contact from your institution to verify the employer’s legitimacy. In some cases, smaller employers are at a disadvantage when attempting to validate themselves, so communication from your institution would help make this process go smoother!
Additional Resources
Employer Validation - For Employers