Handshake for Students & Alumni

Welcome to Handshake!

Handshake has been recognized as the #1 college-to-career network, helping connect students with jobs, internships, employers, and events to help launch your career. The goal is to help every student find a great job and build the foundations of a meaningful career, no matter who you are, where you're from, or who you know.

Important Disclaimer

The Career Design Center at The State University of New York (SUNY) at Geneseo advertises programs, workshops, and information sessions held by external employers because they may be of interest to our students and alumni. Sharing information about these external events does not indicate sponsorship or endorsement by the college. Please use discretion when participating in these events. For additional questions or to express any concerns,  please contact the Career Design Center at careers@geneseo.edu.

Benefits of using a SUNY Geneseo Handshake account include:

• Connect with over 13,000 employers posting at Geneseo (and counting!)
• Discover and land jobs and internships
• Find contact information for hundreds of companies and recruiters
• Access career resources and events on campus
• Get job and internship recommendations based on your interests

What is Handshake (HS)?

Handshake is one of the fastest-growing national job platforms specifically designed for students seeking a range of employment. It connects 1,400+ colleges and universities with a mix of 750,000+ employers and showcases over 12 million+ student profiles. Founded in 2014 by 3 engineering students at Michigan Technological University to give students access to a larger number of potential employers.

What value does it offer?

• Increases your chance of being recruited by employers searching for applicants like you.     * If the opportunity appears in your feed, it presupposes the organization is interested in reviewing Geneseo student applications.
• It provides you with an opportunity to customize your job search based on a range of filters such as your major, interests, skills, job type, and desired location. Tailors opportunities that are sent to you based on your profile and your reactions to postings.
• Offers resources via it's students blogs and videos. Receive insights on a range of employment topics. Handshake also offers virtual events via the events tab.
• Offers an opportunity to apply for openings directly via Handshake.
• Increases confidence in the legitimacy of the posting as they are vetted by the Career Design team to the best of our ability. Students are encouraged to conduct due diligence as it relates to postings.

Update your profile to represent your best self and increase employer interest

The Career Design Center encourages you to fully complete your profile and make it public. (80% of students that share "Interests" information receive a message from an employer.) Please note, you always have control over when and how you appear to employers. Only students that have specifically opted-in to having a public profile can be searched for and messaged by employers. If a student has applied to a job, they can also be messaged by that employer via their application.

Header

• Add a professional profile picture: headshot only, in professional dress, without distractions in the background, and smile.
• Decide if you would like employers to see your GPA. You may keep it locked (default) or unlock it. Employers often use this as a search filter. Unlock your GPA if it will improve your marketability.

Education

Check accuracy of class, graduation year, GPA, and degree. (Handshake may categorize a sophomore as a junior based on AP credits.) Please contact The Career Design Center at careers@geneseo.edu or (585)245-5721 if data points are inaccurate.

Experience, Organizations/Extracurricular, Courses, Projects, "Get to Know Me", Skills, and Social Links

• Include organization name, job title, date, and location for all recent work experiences.
• Include a summary about who you are and what your goals might be. 
• Identify your top skills that are relevant to positions you're seeking.
• When adding courses to your profile, add the ones that are related to your major.

Documents

You may add cover letters and resumes to your profile to more easily upload required application information. Do not showcase multiple resumes.

Email

Your email is not visible and cannot be made public. Employers, however, may message you directly (note alerts in your Geneseo email).

Job Search Tab

• Review and use basic and advanced filters to search for opportunities you may be interested in including keywords, locations, and job types.
• "Star" your favorite jobs to improve the relevancy of the jobs sent to your profile. 

Accessing Handshake

Current Students

Login using your Geneseo email, then click "forgot password" to prompt an email where you can personalize your password. Current students MUST use a geneseo.edu email.

Any student with an "@geneseo.edu" email already has a Handshake account. New graduates will retain your Geneseo email for 6 months.

New Graduates

Before losing access to your Geneseo single sign on credentials, manage your primary email address in Handshake using the settings submenu (upper right corner.) You can then access Handshake by using the primary email you added to your Handshake account.

If you are unable to log in using your preferred email, please email Career Design at careers@geneseo.edu with your full name (include any maiden names), preferred personal email address, and graduation year.

Once these updates have been made, you will log in to Handshake using your primary email address and Handshake password.

Handshake for Alumni who graduated prior to 2018

Please see this article (specifically the information under the heading "What if no account is found for my email?") Since your geneseo.edu email address is no longer active, you will need to use a personal email to request access to Handshake. A Career Design Center staff member will need to approve your account before you will gain access to Handshake.

If you need help with setting up a Handshake account please email Career Design at careers@geneseo.edu with your full name (include any maiden names), preferred personal email address, and graduation year.