Employer & Recruiter Services

Employers Quick Start Guide

This guide will provide you with valuable steps and resources to help you maximize your experience and results in Handshake. The account setup process is pretty straightforward, but there is a potential for roadblocks to come up for some users. Each section of this guide will take you through the setup steps, followed by the most common roadblocks and steps to take. You’ll also notice in each section there are links to Handshake’s Help Center. The Help Center provides a reliable and regularly updated resource that is available 24/7. To start you off, visit the overall Employer category, where you can browse the sections (topics) and articles.

Create Your User Account

You will need a user account in order to log in and use Handshake. You can view the details of this process, with screenshots, by checking out How to Create a User Account. If you've received an invite from a school or a colleague, you can follow the link to take you to the account creation process. If you're signing up without an invite, go to Handshake Employer Registration to create an employer account.

Common Roadblock:
Not seeing the confirmation email come through?

1. Check your spam and junk folders to ensure that emails are not being filtered out.
2. Add handshake@m.joinhandshake.com to your email contacts or address book.
3. Check with your IT department and ask them to unblock Handshake or check for quarantined emails.

Then, resend the confirmation email once you've taken these steps. You can resend the confirmation by logging into Handshake and using the link in Step 4 on the right side of your screen.

Join Your Existing Company or Create a New One

You will need to be connected to your company profile on Handshake before taking any actions with schools.

Please Note: The goal of this step is to connect you with your company, not the schools you'd like to recruit from (that comes later). If you want to recruit from Stanford, do not list Stanford as your company. On-campus employers are an exception to this rule.

• If your company is already in Handshake, it should pull up based on the domain of your email address.
• If it doesn’t appear automatically, you can search for the company name.
• Click "Request" in the top right corner of the box displayed to connect.
• If your company has auto-approve staff enabled, you will be added immediately. If not, you’ll need approval from an existing staff member.

Common Roadblocks:

• To proceed to the next step, click on the orange button in the top right corner that says “Next: Connect to Schools” once you’ve requested to connect with your company.
• If your request to connect with your company has been consistently pending, check out this article.
• If you requested to connect with the wrong company or wrong branch location, check out this article.

Pro-tip: Use your corporate email address if you have one. This ensures that your company profile is shown to you in Handshake and expedites the process of connecting to your company. Schools also tend to decline users with generic email addresses to ensure student safety.

If your company isn’t already in Handshake, you should see the option to “Create New Company” on the right side of the screen. Learn more about the new company creation process, with screenshots, here.

Common Roadblocks:

• Using a corporate email address helps increase your Trust Score more quickly.
• Schools tend to decline users with generic email addresses to ensure student safety.
• If the page is open too long, it can time out, causing errors when trying to save the new company profile.

To prevent this:

• Fill out the form as quickly as possible.
• Image resizing takes the longest—images aren’t required immediately, so upload them later if needed.
• Check out this image size guide.

Pro-tip: Keep this link handy in case you ever need to approve a fellow staff member.

Request to Connect with Schools

You must request and receive approval from a school before posting jobs there.

• You can choose schools during your sign-up process and add more later.
• Learn how to choose additional schools in Handshake here.

Pro-tip: When starting out, we recommend only requesting schools where you have an established relationship. If you don’t, start with 10-15 schools to build positive relationships while increasing your Trust Score. Once approved at initial schools, you can request more with a higher chance of approval.

Common Roadblocks:

• Requests to connect with a school are typically processed by Career Services within 3-5 business days. To speed up approval, reach out to the school directly.
• If your request was unexpectedly declined, contact the school directly to discuss reconsideration.

Pro-tip: Learn more about Trust Score here.

Take Action!

Once approved by at least one school, you can start posting jobs—learn how here.

Thank you for choosing to post your internships, micro-internships, co-ops, apprenticeships, jobs, and volunteer positions at Tompkins Cortland Community College. All organizations and companies that post these opportunities on Handshake must abide by the following laws and practices to ensure a legal, ethical, and equitable hiring process.

Employment Laws & Professional Standards

Employers must comply with:

• Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recruitment and employment laws
• Applicable federal and New York State labor laws
• The Department of Education’s Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
• The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Principles for Professional Practice
• NACE Professional Standards for University Relations and Recruiting

Additional Guidelines

• Employers on Handshake must be able to provide their Federal Tax ID Number (EIN) if requested.
• Employer profiles must include a company email address, phone number, and physical address (no personal emails, phone numbers, P.O. Boxes, or virtual spaces).
• Because Tompkins Cortland Community College offers associate’s degrees, microcredentials, and certificate programs:
  • Job postings must require an associate’s degree, microcredential, or certificate offered by TC3.
  • Job postings that require a bachelor’s degree must relate to an academic and/or certificate program at TC3, as TC3 alumni have access to Handshake.
• Internships, apprenticeships, and co-ops must relate to an academic and/or certificate program at TC3.
• Unpaid internships may be posted only if they meet the Department of Labor guidelines. If an unpaid internship does not meet these criteria, the posting will be removed. TC3 strongly suggests that interns receive financial compensation.
• Third-party recruiters must:
  • Identify themselves as such in their profiles and postings.
  • Disclose the company for which they are recruiting to the Director of Workforce Development & Employer Partnerships at TC3.

Positions We Do Not Post

The following types of positions are not permitted on Handshake:

• Babysitting, personal assistant, or other unreported employment
• Maintenance, fast food, or other positions that do not require any college education
• Multi-level sales or fee-based positions that require a financial investment from the candidate
• Post-graduate education programs
• Positions related to the adult entertainment industry, marijuana, or firearms

Important Notes

• TC3 reserves the right to refuse a posting and/or employer account on Handshake if they do not:
  • Abide by the laws and guidelines listed above.
  • Maintain an Employer Trust Score above 85%.
  • Include complete and accurate profile or posting information.
• TC3 is not responsible or liable for any position or employer listed on Handshake.

If you have any questions about these guidelines or other recruiter services, please contact us.

Create/update your Handshake profile. 

Be sure to include your mission, culture, types of careers, and information that would be interesting to a first-time viewer!

Once your profile is reviewed and approved, you will begin receiving information about ways to engage on campus and you can post jobs, internships, and volunteer opportunities for TC3 students and alumni (as well as students at other area schools).