Handshake Student & Alumni FAQ

• Handshake Help Center – Handshake created articles specific to student/alumni users to assist you with navigating and utilizing the platform! This help article includes general Handshake FAQs for student accounts.

• Handshake Support Team – Contact the Handshake Support Team directly for any technical difficulties you may be experiencing or general questions about utilizing Handshake

• Handshake Blog Series – Handshake creates dozens of blog posts every quarter with helpful tips about using Handshake, navigating the job search and interview process, attending career fairs, and other topics.

• UMD Career Center & The President's Promise – Email us with any questions you have specific to the University of Maryland on Handshake, such as log-in issues, locked profile fields, events & appointments with a specific Career Center, etc.

New Incoming Students: Two weeks before the start of the semester, newly admitted students who are registered for classes will have a Handshake account created for them. Watch for an email announcing that your Handshake account is ready. Do not create a Handshake account for yourself—that will only lead to duplicate accounts and complicate the process.

Current Students: Your account has already been created, you just need to “claim” it. To do that, log in to Handshake and enter your UMD directory ID and password.

Virtual and in-person appointments with career advisors are scheduled through the Handshake system. 

• Log into Handshake
• Click on the Career Center menu option on the left side of your screen. 
• Select Appointments. 
• At the top of the page select “Schedule a New Appointment”. 

You will be able to choose from a variety of appointment dates, times, topics, and mediums (in-person or virtual).

• Appointments are offered to currently registered, matriculating students and/or recent UMD graduates who graduated within the past three years (36 months). If you are seeing the above message it means that you are not one of the above listed groups. If you believe you are seeing this message in error, please contact ucc-studenthelp@umd.edu.

Claim your spot a wide variety of career workshops and employer events through Handshake. Click on “Attend an Event” on the top of the home screen or the “Events” menu option on the left side of your screen. By clicking on the name of the event you can read a description of the event and register for it. Learn more about our events.

Customize your Handshake profile with your academic information, career interest, skills and courses - this will allow employers to search and reach out to you in Handshake. A complete profile helps Handshake push relevant opportunities that match your major, interests and skills.

Upload and store up customized resumes, cover letters, and other job search documents for use with online applications.

• A robust Handshake profile can be as helpful as a detailed resume or LinkedIn page.
• Employers are searching for students on Handshake based on the information in their profiles, and messaging candidates with event invites or to encourage them to apply for new job opportunities.
• See more ideas to maximize Handshake by checking out our Handshake Profile Challenge and Handshake’s profile guide!

You’ll be able to book an appointment with your respective Career Center by logging into your Handshake account, navigating to the ‘Career Center‘ tab, and selecting ‘Appointments‘. Please note that not all Career Centers manage appointments through Handshake.

Employers coordinate with the Career Center to host interviews with UMD for entry-level jobs and internships.  Interview applications and scheduled interview slots are managed through Handshake.

Within Handshake, access the Career Center’s exclusive career exploration and job search tools (once logged in, click "Career Center" and then "Resources)", which include:

• FOCUS 2: Major/career exploration self-assessments
• Big Interview: Practice mock interviews virtually 
• Vault: Employer/Industry guides. Must access through Handshake to access the UMD subscription. 
• GoinGlobal: Country career guides, international resources for students working/studying abroad

New Incoming Students: Two weeks before the start of the semester, newly admitted students who are registered for classes will have a Handshake account created for them. Watch for an email announcing that your Handshake account is ready. Do not create a Handshake account for yourself—that will only lead to duplicate accounts and complicate the process.

Current Students: Your account has already been created, you just need to “claim” it. To do that, log in to Handshake and enter your UMD directory ID and password.

Alumni: If you graduated on May 2023 or after, log in to Handshake and enter your UMD directory ID and password. If you graduated before May 2023, please request an account by emailing ucc-studenthelp@umd.edu or call the front desk at 301-314-7225.

Login to your Handshake account and click on the Career Center tab on the left navigation bar. Click Appointments, here you can cancel or reschedule a career advising appointment

• Employers can search for and identify student profiles by class level, major group, individual UMD majors, a graduation date range, an overall and departmental GPA range, and the career interests and skills to add to your Handshake profile.
• Employers may also directly message you through Handshake if your skillset or interests match a role they are looking to fill, so keep your profile information up to date!
• Find out more about privacy settings.

• Students can edit all information in their profile except their college and school – find instructions how to edit your profile.
• Handshake reflects your current or most recent UMD college for which you are working toward a degree. If you have been accepted into a new program/college, Handshake will be updated at the start of the quarter that you begin your new program.
• Please email us at ucc-studenthelp@umd.edu for questions or to inquire about changing to the ‘College’ field in your profile, and include your full name as well as your student ID number.

Login to your Handshake account and click on your initials or photo in top right corner. Click "Settings" and update the Work Authorization section of your Handshake profile.  

• Once you’ve indicated your Work Authorization status as well as OPT/CPT eligibility from within your profile, you may search for opportunities that are open to international student applicants.
• From the job search page, simply select the ‘Filters’ button, and scroll down to the “Work Authorization” section.
• If you’re unsure of your status, we recommend connecting with UMD's International Student Services office.

Type in the city within the ‘Keyword’ search rather than the ‘Location‘ search. This will ensure you are presented with a list of opportunities located in the exact city you’re looking to pinpoint. However, if you do use the ‘Location’ search, you can edit the default radius of 50 miles to a much smaller area.

• Using Handshake, the UMD Career Center & The President's Promise strives to maintain a job and internship board full of compelling and legitimate opportunities. Handshake’s Trust and Safety team uses a multi-step process to screen employers for legitimacy and investigates any reports of potential fraud.
• Ultimately, however, a student’s safety during their job search process is their own responsibility. The UMD Career Center & The President's Promise are not liable for any losses incurred by students, financial or otherwise.
• Familiarize yourself with security-related tips and resources that will help you evaluate job and internship opportunities and avoid any potentially fraudulent postings by reviewing UMD'S Identifying Scam & Fraudulent Job Postings resource.
• The University of Maryands Office of the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) has also created some resources with phishing examples, tips for identifying scams, and how to protect yourself.

• If you graduated May 2023 or after, log in to Handshake and enter your UMD directory ID and password. If you graduated before May 2023, please request an account by emailing ucc-studenthelp@umd.edu or call the front desk at 301-314-7225.

You must include and list your college or school in your Handshake profile to see your appointments.

Alumni within one year of graduation can schedule virtual and in-person appointments with career advisors through Handshake. Alumni more than one year out have access to a brief consultation and a wide variety of resources available via the Alumni Association.

Posting a full-time job or Internship 

• Register and post positions (full-time and internships) on Handshake, our career management platform. Learn more and register here. 

Log into Handshake and click on your profile in the top right corner. If you have questions, email ucc-studenthelp@umd.edu or call 301-314-7225.

• A robust Handshake profile can be as helpful as a detailed resume or LinkedIn page.
• Employers are searching for students on Handshake based on the information in their profiles, and messaging candidates with event invites or to encourage them to apply for new job opportunities.
• See more ideas to maximize Handshake by checking out our Handshake Profile Challenge and Handshake’s profile guide!

• Employers can search for and identify student profiles by class level, major group, individual UMD majors, a graduation date range, an overall and departmental GPA range, and the career interests and skills to add to your Handshake profile.
• Employers may also directly message you through Handshake if your skillset or interests match a role they are looking to fill, so keep your profile information up to date!
• Find out more about privacy settings.