Handshake

What is Handshake?

Handshake is a global careers platform connecting our students, graduates, and the University with employers. 

Handshake is used to promote all job opportunities, career events and fairs to our students and graduates, whether these are locally, nationally and globally. Therefore, we no longer use UniHub for careers events and job opportunities.

Job opportunities advertised on Handshake:

  • Campus jobs 
  • Part-time work 
  • Freelance opportunities
  • Internships
  • Sandwich Placements
  • Short Placements
  • Graduate Jobs

Take a look at our Handshake – academic intro presentation for more information

Benefits of Handshake

  • Finding a job is more tailored – by inputting preferred roles, locations and employers, Handshake shows users the job opportunities most relevant to them
  • Great networking tool to connect directly with employers – having a Handshake profile allows our students and graduates to search for and message employers, and for employers to message them
  • Increased engagement with a variety of employers – employers can actively engage with the University, creating a 2-way approach to promoting opportunities to our students and graduates

Accessing Handshake as Hallam staff

As a staff member, you can access Handshake, allowing you to explore the system, and look out for the jobs and events relevant to our students. In order to access Handshake, please follow the below instructions:

  • Go to ‘Register new Handshake account’
  • Use your shu.ac.uk email address to set up your account
  • Make sure you choose Sheffield Hallam University when a university is requested – this will ensure your request to connect to the University comes to us. Our Careers Connect team will then approve your request and you will be able to see everything available to our Hallam students and graduates

Once you have followed these instructions, you must then use the ‘You can also sign in with your email address’ option (underneath the Current SHU Students login button) or ‘Log in using your Handshake credentials’ (when you save your details) to login to Handshake.

How to promote to your students

As Handshake is the careers platform to find a part-time job, placement, and graduate job or internship, it is vital it is promoted to our students in as many ways as possible.

Guidance for our students and graduates is included on our Careers and Employability website. Our dedicated page details how students can login and set up their Handshake profile, how to download and use the Handshake app, and explains the benefits of Handshake. Handshake is visible across the University, not only on our Careers website, but on MyHallam and on campus.

Main messages
  • Encourage students to complete their Handshake profile – this is the first thing employers see, so is important it is 100% completed with a photo, as well as details of their work experience, professional interests, skills, and volunteering and extracurricular activities
  • Download the Handshake app – this allows students to easily search for jobs on their phones
  • Students must use the ‘Current SHU Students Login’ button to claim their Handshake profile, and use their firstname.surname@student.shu.ac.uk if an email address is requested during the initial log in process
Resources

You can use the below materials in your lectures/to send to your students:

  • A Handshake Google slide has been produced to be included on lecture slides to promote the platform to our students
  • Handshake YouTube playlist – a selection of videos will be available for Welcome Week, including ‘How to set up a Handshake Profile’, ‘How to find a job via Handshake’, ‘How to network with employers via Handshake’, and more 
  • A short 40 second intro video to Handshake has been created to increase awareness of the new platform

Placements

Handshake is used for Level 5 & 7 placement seekers from 2021/22 onwards to find and approve placement opportunities. Placements undertaken in 2021/22 will still be on UniHub for continuity purposes as will the placement approval process for any sandwich placements being undertaken in 2021/22.

For short and sandwich placement opportunities due to take place in the 2022/23 academic year, the approval process must go through Handshake. The approval process comprises of a partnership approach, focusing on the students learning and development, as well as the students understanding of their safety on placement. Below is a series of videos to help each stakeholder understand their responsibilities in the process:

• Placement Approval Process: Stage One – Students – This video describes how the students initially apply to have their work experience opportunity approved.
• Placement Provider role in the Placement Approval Process (all placement types) – This video describes the providers role in signing off the opportunity.
• Placement Approval Process: Stage Two – Students – This video describes how the student reviews the responses from the provider
• Academic staff role in the Sandwich Placement Approval Process – This video describes how the Academic reviews the learning outcomes and its suitability as a placement opportunity
• Academic staff role in the Short Placement Approval Process – This video describes how the Academic reviews the learning outcomes and its suitability as a placement opportunity

Campus jobs 

All Campus Jobs are advertised via Handshake. Staff and academics still have the opportunity to request a Student Casual Worker role to be advertised to our students, which is managed by the Careers Connect Team.

If you have any further questions about Handshake, please get in touch with the Careers & Employability Service