Handshake for Students & Alums

Log into Tufts Handshake

The Handshake App is also available for download on both iOS and Android.

Read our Recruitment Policies for Students for the Tufts Career Center no-show policy regarding interviews, info about reneging on jobs, insurance coverage for internships, COVID disclaimers, and more.

What is Handshake?

Handshake is a Tufts platform for connecting students and alums to internships, jobs, and career events. With Handshake, you will have the opportunity to:

  • Discover and apply for jobs, internships, volunteer opportunities and more
  • Send and receive messages from employers that may want to hire you
  • Connect with your peers for tips and advice
  • Get access to career fairs, employer events, interview days, and career-building resources

Get Started with Handshake

Check out the resources below and at Handshake’s Support Center to learn how to take advantage of the platform and start launching your career.

  • Accessing Handshake

    Get started with Handshake by visiting tufts.joinhandshake.com. Log in with your Tufts ID (e.g. jsmith01) and password. Alums log in with any email address on the sign in page. They will be verified and approved by an admin. Once you’re set up, you will have the opportunity to create your profile, upload a resume, and start customizing your job search.

    You can also download the Handshake app, making the job hunt even easier with hundreds of jobs, internships, and career events right at your fingertips. The Handshake App is available for download on both iOS and Android. Learn more about the mobile app here.

  • Customizing Your Profile

    Fill out your profile with information about you, your interests, your studies and what you’re looking for in a job. Students with a completed profile are five times more likely to be messaged by a recruiter, so make sure you take the time to fill everything in. A completed profile also helps ensure that you get connected with the most relevant opportunities. Handshake will send you targeted messages regarding job openings, upcoming events, and other opportunities that are personalized to your interests.

    To get started, make sure you update Your Interests with:
    1. Job Type: Share whether you’re looking for an internship, part-time job, or full-time job
    2. Location: Select the cities where you’d like to work, and Handshake will show you jobs in that area
    3. Job Role: Choose jobs you would like to explore (marketing associate, software engineer, etc.)

    Log in to Handshake to complete your profile today!

  • Uploading a Resume

    You will want to have a public resume available in Handshake for employers (and the Career Center team) to see. To learn how to upload a document, refer to How to Upload a New Document. Once you’ve uploaded a resume, you can use it to further fill in your profile as well (see Build Profile from Resume).

  • Finding Jobs and Internships

    Use the job board to search thousands of job and internship postings. Enter a keyword, search by location, major, industry, and more! You can customize and save your search criteria to receive job alert notifications when new jobs matching your search criteria are added. You can also bookmark positions to return to at a later date. Keep in mind that opportunities are posted throughout the year from various employers, so continue to check back for new listings.

    Handshake’s job recommendations get smarter the more you use the platform, taking into account your profile data, career interests, and the employers and jobs you have engaged with. The content you engage with on Handshake provides real time insight into your evolving preferences. So make sure to spend some time viewing and favoriting jobs and employers that sound interesting to you – it will help Handshake learn to best curate recommendations just for you.

    Learn how to navigate the Handshake database to find jobs and internships. Find a job you want to apply for? Learn how to submit an application here.

  • Registering for Events

    Handshake is where you’ll find all Career Center events and many employer events for students. Throughout the year the Career Center hosts workshops, career fairs, and opportunities to connect with industry professionals and alumni. Employers also host informational sessions about their organization, internships and jobs, and educational topics.

    Our most popular Tufts events are our fall and spring Career Fairs. Career Fairs are a great way to learn about new companies and make face to face connections with recruiters. You can find resources for the Tufts Virtual Career Fair here.

    All registered for an event and not sure what to do next? Here’s what you can do to prepare in advance:
    Update your Handshake profile. Make sure it reflects your latest experiences and job preferences – especially role and location!
    Know before you go. Use the Handshake app to see the event details, browse recruiters that will be there, and favorite the ones you want to meet.
    Be ready to talk about yourself. Prepare some talking points about your career interests as well as your academic and extracurricular experience.

  • Attending Virtual Career Fairs

    Some of our most popular Tufts events are our fall and spring Career Fairs. Career Fairs are a great way to learn about new companies and make face to face connections with recruiters. For the 2021-2022 school year, our Career Fairs will be virtual and will be hosted on Handshake. Throughout the fairs, students can attend 30-minute group sessions and 10-minute one-on-one video conversations with various employers.

    Which employers/organizations will be at the fair?

      • Employers looking to hire students for entry-level positions for after graduation.
      • Employers looking to speak to students about possible internships and co-ops.
      • Employers looking to connect with students to teach them more about their organization.

    How to Participate in a Career Fair:
    1.  Register for the fair on Handshake
    2.  Once registered, you will be able to view employers’ schedules and select the sessions you wish to attend
    3.  Leading up to the fair (and even throughout!) you can add group sessions and 1:1 Meetings with employers to your schedule. Keep checking back, as new employers and sessions will continue to be added in the weeks leading up to the fair.
    4.  Day of, simply log on to Handshake, navigate to the fair page, and then 5 minutes prior to each session start time, a button will activate allowing you to join via video (you should use Chrome for your browser, be sure to allow pop ups from Handshake, and enable Handshake access to your microphone and camera)

    The Spring 2022 Virtual Career Fair will take place on Friday, February 11th, 2022 from 1pm – 4pm. Student registration will open on January 28th.

    You can find more resources for the Tufts Virtual Career Fair here.

  • Connecting with Employers
    Top employers are hiring students like you on Handshake. They’ll be able to find you and message you about the roles you want. Make sure your profile is public so you can send and receive messages. Under your profile icon, click Settings & Privacy then select Community.
    Check out these resources to learn more about how to make the most of employer networking on handshake:
    Messaging Employers on Handshake Leads to Jobs
    Virtual Chats with Employers
    How to Build Relationships with Employers on Handshake
  • Connecting with Peers

    Check out the Student Q&A, where students can ask career-related questions and get answers from other students or alums from any school. Students will find Q&A on their homepage, and on job and employer pages when relevant content is available. Students can submit questions on any Q&A page.

    Peer Messaging gives students and alums the ability to make their Handshake profiles visible to other students and alums across Handshake schools and to message them. This feature is aimed at giving you an even greater ability to connect with and learn from your peers.

    Reviews are an opportunity for students to share feedback on internship experiences with other students and their employer. We encourage students to provide honest, constructive feedback in their own voice. Students may edit, update or delete their reviews at any time.

Employment Disclaimer for Students
Tufts is not responsible for our students working off campus and has not screened them for their experience, integrity, working ability, or any other aspect of their performance as volunteers, interns or employees. Tufts also does not screen any families, companies or others who may engage Tufts students as volunteers, interns or employees. Both parties should be conducting their own due diligence. Tufts is not responsible or liable for and will not provide any support (financial or otherwise) for any injuries, damages or conflicts that may arise from such positions or arrangements. Tufts’ insurance does not provide any coverage for such positions or arrangements.

It is the responsibility of both students and alums to take precautions when submitting personal information, interviewing, and accepting any type of position. Applicants should never provide their birth dates, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, bank account information or other private information when communicating with prospective employers or responding to opportunities online.

If you see a position in Handshake and/or receive an email from an employer that you believe may be a scam, please notify the Tufts Career Center immediately by emailing us at careercenter@tufts.edu.