Handshake

Overview

Handshake is a career network linking employers, students and other job seekers, and educational institutions. It suits organizations recruiting early-career talent through campus channels, while candidates can use its mobile app to search and apply for opportunities. Its appeal is the combination of campus reach and employer recruiting tools; Basic’s tight messaging and matching caps make it a limited starting point for active hiring.

Handshake says its marketplace connects 25 million knowledge workers, more than 1,600 educational institutions, and 1 million employers. Employers can post jobs, search for and message talent, manage applicants, promote recruiting events and career fairs, and publish company content through a Brand Page on its early-career social network. Basic and Pro have limited Brand Page access.

Key features

• Campus-focused talent search: Filters include school year, major, GPA, skills, student location, and job-role interests. Enterprise supports up to 50 filters, useful for narrowing a large campus pool; Basic allows up to 100 talent matches per job.
• Recruiting and applicant workflows: Employers can post jobs and manage applicants, while campus event tools, student engagement, university relationships, and application workflows support recruiting beyond a job listing.
• Messaging and collaboration: Basic includes 10 messages per month and limited candidate messaging. Pro raises that allowance to 200 messages per month and adds multi-user collaboration, AI-powered applicant tools, and workflow automation.
• Company presence: A Brand Page and company content can help employers reach users on Handshake’s early-career social network, but Brand Page access is limited on both Basic and Pro.
• Integrations: Handshake lists ATS integrations for Greenhouse, Workday, Lever, Taleo, Jobvite, SAP SuccessFactors, SmartRecruiters, Infinite BrassRing, and UKG. Integration eligibility is restricted to Essentials and Enterprise customers, so Pro buyers should not assume they can connect an ATS.
• Security and compliance: Handshake says it is FERPA compliant and that external parties audit and attest to its security and privacy compliance program. Its trust portal states SOC 2 Type II compliance and lists GDPR, CCPA, TX-RAMP, UK Cyber Essentials, and PCI compliance.

Pricing

Handshake is freemium, with a free Basic plan and Pro at $450 per month. Enterprise has custom pricing. The gap between Basic and Pro is meaningful for teams that need to contact candidates regularly: Basic’s 10 monthly messages and 100 matches per job constrain outreach, while Pro allows 200 messages a month and adds AI-powered applicant tools, collaboration, and workflow automation. Promoted jobs are an add-on on Pro.

• Basic — free: Includes a simple company presence, 10 messages per month, limited candidate messaging, and up to 100 talent matches per job. It is a sensible way to establish a presence or try limited-volume recruiting, but the messaging and matching caps can impede sustained hiring.
• Pro — $450 per month: Includes 200 messages per month, AI-powered applicant tools, multi-user collaboration, workflow automation, and promoted jobs as an add-on. It better fits teams running more active recruiting workflows, but the message quota remains finite and ATS integration is not included by eligibility.
• Enterprise — custom pricing: Adds advanced messaging, promotions, and event support, ATS/XML integrations, centralized team management, hiring funnel analytics, and promoted jobs. It is the relevant tier for organizations needing those integrations or centralized oversight; premium support and a dedicated customer success account team are also included.

Platforms

Handshake is available on web, iOS, and Android. The iOS and Android app lets users search opportunities, apply for jobs, and manage career center appointments, making it useful for candidates handling discovery and applications on mobile.

Who it's for

Handshake is best suited to employers focused on campus and early-career recruiting, particularly those that benefit from student and university connections, recruiting events, and candidate filters tailored to education and career interests. Basic suits low-volume outreach; teams that need more messaging and workflow tools can consider Pro, while ATS integrations, advanced event support, analytics, and dedicated account support point toward Enterprise. Candidates seeking opportunities and managing career center appointments can use the mobile app. Employers who need ATS connectivity at the Pro price point should look elsewhere or evaluate Enterprise.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Campus-oriented filters and a network spanning employers, institutions, and job seekers give recruiters several ways to reach early-career candidates.
• Pro: Job, applicant, event, and company-content tools bring multiple parts of campus recruiting into one service.
• Pro: Enterprise includes ATS/XML integrations, analytics, centralized management, promoted jobs, premium support, and a dedicated customer success account team.
• Con: Basic caps messaging at 10 per month and matching at 100 candidates per job, limiting its usefulness for higher-volume recruiting.
• Con: Pro costs $450 per month, promoted jobs are an add-on, and ATS integrations are available only to Essentials and Enterprise customers.
• Con: Brand Page access is limited on Basic and Pro, reducing the scope of company presence at those tiers.

Alternatives

For teams comparing campus-focused options, see Campus Recruiting Software and Recruiting Events Software.

• TPO Bridge is worth considering when unlimited job posts and campus drives without subscription or per-post charges matter more than Handshake’s wider career network and recruiting workflow mix.
• JobTeaser is an option for teams whose posting needs fit its free-plan limits: in France, up to 10 job ads across up to 5 institutions over twelve months; elsewhere, up to 4 job ads across up to 4 institutions over twelve months.
• RippleMatch offers a free Candidate Network plan for candidates and employer subscriptions by quote, so it may suit candidates seeking a free network or employers who prefer quote-based pricing.
• Symplicity Recruit may fit employers buying targeted school-by-school posts: its Starter plan is $55, paid once per job post when targeting 1–4 schools.
• Flarebox is another freemium option.
• GradLeaders is a paid alternative.
• CoCubes is another freemium option.
• RB Tech Services Campus Recruitment Platform is a paid campus-recruitment option with custom pricing.

Verdict

Choose Handshake if your organization recruits early-career talent and values campus reach, education-focused search, and event and applicant workflows in one service. Basic can establish a presence, but its 10-message monthly cap and 100-match job limit are restrictive; Pro adds useful workflow capacity at $450 per month, while ATS integrations require an eligible Enterprise-level relationship. If integration access is essential and that tier does not fit your budget, look elsewhere.