Handshake - Getting Started

This document provides information for students and staff on how to get started using Handshake. For staff, the document outlines permission levels, as well as training and best practice resources for administrative staff users.

This document is intended to be a quick primer for Handshake. It includes information for staff and faculty as well as students, steps to start using Handshake, and how to get support. 

   

How to Get Started with Handshake

Steps for Students & Alumni

  1. Navigate to Handshake. You can also utilize the MyUW Handshake app.
  2. Log in with your NetID and password
  3. For additional resources and FAQs, see the below section “Information for Students” 

Steps for Staff & Faculty

  1. Get access to the Handshake system: Review the below section “Information for Staff & Faculty” to understand the account types, how to request accounts, and pre-requisite training (if applicable). 
    1. If approved, you will receive an email confirming your account with resources and next steps.
  2. Register and complete onboarding trainings:
    1. For Administrative Accounts, training and best practices resources include:
      1. Handshake Academy and Webinars have numerous self-paced and recorded trainings on administrative aspects of the system
      2. Handshake Help Center has help articles and a support chat function
      3. Training offered by the Office of Academic and Career Success (OACS) will be listed on the OACS event calendar
      4. Asking questions and reviewing FAQs within the Microsoft Teams ‘UW-Madison Handshake Users’ channel
      5. Reaching out to your school/college Handshake Superuser or Ilsa May, Assistant Director for Career Services Technology, at ilsa.may@wisc.edu for best practices 
    2. For Student Test Accounts, current training resources are limited to the same resources as real student accounts. To familiarize yourself with the student interface, you can:
      1. Read Getting Started with Handshake
      2. Explore the Student & Alumni Handshake Help Center.
    3. For Employer accounts (Note that Employer accounts are not managed by DoIT or OACS):
      1. Visit the Outreach section of the UW-Madison Human Resources Recruitment Toolkit for more information on Handshake employer user accounts (Managed by UW-Madison’s OHR Talent Acquisition team)
      2. Handshake offers an Employer Academy and Help Center
  3.  After receiving access to Handshake:
    1. Log into Handshake using your UW-Madison NetID and password
    2. You will receive access to the Microsoft Teams ‘UW-Madison Handshake Users’ channel that is used for sharing updates, announcements, best practices, and general questions on using Handshake
    3. Admins with a career services account and test student account can switch between accounts by following the steps in Switching User Views

Information for Students

How can I access Handshake?

  • Log-in at wisc.joinhandshake.com with your NetID and password. Current students and alumni who earned a degree from 2014-present are automatically provisioned with an account and do not need to create their own.
  • Alumni who earned a degree before 2014 should fill out this form to request an account

Who can access the UW-Madison instance of Handshake?

  • All enrolled, degree-seeking students, capstone students, and degreed alumni have access to Handshake.
  • Alumni who earned a degree from 2014-present are automatically provisioned an account and do not need to create their own. Alumni who earned a degree before 2014 should fill out this form to request an account
  • The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs provisions current UW-Madison postdocs with Handshake student accounts and should fill out this form to request an account.
  • Students associated with the Division of Continuing Studies, including special students, visiting students, and exchange students, are not considered degree-seeking students; therefore, are not authorized access to Handshake.

How can I learn more about using Handshake?

Accessibility

Information for Staff & Faculty

Requesting Access to Handshake

There are three account types available to UW employees (staff and faculty).

  1. Administrative accounts are for UW employees needing back-end access to view and/or manage student profiles/activity, career events/fairs, employer information, and/or marketing and communications with students and employers. This account is typically for career services staff members. When administrative accounts are requested, users select the role groups/permission levels they need. 
    1. To learn more about role groups/permission levels, review Handshake Role Groups for Administrative Accounts.
    2. To request an administrative account, complete the Handshake Administrative Account Request form.
  2. Student test accounts are available for UW employees who are NOT in a career services role and do not require back-end administrative access. This account allows you to see the student/alumni interface (aka what students and alumni see). All administrative accounts also receive a student test account.
    1. To request a student test account, complete the Handshake Administrative Account Request form. For the question “What type of role best describes you?”, select “Professional staff member, faculty, or instructor in a non-career services role”.
  3. Employer accounts are used to register for recruitment events (i.e.; representing UW-Madison at career fairs, transfer fairs, etc.) or to create job postings for post-graduate employment or internships on campus. NOTE: UW-Madison student jobs such as part-time, temporary or work-study positions should not be posted on Handshake via your employer account – these positions are posted to Handshake by the UW-Madison Student Employment team. Employer accounts are not managed by DoIT or the Office of Academic and Career Success (OACS).
    1. To create an employer account affiliated with UW-Madison:
      1. Visit https://app.joinhandshake.com/emp. You will be able to link your account to UW-Madison’s employer profile.
      2. A request will be sent to the OHR Talent Acquisition team to approve your profile.
      3. You can also contact hr_communities_of_practice@ohr.wisc.edu to be added to the Recruitment CoP Handshake folder which includes many resources and tools to support your engagement with Handshake.

Pre-requisite Required Trainings for Administrative Accounts

The student record data found in Handshake is subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and UW-Madison Data Governance Policies. In order to receive an administrative account, you are required to complete the following trainings BEFORE requesting an administrative account.

Information to Share with Students

Questions and Support

Handshake is a career services tool centrally supported by the Learn@UW-Madison team. For technical support questions, students and staff should contact the DoIT Help Desk 

Handshake Support:

Office of Academic and Career Success (OACS) Support:

 


Keywords:
Handshake, Career, Job, Internship, Career Fair
Doc ID:
155136
Owned by:
Learn@UW Madison in Learn@UW
Created:
2025-09-25
Updated:
2025-12-11
Sites:
DoIT Help Desk, Learn@UW