In July 2018 Handshake was launched as UW-Madison’s primary recruitment and career event management tool, officially replacing BuckyNet and myECS. We join over 500 university career centers and 300,000 employers across the country already using Handshake.
Questions?
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Why was Handshake chosen to replace BuckyNet and myECS?
The decision to move to Handshake was made based on a recommendation from the 2016-17 Career Services Task Force and input from career services units, employers, and students.
Handshake offers many exciting features, including:
- A single login portal for employers and students
- Ability for employers to post jobs to UW-Madison and 500+ schools from one dashboard
- Personalized job recommendations based on students’ major, interests, and more
- Advanced, streamlined event management capabilities
Who has access to Handshake?
Undergraduate Students: All currently enrolled degree-seeking undergraduate students have access to Handshake.
Graduate Students: All graduate students have access.
Students in Professional Schools (including the School of Veterinary Medicine, School of Medicine & Public Health, Law School): Professional students do not have access to Handshake. Questions can be directed to their respective schools and colleges.
Special Students (non-degree seeking students): Special students do not have access to Handshake (with exception to CALS Farm & Industry Short Course and special students pursuing Capstone certificates). Questions can be directed to Career Services for Post-Baccaluareate Students.
Alumni: Alumni who graduated fall 2010 and later have pre-loaded profiles that they can activate. Alumni pre 2010 do not have pre-loaded profiles but are welcome to create an account.
What information is pre-loaded into a Handshake profile?
Pre-loaded Profile Information
The following information is pre-loaded into Handshake from the Student Information System (SIS):
- Name
- Education Level
- Majors
- Minors (Certificates)
- Departmental and cumulative GPA
- College
How do students update their profile information?
Information that has to updated in SIS:
- Education Level
- Majors
- Minors (Certificates)
- Departmental and cumulative GPA
- College
If any of the above is inaccurate, students must work with their academic advisor or the Registrar’s Office to have the information corrected.
Please note, (SIS) information is updated weekly. Students should check back in a week if their Handshake profile updates are not showing up.
Information that can be updated right from a student’s Handshake profile:
- Preferred name
- Graduation date
- School Year
Can students hide their entire Handshake profile?
Yes. Please note, the profile’s default setting is set to “hidden.” Employers, alumni, and students won’t be able to see anything until a student chooses to unhide it.
However, if a student keeps their profile set to private, employers will not be able to search for them.
Can a student hide certain information on a public profile?
Hiding Certain Information on a Public Profile
With a public account the student can still hide the following items from view:
- Email (always hidden)
- Gender (always hidden)
- Ethnicity (always hidden)
- Work authorization
- GPA
How do employers connect with UW on Handshake?
Employers must ask to connect with UW-Madison within Handshake. We have a team of career services staff that check the requests daily. We have a rigorous list of requirements an employer must meet before they will be approved to post jobs for our students.
How can I learn more about how Handshake works?
To learn more about Handshake you can:
- Contact your school or college career center or the Career Exploration Center
- Watch Handshake’s video tutorials (you’ll need to login or create an account to access)
Where should I direct questions?
Basic questions should be directed to the student’s school/college career center, or the Career Exploration Center including questions about:
- Account Set-up
- Getting Started
- Best Practices
- Basic “How to” questions
Troubleshooting issues may be escalated by a career services staff member to the Advising Systems Administrator or the Handshake Support Team.