Handshake
Handshake is UT’s official job and internship board, free for students and alumni and connecting Volunteers to more than 500,000 employers nationwide. Sign in with your UT NetID to browse openings, save searches, apply, sign up for career fairs, manage on-campus interviews, and message employers who are recruiting from UT.
What is Handshake?
Handshake connects UT students to professional opportunities including part-time jobs, internships, and full-time positions. Your feed is personalized with custom recommendations based on your major and career interests. Handshake is free for students and alumni and offers access to more than 500,000 employers. More than 800 colleges and universities use Handshake, so you can connect with a wide national network of employers.
Inside Handshake you can browse and apply for jobs, internships, and on-campus interviews; sign up for career fairs and recruiting events; message employers who are recruiting from UT; and save searches that send you alerts when new jobs match your interests.
Log in with your NetID
Sign in using your NetID as the username and your UT password for the password field. You do not need to create a separate account. Handshake recognizes you as a UT student through single sign-on.
Set up your profile and career interests
Complete your My Profile and Career Interests sections, found under your name in Handshake. Fill in every section and upload your resume under Documents to start searching for full-time jobs, part-time jobs, and internships.
- Complete your profile. Add your major or majors, graduation date, GPA (if you choose), work and project experiences, skills, and a few clubs or organizations. Handshake matches opportunities based on what is there.
- Set your Career Interests. Pick the job types (full-time, internship, part-time, on-campus), the cities or regions where you would consider working, and the industries you want to hear from. These drive your recommended-jobs feed.
- Upload your resume to the Documents section. You will need it to apply, and Handshake employers can sometimes see it during their pre-screening.
- Make your profile visible to employers in the privacy settings if you want employers to be able to find you and reach out.
- Set up job alerts by saving a search. You will get an email when new jobs match your interests.
Search, apply, and message employers
Once your profile is set up, this is where the value lands. Use Handshake’s search to find openings that match your interests, apply with a click, sign up for career fairs and on-campus interviews, and message employers who are recruiting from UT.
Search and apply. Use filters for job type, location, industry, and major. Save searches so you get an email when new jobs match. Many UT employers use Handshake’s Apply with Handshake button, which sends them your profile and resume. Want to see more relevant jobs? Make sure to fill out your Profile and Career Interests.
Sign up for career fairs. Career fairs and recruiting events are managed in Handshake. RSVP, see which employers are attending, and, for virtual fairs, sign up for one-on-one chat slots before the day.
Manage on-campus interviews. Some employers run on-campus interview rounds through Handshake. You will see your interview status, time slots, and document submissions in your Handshake dashboard.
Message employers. Employers who recruit at UT can message you in Handshake, and you can message them back. Use this for follow-up questions after a career fair or to ask about an open role.
Get more out of Handshake
Handshake’s own help articles walk through the highest-impact moves:
Alumni sign-in and account setup
Alumni who have graduated more than a year ago can sign up for an account using the email address of your choice. Your account will be approved within 1 to 2 business days after verification of alumni status. If you have any difficulty setting up or accessing your account, contact the Center for Career Development & Academic Exploration at 865-974-5435 or [email protected].
Handshake vs. LinkedIn, Indeed, and other job boards
Handshake’s advantage is curation. Employers post to Handshake specifically because they want to recruit UT students, so the listings tilt toward roles where UT applicants are competitive. External boards like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Glassdoor carry far more total listings but much less UT-specific signal. Use Handshake first to find opportunities aimed at Volunteers, then expand to the external boards for breadth. A career coach can help you build a search strategy that works across all of them.
Do this next
Stuck on profile setup, not sure which jobs to apply for, or want a coach to look at your saved searches? Schedule a career appointment and a coach who knows the platform can walk you through it. Or sign back in to Handshake and pick up where you left off.
Need help with Handshake?
A career coach can walk you through profile setup, help you build a search strategy, or look at what is not converting in your applications. For technical or account issues, contact Miciah Burns. For questions about coaching or using the platform, reach out to your career coach.
Miciah Burns
Center for Career Development & Academic Exploration
Disclaimer
The Center for Career Development & Academic Exploration and Handshake serve as referral sources for jobs and other opportunities and generally cannot make specific recommendations regarding off-campus employers. The center makes no guarantees about the positions listed by the office. The center is not responsible for safety, wages, working conditions, or any others aspects of off-campus employment. While we expect employers to adhere to ethical standards, we are not able to research the integrity of each organization or individual that lists a job with us. Students and alumni are urged to ask good questions and use common sense when applying for any job or internships, particularly with respect to employment in a private home or other opportunities not affiliated with an established public or private sector organization. We encourage you to research prospective employers using resources made available by the center, as well as other tools, such as the internet. For additional information, please review the Center for Career Development & Academic Exploration’s Fraudulent and Scam Job Postings Guide.
The Center for Career Development & Academic Exploration provides opportunities for University of Tennessee students and alumni to develop job-search skills and provides resources to help identify potential employment. The center does not guarantee job placement for students nor for alumni.
Please contact the Center for Career Development & Academic Exploration with questions or concerns, if you believe any employer listing jobs or internships on Handshake has misrepresented opportunities or has otherwise engaged in unethical conduct concerning recruitment or employment practices.
See Handshake’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.