Handshake

The academic major information in your Handshake profile is imported from Cornell registrar data on a nightly basis and accurately reflects your major as it appears in your official student record. If you affiliate with a major or change your major following the process in your college/academic department, your academic major in Handshake will automatically update once your new major is processed by the registrar. Depending on the process in your college, this may take 1-4 weeks or more. Please reach out to your college registrar or academic department if you have questions about the status of your major change.

If your major is not accurately reflected in Handshake (or hasn’t been updated yet), we recommend you indicate your intended major on your resume. Please note that Handshake still allows students to apply for positions regardless of if your major aligns with those identified by the employer. Employers understand that majors change frequently and use the resume as the most accurate way to determine a student’s major and graduation date. 

The school year information in your Handshake profile is imported from Cornell registrar data on a nightly basis and accurately reflects your school year as it appears in your student record. Cornell’s school year standing (such as freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior) is primarily determined by the number of full-time semesters you have completed, not the total number of credits earned. If you accelerate your graduation date following the process in your college, your school year in Handshake will automatically update once your new graduation date is processed by the registrar. Depending on the process in your college, this may take 1-4 weeks or more. Please reach out to your college registrar if you have questions about the status of your acceleration.

For students whose school year is not accurately reflected in Handshake (or hasn’t been updated yet), we recommend that you indicate your intended graduation date on your resume. Please note that Handshake still allows students to apply for positions regardless of if your school year aligns with what is preferred by the employer. Employers understand that graduation dates change frequently and use the resume as the most accurate way to determine a student’s major and graduation date. 

For students who have recently become a US Permanent Resident, please upload your permanent resident cards to MyStatus.

Please note: Career offices cannot change your Work Authorization directly within Handshake.

Handshake refreshes every night. Any new updates made in the Cornell registrar system will appear the next morning.

Once it is updated officially by the Registrar it will appear updated in your Handshake profile. It is one of the locked fields and cannot be updated within Handshake.

Once your graduation date is updated officially by the Registrar it will appear in your Handshake profile. Class year (e.g. sophomore) is one of the locked fields and cannot be updated within Handshake. For more information on your Handshake profile, see the “My Profile” section above.

Handshake accounts are limited to students and recent graduates. If you want to know about upcoming events and jobs/internships, Handshake feeds directly into our website. As a staff or faculty member you can subscribe to our website for weekly or monthly updates.

Yes, Handshake is now able to merge accounts for students who have created more than one account and taken action from each account (ex. applied for a job on both accounts). Contact career@cornell.edu if you believe you need your accounts merged.

In Handshake, a multi-school event is open to students from multiple schools, allowing broader participation and visibility, often hosted by employers or collaborative school groups. Employers can create and post their own multi-school events and invite thousands of Handshake schools to participate.

A school-specific event, on the other hand, is limited to Cornell students, typically organized by career services staff for tailored engagement, often in collaboration with an employer, Cornell alum, or organization.

Our vetting criteria are primarily focused on ensuring that fraudulent organizations do not gain access to Cornell students (i.e. not a legitimate company). Value judgements about employers are not factored into the vetting process. Employers must comply with state and federal hiring laws and Cornell’s EEOC policy. Once approved, employers that want to recruit at Cornell do so through the Handshake platform. Note, all employers on Handshake have gone through Handshake’s Trust & Safety protocols.

Employers may post jobs and internships, sign-up for fairs, host interviews, and post events (including school-specific in-person and virtual events, and virtual multi-school events).

Yes! Handshake is integrated into the Cornell Career Services website, which allows us to connect job and internship opportunities, events, and fairs to career pathways. Students can also subscribe to career pathways to receive postings and events of interest via a weekly newsletter. The integration with our website is seamless and automatically updated each night.

Depending on the graduate program you are enrolled in, you might have access to a different job and internship program specific to students in your program. This is the case for students in the SC Johnson MBA program (Ithaca-based), most Cornell Tech based programs, and JD students in the Cornell Law School, among others. If you are enrolled in a graduate program, please check with your associated career services staff or your program director to inquire about access to Handshake or other platforms.

We encourage you to update your registration and/or contact the host of the event to let them know. Please review career services’ Student Rights and Responsibilities website to learn more.

Yes, you can apply! We do recommend you update your profile regularly to ensure everything is accurate. You can always make an appointment with a Career advisor to discuss a strategy for a specific opportunity.

Yes, your Handshake profile will stay active, and your status will switch to alumni. The jobs and internships are mostly entry-level and are typically most relevant to people up to five years out or who are switching career paths. You can also sign up for virtual info sessions and workshops of interest, though those are also geared at current graduate and undergraduate students.