Handshake (company)

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Handshake is an American job site focused on college students and recent graduates. It was started in 2014 by three Michigan Tech computer science students — Garrett Lord (who is CEO), Ben Christensen, and Scott Ringwelski — and is now based in San Francisco. The platform connects recruiters, universities, and students: recruiters post positions for multiple schools, while students can sign up for free, create profiles, and receive personalized job recommendations. Handshake also publishes annual job-trend reports based on user surveys.

The company began with five college partners and grew quickly. By 2016 it had raised about $14 million, worked with around 60 universities, and had about 1.3 million user profiles. In 2017 the founders were named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list. Handshake’s growth continued with a Series E in May 2021 of $80 million, valuing the company at about $1.5 billion. At that time, the platform included about 18 million students and alumni from 1,200 institutions and 550,000 companies. A Series F of $200 million in January 2022 pushed its value to around $3.5 billion, and in April 2022 Handshake acquired Talentspace, a European recruiting platform.

As of 2022, Handshake had about 725 employees. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, and Garrett Lord remains CEO. Competitors include Indeed, 12Twenty, and Symplicity. In 2023, Handshake was involved in a dispute with Michigan State University during a contract renewal, with differing accounts from parties; MSU ended the investigation without public findings, and Beavers denied certain allegations. By 2025 Handshake noted a decrease in interest in federal jobs and a drop in posted internships on its platform.