For a demo on employer tags and job auto-approval rules, please register for office hours on September 15 at 11:15 am PT / 2:15 pm ET.
This summer, Handshake is launching updates to help your team process employer and job approvals more efficiently. Doing so gives you more time to promote unique, relevant opportunities to your students and lays the groundwork for Handshake’s vision to increase access. Read on to learn how employer tags and job auto-approval rules will save your team time.
Employer tags identify employers for review
Last fall, we implemented decline reasons that your team selects when you reject an employer’s request to connect. In July, we’re launching filterable tags, powered by those decline reasons, that help you easily identify employers that your team might want to review for moral, ethical, or legal reasons:
- Adult entertainment industry
- Alcohol or Tobacco
- Cannabis
- Firearms
- Gambling
- Multi-level marketing
- Ideological / religious objection to industry
- Third party recruiter or staffing firm
- Employer requires up-front costs
- Employer does not comply with local, state, federal or other legal guidelines
Example: Apply the third party recruiter tag filter to identify pending employers that work in that industry.

When an employer is declined, Handshake’s Trust & Safety Team will determine whether it’s appropriate to apply the corresponding tag. We’ll also tag employers if we detect keywords on their profile corresponding to these tags:
- Cannabis
- Alcohol or tobacco
- Firearms
- Gambling
- Third party
Trust & Safety will not moderate the following tags—once an employer is declined for one of these reasons, the employer will automatically be tagged:
- Employer does not comply with local, state, federal or other legal guidelines
- Ideological / religious objection to industry
Automation rules streamline employer approvals
While tags are helpful on their own, they’re most powerful when used in tandem with employer auto-approval rules. If your team auto-approves employers based on trust score, you’ll be able to add exceptions for tagged employers. This means you can process employer approval requests more quickly while still monitoring for employers that require a more thorough review.

Example: Approve all employers with a trust score over 80, except for those tagged as cannabis companies.
Automation rules streamline job approvals, too
In August, we’re also launching auto-approval rules to help you process jobs more efficiently. Use a set of filters—like job role, salary type, or employer label—to define the opportunities your team wants to review more closely.
Opportunities that meet any of your criteria will be set to pending while the rest are auto-approved.
Example: Approve all jobs unless they are unpaid or seasonal/temporary.
To learn more about employer tags and job auto-approval rules check out the recording of our recent training webinar. And, learn how Handshake’s new process to validate employers will save your team time here.