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Handshake Hacks

Career fairs and employer booth check-ins

Whether you’re hosting virtual or in-person fairs, or some combination of both—Handshake has the resources you need to have an excellent fair season!

When career fairs went virtual in 2020, your team suddenly gained access to data about which students met with which employers. This data is powerful—it helps you better illustrate the connections forged at your fair and helps you better understand where your students' interests lie.

Now that the majority of career fairs are back in person, Handshake is helping you maintain access to that valuable check-in data. Very simply, employer booth check-in helps you quantify the impact of in-person career fairs. With it, your team can print QR codes for each employer booth that students scan to check-in. Your team can access check-in data, while employers and the students they met are encouraged to keep the conversation going after the fair.

How does employer booth check-in fit into your fair?

Before the fair

Handshake will automatically generate a QR code check-in sign for every employer that registers for your fair. You don’t have to opt in to generate them—they’ll be waiting for you. You can bulk download these QR code check-in signs and print them out before the fair. Since this is a new feature, we also recommend including information about check-ins in any emails you send to employers and students ahead of the fair.


Day of the fair

You can distribute QR code signs to each employer to display at their booth. Throughout the day, students will be able to scan the QR code with their phones to check in—this will work whether they have the Handshake app or not.

After the fair

You’ll have access to all of your students’ check-in data—you can see who each student met with and see which employers were the most popular. Employers will also have access to their booth’s check-in data, and we’ll encourage them to use it. Employers will get an email summarizing their check-ins and encouraging them to follow up with the students they met with. Students will also get an email summarizing their check-ins, plus they’ll be able to review their check-ins in Handshake.

Check out our employer booth check in training webinar and slides for more information.


Additional resources

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