Campaigns

Save time with message templates that engage early talent

Find out the best days and times for sending messages to students

Learn how you can use Handshake to boost campaign performance

How to Write a Recruiting Message

Employers

Tips and trends for modern recruiting

Find the talent you’re looking for

When students are exploring opportunities and engaging with employers on Handshake, they’re starting to imagine their career journeys. So imagine the impact you could make with the right message, at the right time.

Messaging Campaigns help you scale your outreach to early talent across  schools on Handshake. An invitation to attend an event, apply to a job, or learn about your brand is a moment that matters to a student or recent grad...and can improve conversion for you.

What are Campaigns on Handshake?

Campaigns is a premium end-to-end messaging hub within Handshake Talent Engagement Suite that gives you the ability to:

Generate leads by asking prospective candidates to RSVP to events and fairs

Send unlimited 1:1 messages to build relationships

Scale your outreach to a large volume of students

Personalize your messages with dynamic variables

Automate your workflow with smart lists and saved templates

How do Campaigns help talent teams?

Talent acquisition teams can scale their outreach and improve conversion with Campaigns. For example:

Target a qualified and relevant audience to engage with

Nurture top talent who may not be ready to apply yet

Connect with students outside of "peak seasons" on-campus

Expose your brand to students early in their college experience so you stay top of mind

Invite teammates—for example, ERG leads or hiring managers—to message top talent

Connecting with talent through Campaigns can improve conversion. For example, according to Handshake platform data, you can achieve:

62% increase in job applications when attaching a campaign message to a job

141% increase in event RSVPs when attaching a campaign message to an event

40% increase in virtual career fair RSVPs when attaching a campaign message to a virtual career fair

8 tips for building strong Campaigns on Handshake

Engage students across multiple touch points to improve your conversion rates. Based on Handshake data, use these tips to get more efficient and stand out to students.

Find the right students. You can start by creating your targeted audience Segment with 20+ filters, or building your audience within the Campaigns tool.

Personalize message content. Let students know why you’re reaching out, and make sure your message is relevant. According to Handshake survey data, students want to know about salary expectations (95%), essential skills (69%), and growth opportunities (64%).

Use simple formatting, and be concise. Plain text is best. Don’t use fancy formatting, unnecessary capitalization, or too many links—stick with one hyperlinked CTA. But you can add personality while keeping it professional with emojis here and there!

Be strategic with your Campaign schedule. According to Handshake data, students are most active on Handshake in the evening and most typically respond to messages between 5-8PM.

Follow up and stay in touch. Keep top talent warm. For example, after attending a career event, 64% of students want to get a message recommending specific jobs to apply to.

Respond to messages. Let students know you’re monitoring your inbox and looking forward to hearing from them. As a best practice, log in to Handshake at least once per day to stay on top of your inbox and respond to candidates.

Enable team members to send messages. Students want to hear about current employees’ personal experiences applying to and working for your company. Add an Advocate to your message to bring internal perspectives and authenticity to your Campaign.

Get more efficient. Save your top performing messages as templates that you’ll use over and over again.


Improve conversion with Campaigns

Create Campaigns to engage targeted audiences, power a high touch candidate experience, and achieve impressive results for your early talent programs. For more messaging best practices, check out:

How to write a recruiting message to students (plus 7 templates) 

4 steps to a winning message that engages college talent 

8 dos and don’ts of messaging underrepresented students 







8 tips to attract & engage students with stronger messaging campaigns

The early career recruiting strategy you’re using today is foundational to diversifying your teams for years to come.

Employers that use Handshake to cast a wider net across more school partners, and meet students and recent grads across the US, are accessing a diverse pool of qualified early talent. A message sent on Handshake can open the door to people from any background, anywhere.

But how do you know if you’re effectively engaging underrepresented students and recent grads to expose them to opportunities at your company?

How do I message students from underrepresented groups?

Use these eight tips to ensure your messages welcome early talent from underrepresented groups to your brand, to your recruiting process, and to the exciting beginning of their careers.

1. Do: use inclusive language

When you’re writing messages, you want the recipient to feel ​​psychologically safe, respected, engaged, motivated, and valued. The best way to check yourself is to ask: Would I feel like I belonged at this company if I got this message?

2. Do: introduce students to people who can expand their network

A Handshake survey found that while 24% of white students have many people in their network who can help them identify a career path, the same is true for only 17% of Black students, 15% of Hispanic/Latine students, and 13% of Asian students. Consider the impact you could make by introducing a student from an underrepresented group to someone from your company who could be a resource during their job search.



3. Don’t: impose unnecessary requirements

Keep in mind that students may have had unequal access to resources throughout their education, may be working full-time while they’re in school, or may face other barriers. Don’t screen out talent based on one metric like GPA—screen in talent based on everything they can bring to the table. Encourage applications by recruiting year-round, and being clear in your message about application materials, timelines, and next steps.

4. Do: recognize individual interests and achievements

Imagine how “seen” you can help a student feel by referencing in your message that you noticed they’re in a specific sorority or club, or that you had the same major as them. Review students’ profiles before reaching out and reference these meaningful details in your message. You can consider drawing a connection between a student’s interests and ways for students to get involved in specific projects, groups, teams, or volunteering efforts at your company.



5. Don’t: make assumptions about a candidate’s background

Students from underrepresented groups have individual identities. For example, although 70% of Latin[e] students are first-generation, that doesn’t mean every Latine student is a first-generation college student. Treat students as individuals—don’t use generalizations or language that stereotypes.



6. Do: reach out proactively ahead of fairs and events

In spring 2023, 65% of virtual fair attendees were students of color. And Handshake survey data found that 66% of students are more likely to attend an event if they receive a message from the employer. Whether your upcoming event or fair is virtual or in-person, message students in advance and invite them to engage with you or another representative from your company who will be at the event.



7. Do: personalize your message

While any employer on Handshake can message early talent, upgraded accounts have access to messaging Campaigns with dynamic variables that can be used to personalize messages. So you can simultaneously leverage Handshake to grow your school partnerships and cast a wider net to source and attract students from underrepresented groups—while gaining the ability to reference a student’s name, major, and school in your message to personalize messages at scale.



8. Do: communicate your commitment to DEI

Highlight how your company is investing in DEI by building a message template that includes info about your Employee Resource Groups/Affinity Groups, mentorship opportunities, or your representative leadership team. Another idea is to create a message template inviting students to check out your Company Profile on Handshake and see photos, read testimonials, and watch videos so they can get a better feel for your culture and get a sense of belonging. Showing that your company is prioritizing diversity and inclusion, and doesn’t just talk about it, is important for candidates to feel truly welcome.

Get intentional about your messaging strategy, see results in your pipeline

It’s important to communicate with students from underrepresented backgrounds so that they feel valued and appreciated for their unique experiences and skills, and welcomed to explore careers at your organization. These suggestions for writing more engaging messages on Handshake can help you develop authentic, meaningful relationships with students from a wide variety of backgrounds.

Discover how leading employers leverage Handshake to develop actionable strategies and use specific tools to diversify their pipelines—and prove impact. Get more info.







8 dos and don’ts of messaging underrepresented students

After a busy year of early talent recruiting, summer often feels like the right time to take your foot off the gas. Schools are out of session and students are busy with their summer internships. 

But waiting until back to school season to do all your outreach means missing out on top talent. Early talent is serious about the job search year round. In fact, summer is a peak season for student activity on Handshake. 

According to Handshake platform data, over summer break last year, students were busy researching and applying to internships and jobs: 

3.8M applications 

49M job views

3.9M company profile views

187K event RSVPs

Capture students’ attention outside of back to school season to introduce them to your brand. When the time comes to directly engage students in your event or fair this fall, they’ll know what you stand for—which matters to Gen Z job seekers. 

How to engage students with a brand messaging campaign

The summer is an ideal time to send students a brand campaign that introduces students to your company’s mission and values, exposes them to your employer brand, and invites them check out your social channels and Handshake Company Profile.

Follow these 4 steps when you write your message:

Your subject line matters. The default subject line on Handshake mentions your company name, which is effective for catching students’ attention.

Personalize the message. Include your real name instead of a generic recruiting email address when you sign off.

Include what makes your company special. Not only does it help you tell your brand story, it also intrigues students to learn more.

Make your Call To Action clear. Bold it, underline it, put it in color, but most importantly, hyperlink it. And keep the asks simple, like “Follow us on Handshake.”

Once they follow your employer page on Handshake they’ll receive automatic updates to your announcements—which means you'll be able to organically attract students to your events and roles.

Your brand campaign message template 

This summer, use this message template to build awareness about your company ahead of back to school season.

[Your Name] from [Company] has sent you a message on Handshake

Hi {{first_name}},

I hope you’re having a great summer! My name is [Your Name] and I’m part of [Company]’s recruiting team. I found your profile on Handshake and was impressed with your background in {{major_name}} at {{institution_name}} and I wanted to reach out.

What is [Company]? [One-line company description]

Interested in learning more?

Give our page a follow on Handshake [link to company page]! It’s the best way to keep in touch and see when we’re hosting a virtual event or fair, visiting your campus, or hiring.

You can also check out [identify and link your choice of online content] and learn why [Company] is consistently [voted/ranked] [award].

Thanks, {{first_name}}. Hope to see you this fall!

[Your Name]

[Company]

Brush up your brand to get ahead of fall

Doing a brand audit is an important part of preparing for back to school season so that when students return to campus and start looking at employers and opportunities, your brand can be top of mind.

Tip:

If you need to update your Handshake Company Profile before sending your brand campaign, leverage your summer interns! It’s a learning opportunity for them, as well as a chance for you to create a profile that truly engages students. 

Share your existing Company Profile with your interns and ask for their feedback on what would make the content more engaging and current.

Ask interns to write reviews and testimonials for your Company Profile.

Then, you'll be ready to send your brand campaign inviting students and new grads to follow your Company Profile and engage with your open roles, upcoming events, and more.