Handshake Early Talent Awards

Learn how winners are selected—and how to compete to win next year

Get inspired for how to improve your early talent program

Hear from ETA winners on the impact of their recruiting strategies

Your game plan for winning early talent

A candid conversation with Handshake Early Talent Award winners

Employers

Tips and trends for modern recruiting

Find the talent you’re looking for

For years, Handshake has been the #1 place university and college students go to find jobs. Born out of a real need to level the entry level playing field, that journey has never been no more critical than it is now.

In a year full of firsts, students took the unprecedented step toward the virtual classroom. And employers heroically transitioned their teams and programs to continue providing meaningful opportunities for students and grads to launch their careers.

That’s why we want to recognize the agencies, companies, and organizations that—despite odds—took a leap of faith and immense creativity to support their next future leaders.

The first annual Handshake Early Talent Awards (ETAs) celebrate these employers: the visionaries, innovators, and opportunity democratizers that set the stage for what 21st century engagement should look like.

In 2021, its inaugural debut, the ETAs recognize 120 employers across 12 categories, from accounting to banking to manufacturing to technology. Congratulations to our winners! It’s these places that students increasingly gravitate toward.

What are Handshake’s Early Talent Awards?

Handshake’s ETAs is an annual awards program recognizing employers for best-in-class digital engagement programs. In its first year,  employers on Handshake were evaluated using intentionally deliberate methodology to produce 120 winners across 12 categorized industries.

How were the winners selected in 2021?

Handshake works with a lot of incredible employers, so choosing only 120 award winners was difficult to say the least. And since the size of a company isn’t directly correlated to the student experience, we didn’t want to just recognize the largest companies hiring on Handshake (although there’s certainly nothing wrong with being mighty).

In reflection of Handshake’s values, our methodology prioritizes student engagement over company or hiring scale. We reviewed platform activity across our network of  employers from March 1 through December 31, 2020 along weighted criteria that tracks:

Student interest, which measures how many views an employer receives per job.


Message engagement, which reviews how many students click on an employer message.


Brand resonance, which looks at the number of applicants per job impression, like the number of times a job card appears in a student’s search or suggested jobs.


Virtual event participation, which highlights how many students, on average, register for an employer’s virtual event or virtual career fair session.

Where do I find out who won?

Visit the official microsite for the 2021 Handshake Early Talent Awards microsite for more information about this year’s winners.

How do I get on the list?

Have your eyes set on an ETA? Get in touch with our team for the inside scoop on what makes ETA winners exceptional, and get the digital tools you need to elevate your employer brand and recruit this generation of diverse talent.

120 Employers driving the next generation of early talent recruiting

Did you make the list in 2022? See what it takes to be a student’s first destination on the official Handshake Early Talent Awards microsite.

What do some of the best programs in the universe have in common?

For starters, an unwavering commitment to improving career outcomes for Gen Z, whether by embracing digital recruiting to expand access to job opportunities, throttling meaningful relationships by connecting job seekers with who they want to speak with, or getting resource-savvy by turning recruiting into a team sport.

These employers are all also 2022 Handshake Early Talent Award (ETA) winners—an annual campaign that recognizes best-in-class talent engagement programs and celebrates the teams that launch early careers to new heights.

Despite recruiting during a highly competitive talent market, ETA winners have earned justified curb appeal by developing leading programs that add value to the early career job search. We’re honored to celebrate these program visionaries, innovators, trailblazers, and opportunity democratizers who are driving the next generation of early talent recruiting.

What does it take to create an award-winning talent engagement program and win an ETA in 2023? Keep reading. 👇

What are the Handshake Early Talent Awards?

For the second year in a row, the Handshake Early Talent Awards (ETAs) recognize an annual short list of employers for best-in-class talent engagement and celebrate the teams that launch careers for Gen Z. Check out the full list of 2022 winners here!

How were the winners selected?

Handshake partners with so many incredible employers, so identifying a short list of winners was no easy feat. What’s unique about the ETAs is employers are evaluated on their early talent recruitment and engagement activity—and not their company size.

In reflection of Handshake’s values, our methodology prioritizes student engagement over hiring volume. We reviewed platform activity across our network of  employers from January 1, 2021-December 31, 2021 along weighted criteria that tracks:

Gen Z brand resonance (35%): Total job views to total applications

Engagement (30%): Number of unique clicks per distinct message recipient

Event participation (20%): Career fair/event registrants to attendees

Relationships (15%): Reciprocal messaging exchange

For eligibility in 2022, employers must also have met a minimum threshold of 100 candidates reached via a message and 10 events attended or hosted in 2021.

How do I get on the list next year?

The time frame for being considered for a 2023 Handshake Early Talent Award has already begun! While your plans for the fall are still shaping up, reference the above methodology for a blueprint of what makes early talent programs stand out.

Although the methodology may evolve slightly year over year, these are the metrics that you’ll generally want to focus on to not only strengthen your program and how you use Handshake, but to achieve the best outcomes for students.

We suggest conducting regular evaluations to benchmark your progress against this criteria. To incorporate proven strategies from ETA winners and increase your chances, check out this game plan for winning early talent.

See you in the ETA Class of 2023!

The transition from college to career is complex. Employers can be a beacon of light to students who are navigating that process. By deploying best-in-class programs that are meaningful to Gen Z, teams can rise above the competition for their future leaders—and launch early careers to new heights. Taking the steps to become a student’s first destination isn’t just an investment in the workforce, it’s an investment in your company’s future.

Get in touch with our team to learn how you can optimize your early talent recruiting strategies to engage this next generation of talent.

Congratulations to our 2022 Handshake Early Talent Award winners!

Announcing the top employers that launch careers for Gen Z

Imagine: It’s 2030. 30% of the workforce was born after 1996, and every Baby Boomer is over 65. 85% of jobs didn’t exist in 2020, and most of them are tech roles. The landscape of work is changing—and digital skills are more critical than ever. Companies that invest in Gen Z tech talent today will come out ahead tomorrow.

But you may not know that, in spite of all the layoff news and hiring cutbacks in Big Tech, there’s continued interest from college grads to pursue careers in tech roles—in a wider range of industries. Since digital transformation is underway across every industry, now every company has an opportunity to attract tech talent.

That’s why, as part of our annual Handshake Early Talent Awards program, we’re proud to recognize 10 “Tech Transformers.” These employers are innovating early talent strategies to fill their tech talent pipelines, and expanding access to opportunity to launch tech careers—outside of the tech sector.

Find out what it takes to score Gen Z tech talent from these Handshake Early Talent Award-winning Tech Transformers.

What are Early Talent Award Tech Transformers?

Tech Transformers are employers that have won Handshake Early Talent Awards, and are using Handshake in innovative ways to recruit technical early talent. This year’s Tech Transformers are:

largely in industries outside of technology

pursuing digital transformation

taking advantage of changing market dynamics to compete for tech talent

rapidly hiring early talent to fill in-demand tech roles.

Why are the Handshake Early Talent Awards recognizing Tech Transformers?

In this fast-approaching future, employers that proactively engage diverse, skilled, early talent—and create career opportunities for workers from all backgrounds into tech roles—will outperform their competitors.

Tech Transformers are using a range of strategies to attract tech talent, including:

skills-based hiring to reach beyond traditional majors,

emphasizing the opportunity for impact at their organization, and

working to attract students not just to their brand, but to the types of problems they can help solve.

Which employers made the Tech Transformer list?

This year there are 10 employers that are being recognized as Tech Transformers, in addition to winning Handshake Early Talent Awards:

Amtrak

Amtrak’s STEM internships, such as in Engineering, Network Support, and IT, include site-visits and tours, project-based work, and introductions to leadership to help students visualize the impact of their work—and a potential tech career at Amtrak. Amtrak uses Handshake to source for their tech roles through tech-specific programs, including at trade schools and community colleges.

Chevron

Chevron is building a workforce to propel the integration of energy and tech. They offer STEM internships and early career opportunities, and are piloting an agile approach to recruiting for strategic functions like IT and PetroTech. Handshake helps Chevron build their brand as an employer of choice to attract tech talent.

Fidelity

Fidelity’s new tech hires, which account for 18% of their workforce expansion, include full stack software engineers, data scientists, mobile/iOS engineers and architecture professionals. Fidelity uses Handshake to uplevel their brand through a digital presence, increase diversity representation in their talent pool, and create efficiency for their teams hiring thousands of candidates a year.

General Motors

General Motors is committed to an “all-electric future” and is using Handshake to invest in tech talent to support their electric vehicle goals and 50+ digital businesses. They're looking to hire thousands of interns and entry-level positions this year, including to work on their software and hardware teams.

Hilton

Traditionally known as a hospitality brand, Hilton is emphasizing skills in their early talent hiring strategy. The company has been working with Handshake since 2019 to increase personalized outreach and focus on their talent brand, driving awareness to early career job seekers that Hilton is a great place to launch a tech career.

The Home Depot

Internships at The Home Depot offer pathways into tech—including App Development, Systems Analytics, Project Management, Software Development, and others. In fact, 99% of Home Depot interns recommend the company’s internship program. The Home Depot uses Handshake to hire hundreds of skilled early talent individuals into 10 unique business functions, including technology, merchandising, operations, supply chain and more.

Johnson & Johnson

Johnson & Johnson is changing the future of health for humanity. And solving really big problems requires people with unique digital skills. Whether they’re plugging surgeons into AR and VR headsets or building surgical robotics to detect cancer, Johnson & Johnson needs to be at the forefront of tech and digital skills. With Handshake, they’ve embraced skills-based recruiting to build a pipeline for in-demand tech students and are able to focus especially on bringing more women in STEM into their organization.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase has a technology staff of 55,000, which has grown since the pandemic. They’ve hired people with “jobs of the future” skills like cloud computing, data science, A.I. and cybersecurity. JPMC’s efforts to adjust to a digital recruiting landscape, integrate diversity focused recruiting, and roll out a streamlined college student engagement program have been fueled by Handshake.

National Security Agency

Internships at the National Security Agency (NSA) expose students to a wide range of tech careers, like cybersecurity, computer science, engineering, info systems, and math. They are helping drive new interest from Gen Z tech students in government, with tech opportunities in government expanding this year. The NSA is able to connect with skilled tech talent through events and fill vacancies from a wide variety of schools through their engagement on Handshake.

The New York Times

Being in tech at The New York Times means "creating an unparalleled journey" for readers. With a team that includes bootcamp graduates, The New York Times looks for a variety of backgrounds, experiences and skill sets to fill its tech talent pipeline.They use Handshake to increase diversity, especially for their tech-focused engineering internships, across full stack, front end, back end, mobile, R&D, and data.

Learn what it takes to be a Tech Transformer

The call for a truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive world of work is louder than ever as these early-career workers take a seat at the table, and the consequences of ignoring that call are noteworthy. Tech Transformer employers are innovators that are working closely with Handshake to make an impact.

Head to the Handshake Early Talent Awards hub

to learn why these Tech Transformers are winning Gen Z.

Handshake Early Talent Awards

Your game plan for winning early talent

A candid conversation with Handshake Early Talent Award winners

120 Employers driving the next generation of early talent recruiting

Announcing the top employers that launch careers for Gen Z

2023 Tech Transformers: 10 great places to launch a career in tech, outside of tech