Student & Alumni Policies

A scheduled interview may be rescheduled or canceled without penalty up to 2 business days in advance of your scheduled interview. To reschedule or cancel an interview 1 to 2 business days in advance, you must call the career services office that is hosting the interview.

Canceling an interview less than 2 business days in advance or failing to appear for a scheduled interview (a no-show) is a violation of this on-campus interview policy and will result in the deactivation of your Handshake account.  

You must work with your career services office to gain access to your account.  Failure to connect with your career service office and follow through with the employer within the specified timeline will result in the cancellation of any other previously scheduled interviews.

Accepting a position, whether for full-time employment or an internship, is a commitment. It is unprofessional to renege on an offer, and once you have accepted an offer, either verbally or in writing, you have committed to the job and organization. At this point, you should cease all interview and negotiation activities with other organizations.

If you, a UMN student decides to renege on an offer, whether the position was found through college supported activities or not, there is a necessary follow-up process. You must meet with  staff from your career service office to discuss the following:

• Your decision and the implications for your professional reputation.
• The impact your decision has on your college and the University of Minnesota (i.e., impact your decision has on the University’s ability to maintain partnerships with said organization).

Failure to schedule this meeting or call within one week of notification will result in deactivation of your Handshake account and other on-campus recruiting activities.

Contact your career services office for specifics.

Some college career service offices review the first resume upload to Handshake, prior to a student gaining complete access to the system.  Until your resume has been approved you will no have access to apply to positions through the system, however, you have the ability to search and view positions while your resume is pending. 

These college currently approve resumes before their students can apply for positions: CBS, CCE, CDes, CEHD, CFANS, CLA, and CSE.

Please contact your college career service office for information on their resume approval policy. 

• Handshake is available to all degree-seeking (Certificate, Associates, Bachelors, Graduate, and Professional) students (except students from the Carlson School of Management Graduate School) PSEO students, and alumni at the University of MN (from all 5 campuses Twin Cities, Rochester, Morris, Duluth, and Crookston):
  • Students do not need to be full time to have access to Handshake
  • Alumni - including CSOM Graduate  alum have access indefinitely

• Obtain Access: Students who meet the above criteria obtain access to Handshake within a few business days of registering for courses.

Students Who do NOT have access to Handshake:  

• Carlson School of Management GRADUATE students – they use a separate system called “TalentLink” and DO NOT have access to Handshake.  Note: Handshake is available to Carlson School of Management GRADUATE alumni once they graduate. 
• Non-degree seeking students
• Newly admitted students who have not yet registered for their first classes
• Students who are unenrolled for 2 academic semesters that did NOT graduate.
• Postdoctoral associates are considered employees by the university and as such, do not have access to Handshake.

All UMN Handshake users must use their UMN email address to securely login to Handshake. Students and Alumni are not able to add personal email addresses as their primary email account.

If you have not accessed your UMN email account in 6 months or more follow the instruction here.