Exploring the Reasons Behind Handshake's Restriction of Third-Party Recruiters: Impact on College Student Job Opportunities

College students and recent graduates need job opportunities to kickstart their careers. Platforms like Handshake, which connect students with potential employers, are potentially valuable tools for this purpose. However, many colleges and universities block third-party recruiters from Handshake which raises questions about the impact this practice has on the available job opportunities shown to students.

It seems there are several reasons why colleges and universities choose to restrict the use of third-party recruiters on Handshake. Reasons may include quality control, brand reputation, data privacy, and the desire to build direct relationships with employers. It is my opinion that the majority of these issues apply just as equally to direct employers as they do with third party recruiting firms but there is no question the third-party firms are being called out by Handshake’s customers as a risk. Ironically, recruiting firms typically have better hiring practices in place than the employers themselves which is what gets them the business in the first place!

The main issue is this: a recent Deloitte study reports that approximately 45% of companies outsource part or all of the talent acquisition process. In my personal experience with Handshake it seems that one of every two colleges block third party recruiters, even when the jobs are white-labeled employment opportunities with 100% transparency on the employer of record. So, if my younger self learned I was at a university that blocked third party recruiters on Handshake, I would tell my younger self to use another platform for my job search such as Indeed, ZipRecruiter, or LinkedIn to get a more wholistic sense of the labor market.

Recruitment Process Outsourcing in business is just as common as outsourcing payroll or tax preparation. The decision by some universities and colleges to block third party recruiters on Handshake limits the job opportunities available to college students by as much as 50%, and it is important for students and recent graduates to understand there may be more gainful employment opportunities available to them simply by exploring alternatives to the Handshake platform.

Author: Matthew Burzon, SHRM-SCP

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post are solely my own and do not reflect the official position of my company. In fact, my company probably has no idea I'm writing this and if they did, they would probably disown me for disrupting the status quo.