The following are a few quick tips for getting approved quickly at the University of Albany. Many of these tips will also be useful for getting approved at other institutions.
The Importance of Trust Score
Many of the below tips will lead to your company accumulating a positive trust score. Companies with a trust score below 50% will likely be declined due to a low trust score. For more information on trust scores, please check out this article from Handshake Support.
Fully Complete your Company Profile
A complete Company Profile will not only make your connection application process faster, but will help make your employer page look more professional. A completed Company Profile consists of:
- A fully functional website
- A publicly or privately listed phone number
- A valid company E-mail
- A non-residential street address (No P.O. Boxes)
Most delays for approval are due to missing information from one or more of those categories. If there are specific things you wish to communicate with us, please utilize the comments section on your company review.
Compare Opportunities to Majors Offered
Handshake makes it easy to connect with many institutions with a single click. This can be helpful, but it also may contribute to a lower trust score. Many institutions will decline your request to connect if your company does not match the majors available at the institution.
For example, University at Albany does not currently offer a comprehensive Nursing Program nor a Mechanical Engineering Program. This can be confirmed by reviewing the offered programs at UAlbany and making an informed choice whether to connect or not.
Common Decline Reasons
Here are a few reasons company connections are outright declined:
- Company Address is a Residence
- We decline any companies that have Residential Addresses. If you are a fully remote company, please specify this in your application.
- Industry does not align with School Policy
- Although Cannabis is decriminalized in New York State, it is still criminalized Federally and cannot be represented on UAlbany’s Handshake Network.
- Company E-Mail is not a work/corporate domain (Gmail, Hotmail, etc.)
- Company Website is a social media page (Facebook, LinkedIn, Yelp, etc.)
- Handshake provides fields for Social Media Pages; please use those to list any social media pages for your company.
- Foreign/International Company without US Location
- Due to concerns about validating non-US companies, we are unable to approve international companies without US Locations
- Foreign/International Company with unverified US Location
- Please list your US Location on your website and your Handshake Company Profile
- Low Trust Score (<50%)
- If you need to boost your trust score, please check out this article.
Closing Thoughts
For any questions, please contact the individual who reviewed your application. Typically, Lizzy Doyle (edoyle@albany.edu) or Albert Maya (amaya@albany.edu) review employer connection requests. Happy recruiting!
