As a Project Manager at Handshake, you will sit at the intersection of technology, education, and career development. Handshake is the leading career network for college students, and our mission is to democratize opportunity for early-career talent. In this role, you will lead high-impact initiatives that streamline how educational institutions, employers, and students interact on our platform. Whether you are driving SaaS implementation projects, coordinating cross-functional product rollouts, or managing specialized programs like AI training initiatives, your work directly influences the scale and efficiency of our ecosystem.

This position requires a unique blend of operational excellence, empathetic stakeholder management, and structured execution. You will partner closely with Customer Success Managers (CSMs), Program Managers, and product teams to translate complex business requirements into seamless, actionable project plans. The challenges you will tackle are highly dynamic, ranging from scaling onboarding frameworks for hundreds of universities to managing specialized, remote operational projects.

Successful Project Managers at Handshake are highly collaborative, detail-oriented, and deeply mission-driven. You must be comfortable navigating ambiguity, managing multiple competing priorities, and communicating clearly across all levels of the organization. If you thrive in a fast-paced environment where your work directly impacts millions of students launching their careers, this role offers an incredibly rewarding opportunity.

The questions you will encounter during the Handshake interview process are designed to evaluate your operational methodologies, communication style, and behavioral alignment with our core values. While every interview loop is tailored to the specific team's needs, they consistently focus on how you manage projects, handle stakeholder conflict, and solve complex problems under tight timelines.

Behavioral & Leadership

These questions assess your character, empathy, and how you collaborate with diverse, cross-functional teams. Handshake highly values supportive, mission-aligned professionals who can elevate those around them.

• Tell me about yourself and what draws you to the mission at Handshake.
• Describe a time when you had to manage a project with competing priorities from multiple stakeholders. How did you resolve the conflict?

Preparing for an interview at Handshake requires a holistic approach that balances your technical project management expertise with your interpersonal and communication skills. The hiring team evaluates candidates not just on their direct knowledge of methodologies, but heavily on their character, adaptability, and alignment with our collaborative culture.

Role-Related Knowledge & Implementation Strategy – You must demonstrate a deep understanding of project lifecycles, risk mitigation, and implementation frameworks. Be ready to explain how you manage resources, track deliverables, and use data to drive decisions. Familiarity with SaaS implementation challenges and customer success operations is highly beneficial.

Problem-Solving & Adaptability – Handshake operates in a fast-moving space, and priorities can shift rapidly. Interviewers will look at how you approach unstructured problems, navigate ambiguity, and make decisions with incomplete information. Your ability to think on your feet and remain calm under pressure is critical.

Stakeholder Communication & Written Clarity – Excellent communication is a core pillar of this role. You will be evaluated on your ability to write clear, professional, and empathetic communications. You must be able to synthesize complex support documentation and translate it into easy-to-understand guidance for both internal teams and external clients.

Culture Fit & Empathy – We look for team members who are genuinely passionate about our mission to help students build great careers. Your interviewers will assess your empathy, collaborative spirit, and openness to feedback. Showing that you are a supportive colleague who values diverse perspectives is just as important as your technical qualifications.

The interview process for the Project Manager position at Handshake is exceptionally thorough and designed to evaluate your capabilities from multiple angles. It features a mix of conversational screens, practical written assessments, and deep-dive panels with cross-functional stakeholders. While the process is highly supportive and friendly, it is also comprehensive, meaning you should prepare for a multi-stage marathon that requires sustained energy and focus.

The journey begins with initial vetting stages to establish baseline alignment, followed by a practical home-use written exercise. Once you pass these initial gates, you will move into a robust series of panel interviews. This stage allows you to meet a wide variety of team members, including Program Managers, Customer Success Managers (CSMs), and senior leadership, giving you a complete picture of the collaborative culture at Handshake.

The visual timeline above outlines the standard progression of the Handshake interview loop. Candidates should interpret this as a structured roadmap to help pace their preparation across behavioral, practical, and stakeholder-focused stages. While the exact ordering of the panel interviews can occasionally vary depending on team availability, the overall rigor and number of touchpoints remain consistent across locations.

To succeed in the Handshake interview loop, you must understand the specific competencies being evaluated at each stage. The hiring team looks for a balance of practical execution, written communication, and cross-functional leadership.

Stakeholder Management & CSM Collaboration

This area evaluates your ability to partner effectively with the Customer Success organization and other internal teams. Because Project Managers at Handshake frequently support client onboarding and platform adoption, your ability to align with CSMs is vital to project success.

Be ready to go over:

• Cross-functional alignment – How you build trust and establish clear boundaries with partner teams.
• Conflict resolution – Your strategies for managing differing priorities between sales, customer success, and operations.
• Client empathy – How you advocate for the client's needs while maintaining project scope.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "How would you handle a situation where a CSM promises a client a feature implementation timeline that you know is operationally impossible?"
• "Describe a time you had to align three different internal teams around a single project timeline when each team had competing priorities."

Written Communication & Problem Solving

This is primarily tested through the written email assessment. You will be asked to review support documentation, analyze a specific client scenario, and draft an email response. The evaluators look for your ability to synthesize information quickly and communicate with high empathy and clarity.

Be ready to go over:

• Information synthesis – Navigating multiple support articles and job postings to find the correct solution.
• Tone and empathy – Writing in a warm, professional, and supportive voice that aligns with Handshake's brand.
• Structured formatting – Using bullet points, bold text, and clear headings to make your email highly readable.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Draft an email to a university partner explaining a technical platform update that temporarily disrupts their student onboarding flow."
• "How do you explain a complex, multi-step technical workaround to an employer who is frustrated with the platform?"

Character & Collaborative Leadership

Handshake's culture is highly collaborative, and the team places a strong emphasis on character-based evaluation. Interviewers want to know what it is like to work with you daily and how you contribute to a positive team dynamic.

Be ready to go over:

• Receptiveness to feedback – How you handle constructive criticism and apply it to your work.
• Supportive collaboration – Demonstrating a team-first mindset and a willingness to help colleagues succeed.
• Resilience and growth – How you learn from project failures and use those lessons to improve future outcomes.

Example questions or scenarios:

• "Tell me about a time you received constructive feedback that changed how you approached a project."
• "How do you maintain morale and keep your team motivated during a long, challenging project lifecycle?"