What are the responsibilities and job description for the Sales Development Representative position at Handshake?
About Handshake
Handshake is building the career network for the AI economy, backed by the largest and most trusted job network on the internet. As the only three-sided job marketplace connecting 18 million knowledge workers, 1,500 educational institutions, and 1 million employers, Handshake powers career discovery, hiring, and upskilling—from first internships to full-time roles, freelance work to gig work, and beyond.
Founded in 2014, we’ve built the most trusted platform for early talent—owning the college-to-career market and powering nearly every career center. Today we’re building on that foundation to help students and early professionals upskill or reskill for the future.
Now’s a great time to join Handshake. Here’s why:
Handshake is hiring a Sales Development Representative to join our Employer SDR team. This role is best suited for someone who works with focus, consistency, and accountability. You’ll be the first point of contact for prospective employer partners; responsible for building qualified pipeline and maintaining a high standard in every interaction.
This is a fast-paced, metrics-driven environment where results matter. The people who succeed here balance volume with quality, learn quickly from feedback, and hold themselves to a high bar. When challenges come up, they pause, reassess, and find a better way forward. Success in this role requires steadiness under pressure, clear communication, and a genuine commitment to continuous improvement.
You will have an opportunity to learn and grow in this role. We support our SDRs and seek to promote them internally based on their demonstrated success in the role, alignment with our values, and a passion for helping students.
Handshake delivers benefits that help you feel supported—and thrive at work and in life.
The below benefits are for full-time US employees.
🎯 Ownership: Equity in a fast-growing company
💰 Financial Wellness: 401(k) match, competitive compensation, financial coaching
🍼 Family Support: Paid parental leave, fertility benefits, parental coaching
💝 Wellbeing: Medical, dental, and vision, mental health support, $500 wellness stipend
📚 Growth: $2,000 learning stipend, ongoing development
💻 Remote & Office: Stipends for home office setup, internet, commuting, and free lunch/gym in our SF office
🏝 Time Off: Flexible PTO, 15 holidays 2 flex days, winter #ShakeBreak where our whole office closes for a week!
🤝 Connection: Team outings & referral bonuses
Explore our mission, values, and comprehensive US benefits at joinhandshake.com/careers.
Handshake is building the career network for the AI economy, backed by the largest and most trusted job network on the internet. As the only three-sided job marketplace connecting 18 million knowledge workers, 1,500 educational institutions, and 1 million employers, Handshake powers career discovery, hiring, and upskilling—from first internships to full-time roles, freelance work to gig work, and beyond.
Founded in 2014, we’ve built the most trusted platform for early talent—owning the college-to-career market and powering nearly every career center. Today we’re building on that foundation to help students and early professionals upskill or reskill for the future.
Now’s a great time to join Handshake. Here’s why:
- Category Leader: Over 92% coverage across US universities & 77% of total US university student population.
- Proven Market Demand: Deep employer partnerships across Fortune 500s and the world’s leading AI research labs.
- World-Class Team: Leadership from Scale AI, Open AI, xAI, Notion, Coinbase, and Palantir, just to name a few.
- Capitalized & Scaling: $434M raised with a $175M run rate.
Handshake is hiring a Sales Development Representative to join our Employer SDR team. This role is best suited for someone who works with focus, consistency, and accountability. You’ll be the first point of contact for prospective employer partners; responsible for building qualified pipeline and maintaining a high standard in every interaction.
This is a fast-paced, metrics-driven environment where results matter. The people who succeed here balance volume with quality, learn quickly from feedback, and hold themselves to a high bar. When challenges come up, they pause, reassess, and find a better way forward. Success in this role requires steadiness under pressure, clear communication, and a genuine commitment to continuous improvement.
You will have an opportunity to learn and grow in this role. We support our SDRs and seek to promote them internally based on their demonstrated success in the role, alignment with our values, and a passion for helping students.
- Consistently hit or exceed monthly targets; starting at Month 2, new hires are expected to exceed their ramping quota
- Generate and qualify a high volume of outbound opportunities through thoughtful, personalized outreach
- Manage and convert inbound leads quickly and efficiently, maintaining a high level of context and professionalism
- Partner closely with Account Executives on territory plans, messaging, and deal strategy
- Track activity and insights accurately in Salesforce, Gong, and Outreach
- Reflect on performance weekly; what worked, what didn’t, and how to improve
- Have 6–12 months of SDR experience or have worked in a consulting, closing, or operations role with clear quota ownership
- Can demonstrate proven attainment in any quota-driven role
- Have advanced written communication skills and can convey context clearly and succinctly
- Don’t get derailed by a bad month; you analyze it, adjust, and come back stronger
- Take complete ownership of results and can point to concrete examples of how you improved a process or outcome
- Are coachable, consistent, and can manage a high volume of activity without losing quality
- Bring curiosity and composure to conversations with senior leaders
- Are motivated by measurable impact, not hypothetical success
- Experience in consulting or operations
- Internship experience in a performance-based or client-facing environment
- Hired for a job or internship from Handshake
- Familiarity with Salesforce, Outreach, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, or Gong
Handshake delivers benefits that help you feel supported—and thrive at work and in life.
The below benefits are for full-time US employees.
🎯 Ownership: Equity in a fast-growing company
💰 Financial Wellness: 401(k) match, competitive compensation, financial coaching
🍼 Family Support: Paid parental leave, fertility benefits, parental coaching
💝 Wellbeing: Medical, dental, and vision, mental health support, $500 wellness stipend
📚 Growth: $2,000 learning stipend, ongoing development
💻 Remote & Office: Stipends for home office setup, internet, commuting, and free lunch/gym in our SF office
🏝 Time Off: Flexible PTO, 15 holidays 2 flex days, winter #ShakeBreak where our whole office closes for a week!
🤝 Connection: Team outings & referral bonuses
Explore our mission, values, and comprehensive US benefits at joinhandshake.com/careers.
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