How to get hired at Handshake AI

Como funciona a contratação

Handshake AI hires through the Handshake AI Fellowship, which started as MOVE (Model Validation Expert); some help pages still use that name. You apply once to the Fellowship, then wait to be invited to projects from the AI labs Handshake works with. Each project has its own interest form, selection, onboarding, training and assessment. Handshake’s help pages describe no AI or video interview.

1. Create an account through the Fellowship page and verify your phone.
2. Fill in your profile: your field, your work authorisation and a CV.
3. Do your ID check and payout set-up while you wait. You need both before your first project.
4. Submit interest in projects from your dashboard, and answer invitations quickly.
5. If you’re selected, finish the project’s onboarding, training and assessment.
6. Start tasks, timed on Handshake’s platform and paid weekly through Stripe.

You can’t pick projects yourself: Handshake’s team matches Fellows to them. There is no fixed timeline for an invitation. Each project’s rate is set for that project and role and is shown before you join. Projects can pause or close with little notice.

Sources: How selection works · Getting matched · About the Fellowship · Fellowship page

Before you start

• Your age. 18 or over, or the age of majority where you live if that is higher. There is no option to join with a parent’s consent.
• Where you live and work. The Fellowship is for people in the United States with an SSN or ITIN and a work authorisation Handshake supports. All work must be done from the US or its territories; working from abroad needs written approval before you travel. Outside the US, joining is by invitation only. Handshake’s referral terms mention Fellows based in India and Canada, and its Contractor Agreement has clauses for both. If you were invited from outside the US, sign up through the link in your invitation, as phone numbers from some countries aren’t accepted.
• Your work authorisation. Supported: US citizens, green card holders, F-1 students on CPT or OPT (with your school’s DSO approval), H-4 with an EAD, L-2, DACA, refugee or asylum status, and TPS. Not supported: the F-1 STEM OPT extension, J-1, H-1B, TN, and H-4 without an EAD.
• Your education. The help centre says the Fellowship is open to US-based students, candidates and graduates at bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral level. The Fellowship page also lists associate’s degrees for some roles, postdocs and working professionals.
• A mobile number. Landline, internet (VoIP) and toll-free numbers aren’t supported, and Google Voice and TextNow numbers often fail. The number can’t be changed later, even by Handshake, and a number already on another account is refused.
• A driving licence, state ID, passport or Permanent Resident Card, and a phone or tablet to take the ID check on.
• Your own equipment, paid for by you.
• No VPN. VPNs, proxies, remote desktop and other tools that hide your location are not permitted, and can get an account flagged.

Sources: Age requirement · Eligibility and work authorisation · Work location · Phone verification · Referral terms · Contractor Agreement

Creating your account

1. Go to the Fellowship page at joinhandshake.com/ai and choose Sign up now. If you already use Handshake, sign in and choose AI Work in the left-hand menu.
2. Sign in with your Handshake account (email and password, or Google), or enter the email address for a new account.
3. Connect your school, or choose Skip for now to join the open network.
4. Verify your mobile number with the one-time code, sent by text from a US number. Every account not created through a school must do this.
5. Answer three questions on work authorisation: whether you’re authorised to work in the US, whether you need CPT or OPT sponsorship, and whether you need H-1B sponsorship.
6. Fill in your expertise and profile, and upload your CV.
7. Accept the Terms of Service, Privacy Policy and Contractor Agreement. You then reach the Handshake AI dashboard.
8. Confirm your email from the message sent by [email protected].

Keep to one account. After a suspension you may not open another without Handshake’s permission.

Sources: Signing up · Getting started · Phone verification · Terms of Service

Your profile and CV

Handshake matches you to projects from your background, your experience and the fields you choose, and from what projects need at the time, not from your own preferences. It names a complete profile and any required assessments, finished, as the most important steps towards an invitation.

• Your CV as a PDF of 50 MB or less.
• Your legal name, the same on your profile, your Handshake account, your ID and every check. A nickname can get the account flagged.
• Your field. Choose the areas you know well. You can add or change them later in the annotation platform’s preferences.
• The skills Handshake names: attention to detail, following detailed guidelines, comfort with unclear instructions, and expert knowledge of your field. No experience of AI is needed.

Valores

You don’t set a rate. Each project shows its hourly rate and any bonus before you join, and rates are set per project and per role. The Contractor Agreement says you may ask to negotiate a project’s pay before you accept it.

On your CV afterwards

Handshake suggests listing the work as “AI Trainer – [your field] Expert”, a remote contract, and asks you not to name the AI lab you worked for.

Sources: Signing up · Getting matched · Your legal name · Skills and training · About the Fellowship · Listing the Fellowship · Contractor Agreement

Waiting for a project

Most of the wait comes here. Your application is reviewed on a rolling basis and kept for current and future projects. Invitations depend on what Handshake’s partner labs need, there is no fixed timeline, and hearing nothing doesn’t mean you’ve been turned down.

The dashboard

Open Opportunities shows each project’s name, a description, the tools or specialisms it needs, the type of work, the pay rate and how many Fellows are earning on it, with a Submit Interest button. Invited To lists the projects you’ve been invited to apply for.

• Do your ID check and payout set-up now, so you can start as soon as you’re invited. The ID check doesn’t improve your chance of a match.
• Keep submitting interest forms. Your profile is also considered for roles that fit your experience and chosen fields.
• Check Spam and Promotions for invitations. The dashboard is more up to date than email.
• Answer quickly. Tasks can appear at short notice.

Handshake also suggests, if you wish, building experience in your field, reading about how AI models are evaluated (Hugging Face’s overview of RLHF, for example), trying its free AI Skills Studio, which is unpaid, and sharing projects on AI Showcase.

Sources: How selection works · While you wait · The dashboard · ID verification · Task availability · Pay models

Project selection

An invitation email describes the project: how long it should last, how much time it needs, the pay and the requirements. You reply with an interest form. Some projects also ask for a slide deck, a portfolio or work samples, and some run evaluations, training exercises or portfolio reviews. Selection is competitive. After a short review, for which Handshake gives no length, selected Fellows get a confirmation email.

• Some projects ask you to join a Google Group, checked against your account email.
• Some projects require you to work on no other project. Check with the project lead before you take on more.

Sources: How selection works · While you wait · Common mistakes · Getting matched

Project onboarding and training

Each project lists its onboarding requirements in its workspace, and you must finish them before any paid work. Training then covers the project, its guidelines, where the work happens and how time is tracked. It is mostly self-paced, from documents, examples and the project lead; some projects also hold live office hours.

• Pay for onboarding: onboarding time is unpaid unless the project’s terms say otherwise. Some projects pay for onboarding and assessments; the Learning Hub or the dashboard shows which. The first onboarding checklist, such as payment set-up and access, is never paid, so don’t track time for it.
• Where the work happens: Handshake’s annotation platform at ai.joinhandshake.com or, for some projects, the lab’s own platform.
• Slack: access comes once you’ve finished onboarding and passed any project assessment, up to 24 hours later. Each project has an announcements channel and a tasking channel.

Sources: How selection works · Skills and training · Paid and unpaid time · Pay models · Where the work happens · Slack

Project assessments

Where a project requires one, you pass an assessment before you’re approved to start tasks. The format depends on the project: a quiz on the training materials, a practice task or sample reviewed by the team, or a written or skills test in the project’s field. Length, pass mark, time limit and supervision aren’t published; they’re in each project’s onboarding materials.

Preparing

• Finish all the training first.
• Set aside time without interruptions, and don’t rush.
• Follow the project’s instructions, and re-read the materials when you’re unsure.

What reviewers look for

Handshake says its quality standards are high, set for each project, and may change. The mistakes it names are skimming instructions, putting speed before quality, starting tasks you can’t finish and ignoring feedback. Leaving tasks half-done can hurt your standing. On prompt-writing projects, write only in your own field, ask one question per prompt and check each model answer yourself.

Resultados e novas tentativas

• Results can take time. Don’t resubmit while yours is under review; you’ll be told the decision.
• If something goes wrong technically, contact Support. Don’t restart or resubmit on your own.
• Failing means you missed the project’s minimum score or quality bar. Retakes are usually not available, so onboarding for that project ends.
• Retakes are decided per project, case by case, and generally only for a documented error or technical problem, not to raise a score. No waiting period is published.
• Your Fellowship profile stays active, and you can still be considered for other projects.

Assessments can also come during a project to re-check quality, and continued work may depend on passing them.

Sources: Project assessments · Quality standards · Common mistakes · Prompt writing

AI tools and conduct

You may not use ChatGPT or any other AI tool for your work unless Handshake allows it in writing. The ban includes refining prompt ideas, editing, and grammar or style tools, “even for minor style fixes”. The help pages give no separate rule for assessments, so treat the ban as covering them too. Prompts copied from Khan Academy, Chegg, textbooks or other annotation platforms don’t count as original.

• Keep your drafts, notes and annotations for at least 90 days after you deliver the work. Handshake may ask for them.
• If Handshake thinks AI was used, pay for that work is held during the review, and you may be able to give evidence. If it is confirmed, the work is rejected and unpaid, and you may be removed. Handshake doesn’t say how it detects AI use.

What can get you removed

• a second account, using someone else’s, sharing your login or making a profile for another person (buying or selling accounts is reported to the police);
• working from outside the US without approval, or through a VPN, proxy, remote desktop or other tool that hides your location;
• a false identity, location or qualifications, altered documents, impersonation or synthetic media;
• stretching work, leaving the timer running while idle, automation to look active, or unrealistic hours;
• harassment, hate, misrepresenting your credentials or acting in bad faith;
• work below the project’s expectations, or long inactivity while tasks are available.

A review of your time can start from repeatedly hitting the time cap, a lot of idle time, overlapping timestamps or frequent manual edits. Handshake can ask you to verify your identity again at any time. During an investigation an account can be deactivated without notice, and deactivated for good if the breach is confirmed. Handshake can end the agreement on 7 days’ notice, or at once for a serious breach. You can ask for an appeal through Support; the team replies by email.

Sources: AI tool policy · Conduct and accounts · Work location · Verification and fraud · Time fraud · Appeals · Contractor Agreement

ID checks, background checks and contracts

Verificação de documento

A one-time check through Persona, needed before your first project. Handshake’s pages differ on when: the getting-started page puts it straight after you confirm your email, while the ID page says before your first project. Doing it while you wait for an invitation meets both.

1. Have a driving licence, state ID, passport or Permanent Resident Card that hasn’t expired.
2. Scan the QR code to continue on a phone or tablet. Attempts on a laptop alone may fail.
3. Photograph the front and back of your ID, then take a selfie.

Most checks finish in minutes; a manual review can take up to two weeks. Don’t resubmit or open a ticket while it’s under review. Common reasons for failure are blur, glare, cropped edges, an expired or unsupported ID, a hat or glasses in the selfie, ad blockers, and work or school networks. Changing your payout method later means a new selfie check.

Background checks

Only for projects whose client asks for one. Handshake starts it, Persona confirms your identity, and Yardstik runs the check in the US or Checkr outside it. You give your legal name, date of birth, SSN and address, and the check covers criminal records, identity, employment and education. It usually takes up to 7 days, and you can carry on with onboarding meanwhile. If something adverse is found, you get a notice first and at least 7 days to dispute it through Yardstik. Handshake doesn’t say whether you pay for it.

The contract

• You sign the Handshake AI Contractor Agreement with Handshake AI Solutions, LLC (updated 17 September 2026) as an independent contractor. You choose whether and when to work, with no minimum number of tasks.
• Disputes go to individual arbitration through JAMS, with no class actions. You can opt out of this within 30 days.
• Both sides keep each other’s information confidential, and you provide your own equipment.
• Each project also has its own Project Terms, which set its pay, schedule and whether onboarding is paid.

Sources: ID verification · ID check problems · Getting started · Payout set-up · Background checks · Background check details · Contractor Agreement · Paid and unpaid time

Pay, tax and hours

• When: weekly. Work from Monday 00:00 to Sunday 23:59 Pacific time is sent to the pay platforms by Wednesday afternoon and takes about 48 hours to reach you. Some projects pay on a different schedule, set in their Project Terms. If a payment is missing, wait until Friday noon Pacific time, then use the pay dispute form.
• How: Stripe, set up from the Payments tab. You can do this before you’re invited.
• Pay models: hourly (for submitted tasks only, up to each task’s time limit); per task (paid once the task reaches “Ready to Deliver”); a mix of the two; or per task in stages, at submission, first review, second review and “Ready to Deliver”. Weekly hour caps may be added.
• Adjustments: pay can be changed after review, for time that doesn’t match the work, time over a cap, or invalid or duplicate work. A negative week carries forward.
• Not paid: optional meetings, time on Slack, messages not about a task, and time lost to technical problems.
• Time tracking: a timer on the annotation platform that you start and pause yourself. There are no manual timesheets, time over a task’s cap isn’t paid, and confirming your time when you submit is your formal claim. Work on one task at a time: opening another pauses the first. Projects on a lab’s own platform use Hubstaff or a Google Form.
• Tax: you enter your details through TaxBandits in the dashboard: a W-9 if you’re a US person (with an SSN or EIN) or a W-8BEN if you’re not. A W-8 expires after three years. US persons generally get a 1099-NEC for $600 or more by 31 January; W-8 filers may get a 1042-S by 15 March. “Tax verification failed” usually means your name and tax number don’t match IRS records. Non-US tax residents with US-source income face 30% withholding unless they certify the work was done outside the US.
• Hours: no required hours or targets, though some projects have weekly caps. F-1 students on CPT or OPT are responsible for keeping within their programme’s minimum and maximum hours.

Projects can pause or close with little notice, and Handshake says gaps in tasks don’t reflect your standing. Leaving one project keeps you in the Fellowship.

Sources: Pay schedule · Payout set-up · Pay models · Pay adjustments · Paid and unpaid time · Time tracking · Time fraud · Tax forms · Tax withholding · About the Fellowship · Eligibility · Task availability · Leaving a project

Why applications stall

Handshake publishes no typical wait for a first project and no acceptance rate. The reasons its own pages give for Fellows getting no further:

• no invitation yet, which depends on what partner labs need;
• a failed project assessment, which ends onboarding for that project;
• an unsupported visa, no SSN or ITIN, or an internet phone number;
• a name that doesn’t match your ID, or a VPN, which can flag the account;
• tasks left half-done, or long inactivity while tasks are available.

What Handshake says helps: a complete profile with your fields filled in, interest forms submitted, the ID check and payout set-up done early, quick replies to invitations, all the training read before an assessment, an accurate timer, and drafts kept for 90 days.

What applicants report

Handshake scores 1.8 from 30 reviews on Trustpilot. Of about 14 reviews from 2026 about AI work, six describe pay withheld or reduced, six describe being removed or banned, several after being accused of using AI, four describe few or no projects, and four complain of unpaid or frequent assessments; one is positive. Glassdoor reviews from 2025 and 2026 mention uneven work, short projects, pay for active timer time only, and reviewer ratings without explanation; others mention flexible hours and pay on time. These are a handful of reports, not a measure of how often it happens.

In February 2026 Business Insider reported on five contractors who had worked on OpenAI projects through Handshake. Four said they weren’t paid after their accounts were suspended in December 2025 and January 2026. Reasons they were given included differences in their credentials, task times three to four times the benchmark, and working from outside the US. One was told by support that there was no appeal; Handshake’s help centre describes an appeal through Support.

Sources: While you wait · Project assessments · Your legal name · Trustpilot reviews · Glassdoor reviews · Business Insider report

Official addresses and scams

• Handshake’s email comes from joinhandshake.com or its subdomains notifications., mail., m., g., cm., m.ai. and ai. Since 22 April 2026, replies to support tickets come only from ai.joinhandshake.com or joinhandshake.com.
• You sign in at ai.joinhandshake.com and sign up through app.joinhandshake.com. Real Handshake job posts point to joinhandshake.com/careers. Lookalike sites it names: joinhandhsake.com, joinhandshake.net and joinhandshake-careers.com.
• Handshake sends texts only if you opted in, and doesn’t contact you through WhatsApp or voice notes.
• Your ID goes only into Persona, your tax details only into TaxBandits and your bank details only into Stripe, never by email, text, social media, WhatsApp or a Google Form. Background-check emails come from [email protected] (outside the US) or [email protected] (in the US).
• Warning signs: being asked to move off Handshake, to give a password or code, or to “validate your Handshake code” on a form; threats of suspension to hurry you; requests for gift cards or crypto.
• Support is the chat in the app (your profile picture, then Contact Support). Service status is at status.joinhandshake.com.

Sources: Official emails · Scams · Getting started · Background check details · Contact support · Our official-sites checker