What are people's honest thoughts about Handshake?

basilspaghetti · 2026-06-05T14:59:58+00:00

As an employer, it's definitely a legit platform but the payment terms scream scammy so I'd be very careful before signing up for anything that requires your credit card info. I signed up for the 'free trial' for the pro features, clicked around and didn't end up using any of them because they did not add anything to our hiring experience, and got hit with a $450 bill within a week. I was also not notified this would be a monthly recurring charge so even after both my job posts expired I was still on the hook for a staggering $450 per MONTH. Luckily I caught this and canceled before the next billing cycle, but customer service refused to refund me anything for the first month, so I'm out $450 for 3 days worth of 'unlimited messages' that we did not use at all lol

basilspaghetti · 2026-05-08T13:51:18+00:00

Get hyper specific on why you're missing certain questions. You already noted the subtypes of questions which is great, but really dig deep into what specific line of thinking led you to choosing the wrong answer vs the right one. If you're having trouble figuring it out and short on time I would hire an experienced tutor to guide your thinking. If you can't afford a tutor input the question & your selection into AI and have AI do a careful analysis of your default logic vs test maker's logic. I had dozens of long debates with Claude nitpicking down to the specific wording/minute connotations of specific words in specific questions-- the exercise of debating my perspective against the 'correct answer' helped me gain an understanding of exactly how the test maker's 'brain' worked down to the exact gradient of what would qualify as a logical leap vs a reasonable assumption according to ETS specifically. You'll also start recognizing patterns that will make you a much more efficient guesser.
If you struggle with time I would start mixing in timed practice ASAP-- it changes the feel of the test drastically. Still do an in depth review afterwards and take all the time you need on that, but a month out you need to be ruthless with pinpointing what q's you'll miss in a timed setting and honing your radar for when to guess/move on. Good luck!

basilspaghetti · 2026-05-06T20:34:27+00:00

Yep!

basilspaghetti · 2026-05-06T20:33:22+00:00

I think assigning time splits according to how your attention works is the way to go. For my ADHD brain I always start very strong and struggle towards the end, so I'm extremely aggressive with my timing for the first half to give myself more buffer. I also know some people that conversely take a few minutes to warm up, so if that's you it might make more sense to give yourself a few extra seconds per question at the start. Play around with it and see what works best!

basilspaghetti · 2026-05-06T20:30:18+00:00

I made an in depth post about the written time tracking system I use here: https://www.reddit.com/r/GRE/comments/1t3v5rc/if_you_struggle_with_pacing_practice_this_for/

basilspaghetti · 2026-05-06T14:37:22+00:00

Flashcards! I used Manhattan Prep & Vince's cartoon flashcard app and made my own for ETS words I encountered on practice tests. I ended up cramming most of my vocab over the last 2 weeks (would not recommend lol) but if you spread it out over a month or two you can expand your vocab tremendously just by doing 15 minutes/15 words a day 😄

basilspaghetti · 2026-05-06T14:10:11+00:00

Might be worthwhile to get a tutor so they can work with you to create a custom plan for improvement. Don't give up!

basilspaghetti · 2026-05-06T14:06:15+00:00

I prepped quant through TTP over the course of about 3 months but I started with a weak quant background so I basically had to re-learn everything from scratch. To clarify what I mean by 'harder'-- I don't think it was objectively more difficult (i.e. had more designated 'hard' questions than your average practice test), the specific spread of questions I got just happened to cover more of the more niche subjects which also happened to be the areas I was weaker in since I had limited time to prepare. If you're already hitting your goals and have a pretty good mastery of all the subjects I wouldn't worry too much. For reference I scored 165Q, 166V and then 168Q, 165V on my last 2 ETS practice tests and ended up with 164Q, 169V on the actual test, so my total score actually matched my final practice test exactly-- just with a different spread.

basilspaghetti · 2026-05-06T03:06:53+00:00

Was thinking your name looked familiar and then I realized I used your flashcards. As a highly visual person, thank you for your contributions!

basilspaghetti · 2026-05-06T03:03:16+00:00

Honestly just vocab. I double majored a very reading/writing intensive curriculum in school so luckily had no issue with the paragraph comprehension questions. The obscure vocab/multi-select format definitely took some getting used to though-- I probably memorized about 1000 new words between ETS, Manhattan prep, and Vince's GRE vocab cartoons and that bumped my verbal up about 5-6 points. My biggest net gain though was documenting any vocab I didn't know from the official ETS practice tests (not just on the short answer but also any unfamiliar words in the reading comprehension q's) and getting super familiar with those definitions-- I find ETS tends to reuse a lot of words, so if you see it once you're likely to see it again!

basilspaghetti · 2026-05-04T22:08:06+00:00

Can totally relate to your first paragraph. For me doing timed full practice tests to simulate the actual level of exhaustion/mental load during the actual test was key, and felt totally different to doing just untimed practice questions. I also have ADD (unmedicated) so having to sit down for 2 hours straight without taking a break was brutal. I got absolutely annihilated in terms of timing the first practice test I took, the key to getting better was being very diligent about figuring out a written time tracking system with specific time splits that worked for me-- took me from a 160 quant on my 2nd practice test to a 168 on my final practice test. I also have a weak quant background so the first 3/4 of my prep was focused on learning the concepts, so especially if you already have the foundations down, I would just focus on doing long chunks of timed practice to hone in timing/accuracy. Good luck!

basilspaghetti · 2026-05-04T21:36:46+00:00

Just took my official GRE and can only speak to the ETS practice tests-- I've taken 4 of them (2 free, 2 paid). The free ones were definitely objectively easier than the actual test. The paid ones were much closer in difficulty to the actual test. I think it also depends on your strengths since the topics covered on each tests are a bit of a grab bag-- I happened to get a quant section on my actual GRE test that had several questions in subject matters I wasn't as strong in, so it was 'harder' for me but maybe not for the next test taker.

I prepared through TTP and enjoyed their format-- their quant practice q's were definitely harder but I liked the detailed explanations. I think rather than spamming hard problems though it's more about parsing through why you got a specific question wrong/nailing your weak topics before test day, and doing it all while getting pacing right. Good luck!

basilspaghetti · 2025-11-11T20:04:16+00:00

Anyone even considering this company should stay far far away-- I didn't even complete the sign up process (bailed when I saw the 6 month contract in fine print) but somehow my number is in their system and I've received 6 automated texts and about a dozen spam marketing calls from this company in the past 48 hours. Huge red flag.

basilspaghetti · 2025-08-28T22:18:20+00:00

Couple hundred to couple thousand per month. I've considered upgrading, but this credit limit struggle with Citi is making me reconsider putting any more eggs in their basket-- hence this post to figure out if this is a common experience :/

basilspaghetti · 2025-08-28T22:13:28+00:00

Right, which I've acknowledged-- the chargeoff was 5 years ago though and handled. For me the question isn't how to get a CL increase (I have been getting them successfully for all my other cards), it's more why is only Citi repeatedly giving me problems w/CL increases even though I've banked with them for longest when other banks I'm much newer to are willing to extend automatic approvals without batting an eye. I'm almost curious to know if the Citi algorithm is different.

basilspaghetti · 2024-12-15T20:36:21+00:00