There are so many new platforms that The Boerigter Center for Calling and Career has been rolling out in the past year! Which one should you use?

When searching for an internship or career after college, there are so many different places to begin looking. It can be overwhelming, especially if you do not know where to start. Hope College has three platforms that are easy to navigate, compliment one another, and are customizable for each student. Those platforms are PathwayU, Handshake, and The Hope College Connection. Each of these are unique in the resources they provide but each equally as valuable and helpful to students.

You might not know about: PathwayU

When starting your journey here at Hope, we recommend you begin with PathwayU. PathwayU is a platform that will make recommendations based on your specific strengths as it relates to a certain major or career path. This resource will be replacing two of the existing assessments we offer (MBTI & Strong Interest Inventory). When you first make an account, it will have you take a 15-20 minute quiz that asks various questions about yourself, from how you handle stressful situations to how you prefer your work environment. As with any personality assessment, it is important to be honest when answering the questions so you get the most accurate response. Once you have completed the various assessments, PathwayU will tell you all the jobs that you matched with and it will rate the match from “very strong” to “weak.” This feature can be helpful because it informs you of the wide variety of jobs that you may have not considered before. PathwayU also syncs up with Handshake.

You might be familiar with: Handshake 

Handshake is a platform similar to Indeed in that it is a centralized resource for jobs, internships, and volunteer opportunities. Something that makes Handshake unique is that it is specific to Hope College students. If you login with your Hope email address, all the jobs and internships posted are listings that only Hope students can see. You can (and should) customize your profile to make it your own by uploading your resume, inputting the type of position(s) you are looking for, and including other personal information (like grad year and major). Handshake is also the one stop shop for a bunch of other resources. Most importantly, Handshake is where you can schedule an appointment with our team as well as RSVP for a variety of events The Boerigter Center is hosting. 

You might just have learned about: The Hope College Connection

The third platform is another one that is exclusive to the Hope College community. It was just launched and it’s called The Hope College Connection. The Hope College Connection is an online resource to connect Hope alumni, families, friends, and current students for networking and mentoring opportunities. Similar to LinkedIn, the site allows users to request to connect with each other, request meetings or send a message. 

Your step nexts

Now that you have some background on each of these platforms, how do you get started using them? 

  • If you are interested in PathwayU email assessments@hope.edu and you will get a link to make an account and take the assessments.
  • Hope students can make an account on Handshake using their Hope email address. Once you are signed in, complete your profile and then start exploring or make an appointment.
  • To get started with Hope College Connections, head over to connection.hope.edu and follow the prompts to sign up. Once you are approved, you can complete your profile (you can use LinkedIn or your resume). After your profile is complete head to the “Make a Connection” tab and start connecting! 

As always, we are here to answer any questions you might have. Please call us at 616-395-7950 or email us at careers@hope.edu You can always stop by our office or come to drop-in hours from 3-4:30 pm Monday through Friday when school is in session. 

We hope you find a platform to serve you on your journey!

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1 Comment

  1. Dr. Wynetta Devore Class of 1951…it is such a pleasure to see what happens at Hope in 2020..best wishes for the future

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