If you are anything like me, college is when you truly begin to get a better feel for the “real world”, and with that feeling, many new things start to come into focus. One of the biggest considerations may be “What exactly am I going to do with my career once I graduate?” Well, personally, I found this question quite intimidating and wasn’t sure where to even start looking for ideas.

As of this year, we at the Career Development Center have introduced Handshake and let me tell you, it has helped me immensely. In hopes that it can do the same for you, here are the top five most helpful tips for Handshake that have been useful for me to get the most out of this new platform.

1. You get what you put in

Handshake is a platform with all types of capabilities, but if you don’t tell it anything about you, it cannot help you that much. Make sure that you put as much information about yourself into your profile so you can have Handshake work for you by presenting you to employers and recommending events around campus.

2. The tables have turned: being contacted by employers

Unlike other platforms where we students are chasing employers and trying to contact them to get our foot in the door in hopes of an interview, on handshake, employers can contact you. No longer do you have to copy and paste email after email to company after company hoping to get at least one; now employers are able to reach out to you and communicate the opportunities they have for you!

3. Stay informed

Handshake is not just for finding a job, it can also be used to find events on campus that are relevant to you! In addition to this, if you have your major on your Handshake profile, staff members are able to invite you to these kind of events. Now you can stay up to date on all of the possible networking and informational events!

4. Don’t make the same mistake I did

Handshake has tons of helpful features, including making filling out your profile super easy. All that is needed is just uploading your resume onto Handshake and that information will automatically be filled out on your profile. This way, you don’t have to end up like me and spend well over an hour entering everything in when it could have taken you just a few minutes!

5. Remember: filters, filters, filters

When looking for a job, internship, or any other opportunity on handshake, there are numerous filters that you can apply in order to tailor your search to best fit what you are looking for. Personally, I have loved using this to narrow down the type of opportunity, if it is paid or not, and the location where it is located.

​Overall, I hope that these tips can help guide you in the right direction and help you get the most out of Handshake in order to further your career. If you have any questions about Handshake or simply want to do some review of your resume before you get it up on the site, feel free to stop by the Career Development Office during drop-ins or schedule an appointment!

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