What is Handshake for Students?

Have you ever been on LinkedIn? It’s an online networking platform that helps professionals get connected, find jobs, recruit employees, and keep up with what’s going on in their industry. Imagine if there were something like that for college students?

There is!

Handshake does much of what LinkedIn does, but it’s specifically geared toward students and alumni of higher education institutions. More than 18 million students and alumni from more than 800 colleges and universities use the service. It’s completely free for you to use, but extremely valuable for your future career. Whether you’re looking for a summer internship, that first job out of college, or a career upgrade later on, Handshake can help.

Benefits of Handshake

What sets Handshake apart from other online recruitment platforms like Indeed, Monster, or ZipRecruiter, is that it’s specifically designed for college students. With a Handshake profile, you can search for jobs and internships, register for career fairs, and connect with employers who need student workers.

It offers unique benefits to you that other job boards can’t:

• Employers Don’t Mind a Short Resume—The employers who post positions on Handshake are looking for student interns or employees. They know that you may not have much experience in the field and they don’t mind.
• The Candidate Pool May Be Smaller—Since the jobs and internships that you search for are typically offered only to students at your college or university, the potential candidate pool is smaller than for jobs posted on other online job boards.
• You Can Connect with Employers— With more than 650,000 employers on the platform, including big names like Amazon, Apple, Morgan Stanley, and Tesla, you have plenty of options to explore. And Handshake offers a chat feature that allows you to connect with employers and ask questions.
• You Can Register for Exclusive Events—With a Handshake profile, you can sign up for career fairs, information sessions, and other professional development events that are only available to users.

Create a Profile

Your school’s Career Services Office should send you an email about Handshake with a link to create your profile or you can visit the Handshake website and search for your school. Sign in with your school email address and set up your account details. From there, you can begin to build out your profile.

The most important component of your profile is your resume. Your resume can be used to build the rest of your profile, and if you make it public, it will enable recruiters to find you and contact you about opportunities that match your qualifications. Make sure that your resume is up-to-date and free of errors. The information in your resume can be used to auto fill work experience and skills, and then you can customize your profile further. Add details about courses you have taken, extracurriculars, and relevant projects you may have completed. You can also add a professional headshot, a brief bio, and other documentation, including letters of recommendation and a cover letter.

Connect With Employers

Once you have your profile set up, you don’t have to wait for employers to connect with you. There are several ways you can take the initiative and connect with them:

• Chat With Them—Chat with employers through their job postings. Take advantage of the chance to ask questions and to get yourself noticed. You may set yourself apart from the competition if you do so.
• Register for Information Sessions—Companies will often host information sessions so you can learn more about them and what opportunities they have. You can follow companies that you are interested in on Handshake and receive notifications when they add events.
• Attend Career Fairs—Handshake also offers virtual career fairs that bring students and employers together for small group chats or brief one-on-one meetings. This is a great way to make connections, ask questions, and find your next internship or job.

Are you ready to build a career? Start with your education, but don’t neglect all the opportunities you have while in school to connect with peers, professors, and professionals. We use Handshake at Limestone University so you can have a head start on your career. Whether you major in the liberal arts and sciences, business, education, or the health professions, you can find many employment opportunities through Handshake. Click the button to learn more.