The Center for Career Development (CCD) rolled out its new program “Handshake” on Monday, June 19.
Founded by Michigan Tech students Garrett Lord, Ben Christensen and Scott Ringwelski after their own job searches, Handshake began in 2014 with the intentions of ensuring that higher education students had equal access to jobs.
The new platform is set to replace “Hire-A-VOL” on Friday, June 22. Any documents such as resumes and cover letters saved in Hire-A-VOL should be downloaded because they do not transfer to Handshake.
According to CCD Director Stephanie Kit, Handshake connects students, employers and university career centers in a singular platform.
“Students can learn about jobs, internships and career events through Handshake,” Kit said. “They can also schedule appointments with Center for Career Development staff and register for our events through Handshake.”
In addition to scheduling appointments and registering for events, the new platform also engages students with more opportunities for internships and full-time jobs.
“Because Handshake has over 250,000 employers on the platform, our students should see an increase in jobs across more industries and a wider geographic range,” Kit said. “We also learned from other universities that students really enjoy the Handshake platform.”
Students received an email from the CCD Monday afternoon with a link to the new platform. Student profiles were preloaded for convenience and after logging in, minor changes and updates such as a profile picture and work experience can be added.
The site is designed similarly to other social media sites such as LinkedIn and gives access to content like job postings and events specifics to majors and industries of interest.
“Jobs are recommended to students in a way similar to Netflix recommending movies or shows,” Kit said. “However, it’s important for students to complete their profiles to get useful recommendations.”
Handshake will visit campus for a full day of staff training in July, but the CCD can answer questions before and after their visit.
“I encourage students who never tried Hire-A-Vol or who didn’t find it useful to give Handshake a chance,” Kit said. “We truly believe it’s going to offer students more opportunities and even provide first-year students with ways to explore industries by learning about entry-level jobs.”
