How to find a summer internship, part-time job, or full-time job with Handshake
It’s your sophomore or junior year of college, and you’re wondering if your major is really right for you. One way to find out is to find a summer internship—but where are you supposed to find one? Or, fast forward and it’s your final year of college, and you are starting to explore the work world. You’ve got good grades and you made the most of your college experience. You even found a summer internship during the summer of your junior year. But what comes next?
One way college students can find jobs is by using different resources, like Handshake. Handshake is an app “where employers hire college students and new grads.” So, what do you do to find that summer internship or job position? I asked Christine Cruzvergara, Vice President of Higher Education & Student Success at Handshake for some insight. Now, you can follow these five easy steps:
- Download Handshake and create a profile.
To use Handshake, you’ll need to create a free account using your Ohio University email address. And it’s a good thing you can’t use your e-mail account from when you were six years old: pinkfluffyunicorns1996@aol.com is not the first impression you want to make with an employer. Once you’ve created your account, make sure to upload a resume.
- Reach out to the Ohio University Career and Leadership Development Center (CLDC) to perfect your resume.
Before you upload a resume, reach out to the coaches at CLDC. Students and alumni can use the Handshake app to schedule an appointment with the CLDC coaches. There, perfect your resume and even schedule a 30-minute career coaching appointment. After you have finalized your resume, fill out your profile. Cruzvergara advised that “students will need to make sure to fill out their geographic preferences, skills, the roles they’re interested in, and their past and current coursework.” By doing this, Cruzvergara noted that “students are 85% more likely to get noticed by an employer when their Handshake profile is complete.” Make sure all of the information is up-to-date, especially your major and GPA.
- Research different companies and employment opportunities.
Now that you have finished setting up the app, take a moment to look through it. Is there a company or position that interests you? Click the Follow button. When you follow a company, you will get alerted if the window to apply for a position is closing or if the employer is attending an Ohio University Career Fair. Cruzaverga says that when you do your research on a company, “Think of questions that allow you to get deeper knowledge, such as information into the culture and what takes to move up.”
- Network. Ask professors or staff members at Ohio University to see if they have any connections.
Ask around about the company and consider following the company on LinkedIn For example, here’s the Center for Entrepreneurship’s LinkedIn page. Perhaps one of your professors knows someone that works at the company and can make a connection on your behalf. Even consider connecting with professors or staff on LinkedIn. Here’s the Center for Entrepreneurship director, Paul Benedict’s LinkedIn profile. Connect with him and he’ll try to help you. If a professor can tell their friend, Melissa, that their student, Dana, is a great writer and would be a great intern, this gives you an edge. This could be the difference between an employer reading your resume or not. Professors and staff want to see you succeed—use them as a resource.
- Apply!
Once you have done some research and have effectively networked, take a chance—apply! You never know the connections you can make and the opportunities that await. Good luck!