Drexel Students, Meet Handshake

Enter Drexel University’s newest jobhunting tool: Handshake.

Handshake has replaced Drexel Dragon Jobs (which was powered by Symplicity) as the University’s recommended job search engine for students, and it boasts a more customizable and personal user experience as well as more employers and postings.

Here’s what you need to know about Handshake:

• Why the change? The switch from Dragon Jobs to Handshake can be equated to the difference between cable TV and Netflix. Where Dragon Jobs listed out opportunities by category and students were forced to sort through them all, an algorithm will now populate job opportunities for students using Handshake right on their home page based on their career interests and experience.

  Handshake can also send helpful reminders, like when opportunities of interest are newly listed or when students have an open application in need of completion.

  Best of all, more employers recruit on Handshake, especially in terms of large, local and national companies. In fact, the Steinbright Career Development Center reports that the daily new job listings posted for Drexel students has already tripled in terms of what was available on Dragon Jobs. So, what are you waiting for?

• How should it be used? Students should create their profiles now and can attend training sessions hosted by Steinbright in the summer and fall terms on how to best use Handshake. Be sure to build your profile by uploading your resume in order to get the best hits from the algorithm.

  Have your heart set on a certain future employer? Even if they don’t have any active listings for Drexel students now, you can use Handshake to favorite and follow that employer so that you can be notified when they post new openings.

  You can also connect with fellow students from Drexel or elsewhere, sharing questions and answers about employers or listings. Wondering what an internship at Tesla would be like? A student on Handshake might be able to fill you in!

• Who should be using Handshake? Handshake is primarily for graduating students (both undergraduate and graduate) to find full-time job opportunities post-grad, but it’s also never too early to start your search! Handshake can also be useful for underclassmen or online students searching for non-co-op internships.

• Why should students utilize this resource? While Dragon Jobs was an underutilized resource, the hope is that the use of Handshake becomes ubiquitous among the Drexel student body instead of remaining a best-kept secret. Log in early and often, and connect with Steinbright for support each step of the way!

Visit Drexel.joinhandshake.com to access Handshake today. Questions can be directed to the Steinbright Career Development Center at scdc@drexel.edu.