Handshake, the careers platform, is often mentioned in Careers and Placements emails, social media and the website. So, what is it and why should you use it?

There’s lots to be gained from activating and using your Handshake account. Read on to find out more.

The basics

Handshake gives you access to:

• your own profile, which you can tailor and tweak
• careers appointment bookings
• job vacancies and other opportunities, like volunteering
• fairs and events exclusive to York students
• messaging the Careers and Placements team with your quick queries
• networking opportunities with your fellow students, graduates and employers

This final point makes Handshake different from similar careers platforms and gives you the power to use that wider reach as much or as little as you want.

Resources to help you use Handshake more effectively

Handshake’s US creators have put together lots of resources to help you use it to its full potential, but their short video gives a flavour of what you can do straight away. By the way, Handshake is also working on UK versions of some of their resources, so watch out for these further down the line.

All current students already have an account, even if they’ve not accessed it, and accessing it doesn’t require much effort – you just login with your University username.

Once in, you can… 

• build your personal profile 
• decide your own privacy and notification settings
• upload documents, like CVs, covering letters and personal statements, to your account
• choose your career interests to tailor the information you can access
• contact other students and employers

So, why not give it a go and discover more?

Next week we talk CVs and how to write and hone yours.