2 Reasons Why You Should Update Your Handshake Profile

You may be wondering whether it’s important to update your Handshake profile, especially if you already have a profile on LinkedIn. While there are similarities between the platforms and reasons to use both of them, Handshake is intended specifically for students and alumni. Handshake is BU’s online hub for career resources. The employers that you see in Handshake have decided to connect with BU and post their internships, jobs, and recruiting events for BU students and alumni. They’re looking for BU talent like you!

To make the most of your Handshake experience, it’s important to complete your profile and keep it updated to reflect your knowledge, experience, and skills, as well as your career interests. There are two primary reasons why you should complete your Handshake profile.

Based on your profile, career interests, and activity, Handshake will recommend jobs, internships, and events for you.

The more information you provide, the more tailored and relevant your experience will be in Handshake. Here are a few ways that you can save time while creating your profile:

Upload your resume. Handshake will fill in appropriate sections on your profile with details from the uploaded document. You’ll need to review and approve the changes. Once you’ve uploaded a resume, it’ll also be easier for you to apply to positions in the platform. Before uploading your resume, use VMock to make sure it’s in good shape!
Check out student and alumni profiles. When building your own profile, it can be helpful to see examples. You may even find people that you’d like to connect with through this process.

Employers can search for you in Handshake.

Students with a complete profile are five times more likely to receive messages from employers. If you want employers to have access to your profile and resume, you’ll need to update your privacy settings. You can choose to keep your profile private or have it visible to employers only or the Handshake community (employers, students, and alumni across all Handshake colleges and universities).

You should also review your career interests in Handshake periodically and update them as needed. Handshake data shows that students who indicate their preferences for job type (e.g. internship, full-time job), job role (e.g. software developers and engineers, data analysts), and location are 2.5 times more likely to see and apply for relevant opportunities and 80% of users who fill out these fields get messaged by a recruiter. You can also update your “job hunt” status to let employers know whether you’re currently seeking employment. Additionally, employers use search filters to identify candidates based on the courses, experiences, and skills listed in their Handshake profiles.

Although you’ll need to invest some time to develop and maintain your Handshake profile and career interests, you’ll save time in the long run and see a return on your investment. Put these tips to practice and make Handshake work for you!

Check out these resources to learn more!