Looking for a one-stop platform to kickstart your career journey? Meet Handshake — the ultimate career hub made just for college students! Whether you’re exploring internships, searching for part-time jobs, or eyeing your first full-time opportunity, Handshake connects you directly with employers who want to hire students like you. With personalized job recommendations, event listings, and easy ways to connect with recruiters, Handshake makes navigating your career path simpler, smarter, and more student-friendly than ever. Read on to hack your Handshake profile for best results.
(1) Build a Strong Profile
When it comes to profiles, the more filled out the better. Sharing your preferred roles, industries, and locations helps you get better job recommendations from Handshake and more relevant opportunities from recruiters. Plus, if your profile is at least 70% complete, you gain access to a custom profile URL.
Of course, it can feel overwhelming to summarize your experience in a way that feels clear and compelling. That’s where AI can step in as a writing partner. By providing your experiences, you can use AI to generate drafts that you then review, edit, and personalize to reflect your individual story.
Example prompts:
- “Based on my experience doing X,Y,Z, summarize my professional history, skills, and accomplishments in a first-person, friendly, and professional tone.”
- “Write resume bullet points describing how my work volunteering as an X at X organization translates to skills in X industry.”
- “I am a junior in college majoring in X and looking to work as X. What are the best skills to put in my profile?”
(2) Make Multiple Versions of Your Resume
Ideally, you’d adjust your resume for every job application. But realistically that’s tough. A more achievable approach is to create a few different versions of your resume that line up with the types of roles you’re looking for. Once you have the different versions ready to go, you can upload them to Handshake and choose which you want to use for different applications.
AI can help you create multiple resumes by quickly highlighting which skills in your resume match a particular job posting. Just remember, AI drafts aren’t the final product. Always double-check for accuracy, relevance, and tone before sharing with an employer.
Example prompt:
- “Here is my resume. Here’s the job description of a job I’m applying for. Revise my resume to match the most important skills and qualifications for this job.”
(3) Network With Confidence
Reaching out to employers or peers on Handshake can feel intimidating. Once you’ve found someone you want to connect with using the People tab, AI can help you write first drafts of your messages, but personalization is the most important part. The goal is to sound like you, not like a template.
Example prompt:
- “I am messaging X who is a recruiter at X. I’d like to ask them X. Draft a message I can personalize.”
(4) AI is a tool, not a shortcut
Remember, AI should never replace your effort, judgment, or unique point of view. It’s tempting to copy-paste responses, but doing so can hurt more than help. Recruiters can tell when something feels generic. Use AI to brainstorm, organize, and refine—but always make sure the final version is truly yours.
(Blog post taken from Handshake Blog. Read the original here)
