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Give Yourself a Hand With Handshake

 

Handshake. It has topped the list of “most used words in Career Services” for two semesters in a row. If you haven’t heard, Career Services made the switch to Handshake last fall and we have been working non-stop ever since to ensure OU students and alumni are able to best utilize the resources Handshake can provide.

In short, Handshake is a career management platform that connects job and internship seekers to employers. It was built with job seekers in mind and intuitively connects you with relevant job and internship opportunities based on your career interests, profile, experience, and search activity. Every student at the university has a free Handshake profile already attached to their name. All you have to do is visit ou.joinhandshake.com and log in with your 4×4 to get started – it’s that simple.

Handshake is a robust online portal with a lot to offer, so our team has provided a few things you need to know to get the most out of Handshake.

Your Profile 

When clicking on the “Your Profile” tab on the left navigation menu, you will see a screen that allows you to build and edit your online profile. You can add a professional picture, educational background, work and extracurricular experience, skills, coursework, and even projects you want to showcase. Several pieces of personal information like your email address, work authorization, and gender will remain hidden from employers. You are able to connect your social media profiles and even upload a résumé.

We think one of the most helpful parts about this page is the ability to view your profile as an employer. Be sure to set your profile to “public” once you are happy with how it looks so employers can find and reach out to you with job or internship opportunities.

Don’t forget to update your user settings to be notified via email about activities occurring with your account if you aren’t checking Handshake daily. With thousands of employers and recruiters using Handshake, you want to be sure to stay in the loop on current happenings. You can update those settings under “User Settings.”

Career Interests

Handshake provides you a space to not only enter your career interests pertaining to your field of study, but also any other industries that might interest you. You can even narrow the search by plugging in locations you are looking to live. It doesn’t get easier than that.

Jobs & Internships 

Once your profile is complete and you have updated your career interests, you can search for jobs and internships through the Handshake portal. Those positions that match the information you have provided will appear and you can browse location, application deadlines, company, and position title at a glance. You can even apply to some positions without ever leaving Handshake.

Events

In addition to the job search part of Handshake, it also serves as your hub to all things Career Services. Our team does everything from coordinate career fairs, plan career programming for students, host employers to interview in our office, and plan OU career fairs. The “Events” tab is your portal to all of those things. You can search for events and fairs that pertain to your career interests, view or schedule appointments with career advisers in our office, and even apply to jobs that interview here on campus.

Resources

Our team believes in equipping job and internship seekers with the resources they need to make that search as easy as possible. We help people connect their passion to their future and the “Resources” tab is a great way to get that connection started. Check out the resources available to you including OptimalResume and OptimalInterview, Passport Career, Career Shift, GoinGlobal, and more.

 

Handshake truly is your “one stop shop” for Career Services at the University of Oklahoma. Visit ou.joinhandshake.com to get started. As always, if you have questions or need assistance, we are just a phone call or email away. Reach us at oucs@ou.edu or by calling (405) 325-1974.

Helping you get hired sooner,

-OU Career Services Team

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