Why is this important?
The Academic Advising and Career Development Office at UNK encourages students to explore; investigate career paths, volunteer and intern, travel, and build mentoring and professional relationships. It all starts with Handshake, the career development platform that gives easy access to the support and resources needed to start and advance your career.
What can I do with Handshake?
- Schedule appointments online
- Receive a tailored newsfeed of events, employer visits, and job and internship opportunities
- Access internship and job postings
- Register for events
- Track your contacts and professional experiences
- Sign up for interviews
- Follow employers and career coaches for up-to-date news
- Customize your homepage to reflect what you’re most interested in seeing
How do I complete my profile?
Start with completing the profile sections or uploading your resume. Should you upload a resume, you can choose to pull information from your resume directly from the document into your system profile, including: work experience, extra-curricular activities, and skills. Be sure to check the details to make sure everything is correctly listed in your profile. Importantly, most employers search for candidates based on skill sets, so be sure to add a thorough list of your skills to your profile.
Once you’ve completed the “profile” section, click the “account” tab and specify your job interests. These details will be very important for you to receive communications about jobs, internships, upcoming events and other important details related to your personal and career development.
How do I tailor Handshake to my specific interests and connect with employers?
Make sure your profile is as complete as possible by providing information in the Account/Job Interests section, including: location, industry, job function and job interests.
Opt to make your profile “public” so that employers will be able to see your full profile page, including: all of the information in the Education, Work Experience, Extracurricular, Projects, External Links, Courses, Organizations, and Skills sections. If you make your profile public, remember that an employer can see ALL of your information. Please proofread your resume, proofread your profile, and proofread any message you send to a potential employer.
List external links on your profile that represent you and your work in a positive and professional light. These may include your LinkedIn profile, a work/project portfolio, or any video and web projects, etc.
What type of communications will I receive?
Based on your profile and job interests, Handshake will send you notifications about events and job/internship opportunities and events that match your interest. You will be able to adjust your notifications to receive them to your mobile device (push notifications), internally in the Handshake system, and by email.
How do I search for job and internship opportunities?
Once you have completed your profile and provided information about your background and job interests, you can begin searching for opportunities. Here’s how:
- Click on the “Job” tab of the top navigation bar.
- Filter your search using the terms on the left side of the screen, or type a search term into the “Keyword” bar at the left hand side of the page and hit enter.
- TIP: Start your search broadly and check the results. Then, if necessary, begin to narrow your search, one step at a time.
How do I upload my resume?
Uploading a resume is simple:
- Click your name at the navigation bar.
- Click the “Documents” button.
- Click the “Add New Document” button in the upper-right corner to create a new document.
- Once automatically converted to PDF you will have the option to "Feature on your Profile".
Once you have uploaded your resume, you can choose to pull information from this document into your profile, including: work experience, extra-curricular activities, and skills. Double check the details to make sure they uploaded correctly.
How do I apply for a job/internship?
- Selection option under "Job Type" in left hand margin
- Click on the job title. This brings you to that job’s page. In the upper right of the page, there is an “Apply” button.
- Click on the “Apply” button to select the document(s) with which you will apply with.
- Click “Apply” again to submit your documents and application.
- If an employer chooses you for an interview, they will contact you, either directly or through Handshake, to inform you of the next steps in the process.
My major, minor, and/or class year is incorrect. How do I change this?
You can request a major/minor/advisor change by visiting the Program Change Form.