I completed the 10 Day Handshake Challenge

Posted on: 5 June 2020 by Alyssia, final year BA Business Management with a Year in Industry student and Career Coach at the University of Liverpool in Hints, tips and advice

By completing the 10 Day Handshake challenge I have gained further insight into the Handshake platform as well as creating familiarity with it.

The 10 Day Handshake challenge was incredibly easy and straightforward to set up and navigate, I also read the Blog post featured on the Careers & Employability site which included hints, tips, and advice regarding the new Handshake platform. 

Setting up my profile was simple, all I needed was my University of Liverpool MWS details and password (MWSusername@liverpool.ac.uk and my MWS password). Handshake then asked for my preferences, in order to tailor my experience on the platform. 

This was extremely useful and complimented this challenge well as I was able to see a profile set up as the post contained further, helpful details surrounding why using Handshake would be useful and how to use it to its full potential.

As one of the challenges was to set up and activate my profile, I did this with complete ease and have even uploaded a profile picture. One top tip for choosing a suitable picture for Handshake would be to make sure that it is professional with a plain background. This tool is not necessarily an aid to acquire a job, it is just good to put a face to a name and can also help when it comes to networking events!

I have also uploaded my CV and added my previous experience which is now public and visible to a wide range of employers (as seen in the screenshots below). Some students may find it a little daunting to make your profile public, but it can be extremely beneficial because you are easily visible to a large number of recruiters and you never know, they could contact you about a role they think would be suitable for you! It can be a great way to stand out from others on Handshake if you have a thorough profile set up.

In addition to this, I have followed several interesting employers as the challenge outlines including THG and Unilever so I can keep up to date with any recent company news and look out for any vacancies that may be of interest to me. Commercial awareness is a great skill to develop as it shows you are willing to continuously learn and keep up to date with recent affairs, especially employer specific news as this may come in use for interviews!

I am already witnessing the advantages of engaging with Handshake as I have already been contacted by several employers containing details of upcoming virtual events which are of interest to me:

I would highly recommend completing the 10 Day Handshake Challenge, it is extremely useful and easy to follow. Employers are already utilising Handshake so get a head start and get familiar with Handshake sooner rather than later, here is the link with full details for the challenge: https://app.joinhandshake.co.uk/articles/24