Get involved and expand your opportunities!

Posted on: 25 June 2020 by Freya is in her final year studying Criminology at the University of Liverpool, as well as working as Career Coach part-time in Hints, tips and advice

Handshake is the brand-new careers platform at the University of Liverpool and it’s an exciting time to get involved and expand your opportunities!

An account was waiting for me on Handshake to claim and this was easy and user friendly. I simply signed in with my University of Liverpool MWS details and entered these (MWSusername@liverpool.ac.uk and my MWS password).

There then followed a step-by-step process to confirm my details and set-up my preferences to ensure that the content that is promoted to me is the most appropriate!

Similar to LinkedIn, Handshake gives you your own profile that allows employers and other students/alumni to see you and what you have to offer so it’s important you spend some time on getting it right! For completing ‘My Journey’ I had a think about what the key things are I want people to know about me professionally; my current situation, my key experiences, and what I’m looking for, giving employers and other students a brief overview of me. I found filling this in really made me consider what it is I’m looking for in a graduate job and helped me think through the key experiences and skills I have to offer!

I wanted to get across the array of experiences I have so filled in all of my work and voluntary experience, focusing on the skills I’ve developed, placing particular emphasis on the skills I know are vital to my desired sector. Handshake also allows you to select specific skills you possess which is really important for employers who can search for these things in particular, so I made sure to add them in! What’s handy is you can click to view your profile as an employer would so you know exactly what they see and can focus on areas you think need more emphasis. I noticed with my profile that I spent so long explaining my first work experience that an employer might not want to carry on reading so I made sure to trim that down and really think about what I wanted to say.  

Not only does Handshake allow for employers to view you, you can view them! You can search for vacancies via company and even follow their pages to get updates on new postings. Handshake is also great for tailoring what you see, selecting Industries and Roles you’re particularly interested in means you won’t miss any key opportunities in your area, and you can even apply directly through Handshake with all applications kept in the one place. I’ve already had employers messaging me about the events they’ve got coming up, so I’m impressed with the impact this platform has already made in such a short space of time!

With the ability to search for, and message other students as well as employers I know I can create a great community for finding and sharing opportunities and with all the extra Q+A’s and Resources available in the Career Centre, there’s so much to help in reaching the next stage of your career!