By Quentin Lehn SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — College students are always looking for two things: jobs and connections. Syracuse University students in the past have been using OrangeLink through their student accounts to apply to jobs. Kevin Schlierf, a junior at SU, says he didn’t find much use of it.
He explains, “There were just too many inconsistencies. I would apply for an internship to an application that may or may not be expired. I sometimes didn’t even get a notification about it at all.”
After talks this past summer, SU made the decision to join other well respected universities such as Stanford, Princeton, and Carnegie Mellon to make the switch to Handshake.
The online recruiting website allows students to apply to jobs/internships, schedule appointments with career services, and upload resume/cover letters, all of which was similar to the previous OrangeLink. But Christopher Perrello, iSchool career services director says, Handshake is more user-friendly than ever.
He explains, “Handshake has a social media feel to it. You have your own profile where you can upload photos and other information you want employers to see. You can also read reviews to see if that company is a fit for you.”
It also makes communicating with school advisors much more convenient. Perrello says, “I’ll have someone notify me asking for me to check their resume before a midnight application deadline, and I’m able to check their resume on Handshake and get right back to them.”
His advice: apply to positions you wouldn’t normally see at your local career fair. He says, “Look outside of those traditional companies and maybe think about those dream companies, brands, services, products you wouldn’t normally see at a career fair but see yourself having a future at.”
