This semester, Otterbein students have had the opportunity to sign up for Handshake, a professional website to find jobs, internships and more based on their personal interests. When students create an account through Otterbein, their majors and GPAs are automatically connected to their profile. The next step for students is filling out their job interests and experience. After submitting this information, students are given a bunch of jobs and internships based on the information they provided, streamlining the process for students.
Openings for on-campus jobs are also listed on Handshake. The Center for Career and Professional Development often holds job fairs, but these online programs cater to students' interests much more than a job fair could.
There are over 800 colleges and universities that use Handshake, including Miami University of Ohio and the University of Dayton. Otterbein recently made the switch over the summer after using Grad Leaders for over 10 years.
Ryan Brechbill, executive director of the CCPD, said that the reason we switched to Handshake was because other schools like Ohio Weslyean and Capital had also recently switched.
The difference between Handshake and other resources is the volume of employers, jobs and internships, while being more user friendly, according to Brechbill.
Not very many students know about Handshake because it is fairly new. The CCPD has sent emails and have held workshops regarding Handshake, but they are coming up with new strategies for the spring in order to increase student usage. Another new resource the CCPD is offering is Career Exploration. It gives a list of job titles based on major, which opens up many opportunities for students.
Brechbill advised students looking for a job or internship to have a plan, meet with CCPD staff to develop and execute the plan and attend the workshops offered by the CCPD.
