How a Handshake Can Impact Your Future

College can be difficult. You arrive in a new environment with dreams, goals and the feeling of trepidation for how you are going to achieve those goals. As a college student you might be aware of the financial difficulties that come along with a proper higher education. Some students never had to work a part-time job before, let alone understand how resumes and cover letters are created. Other students may be struggling to find better opportunities. Luckily, Oglethorpe provides a unique network of support that connects students with incredible career opportunities for people from all circumstances.

At Oglethorpe, there is a faculty and staff dedicated to helping students jump-start their career planning. They have facilitated the use of an app called Handshake to help improve their search for jobs, internships, branding and a multitude of other career-oriented options.

“Handshake is easy to use, a wonderful recruiting tool for students looking for jobs or internships not only locally, but nationally,” said Melodie Rogers, career outreach specialist.

Handshake is meant to be a convenient option for students to search for jobs and get involved in career development events on campus. Students can even continue to use Handshake as a post-graduation resource to help stabilize their lives after college.

For freshmen, there is a mandatory career development orientation that students can access through the Handshake app. This orientation is only an hour long and it gives students not only a tutorial on how to use the app, but also important information. This allows the student body at Oglethorpe to become acquainted with such a powerful tool.

Handshake is not the only career development tool available on campus this semester. There will be three alumni panels for students, one for business on September 10, humanities on September 17 and STEM on September 24 6:30-8:00 p.m. On September 27, there is a career and internship fair available to all students from 12:00-2:00 p.m.

There will be multiple notable names to look out for in this fair: Carter Center, the Drug Enforcement Agency, Child Spring International and the Descents Audit Agency will all be attending the fair looking to make connections and network with students. Other big names such as the Emory Health Clinic will be at the fair looking for students with at least 2 years of college to hire for entry-level positions. This event is beneficial to all students because it provides connections and networking for careers and job offers for not only this year but for many years to come. In fact, 85 percent of successful careers were built on the connections they made, according to career services.

So, if you are looking to come down to the career and internship fair on September 27 make sure to dress professionally for future employers and to RSVP for all these events with the Handshake app. You never know how one handshake can change your life, so make sure to check your emails for future events and updates.