For many years, students at Southwestern have used HireSU as their go-to method to find on-campus jobs or internships in the Georgetown area that suit their field of interest. But as of this semester, that all changed, and possibly for the better. The university now partners with Handshake, a rising positions-posting application. According to Handshake’s CEO Garrett Lord on their website, Handshake is designed with the rising Artificial Intelligence (AI) boom in mind, and aims to help students and other job seekers find roles that suit the ever-changing economy (Handshake, About Us). Handshake is advertised as an intuitive system using AI-powered tools to support users’ job hunts. Southwestern’s partnership with Handshake means that students now have access to everything HireSU once offered – and maybe more – through their Southwestern email.

Through their service, Handshake offers job listings both on-campus and elsewhere, including recognizable names like The New York Times, NASA, Apple, Ralph Lauren, and Google. Once logged in via a simple sign up process through Southwestern, students will be able to search for jobs they’re interested in, including part-time, internships, and even full-time work. Handshake will then take their major (or majors) as jumping-off points in order to suggest work that will align with their field of interest. 

Unlike Hire SU, Handshake allows students to follow and connect with alumni in their field of interest. These alumni are able to receive messages and have their work experience viewed, which may allow students to better expand their networking. Handshake also gives students another place to view events held by the Center for Career and Professional Development (CCPD) including the Free Friday Fotos, Curious Conversations, and info sessions. Handshake is easily accessible through a simple web search or the app, which is available through the App Store and the Google Play store for free. Handshake also functions beyond a student’s stay at SU, connecting to their personal email as well as the school-affiliated email in order to expand graduate’s job search opportunities beyond their college years. The Handshake platform is rather user-friendly, with several different ways to find work. You can use the search function, connections with alumni and other students, or even “search like you talk” with their Beta feature. The Beta feature generates summaries for possible employment opportunities and understands cryptic language like “jobs to lowkey help people”. Despite its helpfulness, the Beta feature uses AI, so be sure to double-check information given by the bot since AI is not always accurate. 

Once students find a work opportunity they’re interested in, they can save the posting, search for more like it, and apply externally. This is similar to how other job search apps like Indeed or Glassdoor function, but Handshake is different from other applications in many ways. It functions as a site for all things business, from the actual searching to the social aspects of networking. Additionally, no other application hosts a feature where one can connect with alumni and CCPD events so seamlessly. This is only the beginning for Southwestern students’ and their experience with Handshake,, but the platform so far seems promising and fully equipped with the tools to help students find employment in this modern age of AI and social media. HireSU closed on January 30th, and Handshake officially took its place as the university’s hiring tool for students. In all hope, Handshake will provide a useful tool for students at Southwestern. For more information on Handshake and signing up for the application via Southwestern’s single sign on, visit the CCPD website!