---

Follow My Blog

Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.

Searching for a Career

Written by Nick Schell – Section # 005

It is crazy to think, but it is incredibly important to begin the externship, internship, and job search even as a freshman student. To me this was quite a daunting idea to think about, but after attending a professional development event on Handshake given by Jenna DellOrfano I feel much better about the whole process. Handshake is a website which connects students to employers while simultaneously providing them with upcoming events and externship/internship opportunities. This website is incredibly helpful as it removes the need for a middle man to receive a connection to employers. Another very helpful feature of this website is that it only shows you opportunities that Villanova deems worthwhile and of standard. The job market can be very overwhelming if you have no guidance as many jobs are falsely advertised and inapplicable to the situation which you are in, but thankfully sites like Handshake exist to remove this overwhelming nature.

Overview:

By clicking the above link, you will be redirected to the Handshake log in site. After you log in with your Villanova credentials you will be asked several questions which will help to pair you with compatible employers. On top of this, you will be provided with several events on Villanova’s campus which will help you to accomplish your professional goals. There are many filters on Handshake’s website which can help to further filter job opportunities. The filter I found most helpful was the location filter as it allows you to set the range of geographical distance in which you are looking for jobs anywhere from 5 miles to 100 miles. Location is so incredibly important when it comes to finding a job as your first job will likely decide where you will settle out of college, thankfully Handshake allows you to take control of this decision.

Why you should give Handshake a try:

Coming into this event I was honestly a little nervous. It is quite daunting to be thinking about my future profession at a time when I am not even sure what I want to major in. Thankfully, Mrs. DellOrfano was incredibly friendly and inviting making it so much easier to understand the importance of getting an early start to this whole process. As she explained the ins and outs of handshake I started to realize how incredibly helpful this form of social media could be to anyone who is willing to employ its full potential. I would highly recommend this website to anyone who is hoping to find employment during and coming out of college. I would also highly recommend looking into future events put on by Mrs. DellOrfano as she is quite an effective teacher and truly did make me feel much more in control of my situation at hand.