The Center for Experience and Opportunity has partnered with Handshake, an online career networking platform to help students find jobs and internships. It replaces the CEO Connect database which was in use until mid-August.
Associate Dean of Campus and Community Engagement and Executive Director of the CEO Josh Ambrose believes the breadth of opportunities Handshake brings to students will confer unique opportunities to both incoming and outgoing students.
“I think it is most helpful in what it shows,” Ambrose said. “It also helps students connect with more national opportunities outside of the state of Maryland.”
While out-of-state opportunities could be posted on the old database, most listings were closer to Westminster.
“A third of the student body has signed up for [Handshake],” said Ambrose. “All McDaniel students are already registered with the system with their basic McDaniel ID and password.” This helps students register because they don’t have to create their account from scratch.
Zachary Heiser, a business major, was happy with his first Handshake sign-on experience.
“It’s great!” he said. “All my school information popped up first thing and started to ask what it was I was looking for.”
One of the key features Handshake offers is for those signed up to market themselves as specific individuals rather than part of a general group.
“It gave me a quick questionnaire to fill out and then I was ready to go,” Heiser explained.
Handshake is not just for job opportunities after graduation. The platform also provides full-time, part-time, and on-campus job opportunities, as well as internship offerings. This gives students the ability to get some job experience and a paycheck while getting their education.
“Handshake is really helpful,” said cinema and communications major Jeremy Crowley. “It gave me a large option of places on campus to contact or go to. This made job hunting easy.”
The CEO advertises and recommends Handshake to students of all class years. Ambrose hopes that with new opportunities presented to students, their chances of success both immediately out of college and far into the future will increase dramatically.
“McDaniel has to offer platforms like Handshake that are relevant and help you take classes that are relevant to your future to help you succeed in your future,” said Ambrose. “And much like a liberal arts education, Handshake helps with that.”
Handshake is accessible via web browser and is downloadable from both the Apple App Store and Google Play. Students can login to their Handshake accounts by visiting ceo.mcdaniel.edu.
Atticus Rice contributed to this article.
