What percentage of students do you think find their jobs through Handshake? Based on the numbers reported by graduating students, 12% of students find their job through Handshake. So while Handshake is an excellent job search resource, there are other job search tools you need in your toolkit. Here are a few to get you started:SPECIALTY JOB BOARDS
Look for specialized job boards. While it may be tempting to default to LinkedIn and Indeed and other big job boards, you may have better luck (and save time) by looking for job boards that are focused on specialty interest areas. These may include professional associations, industry specific job boards, local job boards and others. Here are some of our favorites.
SOCIAL MEDIA and NETWORKING
LinkedIn LinkedIn is a great resource for looking for job postings and UVA alums working at companies and in industries that you're curious about. If you're just getting started on setting up your LinkedIn profile, here are some tips to get you moving. Like, share and comment on posts that are interesting to you. Your ultimate goal: > 500 connections.
In the search bar, type “XYZ Company jobs” for job listings.
Use the alumni tool to find UVA alums to connect with and companies to follow.
You can use LinkedIn to follow companies you're interested in.
Look for UVA alums working at the companies where you are applying. Don't know what to say to connect with someone on LinkedIn? Here are some templates.
Join groups within LinkedIn that match your interests and experiences. You'll definitely want to join the UVA Alumni, Students and Friends group and the UVA Engineering Alumni and Friends group. Here's how to find groups to join.
Virginia Mentoring Program (VAM) If LinkedIn sounds a little scary, start with the Virginia Alumni Mentoring Program (VAM). Here you can connect with UVA alumni who are eager to share knowledge and experiences. They've set up a VAM profile specifically to help UVA students with questions about career interests, the job search, graduate school and other topics. The VAM platform even gives you sample messages to send if you can't think of what to say. You can look for alums by their major, company or location. You can also join groups within VAM that align with your interests where you can ask questions to the whole group.
Social Media - Twitter, Discord, Slack groups, On-line communities, Newsletters, GitHub networking and job posting also happens wherever people gather on-line so think about joining and being active with on-line groups that share your interests. And don't be afraid to let people know that you're job searching! Again, here are a few of our favorites: Elpha, AnitaB, Women Who Code, Dexigner Newsletter, Product Hunt, Hackernews, Remote Students.io, Ultimate list of professional online communities. The Engineering Career Development Center hosted a webinar on using social media in the job search that you can view here.
SEEK OUT COMPANIES THAT INTEREST YOU
Handshake Click on the “Employers” box from your Handshake home page for a searchable list of ALL of the companies in Handshake, whether they have a job posted or not. This might give you some new ideas of companies to add to your list. Check out the job listings on their own page and look in LinkedIn for UVA alums working there and connect.
CareerShift CareerShift is a resource available through Handshake. Search companies by keyword, industry and location. Again, a great way to add companies to your list that you might not see in Handshake. Apply through their website and look in LinkedIn for alums working there.
ENGINEERING CAREER DEVELOPMENT COLLAB
We've put together a collab site called Engineering Career Development which includes a number of resources for the job search. There is a specific folder called Major and Industry Specific Resources that includes web resources related to specific interest areas within engineering and CS.
VIRTUAL CAREER FAIRS
For now, most (all?) career fairs are going to be virtual. The good news is that now you can attend as many career fairs as you want to! We've put together a list of virtual career fairs in our Collab site here. The UVA Engineering, Science and Technology career fair will be Sept. 8th stay tuned for more details on how to prepare!
FOLLOW UP, FOLLOW UP, FOLLOW UP
Follow up with the companies you're most interested in three times about one week after you've applied and then again once a week for two more weeks. You won't be annoying, you'll look interested and organized and professional. We can help you figure out who to follow up with:
1. Ask Engineering Career Center counselors for appropriate contacts from Handshake data base.
2. CareerShift Search “contacts” by company and job title.
3. LinkedIn - Search "xyz company recruiter/human resources" to find contacts and UVA alums at the companies where you're applying. You can ask them if they would have a few minutes to talk with you about the company and their career path to help you prepare for a potential interview.
You might not always find the perfect contact, but extra effort could be what sets you apart from the crowd.
FINAL WORDS
Don't get discouraged! The job search process can take longer than you think due to many things mostly out of your control. Each step of the process gets you a little closer to your goal and our office will be here to help you every step of the way!