This past August, Wellesley officially launched its new career website called Handshake. As part of a complete remodelling of Wellesley’s internship and job counseling office, Handshake replaced CWS — and thankfully so.
Using CWS was similar to finishing a 500-piece puzzle. Looking for internships and jobs was a tedious process because the online platform was slow. Students lacked support from actual career counselors; thus left on their own to navigate life after Wellesley. Uploading cover letters and resumes was confusing and often times, new docuements were override the others. This forced you to re-load cover letters everytime you applied to a new position through CWS.
Handshake is like the rich aunt you wish you always had. It spoils you with a appealing layout, easy access to your saved docuements and a catered list of jobs and internships that fit your interests. Students are able to directly communicate with career counselors through the online platform. Moreover, instead of being a big, huge dumping sight for job and internship postings like CWS, Handshake filters positions based on your major/minor and interests. You create a profile and based on your preferences, Handshake shows you a list of postings that will actually be of interest to you. Thinking of working for a not-for-profit after graduation? Instead of scrolling through 2,000+ plus postings, you can easy access to especially tailored positions in the not-for-profit sector in any city or country.
In addition to the digital makeover, Wellesley has welcomed a new family of career counselors. Each counselor is specialized in a particular industry of field. So whether you are interested in finance, medical school, government positions, etc., you have a point person to guide you through the process and talk through your plans with. I have found the career counselors to be very helpful. Scheduling an appointment is simple through Handshake and career counselors are more than happy to work with your schedule. Can’t make it to the career offices but have a burning questions about a sentence on your cover letter? You have the option to call or email with the career counselors and their response times are impeccable.
Moreover, Wellesley has really pushed to have more career fairs throughout the year for students to meet with recruiters and get a better idea of the options available to them. This Wednesday is the not-for-profit career fair. Handshake is also hosting a consulting case workshop in the coming weeks. If you are interested in learning more about the different offerings, Handshake has a detailed calendar of all the upcpoming events. I highly recommend checking it out. Good luck!