Completing your Profile in Handshake

The Primary Education field should reflect the institution you're affiliated with.

• If your institution has pre-created a profile for you, your Primary Education will already be added to your profile.
• If you created an account yourself, your Primary Education will be pre-filled with the institution you associated yourself with during the creation process. 

To update your Primary Education, refer to Managing Primary Education.

Have you had a part-time job, internship, work study, research position, or volunteered? If so, employers like to know that you’ve taken on responsibility, and that these experiences have helped you develop valuable skills! 

Click on the Add Work Experience button, located on the left side of the page, below your profile completion bar. Use the dropdown box to add an employer.

Within the pop-up enter the following details: 

• Job Title
• Employer
• Time Period 
  • Start Date
  • End Date
  • Current Position (check box if you're still in the role)
• Location
• Description

Click the green button Save to add the information to your profile, or the grey button Cancel to cancel! 

To add more, click Add Work Experience below your current experience. 

These signal your specific interests, affinity groups, and participation and involvement on campus. 

Click on the Add Organisations button, located on the left side of the page, below your profile completion bar. Use the dropdown to add an organisation. 

Within the pop-up enter the following details: 

• Position
• Organisation
• Time Period 
  • Start Date
  • End Date
  • Current Position (check box if you're still in the role)
• Location
• Description

Click the green button Save to add the information to your profile, or the grey button Cancel to cancel!

To add more, click Add An Organisation below your current organisation. 

Adding languages to your profile is a great way to showcase your communication skills and increase your visibility to potential employers. 

Note: your language skills will be visible to employers and your institution when they view your profile.

Add Languages

1. Click the button Manage languages, located on the left side of the page under Languages. 

2. Within the pop-up, click on the text box under Language and type the desired language you want to add - A list will populate based on what you type. Select the option from the dropdown to add. 

Note: there is the option to include Sign Language in various languages across the globe.

3. Click on the text box under Proficiency and select your expertise:

• Elementary proficiency
• Limited working proficiency
• Professional working proficiency
• Full professional proficiency
• Native or bilingual proficiency

4. Once added, click +Add language to another or Save to update! 

Remove or Edit Languages

Within the pop-up, click the trashcan icon next to the language you want to remove, or click in the text box to edit. 

Once the changes are made, click the button Save to update. 

Add technical skills (like SQL) along with soft skills (like communication). The more skills you list, the better your chances are of showing up in an employer search! 

Scroll to the lower left corner of your profile to locate the Skills section. Click on the pre-listed skills to add to your profile, or use the search bar to find skills to add! 

Add your CV, cover letters, and other documents to your Handshake profile. This will allow you to apply for jobs more easily, or if your institution offers document feedback, your career centre will have access to your documents to review them. 

You have total control over the visibility of your documents and who can view them in Handshake. For more information on this, refer to Understanding Document Visibility.

To upload a document, scroll to the bottom of the page and locate the Documents section, located below Skills. Click the green button Upload, or follow the steps outlined in How to Upload a New Document. 

Add courses you've taken to your profile to express the skills developed throughout your learnings.

Click on the Add Courses button, located on the left side of the page, below your profile completion bar. Use the dropdown box to add a course.

Enter the Course Name and Code (if applicable) - Check the box if you were a TA or Course reader, then click the green button Save to add to your profile. 

To add more, click Add A Course below your current courses.

Add a picture to connect with your institution's career service centre and other students — or add a picture to make your profile stand out among employers!

Click the Add Photo icon, located in the upper-left corner of your profile page, above your name. Click the blue button Browse Photos to choose an image from your computer to upload.

Note: If you can't upload your image, it may be because your picture is too big. The max image size is 32 megabytes. If larger than 32 megabytes, you'll need to crop the photo to a smaller size, and then re-upload it.

If you don't want employers to have access to your profile, you can choose to "Hide my profile picture from employers or company recruiters." 

Add a bio to your profile to highlight your skills and add any additional information that you'd like to share with employers and peers!

This information can include: What are you passionate about? What are you looking for on Handshake? What are your experiences or skills?

Follow the steps outlined in How to Edit Bio/My Journey on Profile to add!

Add some projects you have been a part of! Some ideas include publications, photos, presentations, pitch decks, websites, etc...

Click on the Add Projects button, located on the left side of the page, below your profile completion bar. Use the textbox to add a project.

Within the pop-up enter the following details: 

• Project Name
• Position (optional)
• URL (option) 
• Time Period 
  • Start Date
  • End Date
• Description

To add more projects, click the plus sign, located to the right of Projects.