Sidekick is an AI-powered resume helper that is accessible when you are logged into Handshake. Sidekick helps you quickly create a recruiter-ready resume and land more interviews by highlighting your relevant skills and optimizing it for employer screening.
Sidekick is designed for students and early-career job seekers who:
- Have a resume but are not ready to apply to opportunities with it
- Need help describing experiences and skills
- Want a stronger, impact-focused resume to use across many job, internship, or fellowship applications
With Sidekick, you can:
- Upload an existing resume or start from a resume already stored in your Documents
- Document uploads must be 1MB or smaller, and files must be in PDF, .DOC, or .DOCX format.
- Get an instantly improved resume
- Chat with an AI assistant to get further suggestions for improved wording, structure, and how to highlight your skills
- Ask for edits focused on a particular job or type of role (for example, “software engineering internships” or "lab assistant")
- Download an updated version and/or save it back to your Documents so you can use it when applying on Handshake
Who can use Sidekick
Sidekick is available to logged-in Handshake users with a student account, and you must be signed in to access it.
For the best experience, use Sidekick on a computer or larger tablet screen.
How to access Sidekick
Click Jobs in the left navigation, then select Optimize resume located in the upper-left corner, to the right of Saved.
If Optimize resume is not available, this means your school does not have access to Sidekick.
Get started with Sidekick
1. Upload/Select a resume
- If you already have a resume uploaded in your Documents, you can use it or select a different one by clicking the down arrow.
- If you do not have a resume uploaded yet, click the upload resume button to upload a resume directly to Sidekick.
2. Tell Sidekick the role and industry you're interested in
In the chat, select from the pre-built prompt questions to get started — such as the kinds of roles and industries you are targeting — or type your own request in the text box.
Sidekick is designed to assist with resumes only and cannot answer questions outside of this scope.
3. Sidekick provides a new resume with suggestions and edits
Sidekick analyzes your resume and suggests improvements to wording, structure, and emphasis. It may also recommend a more consistent layout and clearer phrasing to better highlight your qualifications.
Click Download to review the updated resume with these edits.
4. Collaborate if needed
Keep chatting with Sidekick to refine your resume. If a suggestion doesn’t work for you, ask Sidekick to revise it or keep your original wording. You can also ask follow-up questions like, “Make this experience more results-focused” or “Help me shorten this section.”
5. Download and/or Save to your Documents
Click Download to download, or click Save to store it in your Documents in Handshake. The resume will be available when you apply for jobs in Handshake.
Once saved, a notification appears in the bottom-right corner. Click View now to open your document.
Using your Sidekick resume when applying on Handshake
When you apply to jobs on Handshake, resumes that you’ve saved to your Documents are available to attach to your application.
To find a job, refer to Searching for Jobs and Internships. To apply for a job, check out Apply for a Job in Handshake.
Important notes and limitations
- Sidekick does not decide whether you get a job. It only helps you improve how you present your experience. Employers still make their own hiring decisions.
- You stay in control. Sidekick will not apply to jobs on your behalf. You choose where and when to submit your resume.
- Accuracy and tone. AI tools can occasionally produce suggestions that are repetitive, not quite in your voice, or not fully accurate for your situation. You are responsible for reviewing and correcting your resume before applying.
- Sensitive information. Avoid adding unnecessary sensitive personal information to your resume or the chat (for example, government ID numbers, medical information, or passwords).