Optimize your career search with Handshake
Looking for an internship or job? is the best place for CU students to find on- and off-campus opportunities.
As CU’s primary online recruiting tool, Handshake connects students and recent graduates with internships, jobs, thousands of employers, information about career-related campus events and other valuable resources. Every undergraduate and graduate student automatically has a Handshake account, regardless of your major or year.
As your free one-stop shop for starting your career journey, here are some tips to help you make the most of Handshake.
Take advantage of the home page
A great place to start your search is the Handshake home page. It automatically displays jobs and internships that align with the information in your profile—such as your skills, interests and major. As you continue browsing, the platform’s algorithm will refine its recommendations to fit even more precisely with your preferences.
If a recruiter wants to find a CU student, the first place they will look is Handshake. Complete and public profiles not only enhance the personalization of your home page but are also much more likely to get attention from employers worldwide who are actively seeking CU talent.
Set up saved searches
Handshake has the same number of internships posted in Colorado as LinkedIn, with over 1,000 internship postings each month during the academic year. Set up saved searches to be the first to know about new postings and receive emails when positions post that meet your search criteria.
How to set up saved searches:
- Select your desired industry filters on your search then look on the left side of the screen for a box titled “Don’t miss out!”
- Click the “Save your search” link and then click to edit notifications to name your search and adjust how often you receive an email about incoming positions.
- You can set up multiple searches if you have different interests or want to see different results for multiple regions in the country.
Use CU Boulder Collections
CU Boulder Collections are groupings of available opportunities built out by Career Services. Examples include “Local Retail & Restaurant,” “Colorado Startups” and “Boulder/Denver Art & Creative” collections. Searching through collections is a great way to find specific and relevant opportunities.
How to use CU Boulder Collections:
Start a job or internship search.
Using the filters to the right of the keyword search, select “CU Boulder Selections.”
Select a collection from the drop-down menu. All positions will be those in the selected collection.
Search using keywords
Find opportunities that are most relevant to your skills, interests and career goals by using keywords like "marketing,” "music” or “sports.” By streamlining the search process, you can save yourself time and effort.
For example, if you were looking for remote jobs, here are the steps to follow:
- Start a job or internship search.
Click the filter to the right of the keyword search box called, “Onsite/Remote”
select “Remote.”
The search will pull up all remote internships and jobs that match your specific criteria. Check out these recommended keywords based on your major.
Find career events and fairs
There are plenty of events and career fairs this semester to help you progress in your internship or job search. You can find all the details on Handshake in the events section.
- Browse career fairs to see which employers are attending. For virtual career fairs, you can schedule time to chat with them. Keep in mind that students with completed and public profiles have a better chance of meeting one-on-one with employers during the fair.
- Attend Career Services workshops and weekly programs to get resume help, interview tips and more.
- Check out events posted by employers. These include workshops, information sessions and insights from past interns and employees.
Remember, Career Services is here to help. Visit Career Services during office hours or schedule an express appointment to get helpful information and ask career development advisors your specific questions.