10 Things Most Students Don’t Know (But Should!)

Published on September 12, 2023

We meet with First Years through Graduate Students in advising appointments, and it is always interesting to find out what students are surprised by.  Maybe this blog post is the way to share some of these things so they are no longer surprises!

  1. Handshake and the Career Center website are not the same thing.

If you are reading this blog post, it probably means that you know this, but please help us spread the word.

Handshake is a platform that has all the internship, full-time, experienced job postings, events (both Career Center-sponsored and Employer-hosted) the ability to make appointments with advisors and links to some of the subscription services we pay for and need to put behind a firewall.

Our website has many other things, including:

  • “how to” advice on resumes, cover letters, interviewing, networking etc.
  • Career Communities – Resources, links, blogs, curated jobs and events based on 8 broad sets of student interests
  • Links to important resources like The Herd (our flash mentoring platform)
  • Destination data (Where do Tufts Students Go?) for the last 4 years and more. (Check it out https://careers.tufts.edu/)
  1. Most students are not using Handshake to its fullest.  Here are some things to do:
  • Create saved searches to get notifications from the system that a job matching your search criteria has been posted (most students are not creating multiple searches with excellent key words either)
  • Complete your profile fully so recruiters can find you!
  • Find and follow companies you are interested in so you stay up-to-date on jobs and events.
  • Read reviews and contact other students who have worked for a particular employer
  1. Tufts subscribes to  BIG INTERVIEW (aren’t you lucky)
  • Big Interview is a platform that allows you to do mock/practice interviews and record your answers to watch and listen to how you answer key typical questions. Practice (and practicing out loud in particular) is very important to improve how well you interview.  You can make an appointment with the Career Center to do mock interviews as well.
  1. As Tufts students, you can take courses on learning platforms for free
  • You can take courses for free from Udemy as a Tufts student  https://access.tufts.edu/udemy-business
  • Access 16,000+ expert-led courses on subjects as varied as learning a new software language to a deep dive into tools such as Excel or learning a skill like having tough conversations. Anyone living, working, or studying in Massachusetts can request a Boston Public Library ecard and get FREE access to LinkedIn Learning!
  1. Tufts alumni are a great resource for advice on everything. There are great ways to find them.
  1. Recruiting timelines vary by industry. It is important to know when the companies you are interested in generally do their hiring.
  • Finance, Consulting, Tech and certain Engineering industries hire for full-time and interns in the fall for start dates in the spring and summer
  • Non-profits and Start-ups often hire late in the year, even as late as April and beyond as they can not plan their hiring needs 6 months ahead
  1. Students should create targeted resumes and cover letters for each job (different cover letter) and/or  job type (different resume)
  1. The Career Center Does Walk-in Hours Daily (no appointment – first come, first served)
    • Career Lab M-F 12-2 pm in the Career Center
    • Finance/Consulting Walk-in Hours
      • Wednesday 2-4 Rm 449
    • Engineering/Tech Walk-in Hours
      • Wednesday 1-2:30  TBD
      • Thursday 3-5 Cummings Center Rm 449
  1. You don’t need to know what you want to do or even what questions you should ask to speak with a Career Advisor.
By Robin Kahan
Robin Kahan Associate Director, Engineering Career Services
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