July Checklist: Set Up Handshake for Fall Campus Recruiting
For engineering sophomores, juniors, and seniors who plan to participate in campus recruiting this fall, July is a great month to:
- Draft or update your resume.
- Schedule an engineering resume review.
- Complete the Handshake module.
- Learn how to make Handshake work for you.
- Activate your Cornell Handshake account.
- Upload your resume to your Cornell Handshake account.
- Set your Career Interests in your Cornell Handshake profile.
- Receive more personalized job recommendations tailored to your preferences for jobs, roles, and locations.
- Enroll and complete the Campus Recruiting Tutorial.
- Learn your job-search rights and responsibilities and how to manage your campus recruiting process within Handshake.
Feeling unsure about the internship search or how to gain experience? Nerves are normal, and remember, we are here to support you in getting started.
Help Employers Find You in Handshake
Stand out to employers by uploading your resume to Handshake. As of May 2026, only about 30% of rising engineering sophomores had uploaded a copy of their resume to Cornell Handshake.
Not only do employers seeking Cornell talent post job opportunities and events in Cornell Handshake, some also proactively search profiles and resumes to find and message job candidates. According to Handshake, job seekers with a public resume are significantly more likely to be viewed and messaged by employers.
First, review the profile privacy options to enable your preferred visibility settings. When you upload your resume via the My Documents tab, it’s visible to employers by default. There is a prominent checkbox you can uncheck if you’d rather keep it private.
Next, you can upload multiple versions of your resume and select the most relevant one when applying to a position. This is especially useful if you’re targeting different types of roles. For example, you might tailor one resume to highlight software projects for tech internships and another to emphasize communication, teamwork, and problem-solving for consulting roles.
Not sure if your resume is ready to be shared? Staff are available for a resume review.
The good news? None of this requires giving up your summer. A little time spent on Handshake now means a strong foundation for applications come fall, leaving you free to actually enjoy these last few weeks of sun instead of scrambling in August. So go soak up the summer, but carve out some time for this too. Your dream job won’t fetch itself.
