Switchboard - "The broad SCU community engagement platform"
Though these three platforms are complementary, depending on your goals there likely is a primary platform to meet your needs. In some cases you may leverage more than one to help cover all your bases.
Switchboard - "The broad SCU community engagement platform"
SCU Switchboard welcomes asks and offers from anyone within the Bronco community, including students, alumni, faculty, staff, parents and community members. Asks and offers can fall into several categories although most career-related posts will fall under “advice” and “jobs & internships.”
Students and alumni with any level of professional experience can post or find job opportunities on Switchboard. What’s unique about Switchboard, is that often times, instead of the more formal job posting you will see on Handshake, the Switchboard post could be a warm, open-ended offer from a Bronco (who's not in a hiring manager position) inviting other Broncos who are looking for a job at his/her company to meet them for coffee to learn more about the culture and what it's like to work there from a friendly insider's perspective. Users on Switchboard may also offer to move a resume along to a hiring manager with a Bronco recommendation.
Use examples:
- You’re looking for career advice. Use Switchboard to make informal open asks for advice, or search other posts where people have asked for or offered career advice.
- You’d like to utilize your SCU network to find a job. Use Switchboard to peruse informal job offers, such as “my company is hiring” or “happy to be a reference if a job opens at Google.”
- Your brother owns a small business and is looking for a mid-level product specialist. Post an offer to Switchboard to pass along a Bronco resume, or make an introduction to people who are interested.
LinkedIn - "The research tool"
LinkedIn is a great place to do research and connect with people with a specific skill set or job. Leverage the LinkedIn alumni tool for research on alumni by location, company, industry, major, etc. and use messages within the Santa Clara University & Alumni Association group to reach out to specific alumni directly. Be sure to check the jobs tab within the group as jobs are occasionally posted there as well.
Use examples:
- You’re job hunting and would love to work at Cisco. Use LinkedIn to research which alumni have a similar role to what you’re looking for and then direct message them to request an informational interview.
- You’d like to generate a list of what roles people are doing with a psychology major. Use the alumni tool to narrow by major and then consider using the messaging tool to reach out to any one of those people directly.
Handshake - "The student and young alumni job/internship platform"
Handshake is the primary recruiting and job/internship platform for students and alumni 0-5 years out. Use this platform to search for and apply to jobs and internships, schedule appointments with the Career Center, and book on campus interviews.
Examples:
- You’re an accounting student who would like an internship with one of the “big 4” firms. Upload your resume to Handshake and apply through Handshake. If you’re selected for an on-campus interview you can schedule it through this platform as well.
- You are a hiring manager (Bronco or otherwise) that has an entry level sales role, preferably for a communications major. Post it to Handshake and use the platform to accumulate candidates.