{"id":26924,"date":"2020-10-28T15:49:05","date_gmt":"2020-10-28T19:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2020\/10\/28\/handshake\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T09:53:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T13:53:05","slug":"handshake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2020\/10\/28\/handshake\/","title":{"rendered":"NECC Expands Career Search Opportunities for Students and Alumni"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Young<\/a>

Ashley Moore, director of career services, is excited to introduce Handshake, NECC’s new career network<\/p><\/div>\n

In\u00a0July, Northern Essex became the first community college in Massachusetts to adopt Handshake<\/a>, a career network that is comprised of 500,000 employers, including all of the Fortune 500 companies.<\/p>\n

Northern Essex students and alumni now have access to this expanding network of career opportunities, according to Ashley Moore, director of career services<\/a>, who shared that\u00a0four\u00a0months after Handshake was launched,\u00a0882\u00a0employers had already\u00a0connected with\u00a0Northern Essex and\u00a0there are 1,362 active job and internship postings available.<\/p>\n

\u201cHandshake is the top platform\u00a0for recruiting at four-year colleges and universities,\u201d said Moore. \u201cThey are expanding into the community college market and we are very excited about the benefits they can give our students and alumni as well as our local employers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students and alumni are invited to\u00a0activate or create a\u00a0free profile<\/a>, which will allow them to\u00a0receive personalized recommendations for both jobs and internships, based on their major, interests and activity within the system. Employers will also be able to recruit students directly through the system. Since August,\u00a0618\u00a0NECC students and\u00a030\u00a0alumni have\u00a0activated their Handshake\u00a0accounts and they are hoping to grow that to 2,000 by the end of the\u00a0academic\u00a0year.<\/p>\n

When posting career opportunities<\/a>, employers are asked to\u00a0connect with\u00a0the colleges they are targeting\u00a0for approval to post jobs and events. \u201cWe are encouraging employers, especially those who are local to us\u00a0to select NECC,\u201d says Moore.<\/p>\n

Other benefits of Handshake include the ability to schedule virtual career fairs. Last week, Northern Essex hosted a STEM Career Fair and four companies participated, including Pfizer. Coming up are a Business & Accounting Virtual Career Fair<\/a> on Nov 4 from 10 am to noon and a Health Science Virtual Career Fair<\/a> on November 10, 11 am to 1 pm.<\/p>\n

While Northern Essex was the first Massachusetts community college to adopt Handshake, Cape Cod, Massasoit and Middlesex community colleges have since joined and others will soon be on board.<\/p>\n

Northern Essex recently\u00a0became the fiscal sponsor of a\u00a0$44,693 grant from the Boston Foundation\u00a0and SkillWorks,\u00a0to lead the effort to implement Handshake at all Massachusetts community colleges.<\/p>\n

\u201cUp until now each community college has used a different career services management system\u00a0or none at all,\u201d said Moore, who is leading the grant project. \u201cOnce we are on the same system, we will be able to work\u00a0more efficiently and\u00a0collaboratively\u00a0as a system,\u00a0particularly with\u00a0sharing events\u00a0and career-related opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Handshake was founded in 2013 by three students at Michigan State University, who discovered inequities in career opportunities for students and believed that software had the potential to bridge opportunity gaps for students across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is all about equity,\u201d said Moore. \u201cOur community college students, many of whom are of color, low income, or nonnative English speakers, now have access to\u00a0the same\u00a0career opportunities\u00a0that are presented to students at 4-year colleges and universities..\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about\u00a0NECC Career Services\u00a0or Handshake, contact Moore at\u00a0amoore@necc.mass.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Northern Essex Community College has campuses in both Haverhill and Lawrence. It offers\u00a0approximately\u00a060\u00a0associate degree and certificate programs as well as hundreds of noncredit courses designed for personal enrichment and career growth.\u00a0 Each year,\u00a06,000\u00a0students are enrolled in credit associate degree and certificate programs on the Haverhill and Lawrence campuses; and\u00a0another 2,000\u00a0take noncredit workforce development and community education classes on campus, and at businesses and community sites across the Merrimack Valley.\u00a0 For more information, visit the website at\u00a0www.necc.mass.edu<\/a> , call 978-556-3700, or email admissions@necc.mass.edu<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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