Skip to Main Content

PGP

This guide features samples and guides for resumes, cover letters, interviews, and more. Questions? Schedule a meeting with PGP through Handshake.

Job Boards

Job boards are collections of postings from companies with open positions. Some common job boards include:

Additionally, there are many themed and industry-specific job boards out there. See the 'Industry Specific Resources' section for additional job board lists and the 'Resources for Neurodiversity and Students with Disabilities' section for disability specific job boards.

Filtering Job Boards (General Tips)

Job boards are filled with opportunities and only a subset of those will be right for you. Here are some common filters that can help you find relevant postings. Note that not all job boards have the same filters, and sometimes filters have different names on different boards.

  • job type: internship, full-time, part-time, etc
  • experience level: in addition to job type, LinkedIn allows you to filter by experience level, e.g. entry level, associate, etc. This can be a useful filter for those looking for entry level jobs. Interestingly, there is both a job type and an experience level for 'internship'. It is likely that most jobs will have both tags, but some might only appear under one or the other tag, so it may be valuable to try your search once with each
  • paid vs. unpaid roles: if you are only looking for paid roles, select the 'paid roles only' filter
  • school year: you can filter by school year by navigating to the 'Employer preferences' section and clicking the blue arrow to expand the selection, then selecting the box next to school year
  • major: if you are a MechE or ECE you may benefit from filtering by major, but it's often not necessary
  • location: if you are only interested in a particular geographic area, you can filter by location. Unlike Handshake, LinkedIn does not have the option to adjust search radius, but it does take more ambiguous inputs such as "Greater Boston" or "Bay Area". Additionally, if you're interested in remote locations you can filter by that too. Tip: Make sure to remove any area filters before filtering for remote positions, or else you'll only get remote postions headquartered in that geographic area
  • work authorization: if you are an international student, you can select 'will sponsor or doesn't require US visa' and 'accepts OTP/CTP' under the 'Work Authorization' section of the filter options
  • date posted: LinkedIn has the option to only see jobs posted in the last 24h/week/month. This might be helpful if you frequently check the LinkedIn job finder, so that you can only see recent jobs and eliminate those you've already investigated

Handshake

The Job Finder is located under the 'Jobs' tab on the top left. Through Handshake you can filter jobs by location, job type (internship, full-time, etc), job role, industry, employers, and more. Additionally, Handshake uses your profile and your previous activity to curate search results for you; this means that the more you search, the more Handshake will learn about what you are looking for. A great way to fast-track this process is to save jobs that you are interested in using the bookmark icon. Saved jobs will show up in a separate list under the 'Saved' tab on the top left and Handshake will use your saved jobs to better understand your interests.

Filtering Jobs

While Handshake has a variety of filtering options, you'll likely only need a few filters to get started. Some filters you might want to try are:

  • job type: internship, full-time, part-time, etc
  • paid vs. unpaid roles: if you are only looking for paid roles, select the 'paid roles only' filter
  • school year: you can filter by school year by navigating to the 'Employer preferences' section and clicking the blue arrow to expand the selection, then selecting the box next to school year
  • major: if you are a MechE or ECE you may benefit from filtering by major, but it's often not necessary
  • location: if you are only interested in a particular geographic area, you can filter by location. Additionally, if you're interested in remote locations you can filter by that too. Tip: Make sure to remove any area filters before filtering for remote positions, or else you'll only get remote postions headquartered in that geographic area
  • work authorization: if you are an international student, you can select 'will sponsor or doesn't require US visa' and 'accepts OTP/CTP' under the 'Work Authorization' section of the filter options

To learn more about filtering on Handshake, visit: https://support.joinhandshake.com/hc/en-us/articles/218693408-Searching-for-Jobs-and-Internships

Crafting your search terms

Oliners diverse skill sets are often suitable to a variety of jobs. Additionally, on places like Handshake, similar jobs are often posted under different names. For example, a MechE might be interested in a position for a Mechanical Engineering Intern, a Robotics Intern, and a Product Design Intern. Similarly, a DesignE might find relevant positions listed as a Product Design Internship, a User Experience Internship, and a Human Factors Engineering Internship. Using a variety of search terms can help you find a broader pool of opportunities. Some of the search terms you might use are:

  • Mechanical: mechanical engineer, mechanical design, product design, test engineer, manufacturing engineer, sustainability engineer, CAD Designer, robotics engineer
  • Software: software engineer, software development, application development, machine learning, security, test engineer
  • Electrical: electrical engineer, applications engineer, hardware engineer
  • Design: user experience, interaction design, product design, user research, product development, human computer interaction, human centered design, human factors engineer

Saved Job Searches and Alerts

Once you get comfortable with various filters and search terms, you might be interested in creating saved searches or alerts. Not all jobs are posted at the same time; if you have luck with a particular set of filters and search terms, try creating an alert to get notified when new jobs are posted that match your terms! Handshake has a great tutorial on creating saved searches and alerts, here: https://support.joinhandshake.com/hc/en-us/articles/218693388-Saved-Job-Searches-and-Alerts

LinkedIn

The Job Finder is located under the 'Jobs' tab on the top bar. Through LinkedIn you can filter jobs by location, job type (internship, full-time, etc), company, and more. Additionally you can save jobs using the save button and set alerts on particular searches and filters.

Filtering Jobs

While LinkedIn has a variety of filtering options, you'll likely only need a few filters to get started. Some filters you might want to try are:

  • job type: internship, full-time, part-time, etc
  • experience level: in addition to job type, LinkedIn allows you to filter by experience level, e.g. entry level, associate, etc. This can be a useful filter for those looking for entry level jobs. Interestingly, there is both a job type and an experience level for 'internship'. It is likely that most jobs will have both tags, but some might only appear under one or the other tag, so it may be valuable to try your search once with each
  • location: if you are only interested in a particular geographic area, you can filter by location. Unlike Handshake, LinkedIn does not have the option to adjust search radius, but it does take more ambiguous inputs such as "Greater Boston" or "Bay Area". Additionally, if you're interested in remote locations you can filter by that too. Tip: Make sure to remove any area filters before filtering for remote positions, or else you'll only get remote positions headquartered in that geographic area
  • date posted: LinkedIn has the option to only see jobs posted in the last 24h/week/month. This might be helpful if you frequently check the LinkedIn job finder, so that you can only see recent jobs and eliminate those you've already investigated

Crafting your search terms

Oliners diverse skill sets are often suitable to a variety of jobs. Additionally, on places like Handshake, similar jobs are often posted under different names. For example, a MechE might be interested in a position for a Mechanical Engineering Intern, a Robotics Intern, and a Product Design Intern. Similarly, a DesignE might find relevant positions listed as a Product Design Internship, a User Experience Internship, and a Human Factors Engineering Internship. Using a variety of search terms can help you find a broader pool of opportunities. Some of the search terms you might use are:

  • Mechanical: mechanical engineer, mechanical design, product design, test engineer, manufacturing engineer, sustainability engineer, CAD Designer, robotics engineer
  • Software: software engineer, software development, application development, machine learning, security, test engineer
  • Electrical: electrical engineer, applications engineer, hardware engineer
  • Design: user experience, interaction design, product design, user research, product development, human computer interaction, human centered design, human factors engineer

Job Alerts

Once you get comfortable with various filters and search terms, you might be interested in creating job alerts. Not all jobs are posted at the same time; if you have luck with a particular set of filters and search terms, try creating an alert to get notified when new jobs are posted that match your terms! LinkedIn has a short tutorial on creating job alerts, here: https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/a511279/job-alerts-on-linkedin?lang=en

Applying to Jobs Through LinkedIn

While most jobs have an external application, many jobs collect some information from LinkedIn during the application process if you use the "Apply" button from LinkedIn. As such, it's a good idea to keep your profile active and up-to-date if you are job searching through LinkedIn (this is a good idea anyway, since many applications ask for your LinkedIn profile). If you want to disable or customize this kind of information sharing, go to Settings -> Data Privacy -> Job Seeking Preferences.