Job Search Strategy••5 min read

Handshake Interview Prep for Students: What to Do After Applying

Handshake Interview Prep for Students: What to Do After Applying

For students, getting an interview can feel like the hardest part.

Once the interview arrives, a new problem begins

“What exactly should I practice?” Handshake's current student resources cover interview preparation, including researching the company, listening carefully, preparing responses and practicing different interview types. Handshake also provides students with access to institution-specific Career Center resources, whose available content depends on the institution. Use both.

Step 1: Open the exact Handshake job posting

Don't prepare from only

“Software Engineering Internship.” Save the full listing.

Look for

responsibilities qualifications preferred skills location internship/project expectations

Step 2: Research the employer

Handshake recommends understanding the company and the role before an interview, including its mission, values, culture and relevant recent developments. For students, keep the research practical.

You should understand

What does the company do? Who are its customers? Why does this internship/role exist? What would someone in this position work on?

Step 3: Build your student experience bank

You don't need years of professional experience.

Prepare stories from

  • internships
  • university projects
  • clubs
  • hackathons
  • research
  • volunteering
  • part-time work

Create

one teamwork story one leadership story one failure one difficult project one accomplishment

Step 4: Practice the seven questions students see repeatedly

  1. Tell me about yourself.
  2. Why this role?
  3. Why this company?
  4. Tell me about a project.
  5. Tell me about a challenge.
  6. Tell me about a conflict.
  7. What questions do you have for us?

    8. Handshake itself publishes interview guidance around common interview questions and preparation. But don't stop at those seven.

    Step 5: Practice the follow-up

    Suppose you answer

    “I led our hackathon project.”

    The interviewer may ask

    “How did you divide responsibilities?”

    Then

    “What happened when someone missed their task?”

    Then

    “What would you do differently?” Practice those branches.

    Step 6: Use your Career Center

    Handshake says the Student Career Center is the central location where students can access career resources provided by their institution, and the available options depend on how the school has configured the service.

    If your university provides

    mock interviews career coaching employer events interview workshops use them. That's human context AI cannot fully replace.

    Step 7: Add AI practice

    Now run the same job through a mock-interview system.

    Ask it to simulate

    recruiter round behavioral role-specific unexpected questions This gives you more repetition.

    Step 8: Practice your project explanations

    Students frequently lose points by describing projects as technology lists.

    Instead of

    “We used Python, React and MongoDB.”

    explain

    “We built a scheduling system where the main challenge was preventing duplicate reservations. I owned the API validation and database logic.” Now your project becomes evidence.

    Step 9: Practice speaking

    Answer ten questions out loud. Then listen to yourself.

    Ask

    Am I clear? Do I give examples? Do I say “we” when I mean “I”? Do I rush? Do my answers actually end?

    Step 10: Do one full simulation

    Use

    5 min: introduction 10 min: projects 10 min: behavioral 10 min: role-specific 5 min: follow-ups

    Then write

    One thing to keep. One thing to fix. One thing to practice. The student advantage Students often underestimate how much relevant experience they already have.

    You don't need

    “managed a department” to demonstrate leadership.

    You can show leadership through

    a student organization a project a competition a research team a volunteer initiative What matters is the behavior. Final preparation checklist

    Before your Handshake interview

    Save the JD Research the employer Prepare five stories Practice your project Practice common questions Practice follow-ups Take one realistic mock interview Review your gaps That's enough to turn a job application into a real preparation process. [Turn your Handshake job posting into a Mockly practice mission] Sources: Handshake's current interview-preparation and Career Center documentation. DAYS 85–87 Mockly Days 85–87: Human Coaching, LinkedIn Jobs and the Interview Prep Workflow

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