We all know the joke where college students are broke. That all we do is spend money on food. I mean true, but don't come at me for that. Upon entering college I had a good amount of money in my checking account.

Now? It ain't looking so hot my son. I need some of that "schmoney."

Looking around campus and seeing how many students are employed by the university, I started looking into campus jobs. I mean, how hard could it be? Everyone is always saying to go to Handshake for employment opportunities. So I went online, typed in SBU Handshake, logged in, uploaded my most current resume, references and all, and started browsing through on-campus job listing.

See the thing is that it wasn't the actually trying to find a job and applying to it that made it difficult. No, there are plenty of jobs, and Stony Brook is continuously updating the listings. My issue was after the action of applying.

The first job I applied to on the Stony Brook Handshake website was back in August 2017 when I was at the beach with my family. I had been discussing with my parents that I wanted a job and that hopefully, it would be an on-campus job seeing that I didn't have a car on campus. So, that evening was the first time I went onto Handshake. There was a posting for a job in the Student Health Center as a receptionist. Immediately, I applied and then I logged off.

The beginning of the semester came, and I didn't hear a single response from the listing. So once I was on campus, I went to the center and talked to someone there, just introducing myself and whatnot. They said the position had been filled and to try again next time. I wasn't upset—it was only the first job I applied to.

It is now almost the end of the spring semester, and I have applied to six different jobs over the course of the fall and spring semester. And guess what? Not a single response.

I had checked the university website to see if I did something wrong that resulted in all of my applications pending. One page said to go to the career center to have your resume approved before applying for any jobs. Another said that Handshake was now accepting applications even if the career center hadn't looked over your resume. Keep in mind, both statements came from Stony Brook University web pages.

Annoyed, I went to the career center and the lady told me that my resume needed to be approved. Pulling out my resume, I handed it to her and she looked it over. In the end, she told me that my resume looked good and that she would update it and let any employers know that my application would be approved to look at. Relieved, I left the career center believing that hopefully, I would get an email soon from someone that accepted my application.

Well, let me tell you how wrong your girl was.

These applications are still "pending." I've given up. I'm just going to make friends with people who have jobs or find a job off campus. I'll have better luck with that than I ever will with Handshake.

I am not the only one who has had this issue. Handfuls of people I know have had the same problem with Handshake and have no longer bothered to apply for jobs on it. I get that it's supposed to make getting in contact with on-campus employers easier and more efficient, but all it seems to do is create aggravated students who are in a constant state of trying to get a job.

How is your girl supposed to give positive feedback on the surveys you send out if I am not getting any results?

Stony Brook, Handshake, let me tell you something. DO NOT PROMOTE JOB LISTING IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO LOOK AT THEM TO LET APPLICANTS KNOW YOUR DECISION; DO NOT PROMOTE THE WEBSITE IF IT IS ALL LIES. How about we go "Far Beyond" and actually update students profiles and respond to pending applications.