Career Development
Information for Parents
The 4 Year Career Planning Process
Washington College to Wall Street
The resources available at the Center for Career Development can and should be an integral part of each student's life here at Washington College and they need not wait until their senior year to visit.
Because the Career Center staff recognizes and values the important role parents play in a student's career decisions we urge you to encourage your son or daughter to participate in our activities and take advantage of the counseling services we offer. Our services are provided for all students—freshman through senior year. While we contact students on a regular basis informing them of our activities, attendance at our workshops and events is voluntary. Your support and encouragement can have a substantial impact on their decision to participate.
There are so many new and interesting paths that your son or daughter will have a chance to explore during their years at Washington College. Please help them to prosper by encouraging them to be creative, to set goals, to follow dreams, to take chances, and to learn from their mistakes. They will all be the wiser for it.
Some thoughts to remember when talking with your son or daughter about their job search and career choices:
- The job market is volatile and hard to predict.
- Gaining experience is key to job search success. Students can gain valuable experience through internships, summer employment and volunteering experiences related to career goals. Internships.com, an exciting new resource for 2010-2011, serves as the leading nexus between internships and students, higher education and employers. Internships.com provides world class tools and services to enable every student, employer and educator to better understand and optimize the work opportunities of the future. Students can develop pertinent leadership skills through participation in student organizations and activities related to their field of interest.
- While job seeking methods have changed somewhat, with the Internet playing an active a role in the process (employers report averaging 8% of their hires through that pipeline), networking is still the number one way to get a job with upwards of 70% of jobs obtained through this method.
If you have any questions please contact the Career Center at 410-778-7890 or e-mail Laureen Meyer at lmeyer2@washcoll.edu.
Thirteen Helpful Suggestions To Help Your Student!
1- Encourage your student to make an appointment with the Career Center staff for interest and skill assessments, career information and exploration, job search support, graduate school assistance, and essential employer and alumni contacts.
2- Discuss the personal qualities of your student that you see as talents and strengths.
3- Emphasize the importance of experiential learning: internships, volunteering, informational interviews, campus involvement.
4- Encourage extracurricular involvement and keeping up with current events. When he or she is at home on break, discuss these activities as well as major world events and business news.
5- Explain what you do for a living, share your job search experiences, and discuss ways that you stay connected professionally and through community involvement.
6- Teach the importance of identifying people who want to help and strategies for getting and staying connected (networking).
7- Suggest a review of voice mail messages and social networking site profiles as critical first impressions with potential employers.
8- Identify internship and job-seeking steps and establish a plan/timeline.
9- Be supportive. Do not persistently ask your child about his or her job search. Please do not call or intervene with employers.
10- Shop together for resume paper and an appropriate interview outfit. Encourage mock interviews with the Career Center staff.
11- Ask your student what they are learning in the classroom how it applies to life after college.
12- Share summer, part-time, and full-time job leads with the Career Center. If your employer has internships, have them listed with the Career Center.
13- Offer to assist with Career Center programs providing "real world" experience information. You may call us at 410-778-7890 or e-mail Laureen Meyer at lmeyer2@washcoll.edu
First Year Career Awareness Program - Steps for First Year Students
Below is an outline of the goals for first year students, with an emphasis on awareness and early involvement. Please encourage their participation:
- Attend meeting during Orientation weekend. In this meeting, the first year student will learn more about the Career Center and getting started early with academic and other decisions.
- Complete interests survey. This will be given to the first year student during the Orientation meeting.
- Complete online self-assessment. This will assess the strengths, skills, and abilities of the first year student.
- Complete online resume.
- Schedule an appointment with a Career Counselor. This meeting should occur prior to the annual WC Career Fair held in March.
- Attend the WC Career Fair. This event is scheduled to take place on March 23, 2011 from 10:30am - 3:00pm in the Cain Gym.
- Complete a survey/satisfaction assessment.