Guide for Supporting Your Student’s Career Development

During their first year or so of college, students will be involved (formally or informally) in assessing their skills, interests, and abilities. They will do this through finding success (or failure) in courses they take, involvement in campus activities, discussions with their friends and faculty, and by being exposed to and trying out different ideas and experiences. 

Most students enter college with a very limited knowledge of the vast array of courses and majors available to them. When they begin to delve into studies that are new to them, even those who entered with a plan may be drawn to different options. This is an exciting time for students.

What you can do to help

Support your student’s responsible involvement in campus activities but urge this to be balanced with maintaining achievement in the classroom.

Urge your student to make an appointment with his or her Career Advisor in the Career Center.

Support your student’s exploration of new areas of study and interests. This, after all, is what education is all about.

Affirm what you know to be areas of skill and ability they have consistently demonstrated. Sometimes students overlook these and need to be reminded.

Talk with your student about the courses and activities they are enjoying.

Students discover new things about themselves throughout the college experience. Your willingness to listen and be a sounding board will keep you in the loop.

Generally, during the second year of college, a student begins to explore majors and career options more seriously.

What you can do to help

Direct your student to family, friends, or colleagues who are in fields in which they have an interest. “Informational interviewing” with people can be extremely helpful at this stage.

Encourage your student to use the resources available at the Career Center.

Don’t insist upon a decision about a major or possible career choice immediately. If you sense that your student’s indecision is a barrier to positive progress, urge that they look for assistance in the Career Center. Students often have difficulty making a “final” choice because they fear they may make a wrong choice and close off options.

Suggest that your student talk with faculty and career advisers about potential choices.

During the sophomore year and throughout the junior year, it is important for students to experiment with possible career options. They can do this in a variety of ways: internships, cooperative education programs, summer jobs, campus jobs, and responsible volunteer experiences both on campus and in the local community.

What you can do to help

Encourage your student to use the resources available at the Career Center.

Tell your student that you understand the importance of gaining exposure to and experience in their field of career interest. Broadening experience through involvement outside the classroom is a valuable use of time.

Internships or summer experiences may be non-paying. Also, a good opportunity may be in a distant location. Discuss your financial expectations with your student before a commitment is made.

Don’t conduct the internship or summer job search for your student. It’s a great help to provide networking contacts or names of people who may be helpful; however, making the contact and speaking for your student deprives them of an important learning experience—and may make a poor impression on the future employer.

The senior year is when organizing and conducting a job search or graduate school applications begins in earnest. It is also a time when students are heavily involved in more advanced courses and often have more responsible roles in campus and/or volunteer activities. Balancing these important pursuits and setting priorities is a constant challenge for seniors. You are probably anxious for this young adult to make a decision—and yet, they may be moving toward closure more slowly than you would wish. 

What you can do to help

Suggest that they use the Career Center throughout the senior year.

Offer to assist your student by sending information you may have found about your student’s target career field and/or job listings that may be of interest.

Don’t call potential employers to intervene for your student Contact with potential employers is the candidate’s responsibility.

Be prepared to support your student through the ups and downs of the job and graduate school search. It can be a bumpy road; not every desired job or graduate school acceptance will come through. Your student will need reassurance that for every door that closes, another opens.