The Albers Career Center understands and appreciates the role parents and families have in promoting career development. Provided for you below is information about our programs and services, as well as some resources for effectively supporting the career preparation of your student and understanding the current job market.
Check out the Students section to see the variety of services and programs we offer students that will help them in their career preparation and development.
Seattle University and the Albers School of Business & Economics gather career outcome information from every graduating class at the undergraduate level, extending out six months from graduation. The objective of the survey is to provide data on students’ postgraduate activity and initial career outcomes. Read more in our Career Outcomes Report.
Your student has access to a unique set of opportunities and programs in the Albers School of Business & Economics that we call the Albers Advantage. These important elements are designed to provide your student with professional development, career exploration, leadership skills, and a greater understanding of the business world.
Reference: The National Association of Colleges and Employers
The most valuable things parents can do to help a student with career planning are:
Here are eight more things you can do to help:
1. Encourage your child to visit the career center
Many students use their first and second quarter to "settle into" college life, and so the spring quarter of the freshman year is the optimal time to start using career center services. Ask your student (in an off-handed way), "Have you visited the career center?" If you hear, "You only go there when you are a senior," then it's time to reassure him/her that meeting with a career advisor can take place at any point--and should take place frequently--throughout a college career.
Our center offers a full range of career development and job search help, including:
2. Advise your student to write a resume
Writing a resume can be a "reality test" and can help a student identify weak areas that require improvement. Suggest that your student get a Resume Guide complete with resume samples from our center. You can review resume drafts for grammar, spelling, and content, but recommend that the final product be critiqued by a career center professional.
3. Challenge your student to become "occupationally literate."
Ask: "Do you have any ideas about what you might want to do when you graduate?" If you student seems unsure, you can talk about personal qualities you see as talents and strengths. You can also recommend:
A career decision should be a process and not a one-time, last minute event.
4. Emphasize the importance of internships
The career center will not "place" your student in a job at graduation. Colleges grant degrees, but not job guarantees, so having relevant experience in this competitive job market is critical. Your son or daughter can sample career options by completing internships, experimenting with summer employment opportunities, or participating in volunteer work. Why an internship?
5. Encourage extracurricular involvement
Part of experiencing college life is to be involved and active outside the classroom. Interpersonal and leadership skills--qualities valued by future employers--are often developed in extracurricular activities.
6. Help your student to stay up-to-date with current events
Employers will expect students to know what is happening around them. Buy your student a subscription to The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal.
7. Teach the value of networking
Introduce your student to people who have the careers/jobs that are of interest. Suggest your son or daughter contact people in your personal and professional networks for information on summer jobs or internships. Encourage your child to do informational interviews with professionals in the workplace to increase awareness of interesting career fields.
8. Help the career center
Call your campus career center when you have a part-time or full-time job or internships opening at your company or organization. The staff will help you post the position in the campus jobs/internships database. We are also happy to help you host interviews on campus. In addition, the career center is always looking for assistance with workshop presentations and employer resume reviews and mock interviews. We'd love to have you and your organization involved.
Adapted from article by Thomas J. Denham. Courtesy of National Association of Colleges and Employers