Whether your student selects study in the liberal arts, the arts, or pre-professional programs, career exploration is an important and integral part of the college experience.
Discovering a career direction becomes a students new focus and challenge. Your student’s successful transition into a career and ultimate independence can be greatly enhanced with your support of their career exploration and decision-making process.
Students may explore their career thoughts through various applied or experiential learning, i.e. through class projects, internships, or service learning. Keep in mind that your student may not yet have all the specific occupational information necessary to make a career choice, therefore these experiences will help them develop valuable skills and insight into themselves and possible careers.
Career counselors work with students to identify and explore career interests. Self-exploration is the first step as students begin to focus on major and career decision-making. Career Interest Inventories are sometimes recommended to aid students in the process. Our career counselors work closely with the Academic Advising Center to help and guide students on decisions regarding majors as they may or may not relate to career choice.
An array of current resources and services are available to students. Skill-building workshops on topics such as resume writing, interviewing, job search strategies, LinkedIn, networking, and applying to graduate school are also offered. Our alumni Mentor Network and professional career panels can further empower students to gain insight into careers . Experiential Education, such as internships, can help students develop skills for the job market and “try out” specific fields of interest. Career Development’s Purchase JobScore, lists internship, part-time, and full time opportunities with local and national employers. Our annual Job and Internship Fair gives students a chance to meet employers seeking to fill available opportunities and we host a Graduate School Expo. We also curate job search and diversity and inclusion resources to help students with their career search.
Our career counselors are highly experienced, “student-centered” professionals dedicated to helping students explore and identify career options, make decisions, and prepare for life after Purchase. Your understanding of their unique talents and their combination of interests, abilities, and values will empower them to prepare and make important career decisions, so that they may achieve real career satisfaction in the future. You can learn more about Life After Purchase through our First Destination Survey.
We encourage parents to share job or internship leads available at your organization and encourage your employer to participate in our available Employer Services. We look forward to connecting with you!
