How does the Career Center help alums?
Congratulations! Your Eagle has fledged, er…graduated!
However, if they do not yet have firm plans or a job lined up post-graduation, you may be a bit concerned. This is normal…both their lack of clarity and your feelings about it. The National Association of Colleges and Employers has some excellent advice to offer (scroll to page 3 to see advice for parents): https://www.iwu.edu/career-center/parents/CareerPlanningCourseParentsNACE.pdf Much of this is applicable to recent graduates and you’ll quickly realize: you are not alone!
Along those lines, your student is not cast adrift, either. The Center for Career and Professional Development offers a plethora of services to our graduates, free of charge. Essentially, all our services are still available to alumni, including full access to Handshake, one-on-one coaching appointments (available via phone or email for those who are out of town), and much more detailed on our web page. We are open during the summer, and can be reached at 540-654-5646 or ccpd@umw.edu
While we are eager to help all Eagles, please remember that the most successful students put a good deal of effort into their own job searches. If they have been too busy with academics to work, intern, or get involved with activities, now is the time to correct that. After a week or two of well-deserved rest, please encourage them to find a volunteer activity or to in some way engage with their community while simultaneously job searching.
For those of you whose recent grads have started their first jobs, or are planning to attend a graduate or professional program in the fall, we ask you to remind them to complete our important First Destination Survey (a link to complete this will be in their inbox). Soon enough, we hope to receive surveys from all our graduates as each of them stretches their wings and venture into their next grand adventure!
Mary Becelia, Career Coach, Center for Career and Professional Development