Parents & Families

How you may help your student plan for their future!

The Career Center advises students (entering freshmen through seniors, graduate students, and recent alumni) and provides resources to help them best meet their personal career goals.  Services include strategies for gaining work related experience, individual career coaching, workshops, presentations, connecting with employers at career exploration fairs, drop-in hours for quick questions, and more.  We offer a variety of technological tools to explore careers, decide on academic majors, search for internships and jobs in the U.S. and abroad, and to practice interviewing.

Encourage your student, when they are ready, to take advantage of the services offered by the Career Center as early and as often as possible. Below are some ways in which you can support your student's career direction.

1. Support your student's exploration of major & career.  Remember, choosing a major is not the same as choosing a career.  Your student will likely consider a variety of career options. And that’s ok! It is common to average five to seven career changes throughout a person's life. Not job changes. Career changes. Pharmacist for a few years. Social media manager in another phase of life.  The value of a College of Charleston education is that your student is building skills no matter which major they choose. The Career Center can help them explore career options, while learning how to best market their skills through their internship and job searches, résumé, and interview preparation.
   
   
2. Introduce your student to people who can provide career information and advice. You’ve been networking for years. You never know who may be able to open the door to an awesome opportunity for your student.  
   
   
3. Assist your student in identifying strengths, achievements and areas for development.  You know your student best. Remind them of their strengths and achievements and help them work on the skills and abilities that still need development. For many first-time job seekers, it’s hard to “promote yourself.”  Help your student be more confident in this area.  
   
   
4. Encourage involvement in leadership roles, both on and off-campus.  Employers value leadership, teamwork and organizational skills. Campus involvement provides an excellent opportunity for your student to develop these in a fun and educational environment.  
   
   
5. Emphasize the importance of gaining career-related experience through internships, co-ops, research, volunteer work, summer and/or part-time jobs. These types of opportunities are great because they help your student learn what they do – and don’t - like about a particular career or field. Most employers also like to hire employees with some experience.

Does Your Employer Hire College Students?

Post internship and/or job opportunities for College of Charleston students and recent alumni (up to 3 years post-graduation) by having your organization register with our online job board, Handshake. Need more information first, please refer to our Employers' page for details about recruiting at the College of Charleston through the Career Center.