1.
Parents as Career Planning Partners:
Tips to Help Your Student
Presented by:
Rick Smith, Ph.D.
Director, Career Development,
Smith Career Center

2.
The Smith Career Center Assists
Students in:
• Exploring and defining career options
• Developing job search strategies
• Obtaining career-related work
experience
• Identifying and connecting with
prospective employers

3.
Burgess Hall (first floor)
Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
(309) 677-2510
http://explore.bradley.edu/scc
Area of
Staff Name Title
Responsibility
Jane Linnenburger Executive Director Smith Career Center
Rick Smith, Ph.D. Director, Career Development Liberal Arts & Sciences
Kelly Harris Director, Employer Relations Business Administration
Engineering
Sharon St. Germain Director, Experiential Education
(freshmen – juniors)
Sandy McDermott Associate Director MIS, CS, CIS & Engineering
Jayshree Panchal-McKechnie Career Advisor Education & Health Sciences
Kim Dunn Assistant Director Communications & Fine Arts
Assistant Director, Experiential Part-time jobs
Dawn Koeltzow
Education (on & off campus)

4.
Influences on Student Career Choices
• Parents and other authority figures
• Job competition in the current market
• Pressure to position one’s self
• Anxiety
– Witness to the current economy
– Repaying college loans
– Landing the “right” internship
– Perceived lack of opportunities in field

5.
What You Can Do . . .
• Listen, encourage, and support
– Remind them that they should be proud of themselves
(accomplishments)
• Be open to and offer ideas
• Help your student find information
– Ask Do you have any ideas about what you might want to
do when you graduate?
• Help develop contacts and networking connections
• Be nonjudgmental and reassuring

6.
• Encourage your student to interact with the career
center early in their college career and often
• Become a “partner” in the process
• Discuss his/her career choice
• Separate your goals from theirs
• Provide constructive advice
• Learn about the process, job trends, etc.

7.
Ways You Can Help Your
Student

8.
Encourage Them to Visit the
Career Center
• Career Advisors
• Career Fairs
• Workshops
• Internships
• Classes
• Networking
• Online Resources

9.
Challenge Them to Become
“Occupationally Literate”
• “What/Who do you want to be when you graduate?”
• Skills, abilities, education needed
• Self-assessment via FOCUS Career Assessment
• Resources:
– FOCUS2 (free, online resource)
– Center for Testing (formal assessments)
– Career Library
– Informational interviews
– Job Shadowing

10.
Allow Them to Make the Decision
• Let them follow their interests and
passions
• “Major” no longer means “career”
– Changing direction occurs as interest
solidify
– It’s OK to make suggestions
• Be patient, encouraging, understanding

11.
Advise Them to Write a Resume
• Use to document education, experience, skills, etc.
• Identify “weak” areas that require improvement
• Resources:
– Resume writing workshops
– OptimalResume (free online resource)
– Career Library
– Overnight Review Service
– Resume Critique Day
– Career Advisor

12.
Encourage them to Develop
STRONG Interviewing Skills
• Learn to talk about one’s self at a job fair or
during an interview
• Identify areas of concern that require
improvement
• Resources:
– Interviewing Tips workshops
– InterviewStream (free online resource)
– Career Library
– Career Advisor

13.
Emphasize the Importance of
Experience
• Complete at least one experience before
graduation
– Internship
– Part-time and summer jobs
– Practicum, course projects, student teaching
– On and Off campus involvement/leadership
• Use the opportunity to:
– Learn about field of interest
– Gain practical knowledge
– Develop networking contacts
– Enhance skills (personal and in field)

14.
Skills Development
• Communication: oral, written, presentation
• Personal attributes: work ethic, flexibility, initiative,
motivation
• Teamwork: working with others, collaborating
• Interpersonal
• Learning: willing to learn continuously new skills,
analytical skills for the job
• Technical: aptitude required in position

15.
Persuade Them to Stay Up-To-Date
with Current Events
• Encourage them to know what’s going on
around them
– National and world events
– Business trends and issues
• Resources:
– BU_SCC (twitter site)
– Library
– Web sites
– Magazines, newspapers, etc.

16.
Current Economic Conditions
• Structural alignment
– From the “old” (manufacturing) to the “new” (knowledge)
economy
• Productivity and Labor Reassignment
– Goods produced at a lower cost with less labor
– Off-shoring of white-collar jobs
• Health care costs
• Structural collapse of the public sector
– States responsible for social programs

17.
Expose Them to the World of
Work
• Take your son or daughter to your workplace
• Explain what you do for a living
• Introduce them to your colleagues (network)
• Help them identify potential employers

18.
Teach the Value of Networking
• Introduce them to people you know
• Job Shadowing
• Work experiences
• Resources:
– LinkedIn
• Guide for College Students
– BU Mentor (available to students via eRecruiting)
– Alumni Online Community
– Job Fairs (at Bradley and Other Locations)

19.
Help the Career Center
• Let us know when you have summer, part-
time, internship, and full-time jobs
• Participate in the BU Mentor
• Speak in classes, workshops, etc.
• Invite us to your site for a visit
• Encourage your employer to participate in a
job fair and hire interns

20.
Bradley University Fairs
• Nursing & Physical Therapy Fair
– November 17, 2009
• Green, Government, Recreation & Social Service Fair
– February 10, 2010
• Spring Job & Internship Fair
– February 11, 2010
• Education Recruitment Fair
– March 9, 2010

21.
Questions, Answers, etc.