By Angela Hayes and Barbara Richardson
No doubt, you want to support your student in planning their future. In orientation many parents and family members share that one of their top hopes is for their student to get a good job after graduation. As parents and family members, you can encourage your student to reach out to the Career Center early in their academic career. The Career Center staff can help your student begin to explore their career options as early as their first semester in college and then suggest a timeline of activities and opportunities to work toward meeting their career goals. For example, the Career Center can assist students in connecting with both on and off campus part-time work and/or volunteer activities to help build their experience and networks, while also helping them strategize and prepare for career-focused internships and eventually post-graduation jobs. Consider sharing this video with your student to give them an overview of the services offered by the Career Center.
One of the services highlighted includes Handshake, CSU’s online job and internship system. All students have access through their eID and password to search on and off campus part-time work, internships, full-time work, and employers. The top employers – including all the Fortune 500, non-profits, and local businesses – recruit students through Handshake, giving students access to jobs and internships not available anywhere else. A student who completes their Handshake profile is 5x more likely to be contacted by a recruiter. Even if a student doesn’t have experience yet, filling out their interests, specifically the job type, location, and job role, allows Handshake to send better, more relevant job recommendation and 80% of students who share their interests on Handshake receive a message from a recruiter. Explore Handshake FAQs to learn more!
Finally, this fall the Career Center and the College of Business Career Management Center are partnering to host the Fall All University Virtual Career Fair on September 22-23, 2021 from 11:30 – 3:30 pm each day. Students can access this virtual event through Handshake, including registering for the fair and signing up for group or individual sessions with employers. Visit the CSU All Campus Career Fair web page to learn more and get your commonly asked questions answered!
We look forward to supporting your student throughout their journey at CSU and beyond!
ANGELA HAYES serves as the Associate Director of Alumni and Online Career Engagement. Prior to coming to CSU, she worked as the Assistant Director of Alumni and Graduate Student Career Services at Kansas State University. She has a B.S. in psychology, an M.S. in industrial/organizational psychology and a Ph.D. in professional coaching and human development. She’s a nationally Board Certified Coach and a nationally Certified Health and Wellness Coach.
She has a passion for helping others to see their lives as full of possibilities and un-tapped potential. She views changes/transitions (both planned and unplanned) as opportunities for individuals to discover and plan out what they really want from their careers and lives.
