Dear Hillsdale College Parent:

Throughout the college years, parents continue to impact the lives of their sons and daughters. While providing emotional, spiritual, academic and financial support during this period of transition, parents can also offer career-related support. Decisions about academic majors, graduate school, and preparations for the job search process are just a few of the career-related challenges students will face while at Hillsdale College.

Parents can play an important role in their student's college/career development. Here are some ideas of how you can help your student.

As a Listener, you can

• Provide non-judgmental listening and honest feedback
• Initiate conversations on career plans, listen, respond, and ask questions
• Help your son or daughter clarify ideas, priorities and concerns
• Encourage your son or daughter to explore their interests and talents
• Give feedback on specific abilities you see in your son or daughter
• Help to develop independent decision-making skills and increase motivation

As a Network Resource, you can

• Help your son or daughter develop contacts for information, advice and assistance in career planning and job search issues
• Refer your son or daughter to colleagues, friends, neighbors, parishioners, family and community members with experience related to his or her interests
• Offer encouragement to approach people and build networking skills
• Suggest your son or daughter make connections with faculty. The first year in college is the time to develop the habit of getting to know instructors. All faculty post and host office hours to help students with questions. Students ultimately need professors to write letters of recommendation for such things as internships, scholarships, and graduate school applications. The greatest success in course work and the most substantive recommendations are often proportionate to the level of communication students have with faculty.

As an Advocate, you can

• Encourage your son or daughter to avoid procrastination and begin the career planning process early
• Encourage your son or daughter to take advantage of all resources available to them at the Career Services Office

At Hillsdale College, the Career Services Office is a hub of activity. The services include:

• Focus 2—a computer-aided assessment tool that helps students determine their interests and skills that will assist them in career choices. It also allows students to conduct in-depth research on specific job titles. This can now be done at your convenience via the Internet.
• Career Coaching—designed to allow students the opportunity to define career options and to thoroughly research those options.
• Graduate Education Information—graduate catalogs and announcements pertaining to graduate schools, assistantships and entrance examinations, as well as workshops.
• Resource Library—contains information related to employment opportunities in business and industry.
• Job Postings—a list of vacancies brought to the attention of the office by businesses, industry and school systems is available.
• Job Fairs—The Career Services Office support several off-campus job fairs each year.
• Web site—extensive career information available on our website where your student can research our Career Links, Job Listings, Calendar, internships and Job Fair information.
• Workshop/seminars—workshops are conducted throughout both semesters.
• Mock interviews—each semester the office conducts video taped interviews for students.

The staff of the Career Services Office realizes the impact that parents have in the lives of their sons and daughters, particularly with regard to their initiative in planning a career. With this in mind, we thank parents for their help in facilitating growth in this process, and we look forward to assisting your student with their career aspirations.

Sincerely,

Joanna Wiseley
Director of Career Services
(517) 607-2457