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Parents often wonder how they can support their student’s career exploration and planning.In general, the greatest support you can provide to your student as they make their career (and other life) decisions is to be a strong cheerleader.

  • Encourage your student to discover what brings them joy, what they are good at, and how they can use those gifts and talents in the world to lead a career and life of meaning and purpose.

  • Remind your student that career paths are rarely linear; part of the college experience is learning new information and growing in ways that inevitably lead to rethinking longer-term plans.

Our mission in the Boston College Career Center is to empower and support your student to incorporate their career goals into a life of meaning and impact. Our hope is that all students take the time to fully explore their interests, skills, and values while they are students so they can soar when they leave the Heights. 

Following are some suggestions you can also share with your student on how and why they should connect with the Career Center this year.

For First Year Students

We encourage first year students to get acclimated to their courses and their new living environment, and to get involved on campus. Their primary connection with the Career Center should be around developing self-awareness of their skills, interests, and values as they relate to exploring careers. They should:

  • Complete the Focus 2 Assessment to learn about their interests, skills, and values and how they might align with majors and careers. Bring the results to a career exploration coach, academic advisor, or other trusted mentor to discuss how to incorporate these results into their education and career exploration

  • Create a professional resume, which may be adapted from their high school resume, to start articulating the skills and experiences they have already gained

  • Complete their Handshake profile to gain access to relevant events, schedule career appointments, explore opportunities, and more!

For Sophomores

We encourage sophomores to start to engage more deeply in exploring how their interests, skills, and values align with possible careers. If they didn’t connect with the Career Center in their first year, they should in their sophomore year, with a focus on how to explore career options that align with what brings them joy, what they are good at, and who the world needs them to be. They should also begin connecting their academic, work, and other co-curricular experiences to career readiness skills.

For Juniors

Junior year is when students start focusing more on career decisions and planning. They should learn to articulate how they have gained career readiness skills through coursework, jobs, leadership, involvement, etc. Many students place a strong emphasis on getting an internship or other experience-based opportunity for the summer after junior year. 

For Seniors

In their senior year, students focus on determining and pursuing their post-graduation plans. They may pursue jobs, post-grad service, graduate school, or another meaningful opportunity. It is important for them to keep in mind that timelines vary widely. While senior year can be a time of anxiety about the uncertainty of their next step, our hope is that students see the many exciting adventures and opportunities ahead of them!

The programs and services mentioned above are merely a sampling of what our Career Center offers (see here for more). If at any point in your student’s education they have questions or are in need of career coaching and guidance, please encourage them to schedule an appointment with a career coach via our Handshake platform.  

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